A RABBI WHO DEFENDS THE BURKINI BAN

A rabbi in France has ideally defended banning burkinis from French beaches:

A senior Paris rabbi defended a string of controversial municipal bans in France on wearing the full-body swimsuit known as a burkini in public.

Moshe Sebbag of the Grand Synagogue told JTA on Tuesday that he supported in principle the regulations adopted earlier this month in 15 French municipalities, including the famed beach resort Cannes. Last week, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said the garb, worn by Muslim women in accord with their religious views of modesty, was part of a “political project” to perpetuate female servitude.

“It’s a complicated subject and both sides have compelling arguments,” Sebbag said in an interview.

While the French state is a “secular country with freedom of religion,” he said, the mayors in question “understood this is not about women’s liberty to dress modestly, but a statement as to who will rule here tomorrow.” The rabbi added that this owed to recent jihadist terror attacks in France.

“They understand today there’s a religious war, a takeover of the secular establishment of the French republic, and this is what they find unacceptable,” Sebbag said. Asked if he agrees with the burkini bans, he said: “Yes, because you see that going with it [a burkini] is not innocent, it’s sending a message.”

Yes, the way those Muslims involved are going about it, it's clear they're doing everything they can to disgust the public and symbolize contempt. And, as I may have noted before, burkinis can be used to smuggle small weapons like dynamite sticks and grenades, and could even be used for drug smuggling. There's also hygiene to worry about. So all municipalities who consider the burkini a bad idea should stand firm on their decision to keep it off the beaches.