“It is unacceptable to issue such a decision on unfair and discriminatory basis,” Gaballah

PARIS, December 12 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - French female Muslims condemned Friday, December 12, a proposed ban on religious signs in schools, saying massive demonstrations are planned against the “unfair and discriminatory” move.

“It is unacceptable to issue such a decision on unfair and discriminatory basis,” said Nura Gaballah, the head of the French Muslim Women Society.

She was speaking one day after a government commission appointed by President Jacques Chirac recommended  issuing new law to ban "conspicuous" religious signs, including Hijab, in state schools.

Gaballah said that Muslims would resort to all peaceful forms of protest to demonstrate their opposition to the recommendation, which Chirac is to announce next week whether he supports it or not.

“If Chirac nodded in approval and the report is taken for Parliamentary debate, Muslim women would throng to the Parliament compound for a massive demonstration,” she said.

Gaballah dismissed the hyped support of some female Muslims to taking off the Islamic headwear, saying they were pressured to do this.

“It is pressured by their parents to stand against providing Muslims with the right to wear Hijab,” she averred.

France has the largest Muslim population in the European Union, with around five million people.

Former minister Bernard Stasi, who headed the commission, consulted a wide cross-section of public opinion, including teachers, religious leaders, sociologists and politicians before handing in the report to the president on Thursday.

Gaballah’s society is to held an emergency meeting on Sunday, December 14, for taking action before Chirac making a say on the report.

Meanwhile, the French Muslim council issued a strongly-worded statement slamming the Stasi report as full of “articulated words hiding dangerous decision”.

The council voiced concerns that things could get out of hands if the proposal was put into action.

The council leader Dalil Abu Bakr said the body is hold an emergency meeting for a “unified stance” to be taken in response to the latest developments on the issue.

“But I will respect any law to be enacted for banning Hijab,” he told Agence France Presse (AFP).

Chirac had earlier hinted that he could back a formal ban, as observers cited his statements a few days ago that wearing a veil, “whether we want it or not, is a sort of aggression that is difficult for us to accept”.

In the meantime, Jewish and Christian leaders in France slammed the Stasi recommendations also including a ban on the and large Christian crosses and Jewish skull-cap.

Jewish leader Moise Cohen was quoted by the BBC NewsOnline as saying that such a ban would be seen as discriminatory and could “exacerbate emotions”.

Christian groups have said the proposed ban could harm the integration of schools.

French trade unions also shared the concerns, believing the ban would leave ethnic minorities in the country excluded.

“The ban recommendations are useless and unfair,” said Miloud Ouwayneb, the secretary general of the Movement against Racism and For Peoples’ Friendship.

"Discreet" medallions and pendants which merely confirm a person's religious faith would be allowed.

The report also recommends that Yom Kippur - the Jewish Day of Atonement - and the Muslim Eid al-Kabir festival be celebrated in state schools.

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."

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.

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.