Uproar in France after school hijab row: French 'laïcité' explained

Hi Charlie, can you help us understand the rules behind this incident? Why? Why the student was asked to remove her veil in the 1st place? Right, Jeannie? This whole case begins with the French concept of laicite, which we usually hear translated as secularism. But here in France it’s actually more complicated and politically charged than what we normally associate as the separation of church and state. Now France insists that religion be absent from what it calls the public sphere. This doesn’t mean on the streets of your town, but in public buildings, anything that’s publicly funded, such as a police station or a fire station. And it includes a ban on religious symbols and clothing. So everything from cross necklaces to kipa and Muslim headscarf and abaya. And so these things are not allowed to be worn in any government buildings or by public employees. Now in 2004, this rule was extended to include children in primary schools and secondary schools. And while in principle it it applies to all religions, Muslim girls felt particularly targeted because for them, wearing the headscarf is often a religious requirement. So they felt like they had to choose between education and their religion. And because France has the largest Muslim population in Europe, more than 3 million people, this applied to a lot of girls. And there are other elements of public life that Jeannie, I’m sure you know, don’t always seem to go along with leisate. Take French public holidays for example. We get a day off for Ascension Day, which is the day that Jesus went to heaven. Also Assumption Day, which is the day his mother Mary went to heaven. All Saints Day, which celebrates Christian Saints, so the principle of Laisite and how it actually happens in practice don’t always go together. No, they they certainly don’t. What kind of political reaction has there been to all of this, and particularly to this principle? Stepping down from his job? From the left to the right, we are seeing politicians showing strong support for the headmaster. However, we are hearing some difference in the rhetoric around the motivations, what politicians see as the motivations of the student, in this case, in President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance Party, we are hearing some politicians equating this incident with an Islamist movement we heard in the report before. Prime Minister Gabrielle ET al. Called this an attempt at Islamist entry into our educational establishments, and far right parties such as the National Rally are taking this narrative even further. A politician, Marion Marshall, who is the granddaughter of the founder of the party, she called this a defeat of the state in the face of, quote, the Islamist gangrene. So this type of language, as as strong as it is, it appeals to certain French voters who don’t like what they see as the changing identity of France. And also this rule is supported. This ban is supported by all major French political parties and polling shows it’s supported by the majority of teachers and the French public at large as well. All right, Charlie, thanks for that. That’s France 24’s Charlie James.