An Outcry among the Islamic Community

The highest court in the southern German state of Bavaria recently decided that the state did not overstep its authority by banning Muslim teachers from wearing headscarves in the classroom. Susan Killick has the background

In Germany, the debate regarding the wearing of headscarves in public schools is back in the spotlight with a new ruling: The highest court in the southern state of Bavaria decided that Muslim women are not allowed to wear a headscarf while teaching.

The decision is set to have a nation wide effect, as eight of the 16 German states changed their school law to be able to ban teachers wearing Muslim symbols. Catholic nuns robes and Jewish Kipas (skull caps) are still allowed however, as conservative politicians say they are part of the occidental culture, which plays a crucial role in the education of young children.

Bavaria's decision to ban Muslim teachers from wearing headscarves in public schools is set to cause an outcry among Berlin's Islamic community. In a class action lawsuit the Muslims complained that Catholic nuns were allowed to wear their gown while teaching, but their women would have to take off their veils.

All or none

The latest legal wrangle over headscarves highlights the inconsistency of Bavaria's state's school law. It says that no-one is allowed to wear religious symbols in the classroom – no one but Christians and Jews that is. The heated debate was first sparked in 2003 when Germany's federal Constitutional Court ruled that Muslims could wear their veils while teaching but at the same time encouraged new laws to ban religious symbols.

Soon afterwards 16 German states passed school laws that banned headscarves, saying they were an affront to Christian values. Günther Piening, who is the Berlin commissioner for integration and migration, says either all religious symbols should be banned or none.

"Berlin is the only city and Germans state which has not only banned the head scarf, but all religious symbols in schools, that is the big difference," said Piening. "I think that's the only way to do it, because it does not discriminate against one religion. It abides by the principle of equality as laid down in the German constitution."

Women's rights groups and conservative politicians however argue that many Moslem women have no choice but to wear a headscarf because their families demand it.

But according to a recent survey conducted by the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation, 97 percent of those women asked said it was the duty of a Muslim woman to cover her head and that they should be allowed to wear them wherever and whenever they choose – an opinion not shared by the vast majority of Germans.

Not a political statement

The deputy secretary general of the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation, Christoph Kannengießer says the wearing of a veil is not necessarily a political statement and should not stop the communication between Muslims and Germans.

"We must not allow Muslim women to separate themselves from German society," said Kannengießer. "We have to work harder to integrate them. Muslims are part of German society and we have to accept it if Muslim girls and women choose to wear the veil."

The headscarf debate remains a political hot potato. German Interior minister Wolfgang Schäuble has repeatedly called on Moslems to accept different opinions on the role of women and the wearing of headscarves.

A few months ago a member of parliament has been given police protection because she called on Moslem women to take off their headscarves. She said the veil was a sign of separation and unwillingness to integrate and should definitely not be present in public schools that are based on democratic principles and values.

Ekin Deligöz, an ethnic Turk and member of the Green party received numerous death threats after making her comments and it took weeks to smooth ruffled feathers in the Muslim community. The affair triggered an outcry among the German population with many people wondering just how prepared Muslims really are to integrate and also accept criticism.

Susan Killick

Qantara.de

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