\r\n25 December 2003\r\n<\/p>
\r\nby Anai Rhoads
Veriana Media<\/i>\r\n<\/p>
\r\n<\/p>
\r\nAt the risk of France no longer being called a free state, French President Jacques Chirac \r\nasked the parliament to ban Hijabs (Muslim headscarves) from being worn in schools. Chirac \r\nasked that the law be reviewed and passed before September 2004, when the new school year \r\nbegins. \r\n<\/p>
\r\nWomen gathered in protest outside of the French embassy in the Gulf Arab state of Bahrain\r\nThursday, urging an end to Chirac's plans to remove the Hijab from France's state schools.\r\nThe women complained citing that other children are permitted to wear crosses and Jewish \r\ncaps without a problem.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nFrance has roughly five million active Muslims and the direction by Chirac is being viewed\r\nas a focused attack on Islam and its beliefs. \r\n<\/p>
\r\nJamin Raskin, a professor of Constitutional Law at American University Washington College of Law,\r\nwas quoted during a live discussion[1],\"Everything in French life revolves around \r\nrationality and proving things correct through empiricism, science and logic. This is a \r\ndeeply admirable impulse, I think, especially in a world with so much religious fanaticism \r\nand hatred. This policy may just be driving something \r\nunderground that needs to be expressed. Those Muslim girls should be in French schools \r\nlearning math and science and history and the values of La Republique.\" \r\n<\/p>
\r\nFrance's private school system is run for the most part by the Catholic Church. Since this rule\r\ncannot apply to private schools, there is great likelihood that Muslims will seek refuge in\r\nthose schools in order to practice freedom of religious symbolism. Independent schools \r\ntend to accept religious and symbolic clothing as a freedom of expression. Since is not uncommon \r\nto see girls wearing Hijabs in private schools, the opportunity to escape Chirac's law may\r\ninfluence those practicing Islam to leave state run schools altogether.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nThe human rights advocacy group, the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC),\r\nlaunched a campaign to urge the French government to \r\ndrop plans to ban Hijab in public institutions.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nBlocking this law is the first step to preserve freedom and tolerance in France's state run\r\nschools. Some view Chirac's request as ignorant of the Islamic faith, serving to feed\r\nthe ill-conceived generalisation that all Arabs and Muslims \r\nare malevolent.\r\n<\/p>
\r\n©2003 Veriana Media. Reproduction must be authorised in writing only, and altering the\r\nmaterial and this copyright is prohibited and protected by international law. Please\r\ncontact Veriana Media for reprint and licencing\r\npermission.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nReferences:<\/i>\r\n<\/p>
\r\n[1] Washtington Post Transcript \r\nChirac Urges Ban On Head Scarves in Schools \r\n<\/p>
\r\n<\/p>\n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/html","summary":"Women gathered in protest outside of the French embassy in the Gulf Arab state of Bahrain Thursday, urging an end to Chirac's plans to remove the Hijab from France's state schools.\r\n","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2003\/12\/98823.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}