XPost: soc.culture.austria   
   From: Alvarez554@hotmail.com   
      
   Abu-Alwafa  wrote in message   
   news:x1jGb.2269$Ur.97572@localhost...   
   > Muslim Students Flock to Austria Where Headscarves Are No Problem   
   > Deutsche Presse Agentur   
   >   
   > VIENNA, 23 December 2003 - Female Muslim students facing bans from the   
   > French and German public education systems for wearing headscarves are   
   > starting to flock to Austria where the scarves are no problem at all.   
   >   
   > "There's freedom for headscarves in Austria," said the Vienna   
   > Turkish-language monthly magazine Yeni Hareket (New Movement). A teacher   
   was   
   > allowed to wear one, and so were her students.   
   >   
   > Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel pointed out in the magazine Profil there was   
   > no restriction on religious symbols or clothing, whatever the religion:   
   > "Here, a nun can give religious instruction in schools. Austria is an   
   > example of tolerance. We don't have to import all our discussions from   
   > Germany."   
   >   
   > In Germany a number of states are working on laws banning headscarves in   
   > schools and universities.   
   >   
   > The government of the state of Bavaria has already approved a ban. It sees   
   > the scarves as a "political symbol" and wants the public protected from   
   what   
   > it perceives as fundamentalist influences.   
   >   
   > In France, which does not allow religious instruction in public schools,   
   > President Jacques Chirac urged the Parliament to pass a law banning   
   > headscarves and other visible symbols of religion in schools.   
   >   
   > It was necessary in order that the country's youth would not be "exposed   
   to   
   > an evil wind that divided (them)," he said in a reference to religious   
   > fanaticism.   
   >   
   > The French law is also expected to ban visible symbols of other religions   
   in   
   > schools, including Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses.   
   >   
   > Pupils will still be allowed to wear discreet symbols of faith.   
   >   
   > Many of the female Muslim students in Vienna are graduates of the Turkish   
   > Islamic Imam Hatep schools.   
   >   
   > They have qualified for university-level education, but are not allowed to   
   > study in secular Turkey because they refuse to take off their headscarves.   
   >   
   > In Turkey, millions of women in fact wear headscarves and nobody minds.   
   > However, the head covering is not allowed for employees in public service,   
   > whether in ministries, courts, city halls, banks, hospitals, or   
   educational   
   > institutes.   
   >   
   > http://arabnews.com/   
   >   
   >   
      
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