Ten years ago religious symbols were banned from state schools, this included girls' headscarves. A French protest group called Mamans Toutes Égales has blocked school coaches, boycotted outings and staged street demonstrations in protest of mothers in headscarves being barred from school trips, saying it’s an attack on freedom and democracy in state schools. ‘They seem to want to wipe Muslim women off the landscape,’ said an activist. A Paris suburb suffered two nights of rioting and car-burning at the weekend after a police identity check on a French woman wearing a full-face Muslim veil raised questions about the law banning the niqab from public places. Tension has been rising for months over the broader issue of Muslim headscarves, including the simple hijab. The current Socialist government is considering tightening laws on standard headscarves, despite France having some of the hardest-hitting legislation on veils in Europe. The French Republic is built on a strict separation of church and state.

Pray: against further violent clashes and for positive dialogue that leads to equality for all private beliefs rather than stigmatism any religion. (Ro.12:17-18)

More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/22/frances-headscarf-war-attack-on-freedom