France and Muslim countries. Veil of tears

Date: 17/01/04

The French government courts unpopularity with Muslim countries

A YEAR ago, in the depths of his falling-out with America over Iraq, France's President Jacques Chirac could console himself with the thought that in Cairo and Rabat, at least, he was a hero. France's staunch opposition to the war won him a level of adulation that is rare for a western leader. Last October, in a Gallup poll in Iraq, Mr Chirac's popularity ranking (42%) dwarfed that of President George Bush (29%). Yet today, after his proposal to ban the Muslim headscarf in French schools and public offices, it has turned sour.

Since Mr Chirac proposed the law in mid-December, indignation in the Muslim world has been fierce. Veiled women have demonstrated against France in Cairo, Tehran, Gaza and Amman. Last week, 5,000 protested in Beirut. “The French authorities will not succeed in banning the Islamic veil in schools,” declared Ali Akbar Rafsanjani, a former Iranian president. “But if they succeed, millions of Muslims will curse them.” Islamist groups have called a day of protest on January 17th.

Officially, France insists that its cordial relations with the Muslim world are unaffected. (Last week, for example, France and Libya agreed on compensation for those killed in the 1989 bombing of a French aircraft.) Besides, many protests have been organised by extremist Islamic groups. There have been no official protests from governments in the Muslim world.

Unofficially, however, the French are worried. Mr Chirac's speech proposing the ban was rapidly translated into Arabic and English. French ambassadors were told to go out and explain that this was not an attack on Islam, but a domestic French matter. Nicolas Sarkozy, the hyper-active interior minister, jetted off to Cairo; he secured a declaration from Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi, a prominent Sunni religious authority who leads the al-Azhar mosque, that women in non-Muslim states should obey local laws, and - by implication - that not covering their heads was acceptable.

This week, Dominique de Villepin, the foreign minister, dropped in on five Gulf states to counter the belief that France was proposing an outright ban on the veil. The law to prohibit “obvious” signs of religious affiliation merely reinforces France's secular tradition, he insisted. “It is false to say that it is aimed at Islam and the wearing of the veil in particular.” The trouble is that many Muslims still see it this way, both within and beyond France.

Although most French people (69%) back a ban, the issue divides French Muslims. A survey of Muslim women in Elle magazine had 49% in favour and 43% against. The dispute is tearing apart the French Council of the Muslim Faith, set up by the government last year to provide a voice for Islam. Its president, Dalil Boubakeur, has discouraged Muslims from joining the marches on January 17th. But other Islamic groups, which dominate the council's regional board, call the protest “legitimate”. This week's appointment of a Muslim prefect in Jura will not calm fears that Islam is being stigmatised.

The government is determined to press ahead with the ban for the new school year in September. It wants to put right misunderstandings about the French secular state and the obligations of religious groups. Its position is certainly clear - but so might be the damage to relations with Muslims at home and abroad.

The French government courts unpopularity with Muslim countries by its proposed ban of wearing symbols of religions including the Muslim headscarf) in public places such as schools.

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