France reaffirms limits on Muslim

headscarves, veils

by REUTERS, jpost.com, Nov. 27, 2013

PARIS – A French appeals court, ruling in a hotly debated religious rights case, on Wednesday upheld the dismissal of a Muslim daycare worker for wearing a headscarf at a creche that demanded strict neutrality from its employees.

The Paris court’s decision was announced at the same time as French lawyers defended the country’s ban on full-face veils in public before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

The two cases have divided French public opinion for years, with the bans enjoying wide support in public opinion but being denounced by many Muslims as discriminatory.

France has both the largest Muslim minority in Europe, estimated at 5 million, and some of the continent’s most restrictive laws about expressions of faith in public.