November 2, 2005

"They might say things or look at me in a certain way, and that would undermine my confidence."

Said by a young Muslim woman in France, where acceptance of the ban on headscarves in schools is reportedly widespread.
The clearest sign that the 2004 law is now accepted is that no Muslim group is fighting for its repeal - not even the Organisation of Islamic Organisations of France (UOIF), which is closest to grass-roots opinion in the country's poorer suburbs.

"The law is unfair to Muslims, but we've put it behind us," said Rachid Hamoudi, the UOIF director of a big mosque in Lille, northern France....

But the wide acceptance of the ban does not mean the scarf issue has been settled once and for all....

To get an idea of the lingering tensions, it is worth looking at what happens to these young Muslims beyond secondary school.

At university level, the law on religious signs does not apply.

Nevertheless Teycir ben Naser, a second-year student at Creteil University near Paris, has opted for a discreet bandana.

The 19-year-old feels the headscarf she wears off campus could become a liability during oral exams.

Not that it would influence examiners, she says, but "they might say things or look at me in a certain way, and that would undermine my confidence".

The main challenge, however, will come after university.

"We are studying to be able to work later," Ms ben Naser says. "And we all we know that if you wear a veil all the doors will close."
Meanwhile, there are riots in Paris:
The street fighting less than an hour's subway ride from the heart of Paris has underscored France's failed efforts to stem the growing unrest within a largely Muslim immigrant population that feels disenfranchised and is beset by high unemployment and crime. An estimated 6 million Muslims live in France, many of them in dismal high-rise enclaves like this one.derrahmane, 54, who heads the local Muslim Cultural Association, said Tuesday morning, visibly exhausted after an all-night effort to quell the continuing violence in this town.

Many residents were outraged Sunday night when a police tear gas canister was thrown into a local mosque during prayers for Ramadan, the Muslim holy month. An estimated 700 coughing and panicked worshipers ran for the doors.

7 comments:

Meade said...

Won't Hitler be pleased when he hears the news.

Al Maviva said...

Don't forget to riot, indeed.

Simon said...

What a bizarre statement: "France's failed efforts to stem the growing unrest within a largely Muslim immigrant population that feels disenfranchised and is beset by high unemployment and crime."

Certainly, one can understand feeling "beset" with high unemployment within the immigrant population. But "beset" by crime within the community? Isn't that really something that has a predominantly internal solution for the community? If you don't like crime, stop committing crimes and haboring criminals!

Laura Reynolds said...

There is some temptation to look at the irony is all this but clearly this is a problem for a large part of Europe that is going to get much worse in the very near future. (One year ago was the Theo van Gogh incident)

Unknown said...

Actually, I think the riots in France are in their fifth day, and there are riots in Denmark as well--planned in advance so is that still a riot?--according to this blog.

Notice the slant of the BBC article, accepting as true that it's the veil that prevents the PhD from getting a job; that it's somehow the responsibility of examiners not to notice a student as different although she wears garb designed specifically to highlight her difference; that living in a separate culture may hurt one's chances for success in the dominant culture.

They just can't accept that most Muslims do want to assimilate into our horrid Western culture.

Ann Althouse said...

Miklos: Anything to report?

Automatic_Wing said...

I strongly suspect that wearing "Orthodox Jewish attire would tend to reduce one's chances at landing that plum job in the U.S. or France.