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Story By: Joseph Golder, Sub-Editor: Joe Golder, Agency: Newsflash
A Muslim supermarket in France sparked outrage after posting a job offer that specifically prohibits women from applying.
The incident took place in the French city of Perpignan, in the south-western Pyrenees-Orientales department when the shop posted the advert on a Facebook group called “Les Musulmans de Perpignan et environs” (‘The Muslims of Perpignan and surrounding area’).
It was quickly picked up and reposted on social media where it went viral despite the original post being quickly deleted.
It was then picked up by local media outlet L’Independant and reads: “Salam alaykoum. Can you post my advert?
“Ibrahim market is opening soon and we are looking for five employees, two [for] 26 hours [per week] and three [for] 35 hours. Muslim, to work the check out and to stack shelves.
“A prayer room will be accessible to the employees. If we can be open during Ramadan, the opening times will change.
“We accept no women.
“Priority is given to handicapped people are people who have been unemployed for a long time.”
The ad ended with a request for a CV, giving an email address to which applicants could send them.
The ad was posted online on Wednesday 17th March, but it was deleted only a few hours later as outrage grew.
The mayor of Perpignan, Louis Aliot, took to Twitter, tagging Prime Minister Jean Castex, as well as the Minister of the interior Gerald Darmanin, saying: “Ibrahim Market is hiring… But does not accept any women! Could these gentlemen, instead of speaking uselessly, finally act on this subject? In Perpignan, we don’t want this.”
The administrators of the Facebook group, after deleting the advert, apologised, saying: “we only read the advert quickly, we published it without checking its details.”
Replying to Mayor Aliot’s tweet, numerous netizens asked the government to act, stating that the advert violated the country’s anti-discrimination laws.
‘AthosMousqueta1’ said: “Is this not discrimination when hiring, @gouvernementFR? […]”
‘PatrioteHonor1’ said: “… And on top of that they want Muslim employees!!! this advert perfectly encapsulates the Muslim communitarianism being denounced everywhere…”
And ‘doume732’ added: “The most disturbing and what you have not said is that on top of being a man, you have to be a MUSLIM man.”
It is unclear if the authorities are investigating the incident but French law states that any form of discrimination during the hiring process for a job, is illegal. This includes discriminating against people’s religious beliefs, gender, age, political opinion, and physical appearance.
Newsflash contacted the Muslims of Perpignan Facebook group but they said that “for now, we do not wish to comment on the matter.”
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