The Council of Europe has withdrawn a social media video celebrating the Islamic veil after protests from France, where Islam and immigration are contentious political themes in the run-up to next year’s elections.
“Beauty is in diversity as freedom is in hijab . . . #JOYinHIJAB” ran the slogans in a 27-second video depicting women in split images without the veil on one side and wearing it on the other. It was made as part of a campaign to promote tolerance and launched last week by the anti-discrimination programme of the council, a 47-nation body that champions democracy and human rights.
Based in the French city of Strasbourg, the council said: “These tweets have been withdrawn and we will consider a better presentation of this project.” They were part of a joint project with the EU aimed at combating hate speech and raising awareness of the need for tolerance of diversity, the council added.
Sarah El Haïry, minister for youth and sport in President Emmanuel Macron’s government, claimed credit for the decision to withdraw the video from circulation. She told LCI television that France had made known its “extremely strong disapproval, hence the withdrawal of this campaign”.
Gabriel Attal, government spokesman, said after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday that the campaign defied common sense “because one shouldn’t confuse religious freedom with the de facto promotion of a religious symbol”. Such an “identitarian” approach was “contrary to the freedom of conscience that France supports in all European and international forums”, Attal said.
The Islamic veil is a contentious issue in French politics. Many republicans and feminists of right and left see it as a sign of religious affiliation that offends the principle of secularism in public life and gender equality. Those who wear it say it is matter of personal choice.
French politicians pounced on the controversy over the video on Wednesday. Marine Le Pen of the far-right Rassemblement National party called it “indecent and scandalous”.
Michel Barnier, who is running to be the presidential candidate of the centre-right Républicains, said: “I wish the people behind this unfortunate campaign had been able to ask those women of Kabul who are fighting not to have to wear this [Islamic] veil.” He said it was “not an instrument of women’s freedom but the opposite”.
Eric Zemmour, a television polemicist who has made his name by attacking Islam and Muslim immigrants, said: “Islam is the enemy of freedom. This campaign is the enemy of truth. It promotes the veiling of Europeans. It’s a publicity jihad financed by your taxes.”
Zemmour, who has yet to declare his candidacy, has gathered significant public support as a potential presidential candidate.
The European Commission, which helped to finance the council’s programme, defended the overall campaign against hate speech and said women should be allowed to wear what they wanted under the laws of the countries where they lived.
An opinion poll published on Wednesday ahead of the French presidential election next April underlined the recent shift to the right and the far right among the country’s voters.
Zemmour has overtaken Le Pen in a matter of weeks and is now the main challenger to Macron in his re-election bid. Macron has 23-24 per cent of the voting intentions for the first round of the election, followed by Zemmour with 17-18 per cent and Le Pen with 15-16 per cent, according to the poll by Harris Interactive for Challenges magazine.
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European video promoting ‘freedom in hijab’ pulled after Paris complaint - Financial Times
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