Posted on 03/15/2005 5:00:21 PM PST by Pikamax
France Says Anti-Veil Law Success, Muslims Complain Tue Mar 15, 2005 11:55 AM ET
By Tom Heneghan PARIS (Reuters) - A senior official declared France's law against Muslim headscarves in schools a success on Tuesday, one year after the bill was passed, while a pro-veil group said the new line had claimed what it called 806 victims.
Hanifa Cherifi, inspector general at the Education Ministry, said the law had eased tensions at state schools and reconfirmed the separation of church and state as an essential rule.
After the stormy debate over the law, France now understood its Muslim population better and was more able to distinguish between radicals and moderates, she said.
"In terms of the numbers, the result is quite positive," Cherifi told Radio France Internationale. "Beyond that, the general atmosphere is quite positive and satisfactory for all, both the schools and the pupils. We are quite pleased."
"Remember what it was like before this law. For the past 15 years, we had permanent tensions, sessions in administrative courts, headlines that gave France a terrible image."
The March 15 Freedom Committee, a Muslim group supporting schoolgirls who defied the law, said in a report that 806 pupils had been what it called "victims" of the new policy.
It said 47 had been expelled from school and 533 agreed under pressure to shed their headscarves and were now "in a deplorable psychological state," said the report cited in the daily Le Monde.
To continue wearing their headscarves, others had dropped out of school, switched to correspondence courses or moved to countries such as Britain, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and Turkey where they are not banned in schools, it said.
SEPARATING RADICALS FROM MODERATES
France passed the law last March and applied it at the reopening of school in September to check what teachers said was the growing influence of radical Islamic groups among disaffected Muslim youths.
Some Islamic groups opposed the law, which includes Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses but was mainly aimed at Muslim headscarves, but kept quiet when it was applied last September as a sign of support for two French hostages in Iraq.
Cherifi questioned the committee's figures and cited Education Ministry statistics showing that 639 pupils -- "and not just veiled young girls," she said -- came to state schools last September wearing banned clothing.
Education Minister Francois Fillon said in January that 48 pupils had been banned for wearing religious symbols, including three Sikh boys who refused to remove their turbans.
Cherifi said reaffirming the official separation of church and state, which Muslim activists have criticized as too strict, had helped France get through the latest headscarf controversy.
"I have 15 years of experience with the headscarf issue and we have had tenser periods than this," she said.
Contrary to warnings the Muslims would revolt if headscarves were banned, most have accepted the policy, she said, adding: "We have a more realistic view of this population now. We can identify the radical currents and the moderate currents."
ha ha ha its not over. the muslims will wait until they are stronger
Muslim women wear scarves in honor of the virgin Mary.
I personally side with the Muslims on this one.
Not to mention the smell.
Me too. Only in France would there be a brouhaha over headgear.
I agree with bahblahbah. I have to side with the Muslims. These women have a right to wear their scarves. What if France outlawed yamukkas or crosses? Everyone has a right to express their religion within reason.
This isn't about a Hijab, it's about a scarf. And Muslim women wear scarves in honor of the virgin Mary.
Thats the problems with religous symbols. People eventually end up worshipping those symbols.
Good for France. It's nice to see them hold firm.
Anti-Veil Law Success, Muslims Complain
Now that's a success!
It did.
Some Islamic groups opposed the law, which includes Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses
France is out of control.
Me too. It seems a reasonable accomodation to allow a simple headscarf for religious reasons. A burkha on the other hand would be unreasonable and a real distraction.
'Xactly!
You can believe whatever you want to believe. But Islamic women wear scarves in honor of the Virgin Mary, and that's a fact.
"I personally side with the Muslims on this one."
Not me....if Muslims were as tolerant towards non Muslims as non Muslims are towards Muslims then I'd side with them.
Tongue twister going
You got em pegged. They are every bit as destructive as their men.
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