The Change Mariner

Ban on Religious Apparel Advances in France

New York Times:

An overwhelming majority of France's National Assembly voted Tuesday to ban religious emblems in state schools, a measure Paris wants to keep tensions between Muslim and Jewish minorities out of public classrooms.

Deputies voted 494 to 36 to ban Muslim headscarves, Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses from state schools and threaten pupils who insisted on wearing them with expulsion.

The government insists the ban does not single out any religion, but cabinet ministers admit its main targets are the Islamic headscarves and anti-Semitic remarks from Muslim pupils that teachers say have become more frequent in recent years.

"What is at issue here is the clear affirmation that public school is a place for learning and not for militant activity or proselytism,'' Assembly Speaker Jean-Louis Debre said.

Posted by Timothy Fredel at February 10, 2004 11:10 PM | TrackBack
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