“I find it unacceptable that my 16-year-old daughter cannot run in gym kit on the pretext that the mosque is close to the school playing field!”, the father of one 16-year-old pupil said angrily.
But let us go back to that Friday at the start of October, the day of prayer. The daughters insisted on running outside, like the boys. To justify her refusal, the teacher recalled that in 2009, a class of girls, who also went out on Friday, had been insulted... The worshippers had even thrown soft drinks cans at them. An incident that sparked a strong reaction from both the Department of Public Education and the mosque. The mosque officials apologised and then promised to do everything so that such incidents did not reoccur. The Department refrained from filing a legal complaint.
...For Hafid Ouardiri, former spokesman of the mosque, the reaction of the teacher was wise: “We live in a plural society where it is important to respect what each person wants to express. In deciding not to have young girls in shorts running in front of the mosque, I think the teacher took a considered decision. “I think it’s better that a possible problem is anticipated which could have been seen as a provocation”. However the mediator also insists on reminding the mosque worshippers that they should not dictate how the westerns should live their lives: “It is important to respect the worldviews of other people. It is also important that the worshippers know that there is a school and a playing field close to the mosque, and that they must respect the student’s living space, whether or not they are wearing gym clothes. They must not be offended by it.” And Hafid Ouardiri concludes: “Wouldn’t the best solution be to plant trees or a thick green hedge to create shade between the mosque and the playing field?”