Rich Muslim vows to pay all French burka fines

[شمله ور خراساني]

Rich Muslim vows to pay all French burka fines



Flamboyant Rachid Nekkaz pledges €1m to pay fines of French Muslim women caught wearing the full veil


By Gavin Mortimer
LAST UPDATED 6:07 PM, JULY 13, 2010

On the eve of tomorrow's Bastille Day celebrations, there is more revolution in the air in France and this time the ringleader is a flamboyant Muslim businessman called Rachid Nekkaz. The 38-year-old property developer is incensed that France has moved one step closer to banning the burka, with women caught wearing the full veil in public liable to a €150 fine and anyone convicted of forcing a woman to cover up facing a fine of up to €30,000 and a year in prison.
The first stage in passing the controversial law was today approved in the National Assembly with members of the Lower House voting overwhelmingly – 335 votes for to one against – to introduce the ban. If the French senators in the Upper House ratify the proposal in September, it will become law by the spring of 2011.
Nekkaz (above), along with the majority of France's five million Muslims, is furious at what he sees as a persecution of his religion, pointing out that fewer than 2,000 French Muslims actually wear the full veil.
He has begun a campaign to fight the law and he's pledged one million euros of his own money to pay the fines of any Muslim convicted. Speaking outside the National Assembly, Nekkaz said: "One million sounds a lot, but to protect one's liberty it's not much, and I hope that others in this country who hold the constitution dear and want to protect our fundamental liberty will join me in fighting this law."
The debonair Nekkaz, a shining example of an integrated, modern French Muslim (he was born in France to Algerian parents), has set up a campaign group called 'Hands off my Constitution', and plans to raise the €1m by selling some of the properties he owns in the Parisian suburbs.
In front of the cameras he wrote a personal cheque for the seven-figure sum before describing the proposed law as 'Anti-Constitutional' and demanding that President Sarkozy shelves the idea.
That seems unlikely. Not only has Sarkozy described the full veil as degrading to women, but it's an issue that has the overwhelming support of his UMP party. Justice Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said last week that wearing the veil "amounted to being cut off from society and rejecting the very spirit of the French republic that is founded on a desire to live together''.
And the likes of Nekkaz haven't been helped in fighting the law by the muddled approach of the opposition Socialist Party. They would like to see a ban restricted to state institutions. But that notion was ridiculed by Alliot-Marie, who said it would be "legally incoherent" and impossible to enforce. "How could we convince the French people that freedom, equality and respect for the dignity of women begins in the train station but stops at the exit?''
The Socialists abstained in today's vote in the Lower House and have said they will adopt a similar stance in September's Senate vote, in which case it seems certain the law will be written into the French Constitution. But the country's police force is bracing itself for a backlash. Security was increased at the National Assembly ahead of today's vote and there are fears of street riots if the bill is passed.






Rich Muslim vows to pay all French burka fines | News & Politics | News & Comment | The First Post

[شمله ور خراساني]

May allah forgive his sins and reward him for his good intention.

[Palwasha]

^Ameen.

Wow, I rate that dude.

[AnGaaR]

who said there are no good ppl in the world?

[afghan]

Syria bans face veils at universities

Female students wearing a full face veil will be barred from Syrian university campuses, the country's minister of higher education has said.
Ghiyath Barakat was reported to have said that the practice ran counter to the academic values and traditions of Syrian universities.
His ruling, published on the All4Syria website, was said to be in response to requests from students and parents.
The issue of full face veils has caused controversy in other countries.
Continue reading the main story “Start Quote

We have never gone to the extreme left or the extreme right”

End Quote Kinda al-Shammat Law professor, Damascus
Kinda al-Shammat, a law professor and women's rights activist in Damascus, welcomed the decision and said it was in line with the Syrian belief in moderation.
"We have never gone to the extreme left or the extreme right," she told Al-Arabiya TV.
Secular identity
However the BBC's Lina Sinjab in Damascus says the ruling could be a sign that Syrian Society is becoming more conservative.
"In recent years, Syria has witnessed an Islamic revival with more and more women wearing the Hijab," she reports.
"This decision could be seen as a step by the government to enforce its secular identity."
In 2009, Egypt's then foremost Muslim cleric, Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, barred female students from wearing the full-face veil at the al-Azhar University, Sunni Islam's centre of learning and scholarship.
He also upset other Muslim scholars by saying French Muslims should obey any law that France might enact banning the veil.
Earlier this month, France's lower house of parliament overwhelmingly approved a bill that would ban wearing the Islamic full veil in public.
It must be ratified by the Senate in September to become law.
Belgium's lower house of parliament has also passed a bill to ban clothing that hides a person's identity in public places, although it does not specifically refer to full-face Islamic veils.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-10684359

the arabs are doing that in the west to creat problems for them, it has nothing to do with islam. my question to sangar saeb
is it a new fatwa that faces should be covered only in non-muslim countries?