Veil of Controversy: Strasbourg's Inclusive Aging Campaign Ignites Debate

Of the eight portraits of Strasbourg seniors with diverse profiles featured in the communication campaign launched by the EELV (Europe Ecology - The Greens) mayor’s office to promote what it calls "healthy aging", the generational and cultural diversity of the city, the "gentleness of the city", or to show the city as welcoming and attentive to all its elderly residents, regardless of their origins or religious beliefs, there is one poster that is not well received. It is a panel featuring Nacera, 66 years old, a resident wearing an Islamic veil. On the web, this image has provoked strong reactions.

"Even if Nacera, 66 years old, is a very kind woman, we must not get used to these images. Mandatory veiling is an attack on the freedom of expression of women and femininity," wrote CNRS researcher Florence Bergeaud-Blackler, a specialist in the study of the Muslim Brotherhood, citing the name of the person featured on the poster and also mentioned by the city officials behind the campaign. A socialist opposition councilor, Anne-Pernelle Richardot, deplores a "new campaign by the EELV mayor of Strasbourg (which) is part of a deliberate political strategy of the municipality aimed at creating an artificial polarization".

Alice Cordier, director of the feminist identity collective Nemesis, sees in this controversial poster "a symbol of oppression and inequality". Emmanuelle Brisson, a former LR (The Republicans) legislative candidate eyeing the presidency of the party’s youth wing, accuses the municipality of having financed "Islamist propaganda". For influencer Charlotte Rocher, it is simply "shameful" to associate the veil with the "gentleness" of living. She recalls that in some countries like Iran or Afghanistan, this garment is forcibly imposed.

Faced with the controversy, the municipal executive reacts through Syamak Agha Babaei, first deputy mayor and vice-president of the Eurometropolis. In a long Facebook post, he is surprised by the "controversy". He states that the poster "simply highlights a campaign to promote our elders". "Some are outraged? Me, I see Strasbourg: a luminous smile, a story of work, care, dedication," continues the elected official in inclusive writing. He takes care to cite these women "Nacera, Fatma-Zohra, Aïcha, Zahia" who "cared for our children, cleaned our schools, accompanied our elders, often far from their country of origin, sometimes without the words of our language, but with the quiet strength of those who hold society upright".

For the emergency physician, "displaying them proudly in the city is not ’causing controversy’, it is doing justice. Strasbourg is their city as much as ours. Here, we honor the discreet trajectories, we celebrate those who have made us a community. To those who stoke anger and divide: we oppose recognition and unity."