Burkini's a symbol of divisiveness: Opposing view
Woman must have known she was flouting a widely publicized burkini ban.
How quickly we forget. Only last month, the world reached out to France after a fortnight of barbarity that left 86 people dead in Nice, and an 84-year-old Catholic priest slaughtered on the steps of his altar. The attacks, both the work of Islamic extremists, were the latest in a catalog of carnage in France.
Just a few weeks later, the world is turning on France, bandying around words such as “fascism,” “racism” and even “Gestapo.” All because of photos taken on a Nice beach. What a stroke of luck that a professional photographer was perfectly placed to capture the moment when three policemen arrived to demand that a woman remove part of her clothing. The photos make for uncomfortable viewing, although the woman must surely have known she was flouting a widely publicized burkini ban.
Since the photos were published, death threats have been made against the policemen. Such threats should be taken seriously; in June, an extremist stabbed to death a married couple who worked for the police, knifing the woman to death in front of her 3-year-old.
This is the climate in France, one of fear, tension and aggression. Politicians have been unceasing in their calls for the country to stay united, and the French have shown admirable calm despite the mayhem. Yet the burkini is not a symbol of unity; it is one of divisiveness, a brazen renunciation of the secularism that has underpinned France for the past 100 years.
By wearing a burkini, women are purposefully setting themselves apart from the rest of French society — a point beyond the grasp of France’s highest court, which overturned the burkini ban Friday.
As former French president Nicolas Sarkozy said this week, the burkini is “a political act, it’s militant, a provocation.” He added: “If we do not put an end to this, there is a risk that in 10 years, young Muslim girls who do not want to wear the veil or burkini will be stigmatized.”
Not in 10 years, Monsieur Sarkozy, but today. An increasing number of young women have been threatened in the past year because they wore bikinis instead of burkinis. These modesty police are the ones the world should be worried about, not the police doing their job on Mediterranean beaches.
Gavin Mortimer is a writer and historian who lives in Paris and regularly contributes to Spectator magazine.