A rabbi in the city of Toulouse has filed a complaint for discrimination after a polling clerk told him he would have to remove his kippa, or Jewish skullcap, before voting in local elections, reports FRANCE 24.
The incident, indicative of the sometimes complex interpretation of France’s strict secular rules, took place on Sunday during the first round of nationwide polls to elect new local councils.
A polling clerk representing the left-wing Front de Gauche coalition told Toulouse rabbi Avraham Weill to remove his kippa inside the polling station, claiming this was required by French rules on secularism.
French law says it is illegal to wear “ostentatious” religious symbols, including Jewish kippas and Muslim headscarves, inside state schools.
But the rule does not apply to school premises when they are being used as polling stations, as was the case in Toulouse.
In remarks carried by AFP news agency, Weill described the clerk’s actions as “the overzealous behaviour of someone who does not know election rules”.
“There was no insult, but an intention to intimidate me,” he said, adding that he had dithered at length about filing a complaint as he did not wish to “give ammunition to those who think Jews like to portray themselves as victims”.
The local Communist Party, a member of the Front de Gauche coalition, said in a statement it “regretted” the incident and would contact the rabbi to “dispel the misunderstanding”.