Category Archives: Hijab

Charles Clarke joins Muslim veil row

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Jack Straw 3Commons leader Jack Straw has been the subject of a hard-hitting attack by former home secretary Charles Clarke for starting the national debate on the wearing of the full veil by Muslim women.

Mr Clarke accused his ex-cabinet colleague last night of “grandstanding” and of launching a discussion that had had an almost completely negative effect.

Speaking at the Royal Commonwealth Society in London, the Norwich MP pointedly complained that what he dubbed the “Great British Veil Controversy” had been “started by Jack Straw in his local Blackburn paper”.

It “has been almost entirely negative in its impact and has done nothing to promote tolerance and understanding in our society”, he continued. “Building respect in our society means more common sense and less grandstanding from everyone.”

Norwich Evening News, 16 November 2006

Debating the veil in the Morning Star

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Over at the Shiraz Socialist blog Jim Denham of the Alliance for Workers’ Liberty, a pseudo-left sect whose Islamophobia is usually matched only by its Stalinophobia, applauds a letter in yesterday’s Morning Star from one Betty Tebbs on the issue of the veil.

Denham hasn’t actually read the letter Tebbs is replying to, but this staunch defender of Enlightenment values finds that unnecessary. Tebbs is, after all, a white former trade union activist, so according to Denham she’s entitled to adopt an attitude of cultural arrogance towards a minority ethno-religious community. As far as the original letter is concerned, Denham observes: “I think we can all guess roughly what it said (and that it came from patronising, middle-class scum)”.

For the benefit of readers who might actually like to examine the evidence before they reach a political conclusion, we reproduce the exchange from the Morning Star letters column.

Continue reading →

Vatican enters Muslim veil debate

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A senior Vatican cardinal has expressed concern over the use of some Muslim veils by Islamic immigrants in Europe. This is the first time that the Vatican has joined in the Europe-wide debate on how women who insist on wearing the veil affect the integration of Muslims.

Cardinal Renato Martino said immigrants must respect the traditions, culture and religion of the nations they go to. They ought to abide by local laws banning the wearing of certain types of Muslim veils, he added. “It seems elementary to me and it is quite right that the authorities demand it,” said Cardinal Martino, who heads the Vatican department dealing with migration issues.

BBC News, 14 November 2006

Antwerp: schools forbid Muslim veil

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Only two secondary schools in the municipal educational system of Antwerp allow their students to come to school with a Muslim veil. Most refuse entrance to girls who come with a veil. More and more schools elsewhere in Flanders are also adding a ban on the Muslim veil to their regulations.

Various Flemish immigrant organization think that the government should intervene. They point out that banning the Muslim veil reduces the chances of getting a good education. “Immigrant girls can’t choose freely anymore to which school they go and which subjects they will study there. That undermines their chances on the job market,” says Nadia Babazia from the Support Point for Immigrant Girls and Women that researched the wearing of the Muslim veil in Flemish schools.

Islam in Europe, 13 November 2006

Muslim women shouldn’t wear veils in public, says Archbishop

Posted on by Bob Pitt

One of the Church of England’s most senior figures today risks a row with the Muslim community by suggesting that Islamic women should not wear veils in public.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Daily Mail, Dr John Sentamu warns that “no minority” should impose its beliefs on the rest of society and that the veil causes Muslim women to “stick out”.

The Archbishop of York – who ranks second in the Church’s hierarchy – also says the BBC is biased against Christians because Anglicans don’t threaten to “bomb” the corporation.

Daily Mail, 13 November 2006

See also “Archbishop questions role of veil”, Evening Standard, 13 November 2006

Netherlands moves toward total ban on Muslim veils

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Netherlands may become the first European country to ban Muslim face veils after its government pledged yesterday to outlaw the wearing in public spaces of the niqab, or veil, and the burka, or full-length cloak covering the head.

The right-leaning coalition said last night that it would look for a way to outlaw the wearing of all Muslim face veils. The grounds for a ban were laid last December when parliament voted in favour of a proposal to criminalise face coverings, as part of a security measure proposed by a far-right politician, Geert Wilders.

Rita Verdonk, the immigration minister, signalled that the government would now push for a total ban, even though the legislation would be likely to contravene Dutch religious freedom laws.

“The cabinet finds the wearing of a burka undesirable … but cannot at present enforce a total ban,” the Dutch news agency ANP quoted her as saying after a cabinet meeting.

Ms Verdonk suggested that existing legislation which limits the wearing of burkas and other full-body coverings on public transport and in schools did not go far enough, and that the cabinet would discuss as wide a ban as possible in the coming week.

“The government will search for the possibility to provide a ban,” her spokeswoman told the Reuters news agency.

Guardian, 11 November 2006

Lawyers ‘can wear veils in court’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Legal advisers and solicitors may wear the Islamic veil in court unless it interferes with the “interests of justice”, judges have been told. The judiciary were told to use their discretion to interpret the temporary guidance, which covers all courts.

The advice was issued by immigration tribunals chief Mr Justice Hodge after a case had to be halted when a legal adviser refused to remove her veil. The Lord Chief Justice said full rules on the veils issue were being drawn up.

Earlier this week it emerged legal adviser Shabnam Mughal had refused to remove her headwear during an immigration tribunal in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. She had been asked to do so by Judge George Glossop, who said he could not hear her properly.

Eventually Judge Glossop adjourned the hearing to seek advice from president of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) Mr Justice Hodge. It is understood the hearing will now go ahead next week with a different judge presiding.

Continue reading →

‘Fury as top judge gives in to Muslim hardliners on veils’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Now Law Backs Veils“A High Court judge sparked outrage last night after he gave lawyers the green light to wear veils in court. The ruling was made after a Muslim solicitor twice refused an immigration judge’s request to reveal her face – despite him explaining that he could not hear her speak.

“Mr Justice Hodge, who was asked to issue guidance over the case, yesterday defended the right of lawyers to wear the niqab and said it was ‘important to be sensitive’. His decision was widely condemned by critics, who claimed he had caved in to Islamic hardliners….

“David Davies, Conservative MP for Monmouth, said the decision caved in to Islamic pressure. He added: ‘British courts are there to determine whether the truth is being told. How can they do that if they cannot hear? Allowing people to hide their faces in a court where all should be laid bare in the search for truth and justice is not good enough. If we were in a Muslim court we would be expected to abide by their rules on dress. So why is it that this lady can work in a British court and wear whatever she likes?'”

Daily Express, 10 November 2006

The Express editorial, headed “Allowing veils in court is a deeply disturbing move”, condemns the decision as “yet another act of multicultural surrender” which has allowed “Islamic pressures to undermine yet another foundation of our society”. It adds: “The very idea of a disembodied voice, steeped in a defiantly alien culture and covered entirely in black, being able to take away the liberty of any Briton is quite disgusting.”

‘Wear a Hijab Day’ – US Muslims’ response to killing

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Despite attempts by the foreign media to send a message that hate crimes against Muslims are on the decrease worldwide. Evidence shows that the problem is only worsening.

The hijab has been the subject of much attention last month after mother-of-six Alia Ansari, from Fremont in California, was shot dead at pointblank in a Glenmoor neighborhood. Ansari was wearing hijab when she was slain in front of her three-year-old daughter near her home on Oct. 19. She was on her way to collect her children from elementary school.

Some family members and Muslim leaders have speculated that the only motive anyone would have for killing her was the garment of her faith – her hijab – and that the crime was none other but a hate crime against Muslims and Islam. “Whoever did this did not see Alia Ansari as a mother of six children,” said Sheikh Hamza Yusuf, a well known and respected local Muslim scholar and leader. “The gunman saw a symbol of what people are taught to hate,” he told the media standing outside Ansari’s home.

In response to the tragedy, US Muslim community leaders and the Foundation of Self Reliance are organizing a “Wear a Hijab Day” on Nov. 13 as a symbolic gesture of solidarity in support of Ansari.

Arab News, 8 November 2006