RANT & CHAT - No Politics

[Capt_Nemo]

Not only in Florida, either,

CAIR: French Consulate In Ill. Agrees to Allow Muslim Headscarf in Photo; Second French Citizen in U.S. Being Denied Her Religious Rights by Atlanta Consulate.
Author/s:
Issue: April 12, 2000

WASHINGTON, April 12 /PRNewswire/ --

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today announced that a Muslim woman has reached an agreement with officials at France's consulate in Chicago, Ill., that would allow her to wear a religiously-mandated headscarf in a passport photo. (The Islamic advocacy group also reports that a second French citizen is being denied a similar accommodation by the French consulate in Atlanta, Ga. See below.)

On April 5, CAIR reported that Dalila Benameur, a resident of Illinois, wished to renew her passport but was denied that right when she refused to remove or alter her scarf to meet the demands of a consulate official. CAIR requested that an exemption be granted based on the internationally-recognized right to religious freedom.

"We are pleased that Ms. Benameur will be allowed to maintain her religious rights. We also thank the many Muslims who contacted the consulate to express their concerns," said CAIR Board Chairman Omar Ahmad. Ahmad added the attitude of French officials in Chicago could set a precedent that would allow all female Muslim passport applicants to wear headscarves.

The value of such a precedent is demonstrated by the case of a second French citizen in the U.S. who came forward saying she too was denied a passport by the French consulate in Atlanta, Ga., because of her Islamic attire. The woman tells CAIR that officials at the Atlanta consulate advised her to get a Moroccan passport. (The woman is of Moroccan origin, but is a naturalized French citizen.) CAIR is requesting a religious exemption similar to that granted to the Illinois woman.

The Islamic headscarf is a sensitive issue in France, a country in which Islam is already the second largest faith after Catholicism. Muslim students are often expelled from French schools for wearing Islamic attire. Late last year, France's highest administrative court reaffirmed a ban on the wearing of scarves in public schools. French Muslims, who are mostly immigrants from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and other former colonies, also say they are the targets of racial and religious discrimination in that country.

There are an estimated six million Muslims in America and 1.2 billion worldwide. Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in North America.

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COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group
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