French headscarf ban set to misfire

By CATHERINE FIELD, Herald correspondent

PARIS - Plans for a law that would ban the Muslim headscarf from France's state schools head for Parliament today, amid a growing realisation that the bill may have accidentally strengthened the support for Islamic radicals and far-right xenophobes that it was supposed to undercut.

President Jacques Chirac proposed the law on December 17 in a bid to defend France's secular system from being eroded by religious fundamentalists.

The bill will ban the wearing in state schools - but not private schools - of clothes or symbols that "conspicuously demonstrate religious affiliations" although "discreet symbols" will be permitted.

Lauded at the time by France's left wing and feminist movement, Chirac's move has run into a mire of problems, drawing criticism from Muslims at home and abroad, with many saying the law is simply impracticable.

Today it will be the turn of the National Assembly to grasp the nettle and there could be a turbulent debate, given the way the bill has been fumbled by the Government.

Chirac and Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin have gone out of their way to insist the law is not aimed specifically at Islam, but simply at enshrining "the laws and principles" of the secular republic, which protects religious freedom but does not permit the promotion of religion in its schools or offices.

Despite these assertions, everyone is aware that the target is the "hijab", the headscarf worn by many Muslim women. The bill was born out of the refusal last year of two Muslim girls to take off their headscarf in school, for which they were suspended.

The issue has been seized upon by fundamentalists, both among France's five million minority and in the Middle East, where the bill is seen as an insult towards Islam.

A demonstration was held in Paris and other cities, gathering around 20,000 people - not a large number by French standards, but enough to gain big media coverage.

"Up until now, my Muslim pals laughed about the bill, but not now. They think it's an attack on Islam, and they want to do something about it," said Jeremy, a 16-year-old pupil at a school in the tough northern Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis.

But Christians, Jews and other faiths are also worried about how the law will be interpreted. The Jewish skullcap is likely to be outlawed, but not small Stars of David. A small crucifix would be permitted, but not a large one, although no one is saying what size that would be.

That the law could turn out to be absurd was made clear last week by none other than Education Minister Luc Ferry, a philosopher and newcomer to politics.

He suggested beards could also be banned from schools, because they have become associated with Islamic radicals, and that girls might try to circumvent the law by using bandanas to cover their heads.

As for France's 7000 Sikhs, he said their turbans could be kept on at school provided they were "invisible", which is interpreted to mean the boys will have to wear hairnets.

"Things in schools could become surreal," said Jean-Yves Souben, headmaster of the Garcia-Llorca high school, north of Paris. "I have a beard, like half the male teachers in the French education system!

"Does this mean we will now have to ban T-shirts with Che [Guevara] on them, as well as Rastafarian scarfs, Palestinian keffiehs? That we should stop serving school meals with pork?

"After all, if you refuse to eat a meal with pork, that could be construed as a sign of religious affiliation."

France's secular tradition - shared in this respect by the United States and other countries - goes back to the anti-clericalism that helped drive the 1789 revolution.

Secularism has always been strongly supported by the left, and its most ardent champions these days are feminists.

For them, the headscarf is not a religious symbol but a token of male oppression and sexual stigmatisation. They believe a law banning it from schools could give some girls from oppressive religious backgrounds a vital taste of freedom.

On the other side of the spectrum, the far-right xenophobic National Front is exulting at the Government's discomfort and the headline-catching agitation of the Islamic radicals, seeing the potential for gains in regional elections in March and the June European Parliament elections.

"Secularism is no longer a principle but a battlefield," the weekly L'Express said.

The Government faced "a pincer movement" from an alliance of France's Islamic fundamentalists and the far-right.

One, it said, sought to "stir up trouble in the streets" while the other had "electoral goals".