.... The planned debate at a Paris hotel next Tuesday is supposed to draw up a list of proposals that could be applied quickly to counter what the UMP sees as violations of the secular system.
.... A lay Muslim politician caused a stir this week by suggesting Muslims wear a five-pointed green star to protest against what he called persecution recalling that of wartime Jews forced by the Nazis to wear a yellow Star of David.
Abderrahmane Dahmane, who was fired as Sarkozy's advisor for diversity issues this month after criticising the UMP debate, also criticised Cope for suggesting Muslims should no longer pray in Arabic -- the language of the Koran -- in their mosques.
"This fascist climate evokes the sombre history of the Occupation in France, which sent thousands of Jews by train to the death camps," he said in a statement on Tuesday.
Richard Prasquier, head of the Jewish umbrella group CRIF, called the green star idea "totally grotesque." [Reuters.com] Read more
