School scarf ban passes first test

France’s new law banning Islamic headscarves in schools apparently passed its first test today, the start of the school year.

There were no major incidents and only a few known cases of girls refusing to comply.

A hostage crisis in Iraq raised the stakes, with Islamic radicals holding two French journalists and threatening to execute them unless the scarf ban is scrapped.

Mohammed Bechari, a vice president of the French Council for the Muslim Faith, urged calm.

“The hostage-takers are just waiting for a provocation,” he said Bechari said before departing for Iraq with a delegation of French Muslim leaders to help in the hostage crisis. “We must be responsible.”

After talks with leading Muslims in Baghdad. Bichari said: “We have received proof that they are alive and well. We are optimistic and confident they will be released soon.”

In France there appeared to be widespread compliance with the new law.

Two high school girls in the Strasbourg region refused to take off their scarves and returned home, education officials said.

In other cases in Strasbourg, officials tried to persuade ”several veiled young girls” to comply. The law calls for dialogue in such cases.

In Paris, an incident was “resolved in a few hours”, according to education officials. In other cases around France, girls took off head coverings before entering school.

The law has been among the most divisive issue in recent times in France.

It forbids conspicuous religious signs or apparel in public schools, including Jewish skull caps and large Christian crosses. However, it is aimed at Islamic head scarves and meant to counter a rise in Muslim fundamentalism reportedly taking root in schools.

Authorities also want to bolster France’s much cherished principle of secularism, seen as a way to guarantee peaceful coexistence among various religions and communities.

France’s Muslim population is an estimated five million, the largest in western Europe.

As classes opened, one Muslim girl in the working-class Paris suburb of Aubervilliers said she left her headscarf at home.

“I was always treated badly and I felt uncomfortable, so I decided to take it off,” said Nadia Arabi, 16, before heading through the gates of Henri Wallon school.

Last October, two veiled sisters were expelled from the school, in a quiet residential neighbourhood, bringing it into the public eye.

Several Muslim organisations have set up hotlines to advise or counsel girls in a quandary over the law.

Experts predict a rash of court cases brought by Muslims who test the law by wearing “discreet” head coverings like bandannas. The law allows for discreet religious signs.