Italian college bans Muslim headscarves

From the Italian edition of The Local

The headmaster of a college in Italy’s Friuli-Venezia Giulia region has banned female Muslim students from wearing headscarves.The move is intended to prevent further racial violence after several attacks against Muslim students at Malignini di Cervignano, a technical college in the province of Udine, Messaggero Veneto reported.

In a circular issued last week, headmaster Aldo Duri said the college, which has a sizeable number of students of Arab origin, must promote values of “tolerance, respect and equality” and that “outward signs of religion can be seen as provocation”.

“For example, the handkerchief or scarf that covers the hair and sometimes part of the face of Muslim girls. They are free to use it outside school, but not in class,” he wrote, adding that the school is secular and any outward sign of any religion would not be tolerated.

The ban will take effect in all of the college’s six sites across the area. He also said he was concerned that further violence could be inspired by recent attacks by Islamic extremists in Europe.

Meanwhile in Rome

Anti-terrorism soldiers to patrol Rome sites

Up to 500 Italian soldiers could be brought into Rome to protect the city’s famous sites and embassies from terrorism attacks, Italian media reported on Tuesday. Soldiers could be brought in this week to protect sensitive sites, including the Colosseum, Pantheon and Vatican Museums, Corriere della Sera said. Other monuments and museums, in addition to churches, may also be protected by the army.

The report also noted upped security outside embassies such as those of the US and Libya.Italy’s defence and interior ministries were not immediately able to confirm the Corriere report, which comes after the government proposed 4,850 soldiers be brought onto the streets to protect citizens. The new anti-terrorism measures could also see increased jail terms for people who join extremist groups fighting abroad.

Immediate concerns over security in the Italian capital follow a video published by Isis, in which the group in Libya threatened they were “just south of Rome”.