Inside this month issue
Lets Call it Fate
Politicians or Democracy to blame?
Reach Out Issue: 15
June 2009
to Muslims Obama tells Europe “In all of this, I think that Europe and France have a role to play just as the United States does, to send a signal to Muslims around the world that we welcome and want their participation in a world community that is peaceful, that is prosperous, that is developing in favour of all people,” Obama said.
In a much-heralded speech to the Muslim world, Obama vowed to forge a new beginning with the Muslim world to remove a decade of mistrust and discord. The two leaders also differed on Obama’s call for European countries to lift bans on the wearing of hijab. “I won’t take responsibility for how other countries are going to approach this,” Obama said. “I will tell you that in the United States, our basic attitude is that we’re not going to tell people what to wear. “My general view is that most
effective way to integrate people of all faiths is to not try to suppress their traditions, but rather to open up opportunities.” Sarkozy, however, insisted that France has a different view. “Civil servants must not wear any outward sign of their religion, whether they are Catholics, Jewish, Orthodox, Protestants or Muslims,” he said. “The second thing is a young woman can wear a head scarf provided that’s a decision they took freely and not been forced on them by their family or their entourage,” he said. “France is a country where everybody can enjoy the convictions, but women are respected as is their autonomy.” France banned the Muslim veil in public places in 2004, with several European countries following suit. Hijab is an obligatory code of dress for Muslim women, not a symbol that shows ones religious affiliation.