Germany divided over hijab

Eight years ago, the constitutional court ruled that crucifixes would have to be removed from classrooms in Bavaria if just one student objected.

Some observers see the push to wear the Muslim head scarf in a school setting as incompatible with this principle of state neutrality. The fact that Muslims want what many see as more freedom to express their religion than German Christians makes parliamentarian Wolfgang Bosbach angry.

"The debate is absurd," says the domestic affairs expert for the conservative Christian Democrats in the German parliament. "This is not an Islamic country, it's a Christian country, and we should not be forced to accommodate Islam."

Other Germans perceive the scarf as a threat not so much to a Judeo- Christian heritage, but to Western secularism and women's rights.

"There are very few women who wear the head scarf voluntarily, and their number is so small they are not worth talking about," says Seyran Ates, a women's right activist and lawyer in Berlin.

Since running away from her parents' traditional Turkish household in Berlin at 18, Ms. Ates has spent her life fighting for the rights of women yearning to break free of the traditional and religious mold their parents foresee for them.

In the two weeks since the decision came down, she has been a favorite of TV news producers looking for the choice sound bite. The 40-year-old, who wrote a book about leaving her strict home, says she is astounded at the legitimacy with which some German politicians give the head scarf.

"We need to never forget that what we're talking about here is fundamentalism," she says.

Rather than decide what place a piece of cloth that represents religious freedom to some, fundamentalism to others, has in a state-run school, Germany's constitutional court referred the question to the state parliaments and the public domain - where many believe it belongs.

"We're not ready for such a decision," says Riem Spielhaus, an Islamic Studies professor at Berlin's Humboldt University. Referring to Germany's integration problems, Professor Spielhaus says, "We need an atmosphere of openness where we can admit that other religions might also change our values."

The direction the debate is going worries both Muslims and Germans. Misconceptions that the head scarf is an umbilical cord to a fundamentalist Islam could have the opposite effect. Pockets of devout Muslims, facing limited job prospects because of their religious dress, could withdraw into parallel societies harboring the type of terror nests that produced the Sept. 11 attackers.

"There's not a fundamentalist under every head scarf, and thinking that would be fatal," says Spielhaus. "Ms. Ludin's head scarf, which she willingly puts on, is good for the Western society. Banning head scarves would be a victory for fundamentalists."

Öztürk makes a similar argument, adding that her head scarf could even begin dismantling prejudices before they arise in her young students.

"I think it's very sad that this society continues to look at the head scarf as something of a threat," said Öztürk. "I find it shocking that so many things are projected onto the head scarf without anyone ever asking the women who wear them."

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