«Beauty is found in diversity, just as freedom is found in the hijab.» Who says so? But the most prominent human rights organisation on the European continent, the Council of Europe.
Only he was forced to pack it up quickly after the sharp reactions that arose from almost the entire political spectrum of France.
The advertisement - poster in question, showed a collage of a photo of a girl who in half of the photo wears a hijab and in the other half appears in a social outfit.
«Beauty is in diversity as much as freedom is in the hijab». It is written on one part of the photo, while on another there is a note: «How boring the world would be if everyone looked the same. Celebrate diversity and respect the hijab».
The reactions were strong. In addition to the expected voices of Le Pen, or Eric Zemour, among others, the Minister of Youth, Sarah el-Hairy, expressed her reaction on behalf of the Macron government.
In an interview with French television she said she was shocked and commented that the poster encouraged women to wear hijabs. «The message they tried to convey breaks with the secular values of France, which had expressed its opposition to the campaign.».
The government spokesperson Gabriel Attal said that this campaign defied common sense:
«This is against the freedom to believe what one wants, something we defend in France and in all international forums,» he said: «We can consider that this campaign was carried out in the absence of common sense, because we must not confuse religious freedom with the de facto promotion of a religious symbol.».
For her part, the socialist minister for women's rights, the Laurence Rossignol, was adamant that the campaign clearly wanted to promote the hijab.
«It is one thing to say that women are free to wear the hijab and quite another to say that the hijab is freedom,» he stressed.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, 3/11/2021, the Council of Europe, after the outcry, was forced to withdraw the anti-discrimination and hate speech campaign, which it organised jointly with Muslim Organization FEMYSO (Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organizations), with activities in several EU countries, but also with a presence in the Balkans.
A Council of Europe spokesperson told the BBC how ”The campaign-related tweets have been deleted and we will see how we can achieve a better presentation of the campaign”, without admitting that this retreat was due to the reaction of France.
However, later a Council of Europe spokesman said in a statement that: «The wording of the campaign reflected individual beliefs of people involved in part of the project and does not reflect the position of the Council of Europe or its secretary general, Maria Pejcinovic Buric.».
It is noted that both the The Commission, which had contributed €340,000 to this campaign, distanced itself from the campaign.
A European Commission spokesman said Brussels did not «approve» of the images and the message as it was portrayed and called on officials to find other ways to counter hate speech.
«Our position is clear: Women should be free to wear whatever they want according to the laws of the state in which they live.».
But the reactions infuriated the president of the Muslim Femyso, the Hande Taner, which could not understand why the campaign is against European ideals.
«It is a very sad fact that the efforts of the minority youth were attacked and downplayed by politicians. This is yet another example of how the rights of Muslim women are non-existent for those who claim to represent or protect concepts such as equality and freedom.», stated.
#EqualTreatmentForEveryone Every person should be free to choose what they wear and still have equal opportunity to education. Wearing a hijab is a choice and human right #WECAN4HRS Like this, #LetMeChoose @CoE_Antidiscrim @femyso @ENAREurope @EUParl_EN pic.twitter.com/MFFxGbuIWM
- europeanmuslimwomen (@euromuslimwomen) October 28, 2021
It is recalled that France, which since 2011 has banned women from wearing burqas or niqabs on the streets, hosts the largest minority of Muslims, estimated at around five million and the debate on how to integrate them into French society has been heightened again recently, not only by the terrorist attacks against French citizens, such as the beheading of the teacher Samuel Patti, but also by the upcoming 2022 presidential elections.
This latest development has reignited the debate with a new cycle of discussion and confrontation that anyone who thinks that it is limited to France and only between the extreme right-wing parties is committing a great mistake.
