Archive for the 'France' Category
07
Dec
08
EU Court Back French Hijab Ban
Burqa-Clad Woman Denied French Citizenship
The case is the talk of France. The highest administrative court has denied a woman citizenship because she wears a burqa, the head-to-toe covering that shows only the eyes, sometimes not even them.
Faiza Silmi, a 32-year-old Moroccan who lives on a housing estate south of Paris, said she applied for citizenship because she wanted to be like her husband, Karim, a Frenchman of Moroccan background, and their four children.
But on June 27 the State Council denied her request on the grounds of “insufficient assimilation”. In the name of religious radicalism, the court said, she had adopted a practice “incompatible with the essential values of the French community — notably the principle of equality of the sexes”.
In effect the court has said that because she shuts herself off from society by wearing the burqa, she will be symbolically shut off from France. It is a tough decision. Is it fair?
It is certainly significant. A country has denied citizenship to someone who has not committed a crime, rejected the nation’s law or failed to learn the language (Mrs Silmi is fluent in French), but because of her private beliefs.
The case opens questions that are vexing many countries: what are a society’s values and can it impose them as a condition of belonging? Across the West, including Australia, governments are asking migrants to take citizenship and often language tests to show loyalty to their new country. In the face of unease about immigration, globalisation and terrorism, there is a contest to define national identity and common values. In Europe, the challenge of absorbing 15 to 20 million Muslims is the flashpoint.
In France the burqa decision is not so controversial: politicians of right and left have praised it. Many Muslims are also troubled by the burqa. Fadela Amara, a government minister, a prominent feminist and a Muslim, said the burqa was not a religious sign but “the insignia of a totalitarian political project that promotes inequality between the sexes and is totally lacking in democracy”. Another Muslim, anthropologist Dounia Bouzar, said that “to refuse the burqa is to respect Islam”.
Yet the case comes as clashes between France’s aggressive secularism — the confining of religion to the private sphere — and the claims of a small minority of Muslims are growing ever more common.
Last month, to widespread anger, a court annulled a marriage after the groom discovered his new wife was not a virgin. A leading medical association has protested against men who refuse to allow their wives to be examined by male doctors.
If Muslim men are so keen on seeing their headscarf introduced into Irish society, they should wear it as well as their women. Let them cover up, too.
Otherwise there must be no place for the hijab in civic life here. Not in banks, hospitals or libraries, not in the guards or civil service and most definitely not in schools.
You hear a constant stream of hooey about why we can’t ban the headscarf. But this is not about Islamophobia. It’s not about prejudice on race or religion grounds. It’s not about equating the Muslim scarf with terrorism. It’s not about denial of civil rights.
Here’s what banning the headscarf is about: the State demonstrating our belief in gender equality. It’s about removing a symbol of repression and submission. Showing we don’t condone marks of separation — either between men and women, Muslim and Christian, or native born and immigrant.
And it’s about refusing point blank to make allowances for anything which could lead to a creeping erosion of women’s rights.
Today the hijab which covers the hair and shoulders, tomorrow the niqab or full-face veil, the day after the burqa hiding everything from tip to toe — described as a mobile prison by women obliged to wear it.
28
Mar
05
unveil their fears
Muslim girls unveil their fears
Although France has banned religious symbols from schools, some of the country’s 1,200 veiled Muslim schoolgirls are still searching for a compromise.
Some of the veiled schoolgirls meet regularly to discuss their strategy |
“French education”, declares a trim man behind a big desk, “aims to allow each person, irrespective of their religion or their community, the chance to start on an equal footing and receive the same education.”
This impassioned defence of French secularism comes from Raymond Scieux, headmaster of Lycee Eugene Delacroix in Drancy, a suburb northeast of Paris.
For much of last year, Scieux and other French headmasters, had the unenviable task of guiding staff and students through a new French law banning all conspicuous religious symbols from state schools.
The law is widely supported by the French, who regard secularism as a pillar of the Republic.
No crucifixes, no skullcaps, no Islamic headscarves. There can now be nothing within the walls of a state school that can immediately identify a religious affiliation.
Dispute
Raymond Scieux sees no place for religion in French schools |
From the beginning, the French law was perceived by most of France’s five million Muslims to be an ill-concealed attempt to ban veils from the classroom.
“There’s a lot of tension in the Islamic community which feels targeted,” Scieux admits, “but it’s actually applicable to all religions”.
Between May and October of last year, the BBC filmed at Lycee Eugene Delacroix with people from both sides of the debate.
Teachers, their headmaster and pupils were caught up in an emotional drama that would ultimately decide whether or not a handful of veiled girls would be expelled for wearing the Islamic headscarf in school.
Personal choice
“What does this veil mean to me?” asks Touria, a softly-spoken and serious pupil at Delacroix. “It’s part of who I am. It’s not just some bit of fabric on my head. It’s everything.
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Touria, student |
People say that it’s the women who wear the veil that are submissive… but I think it is those women who are submissive 
“Looking back on it, I can’t imagine taking it off. What I’m wearing today I consider the minimum.”
What Touria is wearing is a bandanna, a simple scarf that covers her hair but not her ears or neck. She says she prefers to wear this so she doesn’t draw attention to herself or her religion.
Touria is one of five veiled girls from Delacroix who are meeting once a week in a friend’s flat to discuss their strategy to fight a strict interpretation of the law at their school.
Others come to the meetings too, including a handful of anti-law teachers and non-Muslim schoolfriends.
Their fear is that the headmaster will decide to ban all headcoverings, so they’re looking for a compromise.
Secular France
The headmaster, however, is under pressure from the majority of his teachers, who want a total ban on headcoverings.
He has decided to hold a public meeting at the school term so all interested parties can air their views.
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Eric Finot, teacher |
Among the speakers at the public meeting is Eric Finot, a history teacher at Delacroix with strong views on the subject.
As he rises to speak, he says he wants to address the veiled girls in particular.
“We are only asking you to abide by the principle of secularism,” he says.
To the anger of the girls, he then adds: “We are thinking of those girls who we could maybe protect a little bit at school… This law is here to protect those girls who are compelled to do things they don’t want to do – not to be forced into marriage, not to wear the veil.”
Separate issues
For the veiled girls, the public meeting confirmed their worst fears. The pro-law lobby was mixing everything Islamic in the same pot: Sharia law, forced marriage, veils.
They understood very well the feminist arguments condemning many aspects of their faith, but all of them insisted that they were under no pressure at home to wear the veil.
Iptiseim (right) believes France wants to de-veil Muslim girls in order to veil its problems |
In fact, quite the opposite. Their parents would prefer to them to de-veil than jeopardise their education.
Touria adds: “People say that it’s the women who wear the veil that are submissive… but I think it is those women who are submissive, because it is what men want, women half naked.”
As the veiled girls agonised over whether or not they would de-veil, their headmaster became convinced that a compromise was possible.
When Lycee Eugene Delacroix opened for the new school year, it was one of the only schools in France to allow girls to wear a discreet bandanna.
But for veiled girls like Iptiseim, this was not the outcome she had hoped for.
“Now that I’m wearing a bandanna in school,” she says, “when I come out I can’t wait to put my veil back on. It was always important, but now even more so.”
08
Sep
04
France’s hijab ban
France’s hijab ban
CBC News Online | September 7, 2004
France’s ban on religious symbols and apparel in public schools took effect Sept. 2, 2004. The ban includes all overtly religious dress and signs (including Muslim headscarves, Sikh turbans, Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses). However, the furor over the ban has focused mainly on the banning of Muslim headscarves or hijabs.
There are about five million Muslims in France – five to 10 per cent of the population – the largest Muslim population in Europe.
Some have boiled the debate over the law down to a battle of individual freedom of religious expression against unity and political neutrality.
Support for the ban
France has placed an emphasis on laïcité, or secularism, in modern society. As part of this desire to separate religion and government, religion is given no special status though it is respected and can be freely practised. This system was initially established to prevent religion from interfering in government affairs.
Today, the same concept is being applied in support of the ban on religious symbols in France’s public schools.
Some also believe that this ban will help prevent the division of society into ethnic communities, and promote integration into French society.
“Secularism is one of the great successes of the Republic,” said President Jacques Chirac in an address to the nation in December 2003. “It is a crucial element of social peace and national cohesion. We cannot let it weaken.”
Arguments against the ban
In December 2003, shortly after the French government announced its intention to ban religious attire, about 3,000 demonstrators marched in the streets of Paris. A global protest followed in January 2004, with demonstrations occurring in cities across Europe and North America.
“We live in a country which is supposed to defend human rights, and to practise one’s religion is a human right,” said Betayeba Hayet, one of the French protesters.
Opponents of the ban say that it violates international laws on the rights to freedom of religion and expression, and that religious practices should only be limited when there is a public safety concern or the practices affect the rights of others.
In addition, some say that this law disproportionately affects those for whom the wearing of religious symbols is considered an obligation, not a choice, such as the wearing of the hijab for women of the Muslim faith. There is also concern that this could discourage school attendance by Muslim women.
Finally, there is also some debate over the fact that the law does not ban all religious symbols, only “obvious” religious symbols. However, whether the fact that this law is selective means that it is also discriminatory has not yet been decided.
Similar issues in Canada
In March 2004, the Quebec Court of Appeal ruled that a Sikh student, Gurbaj Singh Multani, could not wear his kirpan, a ceremonial dagger, to school, arguing that security concerns were more important. » full story
In September 2003, Quebec’s Human Rights Commission agreed to investigate a private school’s decision to expel a Muslim student for wearing the hijab, which apparently did not conform to the school’s dress code. » full story
In 1990, after a suit launched by a new RCMP officer, Baltej Singh Dhillon, the federal government lifted the ban that prevented Sikh RCMP officers from wearing turbans. » full story
Hundreds of Muslim women took to the streets of Paris Sunday to protest against a proposed ban on head scarves in public schools.An estimated 3,000 demonstrators marched in the rain, shouted slogans and carried banners demanding liberty and equality.
More than half of the protesters were women and girls wearing head scarves. Many waved French flags and sang the national anthem; some chanted “my veil, my choice.”French President Jacques Chirac announced on Dec. 17 that all conspicuous religious symbols, including Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses, should be banned from state-funded shools.
He has asked parliament to pass the law in a potentially explosive move aimed at shoring up the nation’s secular tradition.
The head scarf, or hajib is worn by some Muslim women as a sign of modesty and a show of their Islamic faith.
Chirac says the law is needed to protect the separation of church and state.
19
Dec
03
French Move against Headscarves
French Move against Headscarves Ridiculed as Missing the Point
Dec 19, PARIS (IPS) – A law banning the Muslim headscarf and other religious symbols from French schools will only aggravate a sense of segregation, several teachers and social scientists say.
French President Jacques Chirac has announced that parliament will pass a law within the next few months banning students from wearing prominent religious symbols to school.
Chirac said the law would ban “all noticeable religious symbols.” He named specifically “the Muslim headscarf, big crucifixes and the Jewish kippa.” The Sikh turban would also be banned.
Three teachers unions said such a law would “stigmatize a part of the French population.”
Small religious signs such as a David star or a picture of the hand of Fatima (Prophet Muhammad’s daughter) which cannot be seen an effort to proselytize would be permitted, Chirac said.
“The proposed law doesn’t help teachers confronting conflicts in schools,” said Gerard Aschieri, leader of the United Unions Federation (FSU, after its French name).
French legislation already guarantees the neutrality of the state towards religion, Aschieri said. “School must a laboratory of democracy, and not a place for prohibitions directed against one sector of society.”
The debate over the headscarf has been around for years. It arose first in 1989 when two girls wore them to school. The state council, equivalent to a constitution court, ruled then that girls could wear the headscarf so long as they did not try to convert others.
The controversy came to a head in September this year after two girls were expelled from a public school for wearing Muslim headscarves and tunics to class.
Several French intellectuals support the ban. “Since the revolution of 1789 France has defined itself as a centralized state where all citizens must respect equality, and relegate their ethnic origin or religious conviction to a private plane,” Hélène Miard-Delacroix, professor of political science at the University of Sorbonne told IPS.
“The French debate on state neutrality towards religion, on the unity of the republic, and on the rejection of ethnic identity of citizens is unique in the world,” she added.
“Our epoch is one of ethnic tribes, of identity clans, of creeds and beliefs,” a group of professors wrote in Le Monde. “God has unfortunately come back. In France 2003, each community is withdrawing into itself.”
Attempts at integration of immigrants have failed, the group said. “The youth emerging from immigration has been waiting too long for our nation to fulfil their dreams of social emancipation, promotion by education and employment, and easy access to housing, culture, and leisure.”
Religion has “grabbed the chance to become an alternative,” they said. “Disappointed hopes encourage dogmas and creeds. Religion is again the new opiate of our outskirts.”
Emile Poulat, researcher at the High School for Social Studies in Paris says debates on religious symbols in schools and other public buildings are nothing new. “A judicial ban has never helped overcome such conflicts,” Poulat said.. “If a law forbidding the Muslim headscarf in schools is actually passed, it will soon become obsolete because youth creativity will find ways to circumvent it.”
This debate is like the controversy over mini-skirts more than 30 years ago, Poulat said. “That debate appears ridiculous now in our eyes. In a few years the present controversy will appear anachronistic too.”
In his argument to support the ban, Chirac said that “our battle for the values of the French republic is also that for women’s rights and their equality with men.” Some experts call this sudden discovery of women’s rights through the debate on the headscarf dishonest.
“In this debate we have learnt that men are concerned about women’s rights, finally,” said Nicole Savy, vice-president of the French League of Human Rights.
Several Muslim leaders called on the Arab community to react “with wisdom” to the new law. “French laws are our laws,” said Dalil Boubakeur, leader of the Muslim community in Paris. “Our community must face this new situation with serenity and calm.”
But many immigrants of Arab origin accuse the government of setting them aside. “The government cannot solve economic and social problems, but it’s engaged in passing laws to ban headscarves,” said a barman at a café popular among Algerian immigrants.
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