President Sarkozy’s proposed ban on wearing full veils in public sends a clear message to Muslims living in France: your religion is not welcome here. France has already banned the display of religious objects in schools, a law that was primarily enacted to keep headscarves off of pupils, but one that nevertheless was at least nominally fair in its breadth. Sarkozy’s new proposal, which is popular with his party members and the French public alike, is targeted just at Muslim woman, making it – in a word-  discriminatory. Indeed, as France’s top legal advisory body, the Council of State, has noted, the law may be unconstitutional and breach the European Convention on Human Rights, making the chances of the legislation actually passing unclear. Regardless, the damage it done. Sarkozy’s enthusiastic support for the proposal will only serve to distance French Muslims from French society, further alienating a demographic already on the edges.

As a region, Europe has long struggled to relate to and assimilate its growing Muslim population. But all too often, these struggles morph into discriminatory policies that push Muslims to be more European and secular, not policies that incorporate Muslim culture and traditions into the greater diaspora of Europe as a whole. Take, for example, Switzerland’s recent ban on minarets. A law with no practical basis of any kind (Switzerland has only 4 minarets, and more weren’t likely to pop up anytime soon), it directly targets symbols of Islam and is thus inherently prejudiced. After all, Swiss churches are free from such legal encumbrances grounding their spires. In a similar vein to France, Belgium is also currently mulling a law that bans face coverings, legislation that Amnesty International has called a violation of human rights and international law. If France’s and Belgium’s new laws pass, they will simply become yet another obstacle to Muslim assimilation in Europe.

Europeans sometimes wonder why some elements of their Muslim populations seem to hate them so. Obviously, the reasons cannot be traced to just one factor- they are a combination of economic, educational, and social systems. However, Europeans might do well to consider their poorly disguised distaste for many Islamic practices to start. After all, it’s difficult to accept a country that refuses to accept you back.

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