It's a complex issue I covered in my French class this past semester.

Americans very well see it as 'oppresive', but from a French perspective having 'ostentatious' religious symbols - cross necklaces, veils, yamaka - is 'oppressive'. Their freedom is considered to be FROM religion in public places. Our freedom is considered to be FOR religious expression in public places. It doesn't take much imagination to understand this if you look at France's history, the country experienced tireless religious war - mostly between protestants and catholics - from the 1400 to the 1700s - that was extremely bloody and often linked to maintaining the incumbent monarchy (e.g. Saint Barthelomew's Massacre; Revocation of the Edict of Nantes).

However, none of this context will help the French National Assembly draft a law prohibiting the veil that will not be under intense scrutiny from Europe's Council on Human Rights. It doesn't seem to me from what I read that the French have yet figured out a law that will pass Europe's Human Rights standards. But, they are working on it. It will be interesting to see what happens.

It's also worth noting that France has done a terrible job at integrating its legal immigrants. Many and most of the unemployment rate can be attributed to 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants - mostly from Northern & Western Africa. This probably has to do with France's extremely rigid labor market. And, it's exacerbated by feelings of classism and elitism that seem to exist in French society, which is often expressed as 'true french', read 'white french'. Is the increase in xenophobia in France a result of all these factors; or have all these factors helped to create a sentiment of xenophobia? In any case, all this does not bode well for France. And, it's unfortunate to see from my perspective as a lover of France and French culture and language how unenlightened France has become on social issues. I used to dream of living in France, but now it is not so appealing.