Series Episode 1 EP. The French government's move this year to ban the wearing of the burqa or niqhab in public led to passionate debate about multi-culturalism and national identity. Mediapart talked to Muslim men and women of different ages, backgrounds and occupations to learn their views of the issues and what it is to live with their faith in France.
To support Mediapart subscribe. W e We often met with the same reactions; "Leave us alone" and "stop talking about us". It was in La Courneuve, a suburb on the north-east periphery of Paris, best-known for its fifties-era, low-income, high-rise housing projects, where Mediapart reporters spent three weeks interviewing Muslim men and women of different ages, backgrounds and occupations about their experiences of living with their faith in France today.
Many Muslims didn't appreciate being sucked into the political-media maelstrom over what they consider to be a There are too many books, too many news items" putting the spotlight on "false problems" which monopolise the attention of what they call "The French" i. The problems may be "false" but they nonetheless raise real fears. After much repetition, people believe that it's an established fact that Islam is incompatible with French society.
The wearing of the niqhab or burqa is seen as the ultimate proof of the statement's veracity. However, there are only 2, women in France who are veiled from head to toe, according to the authorities, who failed to explain how they arrived at this figure.
The practice is thus rare but it gets so much attention that it veils more than just a face: it also hides the disparities within the community. We talked to people whose only similarity is to feel Muslim. All of them are believers.
