The chairwoman of the far-right National Front party in France, Marine Le Pen, announced yesterday that all schools in the municipalities won by the party in this week's elections will remove pork substitutes from their menus.
""There is no reason for religion to enter the public sphere," she said, adding that religious requirements will not be accepted on school menus.
Similar things have been said in the past by the leader of the extremist party. In 2012, she called for a ban on religious headscarves, and again called for a ban on public prayers, kosher or halal food (Islam's requirement for meat that is permissible to eat) in schools, and the funding of mosques in France by foreign governments.
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Immediately after this statement, Le Pen realized the echo of her words and turned to reconciliation with French Jews. She explained that "the kippah is not a problem at all in our country," and emphasized to the Jewish community that the idea behind the initiative is to create equality between religions, following the "burqa law," which prohibits citizens in France from appearing in public with their faces completely hidden, for fear of the idea being exploited for terrorist activities and discrimination against others.
However, it should be noted that in recent years, Le Pen has been concerned with getting rid of the anti-Semitic traits of the party she inherited from her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, and has focused her election platform on isolation from Europe, hatred of Muslims, and a desire to disavow politicians who she claims contribute to unemployment. Her achievement in the local elections officially frees her from the image of a fringe party that has stuck with her, and positions her – at least for the coming years – as the third-largest political force, if not more, in the country.
