This is an important issue. The full text: Rapport de la commission stasi. This is the presidential French commission that was formed by Chirac to resolve the issue of religion in public schools and buildings. I personally support the defense of the principle of secularism in France (and anywhere else for that matter). It is part of the legacy of the great French Revolution. The commission will ban ALL conspicuous signs of religious belief, including the skull cap, big crosses, AND the veils. I do not see that as prejudice or anti-Islam, as many Muslim groups will assert, and some have asserted already. One has to understand the seriousness in which France takes secularism (unlike here of course). People should be free to dress any way they want, of course, but the state, the Secular State, should have the right to defend itself from religious penetration and permeation. The commission was composed fairly in my opinion, and had two Islam experts (Mohammad Arkoun and Gilles Kepel--whose books I recommend) in it. It also had Regis Debray (the former leftist who may have betrayed Che and surrendered him to his death, allegedly, of course). It will not end the debate in France.