Italy heads off scarf row
2004-03-26 12:55
Rome - The headscarf debate that divided France has reached Italy, with a kindergarten in northern Italy asking a Muslim trainee teacher to remove her headscarf because it feared it might frighten children.
The case has made headlines here and prompted debate among politicians and church officials over the role of Muslims in this predominantly Catholic country, just months after a Muslim activist went to court to have a crucifix removed from his son's public school classroom.
The issue arose last week when a private kindergarten in Samone, in northern Italy, voiced concern about the headscarf worn by a prospective intern, Moroccan-born Fatima Mouyache.
The Miele & Cri-Cri kindergarten said it had agreed to accommodate Mouyache's schedule of daily prayers, but asked the training service if she would be willing to remove her headscarf. The school said it feared it might frighten the students.
The kindergarten said it wasn't acting out of prejudice, but merely to avoid "the negative reaction of the children who aren't used to seeing this type of dress" as well as the possibility that parents might be uncomfortable with it.
In an interview on Thursday in the Rome daily La Repubblica, Mouyache said she couldn't understand how the veil, which covers her hair but not her face, could frighten anyone.
Women and children
If it did make children afraid, she said she could be flexible: "In front of women and children, I can take it off," she said.
After the story was publicised, the town council in nearby Ivrea offered Mouyache a position in another kindergarten, and she accepted.
"We decided to offer her a position at the nursery in Ivrea to complete her training, with or without the veil, just as she likes," said Andrea Benedino, a municipal official in Ivrea.
While saying many Samone parents agreed with the school's position, Benedino said he also didn't understand how the veil could frighten children, noting it was similar to those worn by Catholic nuns.
Italy is officially secular, but largely Roman Catholic.
Last month France's lower house of parliament voted to ban students from wearing Islamic head scarves and other religious apparel in public schools. The government argued the law was needed to protect France's secular traditions and ward off rising Islamic fundamentalism; critics said it would inflame anti-French feelings among France's large Muslim minority.
Most politicians in Italy's centre-right governing coalition have criticised the school and called for tolerance.
"The Muslim veil, worn with dignity and without ostentation, is a harmless symbol of cultural and religious identity that deserves our full respect," said Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu.
Cardinal Julian Herranz, from the Vatican, said the issue went beyond whether someone is allowed to wear a headscarf.
"Everybody must be allowed to freely profess their own faith, according to their own conscience, their own traditions," he said.
- AP