French-(Berberanews)-A French lawyer has slammed the European Union for using a hijab-wearing Muslim woman in an advertisement for its Conference on the Future of Europe event.
The use of such a picture to portray the continent’s future left Thibault de Montbrial, an adviser to France’s centre-right presidential candidate Valerie Pecresse, “speechless.”
The hijab is a headscarf worn by some Muslim women that has been a source of contention in France for decades.
The Muslim Brotherhood would never dare to dream of such a thing, but the useful fools did. “I, for one, will fight with all my can to prevent such a destiny for Europe,” de Montbrial said in a tweet on Wednesday, referring to the political party founded over a century ago in Egypt.
The ongoing event, which allows EU people to weigh in on prospective reforms to the bloc’s policies and structures, features a plea to “make your voice heard” and the phrase “the future is in your hands” on the poster.
In response to de Montbrial’s outburst, Mehreen Khan, the Financial Times’ EU correspondent, stated the EU was “once again being accused of being a clandestine Islamist scheme puppeteered by the ‘Muslim Brotherhood’ because there is a Muslim woman on a poster.”
The social media spat brings France’s treatment of its Muslim minority – Europe’s largest – back into the spotlight ahead of the country’s presidential election in April.
The French Senate voted last month to prohibit hijabs from competing in sports.
That decision came a year after the lower house of the French Parliament passed the so-called “separatism” bill, which aims to strengthen oversight of mosques, schools, and sports clubs in order to protect France from “radical Islamists” and promote “respect for French values” – one of President Emmanuel Macron’s signature initiatives.
Info@berberanews.com
