PARIS, 18 January 2004 — Shouting “The veil is my choice,” several thousand people marched in Paris yesterday as part of protests around the world against the French government’s plan to ban headscarves in schools.
Women in headscarves and men joined the Paris rally, which drew at least 3,000 people. Thousands more attended protests in France’s other major cities, while the Paris protest drew Muslims from around the country. “We’re here for our liberty,” said Fatiha Hossol, from the southeastern city of Lyon. “It’s our religious obligation to honor our God.”
Algerian-born Kawtar Fawzy, 30, also traveled from Lyon. “When I came here, they told me France was the land of human rights. I found out it’s the opposite,” she said, amid protesters waving French flags.
From London to Baghdad, protesters around the world took to the streets to express their solidarity with Muslims in France.
In London, 2,400 people demonstrated across from the French Embassy in the upscale Knightsbridge area, police said. They waved placards and chanted: “If this is democracy, we say: ‘No, merci!’” “The (French) government is isolating Muslims and setting a dangerous precedent,” said Ihtisham Hibatullah,” spokesman for the Muslim Association of Britain. “Muslims see it as an aggravation.”
One protester, 19-year-old Sofia Ahmad, said she feared the ban might spread from France to other countries. “It’s one step from preventing Muslims from practicing,” she said.
In Egypt, a small group of 100 women held a symbolic gathering after the government banned a planned protest outside the French Embassy.
In Beirut, Lebanon, some 2,500 mostly veiled women marched several kilometers from the French ambassador’s house to the French Embassy. “My personal freedom is my right,” read one banner. “Liberty, Fraternity, Equality: Theory or Practice?” read another.
The protesters, among them several Westerners including an American, a Swiss and a German wearing headscarves, also shouted slogans against Chirac.
“Chirac in Paris, what is this injustice and discrimination?” shouted the protesters in Arabic.
In Syrian capital Damascus, some 20 people staged a sit-in in front of the French Cultural Center to protest the ban. “What does freedom and justice mean when I lose my freedom of practicing my beliefs,” read one of the banners.
