Khaberni - Senator Jacqueline Eustache-Brinio, who supervised the preparation of the report, said: "Political Islam poses an obstacle to our national cohesion... It is an ideology that aims to transform French society according to stringent religious standards, and it is a long-term separatist project."
A group of 29 senators from the French Republicans Party (LR) published a report containing 17 recommendations aimed at combating what they described as "political Islam," with special focus on protecting minors from what they considered "girl-covering with the hijab".
The report, revealed by "Le Figaro" newspaper, is titled "Political Islam: An Obstacle to Our National Cohesion?" and is about one hundred pages long.
The report describes the hijab as "a banner of gender separation, a tool for social control, and a regional marker," considering that some religious practices represent mechanisms for discrimination and symbolic control, justifying the measures proposed for minors according to the authors.
Banning the hijab and fasting during Ramadan for minors
The first recommendation of the report dictates "banning wearing the hijab in public places for girls under the age of 16," considering this step aims to "protect childhood from social or familial pressures." The senators also reintroduced the old proposal to "ban the hijab on mothers accompanying school trips".
In addition, the report called for banning minors under the age of 16 from fasting during Ramadan.
In the same context, Laurent Wauquiez, the leader of the Republicans Party deputies, presented a bill described as "more stringent," which calls for banning the wearing of the hijab in public places for all minors. The Republicans team in the Senate has not yet decided to turn the report's recommendations into official legislative projects.
Guidelines for elected officials and public authorities
Regarding "forced marriage," the report recommended conducting interviews with couples before their marriages are documented by the French consular authorities, to ensure "compliance with the laws and to prevent the use of marriage as a means of social or religious pressure."
The report also called for re-associating the visa grants to the Ministry of the Interior, to ensure the coordination of decisions related to entry, residence, and deportation, and to enhance the state's ability to monitor individuals suspected of connections to political Islam.
The recommendations also included obliging elected officials to respect religious neutrality while carrying out their official duties, which would prohibit them from wearing prominent religious symbols.
The senators emphasized that this neutrality should be applied to elected officials just as it is applied to employees and workers in public institutions.
The report also recommended training elected officials to recognize the subtle methods of influence that some Islamic networks might use, within what the report considered a comprehensive confrontation to what it described as the "Islamic threat to national state cohesion."
Senator Jacqueline Eustache-Brinio, who supervised the preparation of the report, said: "Political Islam poses an obstacle to our national cohesion. It is an ideology that aims to transform French society according to stringent religious standards, and it is a long-term separatist project."
