[Decolliber]

Seriously, I think what the French are doing on this is reasonable, in a society that wants to maintain secular values. Similar cases have occurred in the US., including one where Arab women were denied driving licenses (in Florida I think) becuase they refused to remove their burkhas. The rationale was different though: it was that a driving license photo is an important form of ID for law enforcement.
Part of the French policy is also political, of course. Arabs are an increasingly large (and poor, and violent) minority in the French population, and one of the sources of resurgent anti-Semetism in France.
And also keep in mind that French political culture has a long tradition of endorsing a strong state with far more authority over individual liberties than Americans would tolerate.