“We have received the news of banning Hijab in schools and universities in France with great enthusiasm and pleasure.”
Nadia Mahmood of the Worker Communist Party of Iraq / Organisation of Women’s Freedom in Iraq writes to the French prime minister applauding the decision to ban the Islamic headscarf in schools.
Laurent Levy, a Paris lawyer who describes himself as an atheist, has become a champion for the freedom of religious expression since Lila, 18, and Alma, 16, were barred from their lycée in the northern suburb of Aubervilliers.
The girls – whose mother is a non-observant Algerian – were told the manner in which they wore the headscarf was “ostentatious” and unsuitable for sports lessons. The school authorities also accused them of taking part in a demonstration in their defence by around a hundred fellow students.
See also BBC News, 1 October 2003
“This fake Islamic hijab is nothing but a political prop, a weapon of visual terrorism. It is the symbol of a totalitarian ideology inspired more by Nazism and Communism than by Islam…. It is used as a means of exerting pressure on Muslim women who do not wear it because they do not share the sick ideology behind it. It is a sign of support for extremists who wish to impose their creed, first on Muslims, and then on the world through psychological pressure, violence, terror, and, ultimately, war.”
Right-wing Iranian exile Amir Taheri commenting on the French hijab ban in the New York Post, 15 August 2003.
Reproduced on the website of the US neocon consultancy Benador Associates.
Muslim leaders in Swansea are investigating a claim that a woman ripped a headscarf from a Muslim schoolgirl amid claims that a mosque in the city has been stoned and death threats received.
Political and religious leaders in Wales have issued calls for restraint amid concerns that Muslims could become targets for racial attacks following the terrorist attacks in the US.
South Wales Police have refused to confirm or deny that the incidents have been reported to them. However, on Tuesday the force issued a statement which said it is recording an increase in the number of racial attacks.
Omar Williams, who runs a social welfare group in Swansea, said he was investigating claims Muslim pupils in the city have been abused. It is alleged an adult tore off a Muslim girl’s headscarf in one incident and Kayfer has referred the incident to the police.
Muslims have also received malicious telephone calls and windows and mosques have been vandalised.