French Head Scarf Ban On The Way

A bill to ban Islamic head scarves and other "conspicuous" religious symbols in public schools passed France's lower house of parliament by a wide margin Tuesday, with the opposition Socialists throwing their weight behind the government.

The bill now goes to the Senate, where little opposition is expected, in early March. Its implementation is expected for the 2004-2005 school year that starts in September.

Now comes the hard part: sorting out the inevitable confusion that will stem from a law that does not specifically state what is illegal to wear to school.

A circular, written by Education Minister Luc Ferry, is to be distributed to schools around the country spelling out how to apply the planned law.

Ferry said on Europe-1 radio that he would be meeting with all religious and cultural communities concerned by the measure before drawing up instructions.

It all started because dozens of Muslim schoolgirls defied regulations and wore headscarves to class, reports CBS News Correspondent Elaine Cobbe. Many were suspended.

The Muslim headscarf is not singled out in the bill — it would ban all conspicuous religious symbols — but there's no doubt in France that that's what this is about, Cobbe says.

France has the highest Muslim population in Europe — 5 million — and hardline fundamentalists are gaining ground, Cobbe says. Many proponents of the bill fear Muslim girls who flouted school regulations banning headscarves were being used by these radicals.

The case of an 11-year-old girl of Turkish origin expelled last fall from her school in Thann, in eastern France, for refusing to remove her head scarf underscores the kind of confusion that some fear will reign. The girl, identified only as Hilal, is returning to class this week in another school — wearing a bandana, according to Board of Education officials in the Haut-Rhin region.

The head of the Socialist group in the Assembly, Jean-Marc Ayrault, announced hours before the ballot that Socialist lawmakers would vote "quasi-unanimously" in favor of the bill.

French leaders hope the law will quiet a debate over head scarves that has divided France since 1989, when two head-scarfed young girls were expelled from their school in Creil, outside Paris. Scores more have been expelled since then.

The government argues that the law is needed to protect France's secular traditions and to ward off rising Islamic fundamentalism. But critics of the legislation fear it play into radicals' hands.

"The majority of Muslims want to practice their religion in peace and in total respect of the laws," said Lhaj-Thami Breze, president of the Union of Islamic Organizations of France, France's biggest fundamentalist grouping.

"When you persecute, when you make fun of, when you refuse, when you don't respect beliefs, what is the consequence?" he said in a telephone interview. "The consequence is radicalization."

The ban on "conspicuous" religious symbols would start in the new school year in September and include Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses. However, it is aimed at the Islamic head scarf.

Sanctions for refusing to remove conspicuous religious signs would range from a warning to temporary suspension to expulsion from school.

An independent French delegation has appealed to the United Nations committee for children's rights to step in, claiming it goes against international conventions on freedom of expression, reports Cobbe

Sociologist Farhad Khosrokhavar says the law will be "the beginning of the problem."

Just 20 percent of France's estimated 5 million Muslims are "religiously minded," he said in an interview with Associated Press Television News.

"But even those who do not wear the head scarf will feel offended. ... Instead of fighting against Islamic radicalism, it might encourage it," said Khosrokhavar, author of "The Head Scarf and the Republic."

He also pointed to a potential problem that has irked the Socialists: What is "conspicuous?"

"'Conspicuous' is a matter of interpretation," Khosrokhavar said.

In search of a wide victory margin, the UMP agreed Thursday to a last-minute amendment by the Socialists allowing for an evaluation of the law's language a year after it takes effect — and replacing "conspicuous" symbols with "visible" symbols if need be.

The governing party also added an amendment to ensure that dialogue precedes any sanction — another Socialist suggestion.