France may ban Muslim scarf in school

Reuters | 5/04/03

[kattracks]

PARIS (Reuters) - French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, faced with a rise in radical Islam in schools, has said his government could act to give teachers formal legal power to expel students who flaunt their religion.

The wearing of the traditional Muslim headscarf, in particular, triggers heated debate in France, a secular state with a Roman Catholic majority. A survey last week suggested that over a third of people think Muslim women should be barred from wearing headscarves, not only in state institutions but in any public place.

In comments likely to fuel the debate, Raffarin said teachers would take a hard line with pupils who display religious allegiance in school in defiance of France's secular tradition.

"It must be stated clearly that secular values must be respected," Raffarin told Europe 1 radio in an interview broadcast on Sunday ahead of his first anniversary in power.

"The teacher, the school principal or the university rector must have the power to act against these people to force them to obey the rules, or even expel them. But I think secular values should be strong enough not to need a law to be respected. If necessary, there will be a law," he said.

The government fears that Islamic activism in schools may be feeding into a rise in anti-Semitism fuelled by opposition to Israel's handling of the Palestinian uprising.

One 10-year-old boy had to leave his school in Paris recently after his mostly Muslim classmates taunted and bullied him on learning he was Jewish.

Raffarin had sought to play down the controversy about headscarves at a meeting of France's newly elected national Muslim council on Saturday, saying he did not want to "trigger a pointless conflict".

[Leroy S. Mort]

A survey last week suggested that over a third of people think Muslim women should be barred from wearing headscarves, not only in state institutions but in any public place.

While they're at it, could they ban those gay looking berets, too? Please? (and mimes, too)

[muawiyah]

Frenchmen have this problem with ladies wearing headscarves.

There's absolutely nothing in this dispute of a religious nature and the Frenchmen would be complaining just as vigorously if these girls belonged to Church of the Nazarene, or were Russian Orthodox peasants from the furthest reaches of the Tsar's domain.

[battlegearboat]

Sans Coulottes!

[Captain Shady]

In American public schools, school administration usually frowns on all Confederate gear.

[Chipata]

"It must be stated clearly that secular values must be respected,"

Ah yes, the same wonderful, revolutionary, secular values that made the majority of Frenchmen and Frenchwomen sell out the Allies, collaborate with the Nazis, and murder 100,000 Jewish citizens.

Liberté, égalité, fraternité? Merde.

[expatguy]

Islam has for the most part already invaded France unabated. It is really too late to do anything at this point.

[FreedomPoster]

Charles Martel wouldn't have thought so.

[ThanhPhero]

What they are not taking into account is that the Moslems will hold their kids out of the public schools in even higher numbers than they do now in favor of Moslem jihad academies .

[tkathy]

It could be the best thing to happen to these little girls.

[johniegrad]

The government fears that Islamic activism in schools may be feeding into a rise in anti-Semitism fuelled by opposition to Israel's handling of the Palestinian uprising

C'mon now. This is France after all. Wouldn't it be more acceptable there to simply kill all the Jews?

[LadyDoc]

France: Nude beaches but no headscarfs.

Do schools have uniforms there?

And if they stop headscarfs, does that mean Sikks can't wear turbans or orthodox Jews yamulkas?

[Imagine]

What happens when the Islam population reaches a voting majority -- then we have a musulim country with nuclear weapons. Hmmm....

[Michael81Dus]

We already have: Pakistan!

[Michael81Dus]

No, France has not school uniforms.

And I´m glad that headscarfs for Muslim teachers (generally state employees) is illegal in Germany - I´m sure it is in France too.

[skinkinthegrass]

Have They (the french) surrender YET?

[mathluv]

It is never too late. But it may call for more strength than the french have shown they are capable of producing.

[ODDITHER]

Yesterday, we went out to eat. We were seated next to an Arab couple and their five children. The only way to describe it was surreal. The daughter who had reached the age of 12 and the mother, wore the long scarf that covered their body except for their eyes. The father wore a baseball cap, jeans and sandals.

The younger children wore all of the latest kids fashions. Tee shirts, sneakers that light up when they walked. The son that was 12, wore the pantloons, and baggy shirt.

The other daughter under her scarf wore sneakers, jeans and a tee-shirt. You could see them because she was having a devil of a time, keeping it in place while she got up to get her father and brothers and sisters more food from the buffet.

The mother, would completely cover her face while in the buffet line and then uncover it when she got back to the table. So many men could see her face as they past the table, but couldn't see it while in the buffet line. I am sure more men stared because of the scarf, than would have even noticed her without it.

The mix of cultures, seemed to blend and clash at the same time. I imagine that in school it does the same thing.

[winner3000]

"It must be stated clearly that secular values must be respected"

Muslims are about to bang against France's true religion: secularism.

[Grand Old Partisan]

France today has 350 nuclear weapons, which will be under Franquistani control in about 20 years.