Puzzling for the French - far-left anti-capitalist party reveals ‘veiled’ female candidate

Firstly the way she wears her headscarf - in Turkey would be considered apolitical, but the wrapping around the neck as many or most Muslim women now wear the headscarf is seen as being a representation of political Islam.

The French are saying one - it is a publicity stunt and two - they point out that the very expression of an outward religious symbol in a communist - New Anti-capitalist Party] means that she commits a crime against her very ideals - a violation of the Red-Flag. As a part of a Marxist movement she should reject the 'opium of the people' her religion. So they see the alliance between the extreme Left and Islam as strange and contradictory.

Ilham Moussaid should abhor religion opium of the people

But in this case, obviously, everyone contrefout the scope of the Act of 2004: what did respond here and there, is the apparent contradiction between that scarf and wearing the colors of 'training of the extreme left as a militant of the NPA, Ilham Moussaid should abhor religion, the opium of the people according to Marx, defending sly distraction "objectively" the interests of capitalists.

The scarf Ilham is the crime de lèse-red flag - a fly in the milk of the proletarian cause. [Rue89]

But in the UK this has already been overcome ~ the Respect Party - with its single Parliamentary member George Galloway [who is possibly a convert to Islam], is also a Trotskyist movement - where those on the Far-Left and Islamism mingle.

Its all very Iranian Revolutionary. There the Leftist and the Islamists brought down the Shah ~ as we can see on this day of the 31^st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution ~ the Islamist world vision won ~ the people took the opium.


The veil issue has shown its face in French politics once again, after radical anti-capitalist fringe party the NPA revealed that one of its candidates (pictured) in forthcoming regional elections wears an Islamic headscarf.

A candidate for a radical French anti-capitalist party in the forthcoming regional elections wears a headscarf as a token of her Islamic faith, something that has raised eyebrows in this rigidly secular society.

All the more so because the NPA (New Anti-capitalist Party), led by Trotskyist postman Olivier Besancenot, is a party that generates headlines for its extreme left wing position on issues including militant secularism.

Scarf-wearing Ilham Moussaid (pictured), a student and a party treasurer, is NPA candidate for the regional council of Vaucluse in southern France, Besancenot confirmed to French daily Le Figaro.

“A woman can be a feminist, can uphold secular values and wear a [Islamic] headscarf at the same time,” he told the newspaper.

The veiled meanings of a very French issue

Wearing a headscarf – as well as the wearing of other religious symbols such as crucifixes – is strictly prohibited in French public institutions such as schools.

And a cross-party parliamentary commission last month came up with a list of recommendations for a law to ban wearing the full face veil (niqab) in public places such as hospitals and on public transport.

It is a very French issue. Islamic headscarfs in France are all referred to as “voile” – meaning veil – whether or not they cover the face.

The French public dislikes veils because they are seen as the embodiment of male domination over women, as well as symbols of religious attachment in a country that clings fiercely to the principle of the separation of church and state.

But veils and headscarves are also an overt reminder that France is home to Europe’s largest Muslim population, something that makes the (often Christian) right wing uncomfortable.

Radical pragmatism of a fringe party

Making headway in the country’s deprived suburbs, notable for their large Muslim immigrant populations, could pay political dividends for the NPA, which is very much a fringe party.

The “banlieues”, Besancenot told Le Figaro, are “deserts where social associations, unions and political activity barely flourish.”

They are also places where women, some of whom wear Islamic veils, are starting to carry the torch for the NPA’s brand of militant anti-capitalist Trotskyism.

In a statement, the party said the choice to put Moussaid forward as a candidate had come after “a serious and complex debate”.

“[Moussaid] is a militant feminist, anti-capitalist and internationalist who happens to wear a headscarf for religious reasons,” the statement continues. “The NPA welcomes young people, the unemployed and wage-earners of all walks of life who hold our ideals dear. Religious faith is a private matter that should in no way be an obstacle to the NPA’s fight for its fundamental principles of secularism, feminism and anti-capitalism.”

France 24