France took a decisive step on Tuesday toward banning Islamic head scarves from public schools, with lawmakers overwhelmingly backing the government's drive to preserve French secularism from Islamic fundamentalism.
Legislators voted by a massive 494 to 36 margin to approve the controversial restriction on head scarves and other religious apparel -- despite protests and criticism from around the world that the measure infringes on religious freedom.
The legislation now goes to the Senate, where little opposition is anticipated, in early March. It is expected to be implemented for the 2004 to 2005 school year that starts in September.
The bill got far more than the 288 votes needed to pass in the 577-seat National Assembly -- a measure of its popularity within France, demonstrated repeatedly in public opinion polls.
"The Republic and secularism are strengthened," said Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, hailing "the magnitude of this vote."
French leaders hope a law will quell debate over head scarves that has divided France since 1989, when two young girls were expelled from their school in Creil, outside Paris, for wearing the head coverings. Scores more have been expelled since then.
"This law will help us to say to the Muslims, to the young ... that `You must also mobilize, and say what type of Islam you want within the Republic,'" said Communist lawmaker Andre Gerin.
The bill stipulates that "in schools, junior high schools and high schools, signs and dress that conspicuously show the religious affiliation of students are forbidden." It would not apply to students in private schools or to French schools in other countries.
The legislation does not spell out what apparel would be banned, but it targets Islamic head scarves, as well as Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses.
Sanctions for refusing to remove offending apparel would range from a warning to temporary suspension to expulsion.
The government argues that a law is needed to protect France's secular traditions and to ward off rising Islamic fundamentalism.
"This law is for us indispensable," said Martine David, a Socialist lawmaker. Teachers "need a clear judicial framework."
Parliament's majority party, President Jacques Chirac's Union for a Popular Movement, agreed Thursday to a last-minute amendment by the Socialists that calls for a re-evaluation of the law a year after it takes effect.
Lawmakers want the option, if necessary, of being able to alter the bill's language if it proves to be vague, ambiguous or too difficult to apply. The governing UMP party also added an amendment to ensure that mediation takes place before any sanctions are imposed -- another Socialist suggestion that helped the bill sail through with its enormous margin of victory.
France has been widely condemned in the Arab and Muslim world for the proposed ban. Thousands of angry protesters from Beirut to Baghdad have held street demonstrations.
Even non-Muslims entered the debate -- many on the side of opponents. Lord Greville Janner, vice president of the World Jewish Congress, said the parliament vote was "a sad decision."
"In a multicultural society, citizens should be free to wear whatever appropriate religious symbols they wish," he said in a statement.
The issue has also proven sharply divisive among Muslims in France -- at 5 million, Western Europe's largest Muslim community. Some believe that banning head scarves will become a method to exclude Muslim girls from public schools and further ostracize their community.
"This is not a good idea," said Abdelhak Cherid, 24, smoking a cigarette in the street with his friends, outside a Muslim grocery store in Paris. "It's going to cause problems -- serious problems.
"This law is going to create anti-Muslim sentiment, and anti-French sentiment. No good will come of it," he said.
But other Muslims here believe the key to successful integration is to live the values of their adopted land.
"I arrived in France and adapted to this country," said 65-year-old Telly Naar, who came from Morocco 40 years ago. "Everyone should be able to practice religion at home. If one wants to wear the head scarf outside, fine, but not inside a school that is secular."
Some said the debate on the issue exposed the danger of Islamic fundamentalism and will help roll back radicalism.
"Until now families were alone in fighting fundamentalists, often in the shadows, and at danger to their safety," said Hanifa Cherifi, a mediator for the national education system on the head-scarf issue.
The debate "lifted the veil on fundamentalist thinking, which is taking a population hostage," she told parliamentary TV.
SUPPORT: Elon Musk’s backing for the far-right AfD is also an implicit rebuke of center-right Christian Democratic Union leader Friedrich Merz, who is leading polls German Chancellor Olaf Scholz took a swipe at Elon Musk over his political judgement, escalating a spat between the German government and the world’s richest person. Scholz, speaking to reporters in Berlin on Friday, was asked about a post Musk made on his X platform earlier the same day asserting that only the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party “can save Germany.” “We have freedom of speech, and that also applies to multi-billionaires,” Scholz said alongside Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal. “But freedom of speech also means that you can say things that are not right and do not contain
Two US Navy pilots were shot down yesterday over the Red Sea in an apparent “friendly fire” incident, the US military said, marking the most serious incident to threaten troops in over a year of US targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Both pilots were recovered alive after ejecting from their stricken aircraft, with one sustaining minor injuries. However, the shootdown underlines just how dangerous the Red Sea corridor has become over the ongoing attacks on shipping by the Iranian-backed Houthis despite US and European military coalitions patrolling the area. The US military had conducted airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels at the
Pulled from the mud as an infant after the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 and reunited with his parents following an emotional court battle, the boy once known as “Baby 81” is now a 20-year-old dreaming of higher education. Jayarasa Abilash’s story symbolized that of the families torn apart by one of the worst natural calamities in modern history, but it also offered hope. More than 35,000 people in Sri Lanka were killed, with others missing. The two-month-old was washed away by the tsunami in eastern Sri Lanka and found some distance from home by rescuers. At the hospital, he was
MILITANTS TARGETED: The US said its forces had killed an IS leader in Deir Ezzor, as it increased its activities in the region following al-Assad’s overthrow Washington is scrapping a long-standing reward for the arrest of Syria’s new leader, a senior US diplomat said on Friday following “positive messages” from a first meeting that included a promise to fight terrorism. Barbara Leaf, Washington’s top diplomat for the Middle East, made the comments after her meeting with Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus — the first formal mission to Syria’s capital by US diplomats since the early days of Syria’s civil war. The lightning offensive that toppled former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad on Dec. 8 was led by the Muslim Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is rooted in al-Qaeda’s
RSS