ALERT: International Day of Protest: January 17, 2004
Posted: 17 Zul-Qa'dah 1424, 10 January 2004
The following Freedom Alert comes from the Muslim Students Association of the US and Canada.
In response to a French government plan to ban the wearing of hijab (headscarf) in public schools, the Muslim Student Association (MSA) will join in on an International Day of Protest on Saturday, January 17, 2004.
In conjunction with religious - and human and civil rights - organizations around the world, the MSA will join protests taking place in cities where French embassies and consulates in the US are located, including: Washington, DC; Atlanta, GA; Houston, TX; Miami, FL; San Francisco, CA; and New York City, NY.
A 48-hour call-in and e-mail campaign will precede the protest, as all participating organizations will ask members to call or e-mail French embassies and consulates to voice their opposition to the ban on religious attire in schools.
With French President Jacques Chirac's decision to ban religious insignia from schools, the Muslim Students Association of the US and Canada is calling upon people of conscience to join them in protesting this infringement upon liberty and religious tolerance.
MSA believes that President Chirac's ban on religious attire - which specifically targets Muslim females who wear hijab - signals one of the greatest setbacks for freedom and democracy in France since becoming one of the world's democratic powers. To deny a woman her God-given right to freely practice her religion not only constitutes a violation of her personal freedom, but also defies the very concept of secularism.
By officially prohibiting religious practices having no correlation with state functions, President Chirac is leading France down a dangerous path of banning the acts of the religiously devout in the name of a misguided perception of secularism.
The MSA is calling upon President Chirac to rescind his plan, which jeopardizes the religious rights of all schoolchildren in France to dress according to their religious mandates without discrimination, fear or legal persecution. By curtailing the religious rights of its citizens, France is consequently jeopardizing the most cherished and fundamental principle of its foundation: liberty.
A woman's decision to wear hijab is a personal and private matter reflecting her commitment to God and desire not to expose her hair and body to unfamiliar men. To claim that a woman's decision to dress modestly in public somehow infringes upon the rights of others defies common sense and raises questions as to motives behind the proscription.
"As an American Muslim, my decision to wear hijab does not conflict with being both an American and a Muslim. The hijab is simply my personal desire to observe God's commandments of modesty," said Lina Hashem, Vice President MSA-USA.
What: An International Day of Protest Against President Chirac's Hijab Ban
Where: French Embassies and Consulates in North America
When: Saturday, January 17, 2004
Contacts:
Tareq Elgawhary, MSA President - 240-505-7850.
Hadia Mubarak: Political Action Task Force Vice Chair - 202-213-7608
Ismail Kamal: Outreach Director - 202-431-1505
Current Affairs 