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France to Ban Personal Religious Displays
Aired December 17, 2003 - 15:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: French President Jacques Chirac says he agrees with the recommended ban on the wearing of religious symbols in public schools and other state institutions. Chirac says that he will sponsor a bill make the ban law by next fall.
CNN's Jim Bitterman has more on the controversy that has everyone in France taking sides.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's more than a little unusual when a fashion designer campaigns against scarves and a movie actress seeks government control over the way some people dress. But the issue of Islamic head coverings has become in France the subject of bitter public debate.
Prominent personalities have signed petitions. Leaders of the Islamic community representing 10 percent of the population say they're being discriminated against. And a blue-ribbon government commission spent three months studying the question of whether and how to ban the wearing of conspicuous displays of religious symbols, including not only headscarves, but also Jewish skullcaps and Christian crucifixes in schools and some public buildings.
(on camera): In fact, tor nearly a century, there has been a law against religious displays in public institutions, part of the firmly held belief here in secularism, the strict separation of church and state. But in recent years, that law has been put to the test by young Muslim women wearing headscarves.
(voice-over): High school students like Lela (ph) and Alma (ph) have been expelled for insisting on covering their heads, something many non-Muslims here view as a sign of Islamic fundamentalism and the oppression of women. But the Islamic Council, an umbrella group representing the Muslim community, says the veil simply represents modesty and morality, and new legislation is discrimination directed at them.
While polls indicates that more than two-thirds of the French support a ban or headscarves, even some outside the Islamic community think any law is a big mistake being made by, as one put it, secular fundamentalists.
DOMINIQUE MOISI, INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: We have multiple identities. This is what Europe is about. And you are going to reinforce a sense of ghetto for the young Muslims. BITTERMANN: And those against the law also say it's likely to drive more Muslim young people away from public schools and into Islamic ones, like this pilot school in the city of Lil (ph). Still, proponents of the law say it's the only way to prevent young Muslim women from being forced to wear head coverings, at least while at school.
PATRICK WEIL, PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION: School for us, it's an area of freedom. And we want to keep that. And that's a discourse of the majority.
BITTERMANN: French President Jacques Chirac evidently agreed, announcing in an address to the nation that he considers a law banning conspicuous religious symbols an public institutions an absolute necessity. And he opened the way for private companies to also ban them in the workplace.
Jim Bitterman, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 17, 2003 - 15:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: French President Jacques Chirac says he agrees with the recommended ban on the wearing of religious symbols in public schools and other state institutions. Chirac says that he will sponsor a bill make the ban law by next fall.
CNN's Jim Bitterman has more on the controversy that has everyone in France taking sides.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's more than a little unusual when a fashion designer campaigns against scarves and a movie actress seeks government control over the way some people dress. But the issue of Islamic head coverings has become in France the subject of bitter public debate.
Prominent personalities have signed petitions. Leaders of the Islamic community representing 10 percent of the population say they're being discriminated against. And a blue-ribbon government commission spent three months studying the question of whether and how to ban the wearing of conspicuous displays of religious symbols, including not only headscarves, but also Jewish skullcaps and Christian crucifixes in schools and some public buildings.
(on camera): In fact, tor nearly a century, there has been a law against religious displays in public institutions, part of the firmly held belief here in secularism, the strict separation of church and state. But in recent years, that law has been put to the test by young Muslim women wearing headscarves.
(voice-over): High school students like Lela (ph) and Alma (ph) have been expelled for insisting on covering their heads, something many non-Muslims here view as a sign of Islamic fundamentalism and the oppression of women. But the Islamic Council, an umbrella group representing the Muslim community, says the veil simply represents modesty and morality, and new legislation is discrimination directed at them.
While polls indicates that more than two-thirds of the French support a ban or headscarves, even some outside the Islamic community think any law is a big mistake being made by, as one put it, secular fundamentalists.
DOMINIQUE MOISI, INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: We have multiple identities. This is what Europe is about. And you are going to reinforce a sense of ghetto for the young Muslims. BITTERMANN: And those against the law also say it's likely to drive more Muslim young people away from public schools and into Islamic ones, like this pilot school in the city of Lil (ph). Still, proponents of the law say it's the only way to prevent young Muslim women from being forced to wear head coverings, at least while at school.
PATRICK WEIL, PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION: School for us, it's an area of freedom. And we want to keep that. And that's a discourse of the majority.
BITTERMANN: French President Jacques Chirac evidently agreed, announcing in an address to the nation that he considers a law banning conspicuous religious symbols an public institutions an absolute necessity. And he opened the way for private companies to also ban them in the workplace.
Jim Bitterman, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
