By Ahmad Maher, IOL Staff

CAIRO, May 24, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Marking the end of three months of intense lobbying and painstaking efforts to make their voice heard and gain the support of Members of European Parliament (MEPs), Protect Hijab activists see the campaign a “success” and “positive step.”

“If we look at the number of Written Declarations (WDs) that have been put before the European Parliament this year, from eight WDs only two got more signatories than ours,” Vice-Coordinator of the London-based Assembly for the Protection of Hijab (Protect Hijab), Rajnaara Akhtar, told IslamOnline.net Tuesday, May 24.

She was referring to a Written Declaration on Religious Rights and Freedoms, which was tabled by Protect Hijab and MEPs to the parliament February 21 as a preliminary step towards a binding resolution obliging European countries, particularly France, to lift ban on hijab in state-run institutions like schools.

“If we look at the picture that way, it (the hijab campaign) has been definitely a success. It is a first step we have to build on it, considering it was the first WD we put forward and collected that number of signatures which reached 70 in total. So we do think that it was a positive thing,” Akhtar told IOL by phone from London.

Akhtar added pro-hijab activists met in London Saturday, May 21, to celebrate the achievement over the past three months.

“We also met Wednesday [May 18] in front of the Strasbourg-based European Parliament and were shared the moment by MEPs,” she said.

“What we want to ensure is that the campaign keeps moving forward,” said Akhtar.

The WD was initially drafted by British MEPs Caroline Lucas (Green Party), amended by Sarah Ludford (Liberal Democrats), and then translated into 22 languages spoken across Europe.

Chief among the signatories are French Alain Lipietz, Polish Bogusław Rogalski, German Frau Gisela Kallenbach, Hungarian Kinga Gál, Italian Luisa Morgantini, Spanish Raül Romeva i Rueda, Finnish Eija-Riitta Korhola, Latvian Tatjana Zdanoka, Danish Hr. Neils Busk, Dutch Maria Martens, Eistonian Siiri Oviir, according to Protect Hijab Web site.

“Now we have many friends inside the European Parliament and will continue to engage with them and share ideas with them,” Akhtar added.

“More politicians are aware of the campaign as we encourage them to think about the key issue of religious tolerance in Europe.”

To become a binding resolution, a WD must get the endorsement of half of the 732-member European legislature.

Protect Hijab Coordinator Abeer Pharaon told IOL in an earlier interview that of 161 written declarations on different issues that had been presented to the parliament, only six were adopted.

Akhtar said that the Protect Hijab activists are resolved to keep their cause vivid no matter what it takes.

“What we want to ensure is that the campaign keeps moving forward,” she said.

“The next major step is the International Hijab Solidarity Day on September 3. We are in the process of planning activities that will take place around the world, including Middle East countries like Egypt and Jordan.”

“We will also be focusing on the media to raise awareness and make hijab and religious tolerance a talking point. Targeting the media is a great way to achieve this,” the hijab activist added.

France spearheaded anti-hijab European countries with its lower house of parliament adopting the controversial bill on February 10 last year with an overwhelming majority.

The text, put forward by President Jacques Chirac's ruling center-right Union for a Popular Majority (UMP) party and supported by the left-wing opposition Socialists, was adopted by a vote of 494 to 36.

Shortly afterwards, other European countries, chiefly Germany, followed the French lead.

The French ban, described by international rights watchdogs as amounting to religious discrimination, prompted demonstrations across Europe.

International figures also stood behind the Muslim right, including London Mayor Ken Livingstone, who said Paris’s move is an “anti-Muslim measure” and accused Chirac plays a “terribly, terribly dangerous game.”

Islam sees hijab as an obligatory code of dress, not a religious symbol displaying one’s affiliations.