BEIRUT (AP) — France's far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen refused to don a headscarf for a meeting with Lebanon's top Sunni Muslim cleric on Tuesday and walked away from the scheduled appointment after a brief squabble at the entrance.
Le Pen, who is on a three-day visit to Lebanon this week and has met senior officials, was to meet with the country's grand mufti, Sheikh Abdel-Latif Derian.
Shortly after she arrived at his office, one of his aides handed her a white headscarf to put on. Following a discussion with his aides that lasted few minutes, she refused and returned to her car.
Le Pen has tried to raise her international profile and press her pro-Christian stance with her visit to Lebanon, a former French protectorate.
On Monday, she met with President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Saad Hariri. She said Syrian President Bashar Assad was "the most reassuring solution for France," adding that the best way to protect minority Christians is to "eradicate" the Islamic State group preying on them — not turn them into refugees.
Some Lebanese officials including, including Hariri, a Sunni, have taken umbrage at what is widely seen as her stigmatization of Muslims, who her followers claim are changing the Christian face of France. There was also apparent displeasure at her comments on Assad.
Christian right-wing leader Samir Geagea said after meeting with Le Pen on Tuesday that "terrorism has no religion." He described Assad as "the biggest terrorist in Syria and the region."
Walid Jumblatt, a leftist politician in Lebanon, tweeted on Tuesday that Le Pen's statements in Lebanon "were an insult toward the Lebanese people and Syrian people."
After walking away from the meeting with the grand mufti, Le Pen said she had previously told the cleric's office that she would not wear a headscarf.
"They didn't cancel the meeting, so I thought they would accept the fact that I wouldn't wear one," she said. "They tried to impose it upon me."
The office of Lebanon's mufti issued a statement saying that Le Pen was told in advance through one of her aides that she would have to put on a headscarf during the meeting with the mufti.
"This is the protocol" at the mufti's office, the statement said. It said the mufti's aides tried to give her the headscarf and that Le Pen refused to take it.
"The mufti's office regrets this inappropriate behavior in such meetings," the statement said.
Le Pen said she had met in the past with Egypt's Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar, the head of the Sunni world's most prestigious learning institute, without wearing a headscarf. Photos of Le Pen with Ahmed al-Tayeb in 2015 in Cairo show her with the cleric with her hair uncovered.
Le Pen's refusal on Tuesday to don a headscarf would be in line with her strong support for French secularism, and a proposal in her presidential platform. French law bans headscarves in the public service and for high school pupils.
Le Pen's proposal aims to extend a 2004 law banning headscarves and other "ostentatious" religious symbols in classrooms to all public spaces. While the 2004 law covers all religions, it is aimed at Muslims.
Later Tuesday, a group of Lebanese held a small protest in Beirut against Le Pen's visit. One protester raised a drawing of Le Pen between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, with "Neo-fascists" emblazoned underneath.
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LawyerLady
I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you.
If more leaders would say no to these kind requests then maybe they'd get the idea that non Muslims are not going to follow those rules Why are they trying to make us follow their codes of conduct? We don't ask them to remove their headscarves when they meet with our leaders. We should always be respectful but shouldn't wear a headscarf just to make them happy.
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“Until I discovered cooking, I was never really interested in anything.” ― Julia Child ―
I'm going to dissent a bit. If you are in their country, meeting in their office, you should expect to follow their rules. We say all the time that people who come to the US should adopt our ways and not try to force theirs on us. That goes in reverse also.
I would have put on the headscarf. In my eyes, it's showing respect for that country's laws, mores, etc. and a small gesture that would go a long way in ensuring an amicable meeting. Similar to how tourists are expected to know that we tip servers in this country even if tipping isn't a thing in their country.
Well, is being a Muslim a religion or is it a government?
Everyone says it's a religion, but then you have the areas that are controlled and governed by the leaders of these muslims.
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A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
I'm going to dissent a bit. If you are in their country, meeting in their office, you should expect to follow their rules. We say all the time that people who come to the US should adopt our ways and not try to force theirs on us. That goes in reverse also.
But the headscarf is a religious requirement. If she was going to a religious occasion, I'd agree. But this was not, and a government should not force a religious requirement on anyone.
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LawyerLady
I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you.
Besides, she told them ahead of time she would not wear one and they said nothing and did not cancel the meeting. Expecting her to just change her mind when she got there was ridiculous.
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LawyerLady
I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you.
I'm going to dissent a bit. If you are in their country, meeting in their office, you should expect to follow their rules. We say all the time that people who come to the US should adopt our ways and not try to force theirs on us. That goes in reverse also.
She's not moving to their country. She's meeting with an official. If Trump told them they couldn't wear a head scarf it would be an insult to them. They don't get to impose their religion on us just like we can't impose ours on them.
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“Until I discovered cooking, I was never really interested in anything.” ― Julia Child ―
I'm going to dissent a bit. If you are in their country, meeting in their office, you should expect to follow their rules. We say all the time that people who come to the US should adopt our ways and not try to force theirs on us. That goes in reverse also.
She's not moving to their country. She's meeting with an official. If Trump told them they couldn't wear a head scarf it would be an insult to them. They don't get to impose their religion on us just like we can't impose ours on them.
And I would be ok with him saying they can't wear it.
My playgroud. My rules. (Ideally, I realize real life isn't as simple)
I'm going to dissent a bit. If you are in their country, meeting in their office, you should expect to follow their rules. We say all the time that people who come to the US should adopt our ways and not try to force theirs on us. That goes in reverse also.
She's not moving to their country. She's meeting with an official. If Trump told them they couldn't wear a head scarf it would be an insult to them. They don't get to impose their religion on us just like we can't impose ours on them.
And I would be ok with him saying they can't wear it.
My playgroud. My rules. (Ideally, I realize real life isn't as simple)
See - I absolutely don't agree with that. People have the right to religious freedom in this country. Our president telling someone to remove their headscarf would be horrible and a violation of the first amendment.
And if they wouldn't see her without a headscarf - they should have told her ahead of time when she told them she wouldn't wear it.
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LawyerLady
I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you.
