Once again, the "Islamic headscarf" is causing controversy in Europe, after a French MP demanded that a picture of a young woman wearing a headscarf be pulled down a staircase near the European Commission headquarters, accompanied by a message saying "Make your voice heard, the future is in your hands", one of 17 other pictures. Campaign to promote citizen participation in the Conference on the Future of Europe.
The French magazine Le Point said that this image caused an uproar among the right, and Francois Xavier Bellamy, head of the French "Les Républicains" party group in the European Parliament, sent a message to the three partner presidents of the Conference on the Future of Europe, denouncing the "complete confusion" Between matters,” he asked, “Do you want the Conference for the Future of Europe to be a new stage in which European institutions will promote the Islamic veil?”
The magazine explained - in an article by Emmanuel Beretta - that this new image contributes to the institutionalization of the veil by official bodies, after the European Commission participated with public funds in financing a campaign indicating that "happiness is in the veil", although the veil is considered a religious custom. It is imposed on women by Muslims, and in this image he is dressed in accordance with the strict requirements of radical Islam, so as not to reveal a single strand of hair."
Screenshot of the controversial image as it appeared on the UNHCR website (Al-Jazeera)
It is not a promotion for hijab
The writer pointed out that the Conference for the Future of Europe is jointly organized and chaired by the three European Union institutions, the Commission, Parliament and the Council, but the picture mentioned was chosen by the European Parliament, and it is from the image bank used to support this mobilization campaign, knowing that the European Parliament is one of the most receptive institutions in the European scene to differ”, and therefore it is not surprising that a young woman in a veil is presented as the future of Europe.
Because of the French presidency of the European Union, Minister of State for European Affairs Clément Bonn is currently co-chairing the Conference on the Future of Europe on behalf of the European Council, along with Renew Gay Verhofstadt for Parliament and Dubravska Soica for the Commission. The image, stressing that "this image is not a promotion for the veil like the campaign that we stopped in November 2021," when the Council of Europe launched a campaign entitled "Freedom in the Hijab", and France intervened to stop it.
The Minister of State for European Affairs stressed that the headscarf is not prohibited in France or in any of the other 26 countries, and said, "We must not mix everything," but Bellamy, in his message, insisted on the fact that "the wearing of the veil is now imposed, sometimes through coercion and violence in Many Muslim countries, and unfortunately in many areas within our European countries."
Bellamy stated that the lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, winner of the Sakharov Prize in 2012, was arrested in Iran in 2018 for removing the veil and defending women who refuse the veil, arguing that this crime is an "insult to the Supreme Leader" and "incitement to immorality", and she was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment and 148 lashes.
"Ashamed of this Europe"
The writer of the letter wondered how European institutions can, under these circumstances, shed light on the future through the image of the veiled woman?
"As chairmen of this conference, do you think it is a responsibility to normalize the remaining signs of oppression for millions of women around the world?" he said.
Aceta Kanko, a Belgian MEP, joined Bellamy's request to withdraw the photo, writing, "I am ashamed of this Islamist-controlled Europe. I am ashamed of this Europe that abandons Muslim women and sees the symbol of their control as a folklore accessory. I will not support such hypocrisy. I will always be Along with freedom and equality. The future of Europe must be embodied in the values of the Enlightenment, not in the enslavement of women. This poster must be removed and Parliament deserves an inquiry."
The writer concluded that this controversy echoes another controversy currently rising about the ban on the headscarf in sports competitions in France, after senators voted on an amendment banning “obvious religious signs” during any sports competition, which was canceled by the “Republic Forward” (LREM) deputies. Founded by President Emmanuel Macron in 2016.