Head Scarf Ban Roils France and Middle Ease

As
predicted in this
space yesterday, the firestorm of protest over the
banning of head scarves from French public schools is spreading around
the world, especially in the Middle East. Also as predicted here,
red, white and blue French flag headscarves have started showing up,
and mass drop-outs are predicted.

From Baghdad and Beirut to London and Stockholm, protesters condemned
the law as an attack on religious freedom. Even in the West Bank city
of Nablus, women came out to support French Muslims.

“I think it will make things worse,” Kods Mejry, 18, said. “There
will be no more integration.”

Her blue, white, and red scarf matching the French flag was meant “to
show that we are French and Muslim and proud of it.”

“Lots of girls will leave school. Others will take their scarves
off,” said
Myriam Diaou, of the Union of Muslims of Trappes, southwest of Paris. “It
will reinforce the sense of exclusion.”

from the
Boston Globe