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May 31, 2006

Germany: Another State Bans Islamic Headscarf In Schools

According to Khaleej Times, the state of North-Rhine Westphalia earlier today banned teachers from wearing the hijab or Muslim headscarf in state schools.

The Christian Democrats hold the balance of power in this state and though the move was opposed by the Social Democrats and Greens. This is the eighth state (out of 16 in Germany) to adopt a ban on headscarves.

We reported on October 20 that a Supreme Court ruling, made in September 2003, had stated that federal states were allowed to bar Muslim public employees who wore headscarves, provided they had the necessary legislation on the books.

The other states which have adopted the measure are Bayern, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Lower-Saxony, Saarland and Hesse, as well as Berlin and Bremen.

The BBC reported on 1 April 2004 that Baden-Wuerttemburg had become the first state to enforce a hijab ban, after a vote was passed almost unanimously by the state parliament, made up of a coalition of Christian Democratic Union (CDU) members and Free Democrats (FDP).

Baden-Wuerttemburg's state culture minister Annette Schavan said at the time that hijabs had no place in German schools because they were "open to interpretation" and could reflect "Islamic political views".

The issue was provoked by Fereshta Ludin (pictured), who had been banned from teaching in a Stuttgart (Baden-Wuerttemberg state) school in 1998. In September 2003, the federal Constitution Court (Supreme Court) had decided by five votes to three that she had the right to wear a hijab, but made the statement that states had the right to pass legislation within their jurisdiction to outlaw such items.

Ludin had been born in Afghanistan, but was granted German citizenship in 1995, states a leftist website. According to a US government report, published 0n March 8 this year, Ludin did not challenge a legal decision to uphold the state ban, made by Leipzig Federal Administrative Court. Another teacher, Doris Graber, who had been sacked in 2004 in the state of Baden-Wuerttemburg, returned to work last year after agreeing not to wear the headscarf.

Though Baden-Wurttemburg had been the first state to ban the hijab in state schools, it was debating in October whether or not to institute a ban of the scarf in kindergartens, which had not been included in the bill. The issue was provoked after Ebersbach council, near Stuttgart, fired a Muslim woman teacher, Nuray Arioez, aged 31, on August 22, because she refused to remove her hijab in the kindergarten where she worked. Apparently the kindergarten hijab ban has not yet been passed into law.

In Bonn in April, two 18-year old German girls from Turkish families were banned from attending school for two weeks for wearing the hijab. A spokesman from the school had said that the hijab had endangered peace in the school.

Bonn is within the state of North-Rhine Westphalia, and this incident may have triggered the state's decision to vote today on banning the hijab in schools. The principal of the school, Ulrich Stahnke, had consulted with the state government, which is based in Cologne.

Many of the population of 3.4 million Muslims who live in Germany are of Turkish descent. On Monday (29 May), the issue of the headscarf caused a row in Turkey, according to AKI. A Turkish woman living in Germany who wears a hijab had been told by the Turkish Consulate that some of her hair should be seen in her photo, when she applied for a passport renewal. This stems from a ruling passed in Ankara in 1984.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister and head of the Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) is known to support the hijab. His wife Ermine wears one, even though Turkey's secular laws insist that no hijab should be worn in public institutions. Erdogan questioned the Turkish ambassador to Germany, Irtemcelik, about the headscarf rule.

He said: "My citizens can enter the Turkish Embassy here like that (with a headscarf). I don't think such a regulation can exist. The ambassador will show it to me. No one has the right to tell my citizens how to dress to get help from the consulate. If that's a written order, we'll write a new one."

Erdogan's remarks were met with derision by opposition party members and the media. Ali Arslan, deputy of the main opposition party, the Republican People's Party, tabled a question in parliament, asking if Erdogan should seek professional help in anger management.

The issue of headscarves in public institutions has been consistently opposed by Erdogan, but the shooting of five judges (killing one) at Turkey's senior administrative court, the Council of State on May 17 has brought the issue into sharp focus in Turkey. Arslan added: "At a time when we are facing the unfortunate results of the top administrative court attack two weeks ago, do you think it is wise to create even more tension over the headscarf issue?"

Though obviously biased in favour of people wearing headscarves, a report by Pluralism Project provides a factual overview of some of the rules which have been imposed in varying nations regarding the Islamic headscarf.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at May 31, 2006 9:38 PM

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