海角大神

When a Jewish leader in France asked his fellow Jews to put away their kippas, or skull caps, 鈥渦ntil better days,鈥� he set off a firestorm that exposed both the fear of terrorism here as well as the resolve to resist it.

But the 鈥渒ippa debate鈥� has also thrust France's fierce embrace of secularism into an uncomfortable spotlight.

In a nation where religious garb is a lightning rod, typically something听to be hidden rather than proudly displayed, the nation is reiterating the right to wear the religious symbol. Some have even called for non-Jews to put on a kippa in solidarity, underscoring the national desire to send a defiant message in the face of intimidation.

The debate started in Marseille after a Jewish school teacher was stabbed听Monday by a teenager of Turkish-Kurdish descent, who later told police he did so in the name of the self-declared Islamic State. The attack happened just after weekend commemorations of last January's terrorist attacks against the Charlie Hebdo magazine and a kosher supermarket that killed four Jews.听

Immediately following the stabbing, Zvi Ammar, who heads the听Marseille Israelite Consistory and is听the leading authority of the city's听Jewish community, made the "painful recommendation" to men and boys to remove their kippas amid the insecure climate. 鈥淎s soon as we are identified as Jewish, we can be assaulted and even risk death,鈥� he said.

But Jews and non-Jews alike have roundly condemned it as the wrong message. 鈥淲e should not give an inch,鈥� said France鈥檚 chief rabbi, Haim Korsia, who instead asked soccer fans to don a head covering at the next big soccer match in Marseille on听Jan. 20. Two legislators wore skullcaps to parliament听on Wednesday, and a social media campaign #TousAvecUneKippa ("Everyone With a Kippa") called on the world to don a kippa this morning in solidarity.

In Marseille, Hagay Sobol, a local Jewish politician, says he agrees with the protest, to show both that Jews won鈥檛 back down and that the terrorist threat in France reaches well beyond one group.

鈥淚 can understand that people can be afraid in the [current] situation,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut I consider it a mistake to indicate publicly that we have to remove the kippa. It鈥檚 like a defeat."

France has seen an increase in Jewish emigration to Israel in recent years. While the outflow cannot be attributed solely to security concerns, it is significant for the Jewish population here, which is estimated at around 475,000,听making it one of the largest in the world, after Israel and the United States.听(There is no official count because French law prohibits the collection of data on the race or religion of citizens 鈥� an expression of the state鈥檚 secularism.)

The "kippa debate" has surfaced in other European countries, from Germany to Denmark, where Jewish leaders have called for discretion at various times. But in France, it has highlighted contradictory attitudes about religion and religious symbols.

Michel Wieviorka, a sociologist who studies racism and social movements at the Paris-based EHESS, says the debate sends a confusing message.

鈥淔irst, that in public spaces, citizens are supposed to be just citizens鈥�. They鈥檙e not Jewish or Muslim or Buddhist, they鈥檙e just citizens and nothing should define them from anyone else,鈥� he says.

鈥淥n the other side, there is the argument that if showing your identity in public doesn鈥檛 create problems, then people should be able to wear what they want, show certain religious symbols, etc. In France, we don鈥檛 know which type of mode of functioning we鈥檙e supposed to adopt.鈥�

Religious symbols were banned from public school classrooms in 2004. That means no kippas for Jewish boys, crosses for 海角大神s, or veils for Muslim girls. But the fact that the 2004 law is known colloquially as the headscarf ban shows how Muslims feel it targets them.听Wearing a burqa in public was banned in 2010 in France.听

The 鈥渒ippa debate鈥� could alienate Muslims, who have confronted rising Islamophobia, says Oleg Kobtzeff, a professor of comparative politics at the American University of Paris. 鈥淚 think many Muslims will feel attacked. They could feel like, 'Jews can wear their kippas but how come I can鈥檛 wear my burqa or long beard?' This is going to cause confusion and frustration.鈥�

The kippa debate has also听led to a broader critique among some over the path of secularism in France 鈥� a debate that often polarizes those outside of France more than inside. "La茂cit茅," or the strict separation of church and state, is often seen not as a tool for equality but as part of an anti-religious crusade. 听

鈥淭he problem in France is that there鈥檚 a tendency to not be neutral in religious affairs but instead engage in a proactive discrimination of anything religious in public,鈥� says Mr. Kobtzeff. 鈥淗ow do you handle that when you have religious people in France? You can鈥檛 just make this go away or have people hide inside their houses.鈥�

Many kippa-wearing Jews, in the meantime, say they would never consider hiding their faith.

鈥淥f course we鈥檙e not going to give in to fears because of this attack or certain comments,鈥� says Avi Levi, the manager of a kosher restaurant in the 19th district of Paris, where many Orthodox Jews live. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been around for thousands of years [in this country], we鈥檙e not going to give up just like that.鈥�