Like my other post indicated (Four), I was invited by a French député from a small banlieue just north of Paris to attend the débat on the "dissimulation du visage en publique," the hiding of one's face in public. If this bill passes, it will be illegal to hide your face in public, with exceptions for sporting events. Anyway, I took frantic notes because I wasn't allowed to bring my camera or my recorder into the chamber. The notes are a little scattered because I sometimes had difficulty following the rapid fire French coming from these députés mouths. What I note here are transcribed speeches from the mouths of the deputies, with thoughts I had at the time in-between. The thoughts are not nearly developed, so you'll forgive me if you find errors or disagree with things I say. I need to think out a little more some of what I wrote here.
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Get the idea it's an "old boy's club"
Very ornate hall
Red seats and floors, like velvet coating
Built before Henry IV
Not many députés actually in attendance
Speakers:
1)Conservative
-calls the veil an "assault on women"
-A "maladie"
-States there are rights and obligations attached to citizenship
2) Liberal
-Creating a civil war, and there will be consequences from this
-We should be dealing with the sorry state of economics in France, not this issue
-Far from confronting radical Islam, this may actually invite fundamentalism
-With this law, we will be indoctrinating our children with a savage and totalitarian ideology
-Creating a war between the public
-It's public gangrene, and it's civil war
-should be promoting the creation of an modern Islam that fits in the French tradition, can do it without banning the voile
3) Conservative (I bet you're seeing the trend here...)
-French society based on civility (civilité), politesse (polite respect)
-No "right to be different"
-Veil is a threat to republicanism
-Difficult to live together when people come from different traditions and backgrounds
-it's "decivilization"
-The burqa=fundamentalist Islam
-We are tolerant, but we are also afraid
-Veil is a refusal to live as a French person
-Veil wearers are antagonistic
-Need a total ban
-The burqa could be the end of the social pact and the government
4) Liberal
-Veil is an non-existent problem
NOTE 1: No one is here... Out of a possible 577 seats, I count 36 députés; using rationality (rather than other means) to make case for/against burqa ban
5) Liberal
-Burqa and burqa ban proposals is a recent phenomenon
-Special council looking at burqa ban did not recommend at all the ban
-The veil is not founded on anything "Islamic"
6) Conservative
-Wearers of the burqa reject republican values
-Represents totalitarianism
-"Dangerous" identity wrapped in the burqa
-Burqa is against the rights (les droits) of women
NOTE 2: Here is where I fell asleep for a few minutes... it was hot in that chamber! So I missed three speakers...
NOTE 3: Conversation is centering around the values of the state. What IS France? Debate not at all on the specifics of the law.
10) Liberal
-Should focus on socioeconomic problems to fix social divisions between Muslims and the majority society
-Veil is definitely as assault on the liberty of women
-Promotes growth of islamaphobia
-Lack of civility
-But the wearing of the veil is not against democracy
-Such a ban would relay the "sentiment" that the government has a problem with Islam as a whole
-Religion should have to adjust itself to values of the state somewhat
-There be a law, but not this one
-Should fight against crime and domestic violence, not the burqa
-If law passes, we will see an increase in crime
11) Conservative
-Begins with summary of the values of the French state: secularism, equality between the sexes, national security
-Veil is slavery (l'esclavage) for women
-If we care about women, must "votez contre la tyrannie!" (Vote against tyranny!)
NOTE 4: US Conservatives hate secularism-- say we live in a "Christian nation." But Conservatives defend secularism as an essential value of the country.
NOTE 5: Liberals in France support laws that protect rights, as enshrined in the Constitution and whatnot. Conservatives, though, argue that the burqa oppresses women, and though freedom of expression in is the Constitution, support this law, which certainly violates women's freedoms (in a universal way) more than promotes it. Contrast to the US... Liberals there don't mind taking away rights (like guns, for example) in the name of peace. Interesting comparisons and thoughts.
12) Difficult to follow... and short speech.
13) Compares burqa ban to mission in Afghanistan, which was premised on promoting universal values of liberty and equality in the population [I should look into this].
14) Liberal
-Everyone in French society has a right to recognition
-We talk a lot about liberty, and equality, but what about fraternity?
-Stigmatizes Islam
-Will cause mass protests (manifestations)
15) Conservative
-Once again, restates values of the French state
-Communitarianism, La Patrimoine, "nos saints republicains"
-Burqa ban will send strong and firm message to those wishing to suppress the liberties of women in French society
-We are against those who would be against the values of the state
-"The veil has no place here"
16) Crappy
NOTE 6: The proposed law will outlaw covering your face in public. Will not restrict the wearing of the hijab (headscarf) or other garments that cover the head but not the face. So what we're talking about is an eight-inch by eight-inch piece of fabric on the face. Never has such a meaningless and inconsequential law been so hotly debated. Historical. Idea: "On it's face (no pun intended), the veil is..." Haha, funny article/thesis chapter/thesis title idea.
NOTE 7: Not many representatives here. I count less than twenty now. People are just obviously yelling at each other without regard for courtesy. And these two people, one on the left and one on the right, are blatantly reading the paper while their fellow deputies speak. Man, what an easy job to be a politician.
NOTE 8: French and European Union flag in front of room.
NOTE 9: Left seems fractured on the bill (go figure). Some agree wearing the burqa is against French republican values, and others cannot. All seem against application of the law.
NOTE 10: How did these people ever agree to join the European Union and sign the Maastricht Treaty in 1992? That had infinitely larger implications for the future of French sovereignty and the preservation of the French way of life.
NOTE 11: Debate very "buzz word-y"... I.E. Glory, Brotherhood, Liberty, Equality, Secularism
Seems to be okay to really go at each other during debate, even when speaking out of turn. Openly being rude... I don't know I feel about this. Where is the respect, the politeness? I imagine that despite the anger towards the other side, despite the emotion playing into these debates, these are rapidly forgotten if the two deputies see each other in the hallways of the chamber. I think debate is the status quo for these men... but they don't let it infect their personal lives.
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| Current make up of the National Assembly... Blues represent UMP, the center-right majority party. Reds are Socialists. Light blues are moderates, like Christian Democrats and Greens. Dark reds are Communists. |
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