France’s ‘obsession’ with hijabs



Earlier this year, Amina signed up to accompany her nine-year-old daughter, Rabia, on a school trip to a museum. But when she arrived at the school, close to their house in Paris, she had an unpleasant surprise.
"The teacher told me that I was not allowed to go with the group unless I removed my headscarf," the 35-year old says. "She said that I should respect that France is a secular society. She did not care when I said I have spent my whole life in France and I value my equality."
Amina, a tall, assertive woman, was forced to go back home, leaving her daughter to attend the trip in tears.
It has been nearly a decade since France banned girls in state schools from wearing headscarves.
The 2004 law also banned other religious symbols such as crucifixes and turbans, but the question of hijabs – described by one politician as a national "obsession" – is particularly charged.
The ban applies only to state schools, but its effect is further reaching – for instance, mothers like Amina who are censured despite not being students of the school.
The Socialist government is considering introducing a more far-reaching ban on the hijab in the workplace and universities. In 2011, the niqab (full face covering) was banned in public places, although it is only worn by around 2,000 women.
The overall effect of this is that France's five million-strong Muslim minority feels unfairly penalised. Certainly, Islamophobic incidents in France are becoming more common.
The French Collective against Islamophobia (CCIF) reports that anti-Muslim attacks have nearly doubled, from 298 in 2011, to 469 in 2012. Attacks increasingly target individuals – particularly women – over institutions, although the number of attacks on mosques also doubled, to 40.
The tension exploded in July, when the Paris suburb of Trappes was hit by three days of rioting, after police carried out an identity check on a woman who was wearing a niqab in defiance of the ban.
Campaigners say that tensions in the area were already high after a series of assaults on Muslim women. It was reported last week that a 16-year-old girl in Trappes tried to commit suicide after her headscarf was torn off by skinheads. The police response? To dispatch riot vans. What happened in Trappes was at the most extreme end of the spectrum, but daily humiliations, like that inflicted on Amina, are commonplace.
"It is predominantly women who are discriminated against, because the religious sign of a headscarf is so obvious," says Elsa Ray, a project manager at CCIF. "It mostly takes the form of discrimination at work, and at school."
She describes the knock-on effect on aspirations. "Some Muslim women are resigned to the fact that no one is going to hire them, so they don't study, they don't look for a job."
Amina's daughter Rabia returned from her school trip distressed, and has since told her mother that she wants to move to a different school. She says she doesn't want to go to university because no one will accept her after she starts to wear a headscarf.
"It hurts me that my daughter was made to feel that way," says Amina.
"She sees her mother humiliated in front of her classmates, and she feels humiliated.
"It is like they are trying to erase us."
* Samira Shackle

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The White Lotus: Season three

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Bundesliga fixtures

Saturday, May 16 (kick-offs UAE time)

Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (4.30pm) 

RB Leipzig v Freiburg (4.30pm) 

Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (4.30pm) 

Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn  (4.30pm) 

Augsburg v Wolfsburg (4.30pm) 

Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach (7.30pm)

Sunday, May 17

Cologne v Mainz (4.30pm),

Union Berlin v Bayern Munich (7pm)

Monday, May 18

Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen (9.30pm)

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Rating: 3/5

How%20champions%20are%20made
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How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
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  • The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
  • The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
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Test

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Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
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At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

 

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

 

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

 

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30 

 

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

 

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

 

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5