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Veiled Muslim Girl Back To School In Spain
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Aly El-Hady, left, leaves his daughter Fatima, 13, at the gates of Juan de Herrera public school, northwest of Madrid.
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MADRID, Feb. 18 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A Moroccan teenager, whose father pulled her out of school because local authorities refused to allow her to wear a veil (hijab), turned up for class Monday, after Spanish education authorities granted her permission to wear it.
On alert in case of an incident, civil guards looked on as Fatima Lessardi, 13, arrived at the public school in El Escorial, 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Madrid, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Overwhelmed by a barrage of television cameras, journalists and photographers, Fatima, wearing a veil, was accompanied by her parents and representatives of an immigrant association. The only noise to be heard was the sound of applause from her fellow students.
On Saturday, February 16, the regional education minister for Madrid Carlos Mayor Oreja declared Fatima could wear a veil at the Juan de Herrera school. “There had been other precedents in Madrid of children schooled in veils," he said, and therefore no legal forms existed forbidding the wearing of veils.
The decision by Fatima's father to remove her from school sparked a national debate on the role of Islam in Spanish society and the need for the country's immigrants to assimilate.
Conservative Education Minister Pilar del Castillo said she thought immigrants "must logically adapt themselves to Spanish customs," while Socialist opposition forces opposed the scarf on the grounds of women's rights.
Fatima’s father, Aly El-Hady, held a press conference Friday, February 15, in the residence of ‘the Association of Immigrant Moroccan Workers in Spain (ATIME)’, during which he declared “never forcing his daughter to wear the veil”. He added his daughter wore it willingly, according to the teachings of Islam.
“My daughter will go to school only if she's covered," El-Hady told the El Pais local newspaper on Saturday.
El-Hady’s statements put the Spanish authorities in a delicate situation. The father did not force his daughter to do anything, while the school was forcing her not to abide by the teachings of her religion. This is seen as some sort of discrimination and disrespect for other cultures, traditions and values.
Juan de Herrera's principal, Delia Duro, claimed the wearing of the veil was "a symbol of the submission of women" and a violation of Fatima's constitutional rights.
Fatima moved to Spain in 2001 with her mother and three siblings to join her father who had been living in Spain for 13 years. The girl was first placed in a private Catholic school after the city's public schools became full.
Her father pulled her out of that school in November, deeming the school's uniform un-Islamic and opposing the fact that Fatima could not wear her veil.
Immigrant groups came out in support of Fatima's father with a spokesman for the ATIME declaring Muslims "have their own cultural parameters and we can live together in peace and harmony."
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