The Terrifying Extremism of Radical Islamic Ideologies

Rewritten Article:

The prohibition on personal devices at schools, like cell phones, seems like a clear decision. Many praised Education Minister Bernard Drainville's announcement, focusing on the device-free zone's potential to break students' bubbles of isolation.

On the flip side, another ban announced by the minister sparked less agreement: the prohibition of religious symbols for all school staff.

Three former party members, from different parties, united to criticize the minister's plan to extend the scope of the Charter of Quebec Values, which bans religious symbols for teachers. If Bill 94 is approved, the ban will apply to everyone who works with students, covering speech therapists, cooks, and daycare educators.

Françoise David (Quebec Solidaire), Louise Harel (Parti Québécois), and Christine St-Pierre (Liberal Party) view this bill as an unnecessary extension that discriminates against women. They argue that the government is utilizing the Bedford School case, a genuine scandal, to fan old flames, unnecessary debates that we could have skipped.

These heated discussions have stirred up tensions and divisions amongst Quebec's citizens for almost 20 years, since the reasonable accommodation crisis. And once more, we find ourselves embroiled in a debate. Is Quebec really eager to argue about the hijab again?

The real issue at Bedford wasn’t the veil, as some may think. In that Côte-des-Neiges school, the problem lay with male teachers refusing to teach certain subjects and overlook the needs of struggling students.

In the 17 schools subsequently inspected, “no problem of proselytism linked to the wearing of a religious symbol was brought to the minister's attention," the three former members point out. Not one.

Nonetheless, let’s tighten the screws, Minister Drainville seemed to decide. Let's rekindle the debates.

Forcing a woman to remove her veil to stir sauces in the school cafeteria? I fail to see the necessity in drafting a law for such an action, nor for the supposed benefit of our children.

This bill appears to signal “a return to heated debates for ideological reasons and without serious cause,” as the three former party members correctly state.

Expect the dialogue on the veil to harden again. Already, some pundits are presenting the veil as "a flag that radical Islam uses to mark its territorial advances." Nothing less.

However, we mustn't shy away from questioning this black-and-white discourse. We should critically examine the education minister's bill. Should we be labeled as "naive dupes" too blinded by our own beliefs to listen, simply because we question the bill?

I had a chat with French sociologist Daniel Verba, a researcher at the Interdisciplinary Research Institute on Social Issues and an expert on secularism at Sorbonne Paris Nord University.

Daniel Verba has spent years studying the wearing of veils in France, interviewing veiled French women to understand their motivations and publishing scholarly studies on the topic.

"I'm far from defending the veil," he clarifies. "I'm not promoting the Islamic veil." The professor speaks for no one but himself, opting instead for empirical exploration over ideological convictions.

"Among all the French women I've interviewed," he shares, "none told me they were forced to wear the veil."

When women freely choose to wear the veil, they exercise their autonomy.

Daniel Verba, Emeritus Researcher at the Interdisciplinary Research Institute on Social Issues and Secularism Specialist at Sorbonne Paris Nord University.

Of course, Daniel Verba acknowledges the possibility of overlooking women coerced into wearing head coverings in public spaces due to phallocentric domination. However, in France, he estimates that this group makes up a small minority.

His work, plus that of other researchers, shows that the vast majority of French Muslim women who choose to wear the Islamic headscarf do so for religious reasons and as a means of self-expression and identification.

Daniel Verba has also noted a sense of solidarity in the wearing of the hijab. "Women often make the decision to wear the veil or keep it through mutual support," he notes.

We are nowhere near the symbol of the submissive woman or the supposed marker of radical Islam's territorial invasions...

Daniel Verba sees this caricatured portrayal as a "social, political, and ideological construction, driven by reactionary movements." The objective is to convince people that wearing a veil is a continuous step leading to identity retreat, rejection of host- society values, and, ultimately, violent radicalism. "But this chain of events does not exist," he asserts. "These associations appear entirely illegitimate to me."

You may argue that the veil is more than just a piece of cloth. Iranian women face prison for publicly exposing their hair.

That may be true, but context is important. In Iran, a theocratic regime imposes rules on women that many have not willingly chosen. In France and Quebec, however, women wear the hijab in democracies that value religious freedom.

"Changing the political context alters the significance of the veil," Daniel Verba points out. "In Iran, removing it represents emancipation. In France and Quebec, wearing it symbolizes freedom."

In Quebec, as in France, Muslim women make their own choices about wearing the hijab, and, absent evidence to the contrary, indoctrinating children is not a factor. That's the reality on the ground. Anything else is just noise from those waving the bogeyman of radical Islam.

The Quebec Solidaire, Parti Québécois, and Liberal Party members criticize the government's proposed extension of the Charter of Quebec Values, claiming it discriminates against women and is unnecessary.
The proposed bill by Education Minister Bernard Drainville, if passed, will extend the ban on religious symbols to all staff who work with students, not just teachers, as claimed by some.
According to Daniel Verba, a French sociologist and expert on secularism, the veil does not mark territorial advances for radical Islam, as some pundits claim, but is often a symbol of religious freedom for Muslim women in democracies like France and Quebec.
In the midst of heated debates about religious symbols in education policy and general news, it is crucial to critically examine the policies being proposed and question black-and-white discourses that may unnecessarily divide communities.
The prohibition of religious symbols in schools, aside from the controversial ban on personal devices, has been reported to not present any problems related to war-and-conflicts, policy-and-legislation, or politics, as none were brought to the minister's attention following inspections in 17 schools.