Social Issues

French Muslim student victim of racism over headscarf

By Luis Miguel Pascual

Paris, Jun 13 (efe-epa).- Hassiba Kechiche was a model student until at the age of 18 she decided to follow her religious instinct and cover her head with a veil.

It was then that she discovered the ugly streak of Islamophobia in France, one example of which occurred during a visit to the bank six months ago.

“I needed to withdraw 1,500 euros at a bank and had to go to the window because my card limit was 700 euros,” she tells Efe.

“The employee who attended me told me that he couldn’t give it to me because he didn’t want to be an accessory in money laundering to finance terrorism.”

The encounter left her in tears and devastated as she was reminded of previous humiliations she has suffered.

She launched a complaint with the Collective Against Islamophobia in France (CCIF) which sent a warning to the bank.

“They covered it up as a misunderstanding and nothing happened to the man who treated me like that. That’s how they cover up this racism,” she says.

Kechiche has been fighting Islamophobia for years through the Association of Muslim Students of France.

She has experienced discrimination for years as a Muslim, especially since she started wearing a hijab, a veil worn by women that usually covers the hair and neck.

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