Category Archives: Hijab

Canada’s chief electoral officer stands firm on veiled voters

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Canada’s chief electoral officer said he will not use his discretionary powers to change the rules and force veiled women to show their faces in upcoming elections, saying it’s not his job to “juggle” fundamental rights. Marc Mayrand made the comments as he was questioned by members of Parliament before the procedure and house affairs committee Thursday morning.

Mayrand said those powers are only to be used in exceptional circumstances, and he does not consider veiled voting an exceptional circumstance. Asked whether he would use those powers if directed to do so by the committee, Mayrand said he wouldn’t, because it would require him to “offend the act and not uphold the law.”

CBC News, 13 September 2007

Three cheers for Canada’s chief electoral officer

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Don Macpherson applauds the decision by Marc Mayrand, Canada’s chief electoral officer, to uphold the legal right of veiled Muslim women to vote in next week’s federal by-elections in Quebec, and condemns Mayrand’s Quebec counterpart Marcel Blanchet for capitulating to right-wing threats to disrupt the electoral process.

Montreal Gazette, 11 September 2007

Straw words ‘sparked veil attack’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A leading Muslim has blamed Jack Straw’s comments for an attack in which a woman’s veil was torn from her face. The woman was attacked in Liverpool by a man shouting racist abuse, the day after the former foreign secretary criticised veils that cover the face. Mohammed Akbar Ali, ex-chairman of the Liverpool Islamic Institute, said Mr Straw should have known better.

Merseyside Police, who say the attack was a hate crime, met Muslim leaders on Saturday to hear their concerns.

Mr Akbar Ali, who was involved in the campaign to free Liverpool hostage Ken Bigley in Iraq, said the attack was no coincidence. “I put the blame squarely and without any hesitation on Jack Straw,” he said. “He’s a responsible member of the government and is in a constituency with a large number of Muslims – he should have known better than make such a statement.”

Mr Straw, Labour MP for Blackburn and leader of the House of Commons, said he believed covering faces could make community relations more difficult. He said watching facial expressions was an important part of contact between people. Mr Straw said he asked Muslim women meeting him at his constituency surgeries to remove their veils.

BBC News, 12 October 2006

The latest from Taj Hargey and friends

Posted on by Bob Pitt

You might have thought that any Muslim organisation would welcome as a victory for civil rights the decision to lift a ban on veiled women voting in elections in Quebec.

Not the so-called Muslim Canadian Congress. In a press release headed “Allowing masked voters a rude joke, says MCC President” the MCC complains that “enabling voters to conceal their identity represent a compromise of the democratic process”, warns that “such allowances will embolden Islamists and their supporters to seek even greater concessions in the future” and expresses concern that “the current trend to appease fundamentalist forces may be symptomatic of a larger problem forcing governments to capitulate to the bullying tactics of Islamists”.

Mind you, this is the outfit that denounced fellow Muslims who demonstrated against Israel’s attack on Lebanon as “Canadian supporters of Hezbollah”.

The MCC, you may also recall, is the group who gave financial assistance to Taj Hargey in his campaign against the right of British school pupils to wear the niqab. And in today’s Times we find Mr Hargey himself, congratulating the paper on its scaremongering campaign against Deobandi influence in UK mosques: “Your Deobandi exposé is welcomed by progressive Muslims. Sadly, most British Muslims, through ignorance or fear, cannot resist the insidious designs and dogmas of this secretive and reactionary sect and its many dangerous offshoots in this country.”

Canada PM opposes Muslim veil decision

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Harper and friendCanadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Sunday he disagrees with a decision to allow Muslim women to wear veils covering their faces when they vote.

Elections Canada – an independent body that oversees national elections – said last week that Muslim women will be allowed to wear veils when they vote in by-elections later this month in Quebec, where the issue of the traditional covering has been hotly contested.

The decision means women who wear niqabs – which cover the entire face except for the eyes – or a burqa, an all-covering body veil, can bring a photo ID or another document proving their identity when they vote in the Quebec elections.

Harper said he “profoundly disagrees” with the decision and noted all four parties in Parliament this past spring voted to bring in a new law requiring visual identification of voters. “That’s the purpose of the law,” said Harper, speaking to reporters following an international summit in Sydney, Australia. ‘That was a law adopted virtually unanimously by Parliament. I think this decision goes in an entirely different direction,’ he said.

Harper said he hopes Elections Canada reconsiders, “but in the meantime, if that doesn’t happen, Parliament will have to consider what actions it’s going to take to make sure that its intentions are put into place.”

The decision comes after the Quebec’s chief election officer required Muslim women to show their faces in order to be allowed to vote in a provincial election. The decision was condemned by Muslim groups who said it forced women to decide whether to adhere to their religious beliefs or violate their faith and vote.

The by-elections – which typically occur when a Parliament members leaves their seat early – will be held on Sept. 17 in three different districts in Quebec.

The issue of the Muslim veil has repeatedly come up in the province, which is predominantly Catholic. In February, an 11-year-old Muslim girl participating in a soccer tournament in Quebec was pulled off the field after she refused to remove her headscarf.

Associated Press, 9 September 2007

US Muslim sues over right to wear head scarf

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Muslim whose religious practice requires that she cover her head in public sued the Orange County Sheriff’s Department on Tuesday, alleging her rights were violated when jail officials forced her to remove a head scarf while locked up for about eight hours.

Souhair Khatib filed suit in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, alleging that her right to practice her religion had been violated, causing her “extreme mental and emotional distress.” Named in the complaint, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California, were Sheriff Michael S. Carona, the captain in charge of courtroom deputies and Orange County. Khatib, 32, of Anaheim, said she filed the lawsuit to make other Muslim women in the U.S. aware of their right to religious freedom.

ACLU attorney Hector Villagra said jail officials ordered Khatib’s hijab removed because they said it could be used to choke someone. But Villagra said a woman in the holding cell with Khatib was wearing fishnet stockings that were not confiscated and could have also been used as a weapon. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and requests that Orange County Jail officials allow the use of religious head coverings.

Los Angeles Times, 5 September 2007

Man admits he ‘pulled off’ hijab

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Damien_FrenchA woman felt “violated” when a man pulled off her religious headscarf – hijab – as she walked along a north Wales street pushing a pushchair.

Mold Crown Court heard that Damien French, 21, of Rhyl, had a previous conviction for animal cruelty when he fed a live zoo rabbit to an alligator. French admitted racially aggravated common assault and a racially aggravated public order offence. Adjourning sentence, the judge warned French he could still face prison.

The court heard that Shahenna Hussain, 23, had been walking with her sister and two nieces, pushing pushchairs along the street at the junction of Rhyl’s High Street and Wellington Road in April.

A witness in a shop saw French hurling abuse at a coach which appeared to be full of Asian passengers. When Miss Hussain saw him she put her head down to avoid eye contact. French and his group noticed her as she crossed the road and shouted and swore at her.

Gareth Parry, prosecuting, said: “She suddenly felt a violent grip to the top of her head, connecting with her hijab, which was fixed with two pins. But the pins were forced open.” He added: “She was particularly upset that the hijab was pulled off. She wears it to identify herself as a Muslim and in respect to her religion.”

Two police community support officers had seen what happened and French was arrested. When interviewed, he denied he had done anything improper. French initially pleaded not guilty but changed his plea in the magistrates’ court.

BBC News, 30 August 2007

Update:  See “Thug who ripped off Muslim’s veil spared jail”, Islamophobia Watch, 2 November 2007

Yasmin Qureshi to become first Muslim woman MP?

Posted on by Bob Pitt

YasminA barrister is aiming to become the country’s first woman Muslim MP.

Yasmin Qureshi, 44, has been selected by the Labour Party to defend the “safe” Bolton South East seat at the next General Election. It will be vacant after the present MP, Brian Iddon, announced he would not stand at the next General Election following a 30-year political career. He has a majority of more than 11,000.

A huge vote swing would be needed to take the seat from Labour. If elected, Ms Qureshi, a Pakistani-born criminal lawyer who advises London mayor Ken Livingstone on human rights issues, would be the first woman Muslim MP in the Commons.

Ms Qureshi criticised legislation passed in France banning people from the wearing of religious symbols. She said: “I have publicly supported the right of women to wear veils or crosses or any religious symbols.”

Manchester Evening News, 29 August 2007

‘What else does a terrorist look like?’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Last year at Christmastime, Rehan Seyam, a Muslim living in New Jersey, went to pick up some things at a local Wal-Mart. Seeing her distinctive traditional Muslim head covering called a “hijab”, a man in the store, addressing her directly, sang “The 12 Days of Christmas” using insulting lyrics about terrorism and Osama bin Laden.

She was stunned. “Do I look like a terrorist to you?” Seyam said she asked the man. According to Seyam, the man replied, “What else does a terrorist look like?”

Such stories are not altogether uncommon for Muslim Americans. According to a recent poll by the Pew Research Center, 53 percent of Muslims living in America said it has become more difficult to be a Muslim in the United States since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Fifty-one percent said they are “very worried” or “somewhat worried” that women wearing the hijab are treated poorly, according to the poll.

CNN, 21 August 2007

‘Muslims want ban on Easter eggs’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Expatica quotes Antwerp trade union representative Badia Miri, one of seven Muslim women employed by the city of Antwerp who were forced to remove their headscarves, as saying: “The Antwerp city government says that neutrality is endangered if staff wear a cross or headscarf. But in our experience action has only been taken against the Muslim women. If the city government is really concerned about neutrality, then Christmas trees and Easter eggs should no longer be allowed at work.”

And how does Expatica report this? In an article headlined “Muslims want ban on Easter eggs“!

Update: the “story” has now been taken up by the fascists: BNP regional news, 23 August 2007