Global media is reporting that elements of the Global Muslim Brotherhood are condemning the French decision to ban face-covering veils. AFP has reported that the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood has called the decision is an “affront” to dignity:
“The ban kills freedoms and it’s an affront to human dignity,” Secretary General of Islamic Action Front (IAF), the political arm of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood, Hamzeh Mansur told AFP. “The West claims to be a protector of freedom and human dignity, but this is untrue and has nothing to do with reality.”
Mansur said France’s “stupid policies do not help improve relations between peoples and do not serve world peace.”
“Nudity is allowed in the West. How come wearing decent clothes is not allowed?” — referring to the veils worn by some devout Muslim women.
The French parliament passed a law on Tuesday prohibiting wearing the full-face veil in public, meaning a ban will come into force early next year if it is not overturned by senior judges. The text makes no mention of Islam, but President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government promoted the law as a means to protect women from being forced to wear Muslim full-face veils such as the burqa or the niqab.
An Indian news portal is reporting that a Hamas leader called the French decision “unfair and racist”:
Hamas has condemned a law passed by the French parliament that bars Muslim women in the country from wearing Islamic veils. Ahmed Bahar, deputy speaker of the Hamas-dominated parliament in Gaza, said in a statement Wednesday that the decision taken Tuesday was ‘unfair, racist and hurts Muslims’ feelings’, Xinhua reported. ‘Such a law is a threat to both international security and peace,’ said Bahar, calling on the French parliament to annul the law as soon as possible. He also called on the EU’s court for human rights to condemn the decision of the French parliament ‘for passing such a racist law which violates the law of the European agreement for human rights’. All About: Asia,Israel
The Hamas charter states that it is ” is one of the wings of the Muslim Brothers in Palestine” and an Israeli TV station has reported that in 2008, Muslim Brotherhood “representatives” traveled to Gaza from Egypt through the open border to meet with Hamas. An earlier media report indicated that shortly after Hamas took over the Gaza strip, Muslim Brotherhood representatives were present to review Hamas military formations. Last June, a Hamas journalist acknowledged the role that the “international Muslim Brotherhood” has played in providing funds for the purchase of weapons.