Chirac Seeks Law Banning Muslim Headscarf in School

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Chirac Seeks Law Banning Muslim Headscarf in School

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By Helene Fontanaud

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Jacques Chirac called on Wednesday for a law banning Islamic headscarves and other religious symbols in state schools, despite protests from Muslims in France and across the world.


Reuters Photo



In a televised speech after months of debate on the role of religion in French society which highlighted the difficulties of Muslim integration, Chirac urged parliament to pass the law before the next school year starts in September.

The ban will extend to other religious symbols including Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses, but France's top Muslim representative said it mainly targeted Islam and would further alienate the country's five million Muslims.

"In all conscience, I consider that the wearing of dress or symbols which conspicuously show religious affiliation should be banned in schools," Chirac, standing in front of a French flag, said in a speech to 400 invited guests at his Elysee Palace.

"For that, a law is necessary. I want it to be adopted by parliament and in force before the return to school next year."

Chirac rejected a government commission's proposal to mark the holy days of minority faiths with new school holidays, saying French pupils already had many official days off.

He said pupils could wear discreet symbols of faith such as small Islamic pendants, Christian crosses or the star of David.

The controversy over Muslim headscarves is a major issue following several cases of schoolgirls defying schools which have tried to stop them covering their heads in class.

Chirac said such defiance breached the landmark separation of church and state in 1905 and would heighten tensions in France's multicultural society, whose Muslim and Jewish populations are both the biggest of their kind in west Europe.

"Secularity is one of the republic's great achievements. It plays a crucial role in social harmony and national cohesion. We must not allow it to be weakened," Chirac said.

POLLS SHOW STRONG SUPPORT FOR BAN

Opinion polls show the ban in schools is backed by a large majority of French citizens although Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders have opposed it.

Muslims make up about eight percent of France's population. Dalil Boubakeur, the president of the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM), voiced concern before the speech but urged young Muslims to be calm after he heard Chirac speak.

"We call...for thoughtfulness, calm and serenity," he said.

Grand Rabbi Joseph Sitruk said he was satisfied overall with Chirac's speech, adding: "I had been worried about a law (specifying) the size of a kippa or of a cross."

In the former French colony of Algeria, co-president of the international federation of victims of terrorism, Saida Benhabyles, said people who live in France must respect the principle of secularism, at least in schools.

"I am a Muslim woman and I don't wear a head scarf and I don't condemn those that wear it but those that force women to wear them," said Benhabyles. "I only hope the law will not be used for political ends by extremist groups."



Chirac hopes his tough stand to maintain the official division between the church and state will help boost his sliding popularity and prevent the far-right National Front from cashing in on racial strife in regional elections in March.

At present, schools must decide how to deal with pupils whose headscarves, skullcaps or crosses contravene secular principles. Decisions to suspend or expel pupils for wearing the Muslim headscarf have sparked angry debates for some time.

Race relations are in the spotlight with young Muslims of North African origin blamed for a perceived rise of anti-Semitic violence in poor suburbs.

"I think this has nothing to do with being secular. This is probably because of the fear that Islam sometimes is linked to terrorism," said Syafii Maarif, chief of the 30-million-strong Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's second-largest Muslim organization.

(Additional reporting by Emmanuel Jarry, Kerstin Gehmlich in Paris, Fahd al-Frayyan in Riyadh, Edmund Blair in Cairo and Parinoosh Arami in Tehran)
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I totally diagree with this movement. What does the seperation of church and state have to do with a person's individual right to wear something representing their religion?