20 Year Anniversary of France Hijab Ban Coincides with International Day To Combat Islamophobia

London - Today, CAGE International marks the International Day To Combat Islamophobia. This date has come as we continue to watch a live streamed genocide unfolding in Gaza, carried out by the apartheid state of Israel and supported by Western governments. Significantly today is also the 20th anniversary of the French government's decision to ban Muslim girls from wearing the hijab in schools.

In recent years the French government’s anti-Muslim and Islamophobic ‘Systematic Obstruction Policy’, which has seen the unjust closure of hundreds of Muslim-run civil society organisations, charities and Mosques. Under this draconian policy, French Muslim communities live in an increasingly securitised and surveilled state, and under a two-tier system that has denied them the rights and freedoms granted to others. 

The International Day To Combat Islamophobia coincides with the announcement of a new and widely rejected authoritarian definition of extremism by Michael Gove, the British Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. His policy exacerbates the climate of Islamophobia in the UK through amplifying a moral panic about ‘Islamist takeovers’. 

We must recognize such actions for what they are, a broader pattern aimed at inciting fears and prejudices against Muslims to curtailing their rights and give states an arsenal of authoritarian powers. 

Anas Mustapha, head of Public Advocacy at CAGE International, said:

"Recent events have brought into sharp focus the structural nature of Islamophobia. From the dehumanising of Muslims in Gaza, government attempts to label Muslim groups in the UK, to the sombre occasion of 20 years since the passing of the Islamophobic hijab ban in France.

On the International Day To Combat Islamophobia, it is abundantly clear that our work in confronting state sponsored French, UK, US and Zionist Islamophobia is not only necessary but crucial in the fight to protect the freedoms and liberties of all."