Credit to the French, they’re good at three things: cheese, bread, and finding new ways to be xenophobic and intolerant.
French students returned to class this week facing yet another battle over what some girls are choosing to wear. This time it’s a ban on the abaya, a long, loose-fitting dress, similar to a kimono or a maxi dress. Dozens of Muslim students have already been sent home from school after nearly 300 showed up on the first day of classes wearing abayas. You’ll recall that head coverings, specifically the hijab, were first banned in French public schools back in 2004, so this intolerance is nothing new.
All these divisive measures have a legal cover. In 2004, France enacted a law on “Secularity and Visible Religious Symbols in Schools," which prohibited the display of “religious symbols” including Islamic hijabs or headscarves, Jewish skullcaps, and Christian crosses in public schools. The French justified passing this law by invoking their infamous “laicite”, one of the guiding principles of the French Republic. Laicite purports to advocate for the separation of religion and state, but this thinly-veiled excuse for outright racism has led to France turning more hostile toward its minorities. It’s a classic contradiction. An act to protect laicite from one perspective becomes an act of exclusion and subjugation in another view.
If any nation that wasn’t so beloved by the West implemented such a ban it would justifiably be seen as ridiculous and oppressive, but since it’s the French, the western world will stand by silently. The same western nations that vocally defended Iranian women’s right to unveil in opposition to state laws are silent now that the French government is restricting Muslim girls' rights. How convenient.
Side Items
Apartheid Acknowledged: Tamir Pardo, a former head of apartheid Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency admitted this week that Israel is in fact enforcing an apartheid system in the West Bank. Pardo joins a tiny but growing list of retired scumbags that endorse an idea that remains largely on the fringes of Israeli discourse and international diplomacy. He becomes the latest former senior official to arrive at the obvious conclusion that Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinians in the West Bank amounts to apartheid. Somebody get this man a Nobel prize for pointing out the obvious and a bottomless pit to hurl himself into
Autoworkers Strike on the Horizon: The head of the United Auto Workers warned yesterday that the union plans to go on strike against any Detroit automaker that hasn’t reached a new agreement by the time contracts expire next week. A strike against all three major automakers (General Motors, Stellantis and Ford) could lead to damage not only to the auto industry, but also to the Midwest and even national economy, depending on how long it lasts. The auto industry accounts for ~3% of the nation’s economic output, and the current contracts with the three companies will expire at 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 14, so watch this space
Coach Can’t Hack It: Remember that high school assistant football coach out in Washington state who made a big deal out of praying on the field? The clown that took his petty grievances all the way to the supreme court and eventually won back his job after a seven year legal battle? Well it turns out he wasn’t actually interested in the job after all, and he quit after just one game back. Now we can all look forward to him touring the country telling his story of courage and defiance to fawning crowds of idiots in red hats