Posted on 02/21/2017 6:41:05 AM PST by mandaladon
BEIRUT (Reuters) – French far-right National Front presidential candidate Marine Le Pen canceled a meeting on Tuesday with Lebanon’s grand mufti, its top cleric for Sunni Muslims, after refusing to wear a headscarf for the encounter.
Le Pen, among the frontrunners for the presidency, is using a two-day visit to Lebanon to bolster her foreign policy credentials nine weeks from the April 23 first round, and may be partly targeting potential Franco-Lebanese votes.
Many Lebanese fled to France, Lebanon’s former colonial power, during their country’s 1975-1990 civil war and became French citizens.
After meeting Christian President Michel Aoun – her first public handshake with a head of state – and Sunni Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri on Monday, she had been scheduled to meet the Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian
He heads the Dar al-Fatwa, the top religious authority for Sunni Muslims in the multireligious country.
“I met the grand mufti of Al-Azhar,” she told reporters, referring to a visit in 2015 to Cairo’s 1,000-year-old center of Islamic learning. “The highest Sunni authority didn’t have this requirement, but it doesn’t matter.
“You can pass on my respects to the grand mufti, but I will not cover myself up,” she said.
The cleric’s press office said Le Pen’s aides had been informed beforehand that a headscarf was required for the meeting and had been “surprised by her refusal”.
But it was no surprise in the French political context.
French law bans headscarves in the public service and for high school pupils, in the name of church-state separation and equal rights for women. Le Pen wants to extend this ban to all public places, a measure that would affect Muslims most of all.
(Excerpt) Read more at oann.com ...
Definitely deserves a “You go, girl!”
When I was a kid, practically all women wore headscarves................
To keep themselves warm in the cold air, not to appease a Muslim.
Which country?
Yes, but of course our Mom’s wore scarves to protect their expensive HAIRDO!
And, mom would wear gloves and a hat when going out.
Mostly it was to protect their hair-dos. The style was expensive and scarves were necessary even in summer..............
Yes, gloves and hats were worn, even in summer, to protect the hands from germs and faces from sunburn....................
USA of course. Before the hippy days of the 60’s women wore hats, scarves and gloves in public.....................
And men wore suits, ties and hats. Everywhere, all the time.
Ah, yes.. They did have some interesting hairdos back then, but again it wasn’t to appease a Muslim.
https://annetouraine.com/blogs/news/8051097-the-inspirational-grace-kelly-scarf-style
Haha! Yes! Especially when leaving the beauty shop after their weekly appointment. I loved the 60s!
Good for Le Pen
When it was windy....
Good move. As the likely next President of France she can’t allow herself to be negotiating with these aholes from a position of subjugation.
If memory serves Condi Rice refused the headscarf.
Gloves weren’t Ron to protect from germs....they were worn to protect the hands from the elements. White cotton glove do not protect from germs...nor do kid gloves.
And considering some of the hats worn....those were fashion statements and nothing more.
Gentlemen wore hats and suits in those days too
Hats and gloves are not hijabs and abayas. Men used to wear hats also. My dad wore a hat to work everyday.
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