Waving the French flag, or wearing the Tricolor as a head scarf, thousands of Muslim women marched through Paris on Saturday -- the center of a worldwide protest against France's plan to ban head scarves from public schools.
Police said up to 10,000 people took part in the peaceful Paris march, while several thousand others protested in a half-dozen cities around France.
From Baghdad to Beirut to London and Stockholm, nearly as many Muslim women as men marched to condemn the law as an attack on religious freedom. Even in the West Bank city of Nablus and in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir, women mobilized to show solidarity with French Muslims.
"Where is France? Where is tolerance?" the crowd chanted during the four-hour march through the French capital.
"The veil is my choice," a group of women chanted.
Protesters, from small girls to women, formed a sea of color in fanciful scarves of all sizes. Bearded men, some in long robes, also joined in the Paris march. A small group at one point set out a prayer mat and prayed.
"Faith is not conspicuous," said one of hundreds of banners held aloft.
A bill to go before French lawmakers next month forbids "conspicuous" religious signs, from Islamic head scarves to Jewish skull caps and large Christian crosses, in public schools. Easy passage is expected and the law is to become applicable with the new school year in September.
French President Jacques Chirac says the aim is to protect the principle of secularism that anchors life in France. However, it also is seen as a way to hold back the swell of Islamic fundamentalism in France's Muslim community -- the largest in Western Europe at an estimated 5 million.
Protesters pleaded otherwise. "Neither Fundamentalist nor Terrorist but Peaceful Citizen," read one sign.
Critics of the law claim it will stigmatize France's Muslims who have yet to become fully integrated into the social fabric. French authorities contend the principle of secularism is meant to make everybody equal.
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