WUNRN
Tuesday
Aug 14, 2007
By Madeline Chambers
BERLIN
(Reuters) - A German court upheld a ban on Tuesday on female teachers wearing
headscarves in schools in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where almost a
third of the country's 3.5 million Muslims live.
Seven of
Germany's 16 states have banned teachers from wearing Islamic headscarves, a
policy Muslim groups say discriminates against them.
A court in the
northwestern city of Duesseldorf ruled that a 52-year-old teacher, who was
effectively trying to get the ban lifted, was not allowed to wear her headscarf
in school.
Wearing the
garment was a religious statement and therefore against state rules, the court
said in a statement.
Maryam
Brigitte Weiss, a state school teacher since 1980, converted to Islam at the
start of the 1990s and decided to start wearing a headscarf in 2006. To show a
willingness for compromise, she wears her scarf in a so-called "Grace
Kelly" style, tied in a loose knot at the base of the neck.
She argued it
was not the traditional Islamic style and said the state's laws contravened her
right to religious freedom. She plans to launch an appeal.
"This is
a witch hunt," Weiss, a member of the board of the Central Council of
Muslims, told Reuters by telephone.
"This
ruling stigmatizes educated Muslim women and stops them from pursuing a career
and therefore also excludes them from society," she said.
The decision follows a similar ruling by a court in the southern, mainly
Catholic state of Bavaria which upheld its ban in January.
Some of Germany's Muslims, who are mostly Turks, complain they are subject
to discrimination in education and in finding jobs, which alienates them from
mainstream society.
The wearing of headscarves and veils has become a hot political issue in
several European states.
France triggered a row by banning Muslim headscarves in state schools and
some Islamic groups in Britain have accused the government of creating a climate
of Islamophobia after a top politician said veils made community relations more
difficult.
On Wednesday, a court in the western German state of Hesse will hold a hearing on a ban on civil servants wearing headscarves at work, but a decision will take several months.
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