France faces a dilemma. In a nation where much blood was shed to overthrow the clergy and the monarchy, where should this now fiercely secular state draw the line on allowing religious freedom?Faced with increasing fear of Islamisation of their society whether real or imagined the French have banned conspicuous religious symbols in state schools. While some Jews and Sikhs may be affected, everyone knows the real target Muslim schoolgirls who wear the Islamic headscarf.In this thought-provoking story from Foreign Correspondent, Evan Williams talks to French people from all sides of the debate to try to find out why a piece of material has become Europes new battleground.
The headscarf has become a potent symbol and a contested site for identity can you wear the scarf, and still be truly French? With almost ten percent of the French population now Muslim, its an issue with real resonance at the moment, but it isnt restricted to France. Europe now has 15 million Muslims, the population is growing faster than the non-Muslim population and since September 11, 2001, suspicion of Muslim communities has increased. One Egyptian-born scholar has dubbed this growing world of Islam in Europe, Eurabia. Some see Eurabia as the enemy within, and the increasing involvement of Muslims in global terrorism doesnt help.
Insisting on wearing headscarves in state schools is contrary to French secularism and contrary to freedom of thinking, according to Algerian-born Hanifa Cherifi, the government spokeswoman for the ban. We cannot speak about liberty of thinking while at the same time wearing a headscarf. Its completely incompatible. Cherifi, and many other secular French Muslims are in favour of the ban, not just because they wish to protect Frances strong secularist traditions. They also view the scarf as repressive, and hope that by banning it, they will be giving girls the opportunity to break free from their families.
Evan meets Iranian-born romance writer Chadortt Djavann, whos just published a book describing what it is like to have to wear the scarf, which she compares to the yellow star Jews were forced to wear by the Nazis. She sees the scarf as the symbol which authorises violence towards women, that defines women as sub-human. Not surprisingly, its a view not supported by conservative Muslim men such as Yamin Makri, a provocative campaigner who believes Gods laws are all that count. We believe that even if its a law, for us it doesnt have any legitimacy, says. And he disagrees with the French states view of itself as secular. We have to learn that today being French has nothing to do with what was once thought, he says.
Caught in the middle are the girls. Expelled from school, denied the right to a liberal, humanistic education, theyre turning in increasing numbers to conservative private Islamic schools. Its entirely possible the headscarf ban will serve as a vote catcher for the politicians whove introduced it, but could ultimately prove counterproductive, resulting in more segregation and a radicalised Muslim community hostile to the western traditions that France holds so dear.
Music
00:00
Williams: Two centuries ago the French fought civil wars to overthrow the monarchy and separate church from state.Today France defines itself through the strongly secular institutions that emerged its citizens guaranteed equal treatment by law.
00:14
Music
00:42
Williams: But a rapidly growing Moslem minority - some of whom declare loyalty to God above the State is challenging these traditions.Moslem women chantWilliams: Deep divisions are emerging, and on the front line are young Moslem women.
00:47
Williams: France, the land of liberty and equality has just passed a law banning the Moslem headscarf in schools. Its done this it says to defend fiercely protected concepts of secularism essentially the separation of church and state. But some say this is simply racism attacking a weak and visible minority, and whatever the cause, the result is hundreds of young women are now facing a terrible choice between religion or an education.
01:15
Music
01:46
Williams: Not far from the German border the French town of Thann was sixty years ago a Nazi SS stronghold. They refused to surrender and were killed.Today, this medieval village is the site of another battle this time at the heart of what it means to be French.
01:50
Williams: Hilal is 13. She was born in France a Moslem and chooses to wear the headscarf when leaving the house. 02:14
Hilal: Its really important for me -- its in my religion and its in the Koran.
02:24
Williams: Each morning her parents take Hilal to the local public school. Its not far but her mother Arzu wants to be with her when she arrives at the gates.
02:34
Arzu: Every morning I am afraid every morning -- and I am panicking, because I do not know whats going to happen. My child is treated as if she is contagious.
02:45
Williams: For any young girl this should be a normal everyday thing.Arzu: Just remember, whatever happens you have to remain polite always remain polite.Williams: But for Hilal going to school each morning is a test of courage.
03:00
Hilal: When I arrive at school Im saying to myself, I hope they will accept me. I say it to myself each time.
03:21
Hilal: I always go with courage, because I have a lot of support from my friends. They really love me and I really love them. Its thanks to them that I have the courage to go there.
03:31
Williams: Hilal was expelled from her last school for refusing to take off the headscarf. Now, teachers at her new school are threatening to strike unless she agrees to ditch the scarf.
03:44
Arzu: They said that if Hilal continues to wear it to school she will not be accepted to courses.
04:00
Williams: Why dont you make it easy on Hilal and just say, take the scarf off ?Arzu: Because in fact you see the veil its over all Its a prescription in the Koran -- its our creator in whom we believe, who is asking us to submit ourselves to those obligations. Its about religious obligations.
04:06
Hilal: For me, if I had to take off the headscarf I would not feel at ease. Id feel naked. I am so used to the scarf, its become part of me.
04:30
Williams: The teachers refused to speak to us. But twice a day these parents come to the school to protest against Hilals insistence on wearing the scarf. They want parents to sign a petition seeking her expulsion.
04:39
Parent: They have to respect the rules, and in this case it seems that all those rules are not respected.Parent 2: We are in France we are in a secular country, and I believe that we cant go against French laws -- and if we do, then we dont deserve a country like France.
04:55
Williams: Its her religion, and through action of exclusion her life will be ruined?
05:18
Parent 3: We dont want her to be expelled. Parent 2: We just want her to come in to class exactly as my children, her children, or the other children.
Parent 3: My kids dont have the right to go to class in a baseball cap.
05:23
Music
05:33
Williams: Hilals future and that of hundreds of others has been compromised by politics. Frances National Assembly has voted to ban all religious symbols from schools - but everyone knows the main target is the Islamic headscarf.
05:36
It has Presidential support.
There are many thousands who disagree.
06:00
Women chant: Chirac! Chirac! Chirac! What have you done to us? In the name of secularism. Youre going to unveil us.
Williams: Among them is Thomas Milcent a French lawyer who converted to Islam after aid work in Afghanistan.
06:13
Milcent: The biggest problem is the hostility of some people that are really against Islam and dont accept the presence of Moslem French, Moslem in France.
06:20
Williams: I caught up with Dr Milcent in Thann. Hes here to advise Hilals family.
06:32
Milcent: This is very, very, very hard being a child and seeing that people who are sent to teach you, to give you all the values for life, are fighting against you, are your enemies. The people here are very conservative
06:39
Williams: He believes the vote to ban headscarves is a move by Chiracs government to capture conservative votes.
06:55
Milcent: The girls are paying the political price for the French president.
07:02
The message Chirac is trying to send to the electorate is we are fighting against the invasion of Moslems against the republic, and help us to fight against this invasion. But in fact we are not invading France -- this is wrong I am French. The real question is do I have the right as a French citizen to choose Islam or not? And this is the real question until now they have answered no!
07:06
Williams: One of Frances leading writers on Islamic issues, Alain Gresh, agrees.
07:39
Gresh: I think its completely political for a very bad reason, the main political parties, right wing and left wing, decided this was a good campaign for gaining votes.
07:45
Williams: Why are there votes in it? He says its a growing fear of Moslems after September 11, and an increasing social unease.Gresh: I think there are many reasons why we are facing this problem now.
07:57
A part is the international situation, a part of it is the fear in the French society in general concerning who are we. I mean today the state is vanishing. We are in Europe, there is globalisation. What does it mean to be French? Its not so easy to answer. Its easier to answer when you have an enemy -- you can say being French is not being like them.
08:10
Music
Williams: In the southern city of Lyon, Moslem women are taking matters in to their own hands.
08:43
Munteha on the left also 13 - has been expelled for refusing to take off her headscarf at school.Her mother Hatice doesnt know what to tell her.
08:54
Hatice: How could I say today to my children today, dont study, because you will not have any future.
Williams: Instead of school, Hatice now brings her daughter here, to an Islamic self-help group, but its not school.
09:20
Hatice: What Im most afraid of is that they will not be able to do what they wish to do. I feel that I'm preparing them for a future which is sombre which is black -- with people around that dont understand us.
09:31
Williams: Munteha wants to study but her commitment has been drained.
09:52
Munteha: I think we will just not be able to study any more -- and even if we can stud, well never be able to have a profession. So whats the point of studying.
09:58
Williams: All the girls here have been expelled. Director Sheraza Dziri urges the girls to keep studying, and above all, not to stay alone.
10:08
Dziri: I know its not easy. You have to take on a lot of responsibility at a young age and I know thats not easy. Youre very young
10:20
Williams: It looks innocent enough but theres a twist these wild classes as theyre called, are unregistered and therefore illegal.
10:28
Dziri: The problem is, today nobody is taking their situation into consideration, as the girls made a choice so its their problem its their fault. But concerning their future, they dont have a future so today they are already feeling the consequences -- but there will be more.
10:38
Williams: At todays class is 27-year-old Sabrina Neddone. She believes the ban is the symptom of a much deeper problem.Neddone: Basically they have no I mean social future here in France.
11:02
I mean even for adult women like me who is doing a PhD, but Im conscious that its going to be very, very hard here in France to find a job, just because I am wearing the headscarf.
11:13
Williams: While only a few hundred girls have been expelled so far, many thousands will be affected now its a law.
Chanting: God is great! God is great!
Williams: Many of the anti-ban protests were organised by hardline Islamic groups, and some fear these new divisions play in to the hands of extremists.
11:27
Makri: Yes thats true, this law woke up a lot of people -- mostly the non-practising Moslems.
11:55
And there are a lot of people who believe the Moslem community -- and even society -- has to organise itself to make a counter power.
12:04
Williams: In Lyon, Yamin Makri runs the Tawid Islamic bookstore -- but he also heads one of the conservative Moslem groups gaining support due to the ban. Gods law, he says, cannot be overruled by the state.
12:15
Makri: We believe that even if its a law, because its been voted on, it has no legitimacy for us. We have every right to resist this law and to oppose it by any legal means.
12:33
Williams: Some people would say, in fact, that France is a secular state and that if Moslem French people want to live here, then they should abide by secular rules.
12:46
Makri: We have to learn that today being French has nothing to do with what was once thought. The question is, will France be able to manage this multi-culturalism -- this cultural diversity --and thats the real challenge.
12:55
Announcer: And this evening we have invited madam Hanifa Cherifi Williams: Very much of the other view is Algerian-born Hanifa Cherifi.
13:11
Cherifi: Its not neutral for little girls for women because restriction comes with it.
13:19
Williams: A government spokesperson for the ban shes been hitting the airwaves to explain it.
Williams: Ten years of mediation between schools and Moslem families has convinced her that a law is needed.
13:29
Cherifi: Its really hard to speak with the families who dont recognise the constitution, human rights, or even the laws of the country -- and who say the superior law is Islam -- that they respect only Islam.
13:38
Williams: What do you say to people who say this is just another law against Moslems in France almost a racist law?
13:58
Cherifi: Everything has been done to make the headscarf disappear from schools but we couldnt make it happen. And all this is contrary to French secularism and contrary to freedom of thinking. We cannot speak about liberty of thinking while at the same time wearing a headscarf. Its completely incompatible.
14:05
Music
Williams: The debate has even entered the rarefied world of French literature.
14:38
The nations most respected publishing house has just released an account by Iranian born Chadortt Djavann on what its like to wear the veil.
14:44
Djavann [reading]: They live the humiliation of not being a man
14:57
of wearing the headscarf -- this walking prison as a stigma, as the yellow star of the feminine condition, the feminine body humiliated, guilty, a source of worries, an anguished, threatening, dirty and impure source of malaise and sin.
15:00
Djavann: The headscarf is the symbol which authorises all violence towards women and that means to define women as sub-human, because men will have the right to use violence against women if they transgress the laws of the Mullah.
15:20
Makri: In the religious laws the headscarf is not seen as the womans submission to the man, but its a way of expressing the faith spirituality.
15:45
Djavann: The Islamic headscarf is not at all a symbol of faith, as the women are veiling themselves for men. They are hiding their hair from the sight of men and not from the sight of Allah.
15:57
Music
16:13
Williams: Almost ten percent or about five million French people are now Moslems. Many, however, live on the fringe. Here in the northern city of Lille, Moslems endure a typically high forty percent unemployment.
16:19
Yet here is what some think is the solution a private Moslem school.
16:41
Teacher: Islam is a religion which teaches tolerance and respect of others.
Williams: Girls can wear the scarf, but this is one of only three small private Islamic schools in France. Places are scarce and anyway, Moslem leaders like the schools director Amar Lasfar dont want segregation.
Lasfar: The machine of integration in this country is the public school.
16:51
The only thing is that today we cannot understand what is going on in the public school. This instrument of integration is in danger of becoming an instrument of exclusion.
17:23
Williams: Excluding Moslems from the mainstream, they warn, can open doors for foreign extremists.Lasfar: A Moslem feeling good will leave you alone.
17:34
If the Moslem community feels good they will not be tempted by fundamentalists coming from abroad. They will be immunised against it, and will say No, I dont want that. I feel well inside.
17:47
Music
Girl: The real question is whats the place of Islam now in France? How are French people ready to accept Islam as part of their cultural background, and I think that -- well obviously theyre not ready yet.
18:10
Music
Williams: As the battle rages generations are being lost. Today at school Hilal was, yet again, excluded from class and sent to the headmasters office.
18:39
Hilal: The principal arrived, and they gave me a desk and a chair and I started an exercise they brought me.
18:52
Williams: For Hilal, its another day in a society that doesnt accept her difference.
19:00
Hilal: Before, the most important thing was to go to school, with the headscarf. But now I understand that this scarf is more important than anything, so I tell myself it doesnt matter if I cant go school. In any case, Ill go on studying and I believe that with all my heart.
19:07
Music
Williams: France may be right taking a stand against what it sees as the influence of Islamic extremism. But forced to choose between an education or God - many Moslem girls will be barred from receiving the secular schooling this ban aims to protect.
19:33
Music/Chanting
19:53
Reporter: Evan WilliamsCamera: Geoffrey Lye and John BenesEditor: Simon BrynjolffssenProducer: Renata Gombac(Additional footage 4 Corners, ABC)
The headscarf has become a potent symbol and a contested site for identity can you wear the scarf, and still be truly French? With almost ten percent of the French population now Muslim, its an issue with real resonance at the moment, but it isnt restricted to France. Europe now has 15 million Muslims, the population is growing faster than the non-Muslim population and since September 11, 2001, suspicion of Muslim communities has increased. One Egyptian-born scholar has dubbed this growing world of Islam in Europe, Eurabia. Some see Eurabia as the enemy within, and the increasing involvement of Muslims in global terrorism doesnt help.
Insisting on wearing headscarves in state schools is contrary to French secularism and contrary to freedom of thinking, according to Algerian-born Hanifa Cherifi, the government spokeswoman for the ban. We cannot speak about liberty of thinking while at the same time wearing a headscarf. Its completely incompatible. Cherifi, and many other secular French Muslims are in favour of the ban, not just because they wish to protect Frances strong secularist traditions. They also view the scarf as repressive, and hope that by banning it, they will be giving girls the opportunity to break free from their families.
Evan meets Iranian-born romance writer Chadortt Djavann, whos just published a book describing what it is like to have to wear the scarf, which she compares to the yellow star Jews were forced to wear by the Nazis. She sees the scarf as the symbol which authorises violence towards women, that defines women as sub-human. Not surprisingly, its a view not supported by conservative Muslim men such as Yamin Makri, a provocative campaigner who believes Gods laws are all that count. We believe that even if its a law, for us it doesnt have any legitimacy, says. And he disagrees with the French states view of itself as secular. We have to learn that today being French has nothing to do with what was once thought, he says.
Caught in the middle are the girls. Expelled from school, denied the right to a liberal, humanistic education, theyre turning in increasing numbers to conservative private Islamic schools. Its entirely possible the headscarf ban will serve as a vote catcher for the politicians whove introduced it, but could ultimately prove counterproductive, resulting in more segregation and a radicalised Muslim community hostile to the western traditions that France holds so dear.
Music
00:00
Williams: Two centuries ago the French fought civil wars to overthrow the monarchy and separate church from state.Today France defines itself through the strongly secular institutions that emerged its citizens guaranteed equal treatment by law.
00:14
Music
00:42
Williams: But a rapidly growing Moslem minority - some of whom declare loyalty to God above the State is challenging these traditions.Moslem women chantWilliams: Deep divisions are emerging, and on the front line are young Moslem women.
00:47
Williams: France, the land of liberty and equality has just passed a law banning the Moslem headscarf in schools. Its done this it says to defend fiercely protected concepts of secularism essentially the separation of church and state. But some say this is simply racism attacking a weak and visible minority, and whatever the cause, the result is hundreds of young women are now facing a terrible choice between religion or an education.
01:15
Music
01:46
Williams: Not far from the German border the French town of Thann was sixty years ago a Nazi SS stronghold. They refused to surrender and were killed.Today, this medieval village is the site of another battle this time at the heart of what it means to be French.
01:50
Williams: Hilal is 13. She was born in France a Moslem and chooses to wear the headscarf when leaving the house. 02:14
Hilal: Its really important for me -- its in my religion and its in the Koran.
02:24
Williams: Each morning her parents take Hilal to the local public school. Its not far but her mother Arzu wants to be with her when she arrives at the gates.
02:34
Arzu: Every morning I am afraid every morning -- and I am panicking, because I do not know whats going to happen. My child is treated as if she is contagious.
02:45
Williams: For any young girl this should be a normal everyday thing.Arzu: Just remember, whatever happens you have to remain polite always remain polite.Williams: But for Hilal going to school each morning is a test of courage.
03:00
Hilal: When I arrive at school Im saying to myself, I hope they will accept me. I say it to myself each time.
03:21
Hilal: I always go with courage, because I have a lot of support from my friends. They really love me and I really love them. Its thanks to them that I have the courage to go there.
03:31
Williams: Hilal was expelled from her last school for refusing to take off the headscarf. Now, teachers at her new school are threatening to strike unless she agrees to ditch the scarf.
03:44
Arzu: They said that if Hilal continues to wear it to school she will not be accepted to courses.
04:00
Williams: Why dont you make it easy on Hilal and just say, take the scarf off ?Arzu: Because in fact you see the veil its over all Its a prescription in the Koran -- its our creator in whom we believe, who is asking us to submit ourselves to those obligations. Its about religious obligations.
04:06
Hilal: For me, if I had to take off the headscarf I would not feel at ease. Id feel naked. I am so used to the scarf, its become part of me.
04:30
Williams: The teachers refused to speak to us. But twice a day these parents come to the school to protest against Hilals insistence on wearing the scarf. They want parents to sign a petition seeking her expulsion.
04:39
Parent: They have to respect the rules, and in this case it seems that all those rules are not respected.Parent 2: We are in France we are in a secular country, and I believe that we cant go against French laws -- and if we do, then we dont deserve a country like France.
04:55
Williams: Its her religion, and through action of exclusion her life will be ruined?
05:18
Parent 3: We dont want her to be expelled. Parent 2: We just want her to come in to class exactly as my children, her children, or the other children.
Parent 3: My kids dont have the right to go to class in a baseball cap.
05:23
Music
05:33
Williams: Hilals future and that of hundreds of others has been compromised by politics. Frances National Assembly has voted to ban all religious symbols from schools - but everyone knows the main target is the Islamic headscarf.
05:36
It has Presidential support.
There are many thousands who disagree.
06:00
Women chant: Chirac! Chirac! Chirac! What have you done to us? In the name of secularism. Youre going to unveil us.
Williams: Among them is Thomas Milcent a French lawyer who converted to Islam after aid work in Afghanistan.
06:13
Milcent: The biggest problem is the hostility of some people that are really against Islam and dont accept the presence of Moslem French, Moslem in France.
06:20
Williams: I caught up with Dr Milcent in Thann. Hes here to advise Hilals family.
06:32
Milcent: This is very, very, very hard being a child and seeing that people who are sent to teach you, to give you all the values for life, are fighting against you, are your enemies. The people here are very conservative
06:39
Williams: He believes the vote to ban headscarves is a move by Chiracs government to capture conservative votes.
06:55
Milcent: The girls are paying the political price for the French president.
07:02
The message Chirac is trying to send to the electorate is we are fighting against the invasion of Moslems against the republic, and help us to fight against this invasion. But in fact we are not invading France -- this is wrong I am French. The real question is do I have the right as a French citizen to choose Islam or not? And this is the real question until now they have answered no!
07:06
Williams: One of Frances leading writers on Islamic issues, Alain Gresh, agrees.
07:39
Gresh: I think its completely political for a very bad reason, the main political parties, right wing and left wing, decided this was a good campaign for gaining votes.
07:45
Williams: Why are there votes in it? He says its a growing fear of Moslems after September 11, and an increasing social unease.Gresh: I think there are many reasons why we are facing this problem now.
07:57
A part is the international situation, a part of it is the fear in the French society in general concerning who are we. I mean today the state is vanishing. We are in Europe, there is globalisation. What does it mean to be French? Its not so easy to answer. Its easier to answer when you have an enemy -- you can say being French is not being like them.
08:10
Music
Williams: In the southern city of Lyon, Moslem women are taking matters in to their own hands.
08:43
Munteha on the left also 13 - has been expelled for refusing to take off her headscarf at school.Her mother Hatice doesnt know what to tell her.
08:54
Hatice: How could I say today to my children today, dont study, because you will not have any future.
Williams: Instead of school, Hatice now brings her daughter here, to an Islamic self-help group, but its not school.
09:20
Hatice: What Im most afraid of is that they will not be able to do what they wish to do. I feel that I'm preparing them for a future which is sombre which is black -- with people around that dont understand us.
09:31
Williams: Munteha wants to study but her commitment has been drained.
09:52
Munteha: I think we will just not be able to study any more -- and even if we can stud, well never be able to have a profession. So whats the point of studying.
09:58
Williams: All the girls here have been expelled. Director Sheraza Dziri urges the girls to keep studying, and above all, not to stay alone.
10:08
Dziri: I know its not easy. You have to take on a lot of responsibility at a young age and I know thats not easy. Youre very young
10:20
Williams: It looks innocent enough but theres a twist these wild classes as theyre called, are unregistered and therefore illegal.
10:28
Dziri: The problem is, today nobody is taking their situation into consideration, as the girls made a choice so its their problem its their fault. But concerning their future, they dont have a future so today they are already feeling the consequences -- but there will be more.
10:38
Williams: At todays class is 27-year-old Sabrina Neddone. She believes the ban is the symptom of a much deeper problem.Neddone: Basically they have no I mean social future here in France.
11:02
I mean even for adult women like me who is doing a PhD, but Im conscious that its going to be very, very hard here in France to find a job, just because I am wearing the headscarf.
11:13
Williams: While only a few hundred girls have been expelled so far, many thousands will be affected now its a law.
Chanting: God is great! God is great!
Williams: Many of the anti-ban protests were organised by hardline Islamic groups, and some fear these new divisions play in to the hands of extremists.
11:27
Makri: Yes thats true, this law woke up a lot of people -- mostly the non-practising Moslems.
11:55
And there are a lot of people who believe the Moslem community -- and even society -- has to organise itself to make a counter power.
12:04
Williams: In Lyon, Yamin Makri runs the Tawid Islamic bookstore -- but he also heads one of the conservative Moslem groups gaining support due to the ban. Gods law, he says, cannot be overruled by the state.
12:15
Makri: We believe that even if its a law, because its been voted on, it has no legitimacy for us. We have every right to resist this law and to oppose it by any legal means.
12:33
Williams: Some people would say, in fact, that France is a secular state and that if Moslem French people want to live here, then they should abide by secular rules.
12:46
Makri: We have to learn that today being French has nothing to do with what was once thought. The question is, will France be able to manage this multi-culturalism -- this cultural diversity --and thats the real challenge.
12:55
Announcer: And this evening we have invited madam Hanifa Cherifi Williams: Very much of the other view is Algerian-born Hanifa Cherifi.
13:11
Cherifi: Its not neutral for little girls for women because restriction comes with it.
13:19
Williams: A government spokesperson for the ban shes been hitting the airwaves to explain it.
Williams: Ten years of mediation between schools and Moslem families has convinced her that a law is needed.
13:29
Cherifi: Its really hard to speak with the families who dont recognise the constitution, human rights, or even the laws of the country -- and who say the superior law is Islam -- that they respect only Islam.
13:38
Williams: What do you say to people who say this is just another law against Moslems in France almost a racist law?
13:58
Cherifi: Everything has been done to make the headscarf disappear from schools but we couldnt make it happen. And all this is contrary to French secularism and contrary to freedom of thinking. We cannot speak about liberty of thinking while at the same time wearing a headscarf. Its completely incompatible.
14:05
Music
Williams: The debate has even entered the rarefied world of French literature.
14:38
The nations most respected publishing house has just released an account by Iranian born Chadortt Djavann on what its like to wear the veil.
14:44
Djavann [reading]: They live the humiliation of not being a man
14:57
of wearing the headscarf -- this walking prison as a stigma, as the yellow star of the feminine condition, the feminine body humiliated, guilty, a source of worries, an anguished, threatening, dirty and impure source of malaise and sin.
15:00
Djavann: The headscarf is the symbol which authorises all violence towards women and that means to define women as sub-human, because men will have the right to use violence against women if they transgress the laws of the Mullah.
15:20
Makri: In the religious laws the headscarf is not seen as the womans submission to the man, but its a way of expressing the faith spirituality.
15:45
Djavann: The Islamic headscarf is not at all a symbol of faith, as the women are veiling themselves for men. They are hiding their hair from the sight of men and not from the sight of Allah.
15:57
Music
16:13
Williams: Almost ten percent or about five million French people are now Moslems. Many, however, live on the fringe. Here in the northern city of Lille, Moslems endure a typically high forty percent unemployment.
16:19
Yet here is what some think is the solution a private Moslem school.
16:41
Teacher: Islam is a religion which teaches tolerance and respect of others.
Williams: Girls can wear the scarf, but this is one of only three small private Islamic schools in France. Places are scarce and anyway, Moslem leaders like the schools director Amar Lasfar dont want segregation.
Lasfar: The machine of integration in this country is the public school.
16:51
The only thing is that today we cannot understand what is going on in the public school. This instrument of integration is in danger of becoming an instrument of exclusion.
17:23
Williams: Excluding Moslems from the mainstream, they warn, can open doors for foreign extremists.Lasfar: A Moslem feeling good will leave you alone.
17:34
If the Moslem community feels good they will not be tempted by fundamentalists coming from abroad. They will be immunised against it, and will say No, I dont want that. I feel well inside.
17:47
Music
Girl: The real question is whats the place of Islam now in France? How are French people ready to accept Islam as part of their cultural background, and I think that -- well obviously theyre not ready yet.
18:10
Music
Williams: As the battle rages generations are being lost. Today at school Hilal was, yet again, excluded from class and sent to the headmasters office.
18:39
Hilal: The principal arrived, and they gave me a desk and a chair and I started an exercise they brought me.
18:52
Williams: For Hilal, its another day in a society that doesnt accept her difference.
19:00
Hilal: Before, the most important thing was to go to school, with the headscarf. But now I understand that this scarf is more important than anything, so I tell myself it doesnt matter if I cant go school. In any case, Ill go on studying and I believe that with all my heart.
19:07
Music
Williams: France may be right taking a stand against what it sees as the influence of Islamic extremism. But forced to choose between an education or God - many Moslem girls will be barred from receiving the secular schooling this ban aims to protect.
19:33
Music/Chanting
19:53
Reporter: Evan WilliamsCamera: Geoffrey Lye and John BenesEditor: Simon BrynjolffssenProducer: Renata Gombac(Additional footage 4 Corners, ABC)