Doh! French woman insists on swimming fully clothed

Local mayor Alain Kelyor said "all this has nothing to do with Islam," adding that the "burqini" was "not an Islamic swimsuit, that type of suit does not exist in the Koran," the Muslim holy book.

France, home to Europe's biggest Muslim minority, has set up a special panel of 32 lawmakers to consider whether a law should be enacted to bar Muslim women from wearing the full veil, known as a burqa or niqab.

SHOOT: Couple of comments from my side. First, as someone who has a background in swimming, the idea of swimming in summer fully clothed, in a public place, is asking for trouble. It is impractical and not very bright. So I'd wonder how heavy [fat] this woman was, and assume this might be an ulterior motive.

On a more general point, I'm not a huge supporter of people wearing religious symbols. How does it benefit the other person, or you, to know that one person is this religion, and another is not? If you ask me, it is a recipe for conflict. Most people don't broadcast their religious views day in and day out. Why is it necessary that you should tell me you're a Jew, or a Christian or a Muslim? This is why atheists have begun advertising on busses. Because the rest of us are getting thoroughly sick of hearing how convinced you are of your God. Keep it to yourself, or stay at home. God created everything in the world, and everyone. Each is as special as the other. Catch a wake-up. Don't claim your God gives you the exclusive right to everything - we're all supposed to find some way to share limited resources.

I really don't think focussing on our religious differences is helpful. It's probably worse than nationalism as a tool to incite warmongering.

clipped from www.news24.com Paris - A Paris swimming pool has refused entry to a young Muslim woman wearing a "burqini", a swimsuit that covers most of the body, officials said on Wednesday. The pool ban came as French lawmakers conduct hearings on whether to ban the burqa after President Nicolas Sarkozy said the head-to-toe veil was "not welcome" in secular France. Officials in the Paris suburb of Emerainville said they let the woman swim in the pool in July wearing the "burqini", designed for Muslim women who want to swim without revealing their bodies. But when she returned in August they decided to apply hygiene rules and told her she could not swim if she insisted on wearing the garment, which resembles a wetsuit with built-in hood. "Quite simply, this is segregation," the paper quoted her as saying. "I will fight to try to change things. And if I see that the battle is lost, I cannot rule out leaving France."