The words freedom, equality and fraternity have encapsulated the guiding principles of the French republic since its founding at the end of the 18th century. For a secular country that does not associate with any religion and allows people of all faiths to practice his/her religion freely, however, there is currently a discussion in France to legislate how a person can express their religion. After banning the veil in public schools, there is now a move afoot to ban the veil on the streets as some in the French parliament maintain that it is degrading to women and, therefore, subject to legislation. It is truly difficult to determine exactly where the crux of this issue lies. Remember, this is a country with a national linguistic body that once tried to ban the use of English words, such as “weekend”, from becoming a part of the French lexicon. So clearly it is a country with some natives who insist on rigidly defending its traditions and what it considers the positive uniqueness of its culture. As France is currently home to Europe's largest Muslim population, an influx that stems from its own imperialism in North Africa and the Middle East, there is an unavoidable culture clash in some quarters, particularly in the south of France, a traditionally right-leaning region which strongly supported the anti-immigrant and outright racist policies of the politician Jean Marie le Penn. But is the movement against the veil a defense of French culture or a prejudice solely against Islam? Indeed, the veil is an integral expression of one's religion and no one has any business agitating against it. While the earlier bill France passed in 2004 was against all religious symbols in public schools (though primarily seen as a move against headscarfs), this fresh debate has selectively targeted the Muslim community there by challenging the Islamic Hijab itself. __
