Stasi shows his report during a press conference at the Elysee Palace

By Hadi Yahmed, IOL Paris Correspondent

PARIS, December 11 (IslamOnline.net) – A government commission appointed by President Jacques Chirac recommended Thursday, December 11, issuing new law to ban "conspicuous" religious signs, including Hijab, in state schools.

A source in the 20-member commission, chaired by former minister Bernard Stasi, told IslamOnline.net that the 50-page made no reference to a specific religious sign to avoid antagonizing the Muslim or any other minority.

The commission also recommended that France take the step, unprecedented in all of Europe, to add Jewish and Muslim holidays to the calendar for state schools.

It suggested that Yom Kippur - the Jewish Day of Atonement – and Eid al-Adha be celebrated in the schools.

It also recommended that companies allow employees to choose a religious holiday, for instance Yom Kippur, Eid al-Adha, or the Orthodox Christmas to add to their number of days off.

The country currently marks 11 public holidays, most of the based on Roman Catholic celebrations reflecting the denomination of the majority of its 60 million inhabitants.

The report also recommended appointing preachers for Muslim inmates, as requested by the French Muslim Council.

President Chirac is expected to announced whether he supports the commission's recommendation in a public speech on Wednesday, December 17.

The Stasi Commission has compiled its report depending on the testimonies of some 120 people, including hijab-wearing Muslims, heads of French parties, human rights organization representatives, intellectuals and writers.

People were asked about their views regarding the application of secularism in France and the issue of religious symbols, particularly hijab in schools and public institutions.

On Friday, December 5, the commission listened to the testimonies of two hijab-wearing French women and a third Muslim woman, who does not wear hijab.

The issue of hijab has sparked much controversy in France, especially after the establishment of the first Muslim representative body in the country.

On Saturday, December 6, Chirac antagonized the around 5-million-strong Muslim community in France describing hijab as "a sort of aggression."

In statements during a meeting with students at the Pierre Mendes-France School in the Tunisian capital on the sidelines of a two-day summit of five southern-European states and their North African neighbors, Chirac said : "Wearing a veil, whether we want it or not, is a sort of aggression that is difficult for us to accept."

French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin secured  on November 28 a majority approval of his ruling party to pass a controversial bill banning hijab.

French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has long opposed such a law, warning it would provoke a backlash among Muslims, who would view it as an "insult and punishment".

In September, two Muslim sisters were expelled from Henri Wallon lycee school in the Paris northern suburb of Aubervilliers for wearing hijab.

In spite of their large numbers - some 50,000 Frenchmen and women reportedly convert to Islam annually - Muslims complain that the French refuse to accept the Muslim presence and consider Islam an alien force which "should be eliminated."

The London-based Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC)  has launched Wednesday, December 3, a worldwide campaign, urging Muslims to write to European officials, foreign ministers and French ambassadors to take a strong action to stop the mooted discriminatory bill.