n Troubling sentiment for a great nation France's ban on the veil worn by Muslim women went into effect on Tuesday. The French Republic continued to function pretty much as it has for the past two hundred years, and French Muslims continued on with their daily lives pretty much as they always had. The imposition of the ban was neither a death knell for Islam in France nor was it an opportunity for police to sweep down and gather up the thousands of Muslim women who call France home. The few veiled women who were arrested were participating in a very public demonstration in front of the great Notre Dame. It was not a huge demonstration but it clearly took place at a spot chosen for its maximum visabily. In the end, however, the women were said to have been arrested for taking part in an unauthorized demonstration, and by the end of the day, it was still unclear whether they had been charged and fined for wearing their veils in pubic. The Sarkozy government supported the legislation that imposed the ban in a maneuver meant to curry favor with France's far right, which has been drifting further away from the mainstream and pledging allegiances to Jean-Marie Le Pen's anti-immigrant National Front party. It might have looked good on paper to Sarkozy and his friends – and a large swath of the French population support it – but many top police have already stated that it will be very hard to enforce and will be enforced very rarely. Given statements made on the first day of the ban, the law will likely stay on the books but both its efficacy and its enforcement will be minimal. French police are not about to enter Muslim-dominated housing projects in Lyons, for example, to cite niqab wearers. Nevertheless, the sentiment behind the ban is troubling and the fact that the law is on the books is frightening. France's “great nation” status has certainly taken a hit. __
