Keeping Muslim Girls under Wraps in France

3-year-old girl wears a veil: Nicolas Sarkozy, the French interior minister, announced yesterday the closure on Dec. 2 of an Islamic day care center and a kindergarten in two southern Paris suburbs that were of "Salafist inspiration" (Salafist is the word Wahhabis use for themselves). The local prefect, Michel Delpuech, said the heads of the centers "are known to the police for their links with radical Islamic groups. One of the two people was actually convicted for an offense involving an Islamic group." But the memorable piece of information came in this statement by Delpuech: "When the police came to close down the two centers, they saw a 3-year-old little girl who was wearing a veil." (December 11, 2003)

Four girls imprisoned in apartment: An unnamed Moroccan father, 45, living in Romans-sur-Isère (in the Drôme region) imprisoned his wife and their four girls, ages 4, 10, 13 and 14, in their apartment "in the name of Islam." The man, an unemployed welfare recipient, refused to allow the girls to go to school without the hijab, which is banned in state-run classrooms, and he claimed to be the "only person able to give them a decent education." Although all four girls were born in France, not one of them speaks a word of French. They rarely left the apartment and never once ventured further than their building's lobby. They were forbidden to play with toys, watch television, or read anything other than the Koran. Their permitted activities consisted of crocheting and cleaning. A judge found the father guilty of breaking French law on compulsory schooling for children over the age of six, saying that the children could have studied the state curriculum from home by correspondence. The father received a 10-month suspended sentence and was stripped of his parental rights. (January 7, 2006)

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