-
NOVANEWS
Women demonstrate against prolonged political dialogue Feb. 19, 2015
In 2003, a German court ruled that it was “dangerous” for schools if teachers wore headscarves.
Germany ‘s top court reversed a “general ban” on teachers wearing headscarves on Friday.
The Federal Constitutional Court said that teachers could only be banned from wearing headscarves if there was a “concrete danger” to a school’s environment.
In 2003, the court had ruled that teachers could not wear headscarves in schools because doing so would supposedly violate the state’s neutrality, although the wearing of Christian symbols was not outlawed by the court.
Two female Muslim teachers appealed the 2003 decision, and the court decided that an abstract danger to state neutrality was not a strong enough argument to have a blanket ban on the headscarf. The court said that religious symbols had to present “not just an abstract but a concrete risk of disruption in schools,” in order to be banned.
“We welcome this decision, even if it does not mean a general authorization for wearing headscarf,” said Nurhan Soykan, Secretary-General of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany.
The Berlin daily paper Taz wrote that Pegida, an Islamophobic movement whose name is an acronym for Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West, would use this ruling as an example of Islam taking over Europe. On the front page Taz said, “Pegida will celebrate.”
There are 4 million Muslims in Germany. In 2014, a poll revealed that 57 percent of Germans saw Islam as a threat to the nation.
The Federal Constitutional Court said that teachers could only be banned from wearing headscarves if there was a “concrete danger” to a school’s environment.
In 2003, the court had ruled that teachers could not wear headscarves in schools because doing so would supposedly violate the state’s neutrality, although the wearing of Christian symbols was not outlawed by the court.
Two female Muslim teachers appealed the 2003 decision, and the court decided that an abstract danger to state neutrality was not a strong enough argument to have a blanket ban on the headscarf. The court said that religious symbols had to present “not just an abstract but a concrete risk of disruption in schools,” in order to be banned.
“We welcome this decision, even if it does not mean a general authorization for wearing headscarf,” said Nurhan Soykan, Secretary-General of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany.
The Berlin daily paper Taz wrote that Pegida, an Islamophobic movement whose name is an acronym for Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West, would use this ruling as an example of Islam taking over Europe. On the front page Taz said, “Pegida will celebrate.”
There are 4 million Muslims in Germany. In 2014, a poll revealed that 57 percent of Germans saw Islam as a threat to the nation.
