French President Emmanuel Macron has found himself on the end of some heavy criticism after saying that whether the matter of Muslim headscarves should be worn in public is none of his business.
Speaking to reporters in Reunion during his visit to the island on Thursday, Macron said: “The wearing of the veil in the public space is not my business. That is what secularism is about. The wearing of the veil in public services, at school, when we educate our children – this is my business.”
Macron immediately took flak for what his critics called a neglect for public affairs.
“For the first time in the history of the Republic, a public affair is not the government’s business,” said Le Figaro columnist Gilles-William Goldnad. “Running away rather than being brave.”
Macron: «Le port du voile dans l’espace public n’est pas mon affaire » La première fois dans l’histoire de la République qu’affaire publique n’est pas affaire d’état . Bellatar plutôt que Blanquer . Trudeau plutôt que de Gaulle . La fuite plutôt que le courage.
— G-William Goldnadel (@GWGoldnadel) October 24, 2019
“Islamic totalitarianism is taking root everywhere in our society with the veil being worn and Macron is washing his hands of it,” said Karim Ouchikh, a lawyer of Algerian heritage who converted to Roman Catholicism from Islam. “France needs a strong president and not a Pontius Pilate. I call for resistance to this tragic renunciation.”
Non mais je rêve !
— Karim Ouchikh (@OuchikhKarim) October 24, 2019
Le totalitarisme islamique s’installe partout dans notre société avec le port du #voile et #Macron s’en lave les mains.
La France a besoin d’un président à poigne et non d’un Ponce Pilate.
J’appelle à résister à ce renoncement tragique. https://t.co/FXvJI0eQ4X
“For him, anything that can help defraud France should benefit from a collaboration that is as active as it is discreet,” tweeted Jean Messiha, a National Rally member and former senior Defence Ministry official. “It is urgent that we defeat the Macronist power.”
#Macron : le voile n’est pas son affaire parce que la France n’est pas son affaire.
— Jean MESSIHA (@JeanMessiha) October 24, 2019
Pour lui, tout ce qui peut contribuer à défranciser la France doit bénéficier d’une collaboration aussi active que discrète.
Il faut battre le pouvoir macroniste d’urgence https://t.co/akC7hn12fQ
One user wrote: “‘The veil in the public space is not my business,’ says Macron. Just like: the situation of hospitals, the reform of the baccalaureate, the Yellow Vests, the radicalisation, the suicide of police officers, the attacks, the growing crime rate. In short, France.”
"Le #voile dans l'espace public n'est pas mon affaire" declare #Macron.
— ISLEOFSKYE (@ISLEOFSKY4) October 24, 2019
Tout comme : la situation des #hopitaux, la réforme du #baccalauréat, les #giletsjaunes, la #radicalisation, le suicide des policiers, les #attentats, la criminalité grandissante. Bref, la #France. pic.twitter.com/q4s1h6RnhI
“So 70% of French people, who consider the veil undesirable in society, are not Macron’s business.... Give us Ataturk and Nasser!” quipped conservative politician Julien Odoul.
Donc les 70% de Français qui considèrent que le #voile n’est pas souhaitable dans la société, ne sont pas l’affaire de #Macron... Donnez-nous du Atatürk et du Nasser ! pic.twitter.com/wY5A43RpmJ
— Julien Odoul (@JulienOdoul) October 24, 2019
Odoul, the leader of the National Rally fraction in the regional assembly of Bourgogne-France-Comte in eastern France, got embroiled in a controversy earlier this month after he confronted a Muslim woman wearing a headscarf in the assembly.
In a video of the altercation he posted to Twitter, he told the woman – who was accompanying her son on a school trip – to remove her hijab, saying that wearing it was a “provocation” that couldn’t be “tolerated” after the killing of four Paris police officers this month by a radicalised Muslim among their ranks.
“Madame has ample time to wear her veil at home, on the street, but not here, not today,” he said, insisting France’s state secularism was enshrined in the law.
The woman pledged to file two legal complaints relating to racism, one in Dijon and one in Paris.
Following the row, Macron warned against “stigmatising” Muslims or linking Islam with the fight against terrorism. In an April 2018 TV interview, the president admitted he wasn’t “especially happy that some [Muslim] women choose to wear the headscarf when out in public, but it must be tolerated.”
Headscarves have been at the centre of multiple controversies in France, which is estimated to have around 6 million Muslims. French law bans full-face coverings in public, while the hijab – which leaves the face open – is banned only in schools and government offices. However, Muslim mothers are allowed to wear it on school trips.
