yamen@cae.wisc.edu (06/02/90)
Selamun Aleykum,
The article below is a bit lengthy but I think it worths to spend time
Regards,
Soner Yamen yamen@cae.wisc.edu
Vive la Hijab?
-by Pamela Taylor
At first glance it seems incredible: Three high school girls kicked
out of class for nothing more than covering their heads, and in
France, a country whose national motto is "Liberty, Equality and
Brotherhood".
Yet since early October, the French have been embroiled in a bitter
debate over this issue. Splitting the leading political party and
dividing Muslims, the issue has expanded from an isolated incident
into a national phenomenon.
Fatima and Leila Achaboun, sisters, and Samira Saidani were excluded
from class at their school in Creil [just outside Paris] in the
beginning of the fall term 1989. The principal claimed that the scarves
violated the French laws mandating separation of State and Church.
Teachers at the school supported the principal, stating that the
scarves offended their sensibilities. The girls, obeying Islamic
laws, refused to uncover their heads in front of male teachers and
students.
Their issue was quickly taken up by the French equivalent to the
NAACP, SOS-Racisme, who defended their right to practice their
religion as they saw fit. The National Minister of Education then
became involved, stating that public schools should be places that
wellcome all students, all differences.
An initial "compromise" was reached between the school authoraties
and local Muslim acssociations: The girls would be allowed to wear
the scarves in the hallways and during free periods, but once in
class, the scarves would have to be lowered to the shulders. Fatima
and Leila reluctantly agreed to this after a local imam told them
that if forced there was no sin in abandoning hijab. Samira, who
is slightly older, refused to accept the accord.
On the first day back to school, the principal took them to class
and announced their return, asking the students to applaud them
as they took off their scarves. The girls covered their faces in
shame, and soon both rejoined Samira in maintaining their right to
practice Islam in public school. A chain reaction started. Girls
across France were being dismissed from their classes because they
wore scarves, even though some had been wearing them for years without
any comment from the school authorities. Others started wearing hijab
either in protest or to exercise their rights.
Within a month, more government officials became involved. The
president's wife came out in support of the girls, saying that "We
must accept the customs of others as they are." Others, however,
supported the principal, declaring that secularism had to be protected
and that is "absolutely unacceptable that our colleges and schools
become places of confrontation between beliefs." Religious liders
from the Catholic, Protestant and Jewish faiths rallied behind the
girls, stating that everyone has the right to practice their own
religion. There were demonstrations in Paris supporting the muslim
girls and the National Federation of Muslims upheld their view that
there could be no compromise.
Ironically, however, the "Imam" of the Paris Mosque criticized them.
While he supported the girls' right to practice as they saw fit, he
claimed that their motives were only to distinguish themselves, "not
from religious conviction but as reactions" against the too liberal
French society. He further stated that hijab is only recommended,
and that in the interest of integration, it could be abandoned.
[interesting!]
[...]
In early November, the State Council was finally consulted. They
announced that wearing hijab to school is not contrary to French's
laws on secularism and that students cannot be excluded from class
on the basis of their covering. Just before winter break, the girls
returned to school with the expectation of being accepted, but
despite the ruling of the State Council they were still excluded,
since the teachers voted unanimously to continue the ban against
scarves in school.
At last the National Federation for Education called for new laws
to dead with the situation. According to one estimate 95% of the
government officials would abide by the decision of the State Council.
[...] After the winter break, Fatima and Leila returned to class,
even though they were not able to wear their scarves anymore
[pragmatism?]. They felt the lost in education was severe enough
that they have little choice but to give in. Samira, however, was
still holding out, hoping for a miracle from Allah.
While it is not clear if there is a direct connection, two school
girls in Britain were excluded from their private girls school in
Manchester at the beginning of the spring term, expanding this to
an international issue.
[...]
The school of Creil has 800 students. 550 are muslim and 3 wear hijab.
The fact that the Imam of the Paris Mosque condemned both the girls
and the demonstrators shows a serious divide in the muslim community.
Feminist assoc. of N. African immigrants campaigned against allowing
the girls to wear hijab in school.
Secondly , anti-Islamic sentiment runs high in France. Partially due
to terrorist attacks -which are fully un-Islamic- on French soil and
racist condensation to N. Africans who were colonized by French, the
French seem to want nothing to do with Islam in France. [The same
applies to Turks in French also]
The consevative wing of the Socialist Party [ conservative socialist,
what do you mean?] also gained power during the months that this issue
captured the headlines, campaigning on an anti-Islam platform. An early
poll showed 48% of the French agreed with the principal. But two months
later, 83% of the French people in one poll were against hijab and 50%
said "they feared Islam". Many feel that Islam is retrogressive and
that hijab is a symbol "of the submissions". Yet others claim that
scarves are "not just a religious symbol, but a symbol of violence.
[This time French follow Turks :-)]
School autharities have no problem with Jews wearing "yarmulkes" or
Christians wearing crosses. [...] Furthermore, Pakistani girls are
allowed to wear their traditional dress, simply because it is
"traditional", rather than "religious".
[...]
Almost always hijab was portrayed as oppressive. Furthermore, although
initial articles described the girls as wearing a scarf tied under their
chin, and pictures show them dressed in French styles with the scarves
added, the newspapers often referred to them wearing chadors or veils,
and cartoons showed fat women swathed in black from head to toe, faces
covered. This kind of misleading is subtle, and fuels fears of "the
other" and incompatibility with French identity that is so prevalent
in France. [ Most of the muslims in France are N. African origin]
But perhaps the worst instances of coverage were the descriptions of
the girls' behaviour. One article began:
"Fatima, Leila, and Samira, the three young muslims temporarily
excluded from class because they refuse to keep their heads
uncovered during class, have reaffirmed, with a violence [!] that
petrified their interlocutor, their ferocious and total attachment
to Islam, their unshakable will to continue to wear, despite all
pressures, the symbol of their fidelity".
They were nearly always depicted as intransigent and unwilling to
compromise, and the principal was devoted, working long hours to
reach some solution. [What is the solvent?]
-Pamela Taylormgross@halibut.nosc.mil (Michelle K. Gross) (06/09/90)
The news item about French schoolgirls being barred from attendance while wearing headcoverings is upsetting. Even the conciliatory answer of the Moslem leader in Paris is disturbing--he criticizes the girls' motivations and permits them to have their heads uncovered. Given that other groups are permitted to wear their own religious garb, one can only surmise that this is either an anti-Moslem, anti-foreign, or anti-newest-foreigner move. Or perhaps, the French have fashion complaints about scarves.... Traditional Jewish women have a similar problem: they are looked askance for wearing a scarf in public. They often wear wigs or berets, instead. Although the Rabbis permit such head-coverings, their use is ironic--the modest covering is replaced by a covering more attractive than the woman's own hair. Another thought--would the French permit women to wear the head-coverings of nuns in a public ? Would such coverings meet Moslem requirements? mgross@nosc.mil