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August 18, 2006

Belgium: Muslim Headscarf Teachers Lose Appeal

We wrote on July 12 that two Muslim women teachers, who had refused to remove their hijabs or "Muslim headscarves" at work and had been consequently sacked, were taking their case to an appeal.

The teachers had started off during the current school year complying with a ban on carrying "noticeable religious symbols", which had been applied since April 2005. But around the New Year, the teachers decided to become "political Muslims" and wear their headscarves in defiance of the ruling.

Jacky Goris of the Brussels school group said that during classes on religion, they would have been able to wear their head coverings, and "Outside the lessons, they could have worn a discreet scarf or a little hat. I would not have had a problem with that either." But blatantly parading their hijabs was "a breach of contract."

The teachers had been employed at different primary schools, one in the district of Etterbeek, and the other in Sint-Pieters-Woluwe. They were given several warnings before they were fired.

Today, Expatica reports the results of their appeal, and the Iranian Islamist news agency IRNA has infringed Expatica's copyright by reproducing their article verbatim.

The appeal was being held in the presence of a magistrate and two public school staff members, not affiliated to the Brussels school group. The results should have been due by the end of July. But the result has been confirmed by Jacky Goris of the Brussels school group - the women have lost their appeal. The lawyer for the two women has also confirmed that they have lost their appeal.

The schools where the women taught were already within their rights to enforce bans on noticeable items of a religious nature, before the appeals were launched. The Brussels Minister of Education, Guy Vanhengel, had agreed that teachers should not wear "noticeable religious symbols". The Flemish Education Minister, Frank Vandenbroucke, had previously said that it is a school's choice to decide how teachers should present themselves.

But for these strident proponents of Muslims' "rights" to disregard rulings and standards set for the majority, it does not seem to mater that their quest to enforce their religious beliefs over those of the country they inhabit has become a burden on the taxpayers through this appeal. It is unlikely that the women will be paying for the cost of their appeal.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at August 18, 2006 10:34 AM

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