Unapologetically Muslim, Unapologetically Human

Burkini Ban in Cannes, France

No doubt France has seen too many terrorist attacks and violence in its country this past year. From the recent attack in Nice, France when a truck driven by a local French-Tunisian plowed through Bastille Day crowds, to last fall in Paris when several shootings and suicide bombings killed dozens (26-year-old Salah Abdelslam, a French national, has been charged in the attacks).

The push-pull between French Nationalism and secularism vs. religious freedom has seen the institution of many bans directed towards Muslims, the latest of which is the mayor of Cannes banning the burkini, or full-coverage swimsuit, from his city’s beaches. The ruling states: “Beachwear that ostentatiously displays religious affiliation, when France and places of worship are currently the target of terrorist attacks, is liable to create risks of disrupting public order.”

So let me get this straight – choosing to cover one’s body on the beach, perhaps one’s hair as well, shows solidarity with ISIS or radical Islam? Really? What about rash guards, diver’s suits and other full-coverage swim gear sported by many who are not Muslim? Somebody get Nigella Lawson on the phone. Or, as Remona Aly wrote in The Guardian:

Thierry Migoule, Cannes’ head of municipal services, claimed: “We are not talking about banning the wearing of religious symbols on the beach … but ostentatious clothing referring to an allegiance to terrorist movements that are at war with us.

Migoule appears to believe that Muslim ladies doing their holiday shopping are thinking: “Does my bomb look big in this?” But don’t worry ladies, the only things unsightly here are the overt hate and the hypocrisy.

(Two other villages/cities in France have also enforced a burkini ban since Cannes.)

Yeah. I’ll stay unapologetically Muslim, thank you very much. Will be wearing my burkini when I head to the beach in Florida in a few weeks.

Next: An imam is murdered in broad daylight.