The decision by a handful of French mayors to ban the Muslim Burqini swimsuit has divided the country and shocked its neighbors, with critics seeing the prohibitions as profoundly discriminatory.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Wednesday waded into the debate, saying the garment was “not compatible with the values of France and the Republic” and that he supported towns that banned it.
His remarks propelled the latest row over the place of Islam in France from the beaches onto the political front benches.
Valls cited the tensions in France after a string of militants attacks — including last month’s truck massacre in Nice — for backing mayors who barred a garment “founded on the subjugation of women.”
The Burqini, which covers the body and hair, is a “provocation” that risks causing “public disorder,” he told La Provence daily, echoing the mayor of Cannes, where three women have been fined 38 euros (US$43.04) for sporting the swimsuit.
However, Valls ruled out implementing any nationwide ban.
His intervention came as the mayor of the northern resort of Le Touquet announced he would follow the lead of his counterparts in the south.
Le Touquet Mayor Daniel Fasquelle told reporters he had yet to catch sight of a Burqini in his town, but did not want to be caught “off guard.”
Beyond France’s shores the bans, which one mayor sought to pass off on hygiene grounds, have been widely ridiculed.
“France cites latest threat to security: The Burkini,” the International New York Times teased in a front-page headline last week.
“The French emphasis on keeping religious attire out of public life can at times seem strange to foreigners,” the paper wrote, saying that head-covering bathing suits had been worn by several Arab athletes at the Rio Olympics without causing disturbances.
For Britain’s Daily Telegraph, the Burqini bans enacted in the name of combating extremism were themselves “foolish acts of fanaticism.”
While voicing understanding for France’s security jitters, the paper said there was “no earthly reason why banning them [Burqinis] would help to thwart France’s violent Islamists. If anything, it is more likely to alienate and upset moderate Muslims,” it said.
Italian Minister of the Interior Angelino Alfano on Wednesday said he believed the French model — which stresses the need for immigrant communities to assimilate — had failed.
The Burqini bans were “a potential provocation” and could make France even more vulnerable to attack, he said.
Sociologist Michel Wieviorka said the brouhaha is proof of a “radicalization on all sides — by nationalists, secularists and Islamists ... Politicians should try to calm tensions and stop creating hysteria.”
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