Arab Social Media Still Divided On Burkini Despite France’s Suspension Of Ban

France
FETHI BELAID/AFP/Getty Images
Ali Waked

JAFFA, Israel – Arab social media remains divided over France’s burkini ban even as the UN rights office on Tuesday welcomed the French Supreme Court’s decision to suspend the ban as unconstitutional.

Despite the ruling, former President Nicolas Sarkozy, who hopes to be the next presidential nominee for the right-wing Republican Party, pledged that if elected he will amend the constitution and legalize the ban.

“We’ve changed [the constitution] thirty odd times, it’s not a problem,” Sarkozy said.

The Jordanian pro-Muslim Brotherhood columnist Yasser Zaatreh reacted to Sarkozy’s remarks, raising the ire of many social media users by saying that they were inspired by a “Zionist worldview.”

“Sarkozy has vowed to change the constitution to legalize the burkini ban if elected president next spring,” Zaatreh tweeted. “Never in the history of the Elysee [Palace] did we see a more Zionist president, and this is according to the Zionists themselves.”

One commenter reacted: “You’ve narrowed down Islam to the burkini issue, as if it were one of the tenets of Islam. It’s an immodest dress that is much closer to transgression than to the purity that our religion imposes on us. God help us.”

The Sting also reacted: “Haha now you’ve turned the burkini ban into Zionism. You really have no shame.”

https://twitter.com/atas2622/status/770357087536898052

Rita replied with a rhetorical question: “And what about imposing a dress code on women in our countries? How would you define that?”

Faysal Alkasim, a top journalist for Al Jazeera, tweeted: “If you want to know the West’s real take on the Arab Spring revolts, especially those that bore an Islamic character, you just have to gauge their take on the burkini ban, and then you’ll have no more doubt in your mind.”

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