Post by Souriquois on Jan 9, 2018 11:49:54 GMT -4
French town bans pork-free school meals in move branded 'anti-Muslim'
Decision by far-right local authority in southern France, affecting about 150 mainly Muslim pupils, has been called ‘an attack on the rights of children’
A far-right local authority in southern France on Monday scrapped pork-free school meals, a move branded “anti-Muslim” or “anti-Jewish” by an equality minister.
Julien Sanchez, the National Front mayor of Beaucaire, a town south of Avignon, abolished the scheme, brought in by his predecessor, on the first day of the new school term.
The step affects about 150 – mainly Muslim – pupils who take the “substitution meals” out of 600 local students in total.
Marlene Schiappa, the minister for sexual equality told BFM TV the decision was “a typical example of someone brandishing secularism as an anti-Muslim political weapon, or anti-Jewish for that matter”.
In a newspaper article announcing the policy change in December, Sanchez said the pork-free meals were “anti-Republican”.
The opposition leader in Beaucaire, Laure Cordelet, called it “an attack on the rights of children” which “stigmatises the Maghreb [north African] community and can in no way be justified in the name of secularism”.
The controversy follows a similar case in 2015, when the Republican mayor Chalon-sur-Saône (south of Dijon) Gilles Platret scrapped the pork substitute menu in the town’s school canteens.
Dijon’s administrative court blocked the decision in August 2017, saying it went against the “interests of children”. The mayor has appealed against that decision to the administrative court of appeal of Lyon.
Parents of students opposed to the decision in Beaucaire will gather in front of the town hall for a picnic protest on Monday 15 January.
Decision by far-right local authority in southern France, affecting about 150 mainly Muslim pupils, has been called ‘an attack on the rights of children’
A far-right local authority in southern France on Monday scrapped pork-free school meals, a move branded “anti-Muslim” or “anti-Jewish” by an equality minister.
Julien Sanchez, the National Front mayor of Beaucaire, a town south of Avignon, abolished the scheme, brought in by his predecessor, on the first day of the new school term.
The step affects about 150 – mainly Muslim – pupils who take the “substitution meals” out of 600 local students in total.
Marlene Schiappa, the minister for sexual equality told BFM TV the decision was “a typical example of someone brandishing secularism as an anti-Muslim political weapon, or anti-Jewish for that matter”.
In a newspaper article announcing the policy change in December, Sanchez said the pork-free meals were “anti-Republican”.
The opposition leader in Beaucaire, Laure Cordelet, called it “an attack on the rights of children” which “stigmatises the Maghreb [north African] community and can in no way be justified in the name of secularism”.
The controversy follows a similar case in 2015, when the Republican mayor Chalon-sur-Saône (south of Dijon) Gilles Platret scrapped the pork substitute menu in the town’s school canteens.
Dijon’s administrative court blocked the decision in August 2017, saying it went against the “interests of children”. The mayor has appealed against that decision to the administrative court of appeal of Lyon.
Parents of students opposed to the decision in Beaucaire will gather in front of the town hall for a picnic protest on Monday 15 January.
LOL.. I am the most non-religious person on the planet, and if there is any critique I have about Islam (I don't know very much about Islam so I don't really critique it much since I cannot really make an educated, well-informed criticism like I could with say, Catholicism, the religion I was raised in), it's the "no pork" rule, it just doesn't make sense to me because food is food (of course, I respect people's cultures and choices so I don't wave that opinion in people's faces). I don't eat pork, myself (my culture doesn't eat much of it, and I'm not really a fan), but if I was in a situation where pork was the only food available, yeah, I'd eat it, same if I went to a friend's house for dinner and they served pork I'd eat it as to not be rude, but generally, I do not eat pork. However, this is ridiculous, and so blatantly transparent.
Saying "Pork is not republican" is such a dogwhistle. What you eat or don't eat determines your political views now? Am I not committed to secularism because I don't eat pork? What about vegetarians? And what about religious nut-jobs or neo-Nazis who hate liberal, secular values who do eat pork?
I always laugh at Islamophobe logic. They think Muslims are like, afraid of pork or something and think they will melt if they come in contact with it. Muslims work at supermarkets and ring pork chops through the cash register, they work at restaurants that serve pork, they work at slaughterhouses that kill pigs for meat, etc. I was at Burger King last week and the lady who waited on me was Muslim, she serves up Double Whoppers with bacon and she is fine (the fact that she was wearing a hijab made me feel better because there would be less of a chance I'd find a hair in my food lol)... and I have worked with a Muslim guy who one time I walked into the break room and he was huddled in the corner eating bacon while trying to hide that it was bacon, he looked all embarrassed and I was like "Do I look like I care? Your choice, man." And I currently work with a guy who said he accidentally ate pork once, and he didn't drop dead, God didn't strike him with a lightning bolt or anything... he actually said "I won't lie, it was pretty damn good!" lol. So yeah, trolling Muslims with pork is stupid, most of them don't care.
I also remember one time, a mosque in my city, which is right next to a bar, got death threats after it got out that they complained because drunk people were throwing up in their parking lot. The death threats consisted of "You need to adapt to the Canadian way of life!" Wait, what? Throwing up on other people's property is the Canadian way of life? Since when? You're making us look like a bunch of barbarians here. The staff and patrons of said bar were hella embarrassed by this too. I don't get throw up drunk, however, I am a human being who gets sick sometimes and I know your stomach does not care where you are when the chunks blow, but I would be totally embarrassed if I threw up on somebody else's property (especially a place of worship lol), I'd be apologizing profusely to the imam lol. Either way, the bar and the mosque worked it out and now the bar staff and patrons and the congregation at the mosque actually work together doing a literacy program at local schools (you can get a free beer if bring books to the bar).
But still, this is ridiculous, and obviously an attack on Muslim (and Jewish, but you know the target in mind was Muslims) students. I mean, yeah, they can bring their own lunch, but still.