Category Archives: Hijab

Muslim woman thrown off bus in New Zealand for wearing veil

Posted on by Bob Pitt

NZ BusA Saudi Arabian student was left crying on the street after a bus driver refused to let her board because of her Muslim veil.

The Consulate-General of Saudi Arabia has written to the Government to complain about the incident, and another, two days earlier, when a driver for the same company told another woman to remove her veil.

NZ Bus said both drivers had been sent on counselling programmes – and had been found to be suffering from “maskophobia”. “Both drivers … claim it’s not religious … but they genuinely have a phobia of people wearing masks, hence why we have not dismissed them,” general manager Jon Calder said yesterday.

Sameer Aljabri, the husband of one of the women, said he would lodge an official complaint with the Human Rights Commission on behalf of his wife, whom he would not name. She had been travelling with the couple’s one-year-old son in Auckland in May.

Dr Aljabri said the driver was opposed to her “full hijab” – a face veil with only the eyes exposed. The driver told her: “I do not want you on my bus but I have to serve you. Take off your face cover because I need to see your face.”

The letter from the Saudi consulate to the Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry said that, two days later, student Gawheer Saud Al Thaubity was left crying on a street in Auckland. “As she stepped on to the crowded bus, the driver shouted, ‘Out!’ She asked why and was told, ‘Because you cover your face’. He insisted that she get off the bus, then closed the door and drove off.”

Stuff, 5 July 2011

Update:  See “NZ PM: Muslim veil no excuse for discrimination”,AFP, 5 July 2011

Australia: new law to force veiled women to uncover for police?

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Women wearing the burqa or other full-face veils will be forced to show their face when stopped by police under proposed changes to the law, Attorney-General Greg Smith said yesterday. Mr Smith said there was a duty on all citizens to identify themselves when asked by police and the law should reflect that. “The law is not that specific at the moment and that is what we are leading towards,” Mr Smith said.

News.com, 2 July 2011

Tulsa federal judge rules against Abercrombie & Fitch in lawsuit over hijab

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Tulsa federal judge ruled Wednesday in favor of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in its lawsuit against Abercrombie & Fitch for not hiring a Muslim teenager who wore a religiously mandated headscarf.

U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell found that the company did not show that it would have sustained any significant “undue hardship” if it had accommodated the religious beliefs of Samantha Elauf, who in June 2008 applied to work in a sales position at the Abercrombie Kids store in Tulsa’s Woodland Hills Mall.

Frizzell’s decision means a jury will determine what, if any, damages should be awarded. The trial is tentatively scheduled to start July 18.

Tulsa World, 30 June 2011

Update:  See “Oklahoman gets $20,000 in lawsuit against retailer”, Associated Press, 21 July 2013

Muslim weightlifter wears right to wear hijab

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Kulsoom_AbdullahThe International Weightlifting Federation has modified its rules and will allow athletes to wear a full-body, tight-fitted unitard during competition, the group said.

Wednesday’s rule change was prompted by an Atlanta woman, who wanted to take part in competitions governed by IWF rules but still adhere to the modest dress of her Muslim faith.

“Weightlifting is an Olympic Sport open for all athletes to participate without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, or national origin in accordance with the principles of the Olympic Charter and values,” Tamas Ajan, IWF president, said Wednesday. “This rule modification has been considered in the spirit of fairness, equality and inclusion.”

Before the change, the IWF’s technical and competition rules said weightlifting outfits – officially called “costumes” – had to be collarless and not cover the elbows or knees.

Kulsoom Abdullah, a 35-year-old with a doctorate in electrical and computer engineering, is not an Olympic athlete, but enjoys lifting weights. She generally wears loose, long pants past the ankles, a long-sleeve, fitted shirt with a loose T-shirt over it, and a hijab, or head scarf, covering her hair. “It’s what I believe in. It’s what I’ve chosen to do,” Abdullah told CNN this month about her decision to wear modest garb. “I’ve always dressed this way publicly.”

The review was prompted by the Atlanta resident wanting to take part in tournaments in the United States, including one coming up in July. But USA Weightlifting informed her that those events are governed by IWF rules, which at that time precluded her dressing in keeping with her beliefs.

Abdullah says she understands the need to make sure she isn’t wearing anything under her clothes to give her a competitive advantage. She says judges could check to make sure she is not wearing something on her elbows, for example, that might help her.

Abdullah told CNN her effort is not just about herself. “I should at least try,” she said, “if not for me then maybe for other women who – if they have my faith or another faith – dress a certain way.”

CNN, 30 June 2011

US Muslim woman sues Abercrombie over hijab ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Abercrombie__FitchA US Muslim woman sued Abercrombie & Fitch, accusing the clothing retailer of firing her for refusing to remove her religious head scarf, a Muslim advocacy group said.

Hani Khan of San Mateo, California, alleged that store managers had told her to remove her hijab as part of the clothing chain’s “Look Policy,” the Council of American-Islamic Relation (CAIR) said in a statement. Khan was fired from her job at an Abercrombie & Fitch store in California in February 2010, after working there for four months, when she refused to comply with the managers’ request, according to CAIR.

“When I was asked to remove my scarf after being hired with it on, I was demoralized and felt unwanted,” Khan said. “Growing up in this country where the Bill of Rights guarantees freedom of religion, I have felt let down.”

Continue reading →

Muslim woman accuses Air France of discrimination

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Air France logoA Virginia woman accused Air France of getting her terminated from the job she held briefly at Dulles International Airport because of her religion. “The hijab, to me, it’s empowerment,” 19-year-old Riham Osman said. “When people, men and women, talk to me, they’re looking at my personality, they’re listening to what I’m saying, they know that I stand for something.”

Osman is a proud Muslim from Herndon who wears a head scarf, or hijab, as a sign of her faith – a sign of her faith that she says got her fired from Air France. According to the copy of her contract she was hired by the staffing agency Aerotek to be a passenger service agent for Air France at Dulles. “I think the fact that I was hired at first with my scarf on shows that Aerotek hired me according to my [qualifications],” Osman said.

On June 2, Osman’s first day of work, an Air France supervisor pulled her from her training session demanding she speak with the person who hired her at Aerotek, Osman said. “He said that apparently Air France has an issue with the scarf that they will not allow me to work  because it violates their uniform policy,” Osman said.

Refusing to take it off, Osman left the airport in tears. Soon after, she contacted the Council on American-Islamic Relations for help. Noting the ongoing controversy in France about the legality of wearing a hijab, CAIR filed a complaint and sent a letter to Air France saying in part, “It is clear that a discriminatory dress code implemented in France would not supersede American laws protecting the religious rights of employees. Air France must follow American law and grant reasonable religious accommodations for its employees.”

A spokesperson for Air France acknowledged the company received a letter from CAIR but would say only that Air France is investigating.

After being notified about the situation, Aerotek said it asked Air France to make an exception to the dress code policy for Osman. “Air France declined to make this accommodation and instructed us to end her assignment at Air France,”read a statement from Aerotek.

Osman hopes travelers will boycott Air France until she gets an apology.

NBC Washington, 23 June 2011

Lyon: deputy mayor conducting marriage ceremony forces bride to remove headscarf

Posted on by Bob Pitt

French news sources (see here, here and here) have reported on the case of a Muslim couple, Samira and Mohamed ****, who went to the town hall in the 9th district of Lyon on 4 June to get married.

The Coalition Against Racism and Islamophobia (CRI) reported that Samira was immediately challenged by the deputy mayor, Fatiha ben Ahmed of the Europe Écologie – Les Verts party, who was responsible for conducting the marriage ceremony. Ben Ahmed demanded that Samira should remove her headscarf and threatened the couple that she would not proceed with the ceremony unless the bride did as she was told. Under pressure from the deputy mayor and lacking knowledge of the regulations, Samira complied and removed her hijab.

It has been pointed out that there is in fact no legislation that allows a mayor or his deputy to refuse to marry a couple on the grounds that the bride wears a headscarf. Fatiha ben Ahmed’s demand was particularly discriminatory, given that it is a French tradition that brides wear a tulle veil at marriage ceremonies.

The Coalition Against Racism and Islamophobia wrote to the mayor Alain Giordano protesting about the couple’s disgraceful treatment. Giordano replied that he had summoned ben Ahmed to his office to explain her behaviour and that the case would be discussed at a council meeting. The mayor gave his assurance that there would be no repetition of the incident.

Right-wing blogger charged with harassing Muslim women

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A St. Paul blogger faces misdemeanor charges after he allegedly harassed two Muslim women last week in downtown Minneapolis. Minneapolis police say John Hugh Gilmore, 52, who writes a blog called Minnesota Conservatives, caused a scene Thursday night on Nicollet Mall.

Sgt. Bill Palmer, a police spokesman, said Gilmore appeared to be drunk when he confronted the two women wearing the Muslim headscarf known as the hijab. “Mr. Gilmore made some comments that he didn’t believe the women should be in the United States, and that he thought that they were ruining America,” Palmer said.

Police say several onlookers intervened, and Gilmore allegedly threatened to assault one of the men.

The Muslim women had been attending the liberal NetRoots Nation convention, which was taking place at the same time as the conservative RightOnline conference.

Minnesota Public Radio, 20 June 2011

See also Minneapolis Star Tribune, 2o June 2011

Somebody defended Sharia in the Capitol yesterday

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A woman in a hijab expounded on the benefits of Sharia in the basement of a Capitol office building on Monday, and somehow society has yet to collapse.

The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) held a hearing on the threat that state-level anti-Sharia bill present to American democracy in a room in the basement of the House Rayburn building at noon.

Congressional staffers, reporters and yes, Muslims, gathered to hear about opposition to the anti-Sharia laws which are spreading across statehouses.

TPM, 21 June 2011

Australia: anti-Muslim pastor launches new right-wing party

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Rise Up Australia PartyA controversial pastor has formed a new political party he claims will uphold Christian values and protect freedom of speech. Catch the Fire Ministries pastor Danny Nalliah said the Rise Up Australia Party would also highlight issues such as the burqa and the failure of multiculturalism.

“Immigrants who make Australia their home, while free to celebrate their own ethnic backgrounds, must respect Australian culture,” he said. “Rise Up Australia Party is totally opposed to the introduction of Sharia law in Australia – it is incompatible with our democracy and particularly curtails the civil rights and freedoms of women.”

Dr Nalliah and another pastor were involved in a five-year legal battle after the Islamic Council of Victoria claimed comments they made about Muslims breached the state’s religious vilification laws. The case was settled after the Court of Appeal overturned VCAT’s decision to uphold the complaint.

Herald Sun, 22 June 2011

See also Catch the Fire Ministries press release, 22 June 2011

And “Pastor launches anti-multicultural party”, AAP, 22 June 2011