Prominent French intellectuals, including last year's Nobel Prize winner Annie Ernault, have signed a petition launched by more than 350 personalities and organizations to demand a curb in the spread of Islamophobia in France, especially after the French authorities announced that the abaya would be banned in schools coinciding with the recent school entry.
The petition condemned what it called "racist, Islamophobic, sexist, and patriarchal guardianship policies under the guise of secularism," and the list of signatories included political figures, anti-racism activists, and feminist activists, who demanded that the stigma, harassment and insults to these students from the educational institution not increase.
Among the signatories of the petition are the famous French philosopher and academic Étienne Belbar, the famous rapper of Algerian origin Medien, the French actress and playwright Adele Haynal, and a number of personalities, trade union and political organizations.
The petition promised that the implementation of the "abaya ban" only served to confirm this racial and sexual stereotyping of students, as evidenced by the numerous testimonies of students who were denied entry to their institution because they were wearing a long dress or something dark black, and criticized the government's request to education workers and teachers to determine, according to facial features, the true or supposed affiliation to Islam of students, and whether their clothes were cloaks or not.
The ban is a continuation of racist and Islamophobic attacks, carried out under the cover of secularism, since the 2004 law banning the wearing of headscarves in schools, preventing veiled mothers from accompanying their children on school trips, reports on the rate of absenteeism on the Eid holiday, and leaflets calling on employees to "detect and report signs of extremism," the statement said.
The petitioners argue that the daily harassment of Muslim girls, or perceived as such, will have a direct consequence of deteriorating their education, exclusion from school, and denial of their right to public education because of their true or supposed faith.
The petition considered that this ban on wearing the abaya is part of "the continuation of the brutal repression of protests by these young people, who expressed their anger in response to the killing of young Nael by police on June 27, 2023. It is a repression exemplified by the extremely heavy prison sentences against these young people, which continue to this day with the eviction of young people who participated in the protests from their homes," the petition added, adding that "it is a general attack against the youth of working-class neighborhoods launched by the government."
French activists promised that the petition is an important step that should be praised and supported, in order to create a wave of opposition to everything that is happening towards Muslims in France.
Academic and activist Maud Fati said on her X account that she was very proud of her support for her companions and the signing of the latest petition.
For his part, the head of the leftist Permanent Revolution Movement, Anas Kazeb, expressed his happiness to reach such a large number of political, academic and cultural figures, but he denounced the weakness of the media coverage of the petition only, because it carries a trend contrary to the official trend.
The statement was not spared from attacks by far-right supporters, some of whom described the signatories as "subservient to Islamists" who want to "give way to radical Islam", as they put it.