Category Archives: Resisting Islamophobia

Russian university lifts hijab ban – prosecutor’s office

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Krasnoyarsk State Medical University has canceled a rule prohibiting students from wearing religious clothing in class, such as traditional Muslim headscarves, the regional prosecutor’s office reported on Wednesday.

The prosecutors demanded that the rule be annulled, claiming that it conflicts with the education law.

The attention of prosecutors was brought to the issue earlier when a female student was expelled in March for wearing a hijab. A Dagestani native, she violated the university dress code by wearing a traditional Muslim headdress.

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Ex-Marine who says he set Ohio mosque fire to avenge soldier deaths gets 20 years in prison

Posted on by Bob Pitt

TOLEDO, Ohio — A federal judge sentenced a former Marine from Indiana to 20 years in prison Tuesday for starting a fire inside an Ohio mosque because he wanted revenge for the killings of American soldiers overseas.

Randy Linn, 52, apologized in court and blamed what happened on a day of heavy drinking. He said late last year while pleading guilty that he’d become enraged after seeing images of wounded soldiers in the news and decided to burn the mosque.

U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary ordered Linn, of St. Joe, Ind., to pay $1.4 million for the damages caused by the fire.

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Greece must combat racial violence: Council of Europe

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Athens demonstration against Islamophobia
Demonstration against racist violence in Athens last August

The Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights has told Greece to toughen its measures to combat a surge in massive racial violence.

The council published a report on Tuesday, in which Nils Muiznieks said that he was “seriously concerned” by the increase in hate crimes targeting immigrants in the southern European nation.

“Democracy in Greece is seriously threatened by the upsurge of hate crime and a weak state response. Sustained and concerted action, notably by the police and the courts, is necessary to protect the rule of law and human rights in the country,” said Muiznieks.

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CAIR asks Fox News to drop contributor who tweeted ‘kill’ all Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on Fox News to sever ties with a contributor who tweeted “Let’s kill them [Muslims] all” in response to yesterday’s deadly Boston Marathon bombings.

CONTACT FOX: (As always, be POLITE and respectful.)

CAIR, which issued a call for prayers and blood donations for the victims, says regular Fox News contributor Erik Rush tweeted his “kill them all” comment after being asked, “Are you already blaming Muslims?” He responded, “Yes, they’re evil. Let’s kill them all.” Rush later deleted his tweet, calling it “sarcasm.” In subsequent tweets, he called critics of the “kill” comment “idiots,” “Islamic apologist worms” and “vermin.”

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Why do the French hate the hijab?

Posted on by Bob Pitt

In light of the backlash that followed the recent court ruling in favour of Fatima Afif’s right to wear a headscarf at work, Marie Dhumieres asks what it is that provokes such hysteria over the hijab among the non-Muslim population of France.

She concludes: “French should maybe take some time to think about why they really care so much, and maybe forget for a second what they believe ‘the hijab’ represents and think about the women under them. For example, about how humiliating it might be for a mother to be banned from accompanying her child’s class on a school trip because her head is covered. Because extremism is indeed dangerous, but it goes both ways.”

Independent,16 April 2013