French Government Split Over Islamic Veil in Schools and Public Life

It took Julien Odoul, an elected member of the Rassemblement national (RN), to be very aggressive towards a veiled woman who was accompanying her son to the Regional Council of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in Dijon, on Friday, October 11, for the debate on the wearing of the veil at school and on school outings to be relaunched.

Two camps are clashing within the Government. First, that of Jean-Michel Blanquer supported by his colleagues Bruno Le Maire and Gérald Darmanin. For Blanquer, "the veil in itself is not desirable in our society".

The second camp includes Sibeth Ndiaye, the Government Spokesperson, Cédric O, Julien Denormandie or Christophe Castaner. "When I was a child, in Villeurbanne, many of my classmates came from Muslim families. Many times, their mothers accompanied us on school outings. Veiled, sometimes. Never, has this posed a problem," said Cédric O.

For the Government Spokesperson, "it has always been positive moments because you bring together women [...] who do not necessarily live in identical universes".

For its part, the Presidency is striving "not to stigmatize the Muslim community".