April 13, 2011 – Syria in the News: A Roundup of International Reportage
Syria’s Protest Movement
On Wednesday, it lifted a ban imposed less than a year ago on niqab-wearing teachers. The niqab was controversially banned in the classroom last summer under the premise that displays of religious conservatism ran counter to government efforts to protect secularism in Syria. Though it affected a small number of people (estimated at around 1,200), it was a move that angered many – so much so, that recent demonstrations in Baniyas specifically called for a lifting of the ban. For more information on the original decision to ban the niqab, see here and here.