and express their religious opinions in public as well as in private", and that the French state has the responsibility to guarantee access to free, public education to all Frenchmen. Another argument is that making it illegal sends a message that hate crimes may be more tolerable. An obvious concern that arises is what would qualify as an offensive scarf. The Islamic requirement for a 'Hijab' is to cover the hair and neck in combination to not wearing tight fitting clothing. As such, Muslim women could wear a combination of a hat and scarf which would qualify as a 'Hijab' but would not be obviously religious. 2004 French headscarf ban In July 2003, President Jacques Chirac appointed a commission to examine the interaction between secularism and religious symbols in schools. The Commission released its report in December, endorsing a law that would ban "ostentatious" religious symbols, including the Islamic veil, the Jewish kippa, and large Christian crosses. Chirac adopted these findings "in the spirit of secularism", and the law, sometimes referred to as "the veil law", was voted in by the French parliament in March 2004. The law permits discreet signs of faith, such as small crosses, Stars of David, and the palm-shaped amulets representing a hand of Fatima. Application in education In many cases, the exact extent of possible application of the law is hard to ascertain, and has led to further complications: For example, is the law applicable to something other than the Islamic veil which covers the hair, such as a bandana, which does not outwardly indicate religious affiliation? Eventually, the case was settled in court (see below). Would veiled parents be able to enter their children's schools? Former education minister François Fillon has stated that the law does not apply whatsoever to the parents of students. The Mediator of the Republic has agreed with this stance. However, in some cities, such as Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis, where integration of large numbers of Muslims is an acute problem, veiled parents are frequently denied entry. In May 2005, the mother of a student was denied permission to run a stand at her son's school festival. After much publicity, the interdiction was lifted. On 14 May 2007, the High authority for the struggle against discrimination and for equality (HALDE) affirmed that veiled parents should be allowed to attend school activities. While the law forbidding the veil applies to students attending publicly