FRANCE is likely to ban Muslim girls from wearing headscarves in schools after a state commission yesterday called for the prohibition of all conspicuous religious costumes and signs, including large crosses and Jewish skullcaps.

The commission also called for greater “respect for all religious options” and suggested that schools include Muslim and Jewish festivals in their holiday calendar.

The commission’s advice, which is likely to form part of President Chirac’s legislative proposals next week, attempts to resolve an impassioned conflict between champions of tolerance and opponents of a growing trend for Muslim girls to wear the hijab to school.

The commission also recommended moves to limit religious dress in the public services and to prohibit Muslims from refusing education and medical care on religious grounds.

Catholic bishops opposed the school ban but Jewish leaders welcomed it and Dalil Boubakeur, president of the French Muslim Council, said: “If there is a law, we will ask our girls to obey it.”

The mainstream political parties of Right and Left favour a ban, although Nicolas Sarkozy, the hardline Interior Minister, broke government ranks by opposing a law, saying that it would further alienate Muslims.

The intellectual world is largely in favour, with women’s rights campaigners in the lead, but anti-racist groups are largely opposed on the grounds that a ban would amount to discrimination and would further isolate Muslims.

Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the anti-immigrant National Front, denounced the proposed ban as a pro-Muslim move that would draw more immigrants to France.

The commission was instructed by M Chirac last spring to redefine France’s tradition of secular institutions in an age of ethnic diversity.

France has six million Muslims, Europe’s biggest Islamic community. These are mainly from former North African colonies.

M Chirac last week said that wearing the hijab was perceived as an aggressive act. The President’s words reflected the sharp difference between France’s traditional belief that the state has a duty to promote integration and equality in a muscular way and the view in Britain and elsewhere that accepts the co-existence of separate ethnic and religious communities.

The argument has simmered for years. It boiled up again with the emergence of a more militant Islam which has seen a rise in hijab-wearing.

Although only a handful of hijab-wearers have been excluded from schools, the issue has generated much heat among teachers, who are found on both sides of the argument.

The commission said the testimony of 140 witnesses left it alarmed by evidence of a breakdown in France’s tradition of integration, tolerance and equality. Sections of the Muslim community were seeking to enforce segregation, with women refusing treatment by male doctors and some refusing to be taught by male or non-Muslim teachers.

It was also worried by growing anti-Semitism, mainly among disaffected Muslim youths.

Under the new law, large crosses, Muslim veils and the skullcaps of Jewish boys would be outlawed. Discreet signs such as small crosses, stars of David or little Korans, would be acceptable. The commission said: “All punishment will be proportional and imposed only after pupils have been invited to conform.”

Private schools would not be affected by the law.

Universities would be encouraged to prevent students refusing teachers for reasons of gender or religion. Companies would be entitled to “regulate” the dress of workers who have contact with customers. Hospital patients would be barred from refusing care from a doctor or nurse on religious grounds.

A national school of Islam would be created; a Muslim chaplain-in-chief would be appointed to the armed forces; state canteens would be required to propose pork-free meals and municipal cemeteries would required to set aside burial grounds for Muslims.

BRITISH TOLERANCE

British headteachers have been advised against issuing bans on religious headwear (Glenn Owen writes). David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said his members were aware that such action could “inflame sensitivities”, particularly in areas with high concentrations of Muslim pupils.

Britain has always accepted that schools could be run by the Catholic or Protestant churches, a principle extended to Muslim, Jewish, Greek and Sikh faiths which has encouraged tolerance towards religious dress.

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