Category Archives: Hijab

PCSO wears headscarf – shock revelation in Daily Mail

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Nadia Naeem“A Muslim teenager has been named as one of the ‘babies on the beat’ as police community support officers. The Daily Mail revealed on Monday how Thames Valley police were employing two 16-year-old school-leavers as PCSOs. Yesterday it emerged that the force also recruited three 17-year-olds, including Nadia Naeem, now 18, who wears the hijab. All now have the power to detain and question suspects.”

Daily Mail, 16 August 2007

Quite how wearing a headscarf is relevant to a PCSO’s ability to detain and question suspects is not explained.

Iranian women barred from karate games

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Eleven Iranian women have been banned from the Konishi Cup karate competition in Kalmar, Sweden, after they refused to remove their hijab. The women ended up watching the competition from the stands at the beginning of August when head referee Javier Escalante declined to give them a special dispensation, a Swedish-based English-language online newspaper The Local said quoting the Sveriges Radio. It added that the Iranian women had traveled to Sweden solely to take part in the championship.

Press TV, 15 August 2007

German court upholds hijab ban for female Muslim teachers

Posted on by Bob Pitt

An administrative court in the western city of Duesseldorf upheld a hijab ban for female Muslim teachers, news reports said Tuesday.

The court dismissed the complaint of a 52-year-old Muslim teacher and thus confirmed the hijab ban which came into effect in June 2006. The judges argued that wearing the hijab was a religious avowal and violated state neutrality rules in schools. The plaintiff is to appeal the verdict.

Several German states have enacted tough anti-hijab laws which many Muslims view as a violation of their constitutional right to exercise religious freedom. There is no formal hijab ban in Germany, although German federal states are allowed to ban Muslim state employees with headscarves, provided the states have the required legislation on the books, according to a ruling by the nation`s highest court.

IRNA, 14 August 2007

See also Reuters, 14 August 2007

Bus company reaches a fare solution to veil row

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Lothian Buses (2)Edinburgh’s bus drivers have been told they will not have to ask Muslim women to remove their veils after all.

A row broke out earlier this year in the wake of new guidelines issued to Lothian Buses staff as part of a crackdown on fare cheats. Drivers said they had been told to tell women to lift their veils or produce photo ID if they wanted to use a bus pass. The move sparked anger in some sections of the Muslim community, with at least one woman said to have walked off a bus.

But bus chiefs today insisted the new rules had been misunderstood and have issued fresh guidelines insisting that drivers should never ask for a veil to be removed. The firm has also worked with some of the city’s faith groups to produce a multilingual guide that explains the different options open to Edinburgh’s veiled women who want to use a bus pass. Unions and faith groups today welcomed the leaflet explaining the new rules.

Edinburgh Evening News, 13 August 2007

It’s time to ban the veil says Daniel Pipes

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Pipes5“… burqas and niqabs should be banned in all public spaces because they present a security risk. Anyone might lurk under those shrouds – female or male, Muslim or non-Muslim, decent citizen or criminal – with who knows what evil purposes….

“Expressing the universal fear aroused by these garments, a recent Pakistani horror film, Zibahkhana (meaning ‘slaughterhouse’ in Urdu) includes a sadistic cannibalistic killer figure dubbed ‘Burqa Man’…. The time has come everywhere to ban from public places these hideous, unhealthy, socially divisive, terrorist-enabling and criminal-friendly garments.”

Daniel Pipes in the Jerusalem Post, 1 August 2007

‘Wearing of burkas is a threat to our way of life’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

OutrageousIn today’s lead article the Daily Express tells its readers that the burka (they mean the niqab – but, hey, why bother with accuracy when it comes to “foreign” clothing) “is becoming the Islamic equivalent of the mugger’s hooded top or the armed robber’s balaclava. Anyone sincerely wishing to integrate into the British way of life would never wear such an alien and threatening outfit…. Make no mistake, the proliferation of burka-wearing is a direct threat to the British way of life and in all too many instances is intended to be just that”.

The front page is devoted to whipping up panic over the Al Muhajiroun demo outside the Old Bailey: “This was the extraordinary scene on the streets of Britain yesterday as burka-clad protestors demanded the release of four extremists. Swarming outside the Old Bailey, the Muslim hate mob poured scorn on the nation that guarantees their freedoms.”

Judging by the Express‘s own photographs, the “mob” that was “swarming” outside the court would appear to have consisted of about six people. And of course the Express fails to inform its readers that Al Muhajiroun is a tiny and irrelevant group whose supporters these days can probably be numbered in dozens.

Check out the comments following the article for the sort of far-right racists who are encouraged by this disgraceful, irresponsible excuse for journalism.

See also Five Chinese Crackers, 19 July 2007

Judge asks woman to lift her veil in court

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A judge asked a woman to lift her full Muslim veil, three weeks after a Manchester magistrate walked out of her previous hearing because her face was covered. District Judge Diana Baker allowed Zoobia Hussain, aged 32, to give evidence from behind a screen in her trial at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on a charge of criminal damage.

Judge Baker said: “I understand the importance to a Muslim woman of being able to wear her veil because that is an important part of her cultural and religious identity. But when I make an assessment of people giving evidence I look at their facial expressions and I can only see Mrs Hussain’s eyes. My view is that when giving evidence it is important for me in my judicial decision-making role to be able to see her face.”

She said Hussain could sit behind a screen so that the male prosecutor and clerk could not see her face. Prosecutor Nicholas Vitti said he accepted the need for special measures, but made clear he was “not happy” he could not see Hussain’s face.

Bolton News, 19 July 2007

Hijab ‘special’ given warm beat welcome

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Rukshana BegumA special constable who is the first officer in Cambridgeshire to wear a Muslim hijab on duty is receiving a warm welcome on the beat. Rukshana Begum, 23, who was featured in the News after deciding to wear the headscarf, said the reaction from the public has been “confidence-boosting”.

She said: “I have had so many members of the general public saying it’s really good to see someone doing this and representing their group. People are also saying good luck and I hope it goes well. When I went on duty without the hijab I got ordinary looks, but now people recognise me from the newspaper and have congratulated me. When they say ‘all the best’ and ‘good luck’ it boosts your confidence.”

She said: “I never thought I would get any negative response. Even if I was to think hard, I could not think of why the general public would want to be negative. As I expected, people have been really welcoming and have accepted it. Britain is a multi-racial and multi-religious society now.”

Cambridge Evening News, 16 July 2007

Dutch anti-Islam MP in new bid to ban veil

Posted on by Bob Pitt

THE HAGUE – A Dutch right-wing anti-Islam politician on Thursday submitted new proposals for a law banning burqas after an earlier attempt stranded.

In letter to parliament Geert Wilders, who heads the Freedom Party which has nine of the 150 seats in the lower house, wrote that “the burqa and the niqab is a symbol of the oppression of women” and is “in defiance of the democratic constitutional state”.

Wilders wants to ban specifically burqas and niqabs in public places including stations, stadiums, shops, restaurants, museums, hospitals, cars driving on the public roads and public transport. He proposes a maximum sentence of 12 days in jail or a fine of 3,350 euros (4,619 dollars).

Middle East Online, 12 July 2007