Tunisia’s War on Hijāb

France and Germany only aim to prevent Muslim girls from wearing the hijāb (Islāmic headscarf for women) in public schools. Tunisia, ironically a Muslim country, aims to ban it even in public on the streets. It is bewildering to understand why governments feal so threatened by a piece of cloth.

“Does it harm the state when a woman wears a headscarf or not? We are not demanding the imposition of any particular dress on women, we are demanding public and personal freedom.”

Rachid al-Ghanoushi
leading Tunisian Islamist
who lives in exile in London

Read more from BBC about the war on hijāb in several countries. Particularly informational is the first link:

• Headscarves in the headlines
• Tunisia moves against headscarves
• Tunisia attacked over headscarves
• Court backs Turkish headscarf ban
• German state backs headscarf ban
• Egypt TV 'bans veiled presenters'
• French cabinet backs scarf ban