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| Europe |
| Tehran worshipers cry ’Death to France!’ over head scarves |
| 2004-01-04 |
Will he or won’t he? That is, will Chiraq go down in history as the French President who only needed "a roar from Muslims, and the French would back off." to be known as the " When they say jump, I say how high?" President. TEHRAN Thousands of Muslim worshipers shouted "Death to France!" during weekly prayers here Friday in response to a sermon denouncing a proposal to prohibit Muslim schoolgirls in France from wearing head scarves. Ayatollah Ahmad Janati called on Islamic countries to "threaten France with canceling contracts and to reconsider their relations with France" over the issue. Last month, a committee of French experts recommended banning "conspicuous" religious insignia from state schools, which are secular. This would include the hijab, or head scarf, skullcaps and large crucifixes. In a speech later, President Jacques Chirac of France came out in favor of the ban, which he wants written into law by the start of the next school year. But Janati assured worshipers that all that was necessary was "a roar from Muslims, and the French would back off." He called on the French authorities to "let Muslim women express their freedom and carry out their religious obligations." His comments were welcomed by shouts of "Death to France!" Since Chirac spoke in favor of the ban on Dec. 17, Arab and Muslim countries have been voicing outrage, even if a few intellectuals dispute claims that Muslim women are bound by duty to wear the head scarf. Numerous Iranian officials, including President Mohammad Khatami and nearly 200 members of Parliament, have already called on the French authorities to reject the ban. Khatami said last week that the "hijab is a religious necessity and its restriction is a sign of a kind of extreme nationalistic tendency." On Monday, 150 students, including women in the head-to-foot chador, protested in front of the French Embassy in Tehran shouting "Death to France!" and "Death to Chirac the Zionist!" |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #1 Isn't it funny that Iran forces this "religious necessity" onto non-muslim women as well and now the turbans complain that other countries have other rules they enforce? Imagine Muslim women being forced to wear a crucifix or a scullcap? |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2004-1-4 11:15:37 PM |