A Veiled Threat

With the massive migration of Muslims to France, particularly since the 1960s from former French colonies, the question of conspicuous religious symbolism has risen from limited popular concern to statutory ban. The controversy began in 1989 and accelerated into the 1990s as young Muslim girls carried their traditional head-coverings – usually the hajib or headscarf – into French public classrooms as sign of modesty and piety… and faced schools and school districts that occasionally banned such clothing, often articulating a difference between “discreet” religious symbols (like wearing a cross of the Star of David on a necklace) and “ostentatious” religious clothing (like the hajib). When students were expelled, courts usually restored the students’ status.

But emotion over the subject continued to accelerate, and many French citizens felt betrayed by a seeming failure by second generation daughters of Muslim émigrés to assimilate into what the French believe is their special secular and egalitarian culture, a segment of society seemingly more defined by their separateness than by their French citizenship. The word used – which means more than mere secularism to the French – is “laïcité;” it combines a notion of separation of church and state that extends beyond governmental actions into the actions of the people. Born out of a resentment of the ostentatious wealth of the French clergy, this cultural notion of laïcité was clearly embedded into the French consciousness in the establishment of the modern French Republic in 1789.

There were additional arguments in support of a total ban on such religious dress: “According to numerous feminist groups, as well as some human rights advocacy groups, wearing the scarf symbolizes a woman's submission to men. It is believed that permitting the veil in schools risks opening the door to other practices that exist in the Muslim world, and which pose even more of a handicap for women…^. It is often rejected that forbidding the hijab would limit freedom. Rather, it is argued that the hijab is not a free choice, but a result of social pressures (i.e., if a law does not forbid the practice of wearing the hijab, social pressure may render it obligatory).” Wikipedia. Many simply felt an undercurrent of anti-Islamism and abhorrent racism was the true driving force. Muslim women who chose the veil of their own volition spoke out, claiming the ban was a violation of their religious rights.

Whatever the arguments, the statute banning such dress moved forward: “In December 2003, President Jacques Chirac decided that a law should explicitly forbid any visible sign of religious affiliation, in the spirit of laïcité. The secularity law, sometimes referred to as ‘the veil law,’ was voted in by the French parliament in March 2004. It forbids the wearing of any ‘ostentatious’ religious articles, including the Islamic veil, the Jewish kippa, and large Christian crosses. The law permits discreet signs of faith, such as small crosses, Stars of David, and hands of Fatima. This parallels laws in Muslim countries such as Indonesia and Turkey, which also ban the Islamic veil in their public schools… In [September of] 2010, a public debate arose and France passed a law that bans the wearing of burqas, niqābs and other full-face covering in public. The law was constitutionally cleared so that it will come into force in April 2011. That debate and ban are separate from the above-discussed debate on the hijab in public schools, in that it pertains to full-face veils only but applies to all citizens in public spaces.” Wikipedia. Hoteliers fumed. Owners of pricey shops, where covered Muslim women spent fortunes on exceptionally expensive French fashions, freaked out. The ban was applicable to everyone, visitors and residents alike.

And the consequences can be quite serious… if the law is enforceable: “The measure … punishes those who defy the law with a fine of euro150 or a citizenship course or both. Anyone discovered forcing a woman to cover her face risks a year in prison and a euro30,000 fine - doubled if the veiled person is a minor… Authorities estimate at most 2,000 women in France wear the outlawed garment. But for each of them removing the filmy cloth would be an exceptional act.” AOLNews.com (April 4^th). April 11^th… is just around the corner.

I’m Peter Dekom, and it’s clear that such a law would not pass constitutional scrutiny in the United States.