Category Archives: Resisting Islamophobia

Why Tariq Ramadan has come to Canada – to organise a ‘fifth column against Western civilization’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Tariq Ramadan 5MONTREAL — This charming, erudite Muslim scholar is secretly out to destroy the free world. That pretty much sums up the message critics of Tariq Ramadan sent Thursday at a press conference on the eve of two lectures by the controversial Oxford University professor at the Palais des Congrès.

“Tariq Ramadan has come here to make sure our children become the fifth column against Western civilization,” Tarek Fatah, founder of the Canadian Muslim Congress, told the conference organized by Point de Bascule, a group opposed to Islamic fundamentalism.

On his last visit in November, the organizers of Thursday’s press conference sponsored a full-page advertisement in Le Devoiraccusing Ramadan of hiding his true views on Muslim fundamentalism behind a facade of moderation. That didn’t stop more than 800 people from attending the sold-out speech.

Update:  Cf. the report of Professor Ramadan’s speech in the Montreal Gazette, 16 April 2010

Further update:  See also “Tariq Ramadan, ‘stealth jihadist’, exposed!”, LoonWatch, 16 April 2010

Spain – student banned from school for wearing hijab

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Najwa MalhaA 16-year-old schoolgirl has been banned from classes in Spain after refusing to remove her Islamic headscarf, re-igniting the national debate over the hijab.

Najwa Malha, who was born is Spain to Moroccan immigrants, has been excluded from classes at the state-run Camilo Jose Cela School in the Madrid suburb of Pozuelo after being told that her hijab was in violation of school dress code.

The decision has sparked debate in Spain where there are no clear guidelines over the wearing of Islamic headdress in state schools. The enforcement of dress codes is left up to individual school boards but previous cases of exclusion have been overturned by the state with the argument that the constitutional right to an educational overrides the school’s right to determine its own policies.

“I feel totally discriminated against,” said Miss Malha, who said she began wearing the hijab two months ago as an expression of her religious belief. Her father, Mohamed, told Spanish newspaper El Pais that he had originally objected to his daughter wearing the hijab to school. “I asked her to reconsider […] because I figured it would cause her problems,” he said.

Last November, a Muslim lawyer was ejected from Spain’s national court, where she was defending a client, because she refused to remove her headscarf.

Daily Telegraph, 16 April 2010

Update:  See also Bikya Masr, 19 April 2010

Afghan women condemn European plans to ban veil

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A firm believer in women’s rights, the only thing Afghan lawmaker Shinkai Karokhail finds as appalling as being forced to wear a burqa is a law banning it.

Karokhail is one of many Afghan women who see a double standard in efforts by some European nations to outlaw face veils and burqas – a move they say restricts a Muslim woman’s choice in countries that otherwise make a fuss about personal rights.

“Democratic countries should not become dictatorships and Muslim women should not be deprived from all kinds of opportunities. It should be their choice,” said Karokhail. “Otherwise, what is the difference between forcing women to wear a burqa and forcing them not to? It is discrimination.”

Even one of Afghanistan’s most outspoken and controversial women, former lawmaker Malalai Joya, is a staunch opponent of efforts to ban burqas or tight headscarves called hijabs.

“As much as I am against imposing the hijab on women, I am also against its total ban. It should be regarded a personal matter of every human being and it should be up to women if they prefer to wear it or not,” she told Reuters by email. “It is against the very basic element of democracy to restrict a human being from wearing the clothes of his/her choice.”

Reuters, 16 April 2010

Bus company removes Spencer-Geller anti-Islam ad

Posted on by Bob Pitt

SIOA ad

Miami-Dade Transit is pulling advertisements from 10 buses that South Florida Muslims have said are offensive to Islam.

The ads, which went up Tuesday, said “Fatwa on your head? Is your community or family threatening you?” and directed Muslims to a website encouraging them to leave Islam.

Robert Spencer, who heads New York-based Stop the Islamization of America, which purchased the ads for one-month as the first leg of a national campaign, said they were “offered in defense of religious liberty.”

But on Thursday, Miami-Dade Transit spokeswoman Karla Damian said that after reviewing the ads, the department decided they “may be offensive to Islam” and would remove them before the buses ran on Friday.

Damian said the ads were able to initially go up because Miami-Dade Transit has an outside company sell ad space and does not routinely review ads before they run.

The South Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations had critiqued the ads as promoting “bigotry” and making false statements about Islam.

“Islam guarantees freedom to and freedom from religion…. [We] reject as un-Islamic any extremist interpretation that sanctions the killing of any individual because she decided to ‘leave Islam’,” said director Muhammed Malik.

Miami Herald, 16 April 2010

See also “Miami-Dade Transit bows to Sharia, pulls religious liberty bus ads as ‘offensive to Islam'” at Jihad Watch, and “Miami Transit pulls SIOA ‘Leaving Islam’ ads: living under Sharia in the USA” at Atlas Shrugs.

Update:  Spencer and Geller have announced that they are suing Miami-Dade Transit for breach of contract and violation of their First Amendment rights.

Muslim woman rejected as foster parent because she won’t serve pork

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Almost two decades ago, Tashima Crudup left her grandmother’s home and entered the city’s foster care system, where she learned firsthand what makes a good mother. As she shuffled from family to family beginning at age 8, Crudup encountered some attentive and loving foster parents, while others were unsupportive and constraining. “I always wanted to be a foster parent,” said the 26-year-old mother of five.

In July, Crudup – a practicing Muslim – contacted Contemporary Family Services, a private company authorized by the state to place foster children with families. She cleared an initial screening process and completed 50 hours of training classes for prospective parents. But after a home visit, her application was denied. The main reason: She doesn’t allow pork in her house.

Shocked, Crudup contacted the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, which filed a complaint Wednesday with the Baltimore City Community Relations Commission, claiming religious discrimination.

“I have a hard time believing [the company] denies every vegetarian or Orthodox Jewish person a foster care license,” said Ajmel Quereshi, an attorney with the ACLU. “But I do believe Mrs. Crudup was picked out here … and it has led us to believe an anti-Muslim bias is playing a role in the decision.”

Baltimore Sun, 14 April 2010

Update:  See also “A code for religious discrimination”, Baltimore Sun, 16 April 2010

Muslims can stay – as long as they convert to Christianity

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association offers some clarification of his recent proposal that Muslims should be deported from the US. He writes:

“Those who are willing to convert to Christianity and renounce Islam, Allah, Mohammed and the Koran may be welcomed, for they can become not just good Christians but true Americans.”

Via Media Matters.

Student files complaint, claims hijab cost her fast-food job

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Troy, Michigan — A 19-year-old college student has filed a federal complaint against the McDonald’s on Crooks Road after she says she was turned down for a job at the restaurant for wearing a hijab, a religious head scarf.

Nasihah Barlaskar said she went to a job interview on March 27 and was surprised when a white female supervisor asked if she intended to wear “that thing” at work, referring to the hijab.

“I said, ‘Yes I do. It’s part of my religion’,” Barlaskar said. “She said I would not be able to wear it (the hijab) while working. I told her I could wear the (McDonald’s) cap over my hijab.”

Barlaskar said she was surprised by the treatment from the supervisor since she has friends who work at other local fast-food restaurants including McDonald’s that allow female employees to wear hijabs.

Barlaskar said she needs to work to help pay for college expenses and to help her family since her father lost his cab driving job last fall. But Barlaskar found out she didn’t get the job when she called the supervisor three days later.

She suspects she didn’t get it because of her decision to wear the hijab at work. “She told me she decided to go with someone else but I think I was discriminated against because of the hijab,” Barlaskar said.

The Equal Opportunity Employment Commission complaint was filed today by the Michigan Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations on Barlaskar’s behalf.

“We urge McDonald’s to take immediate action to bring its hiring policies into compliance with long-established legal guidelines on reasonable religious accommodation in the workplace,” said Dawud Walid, CAIR-Michigan’s executive director.

Detroit News, 13 April 2010

See also “EEOC complaint filed against Mich. McDonald’s over hijab”, CAIR news release, 13 April 2010

CAIR point out that this is not the first time that McDonald’s has been accused of discriminating against women wearing hijab.

Right-wing press discovers more discrimination in favour of Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Muslim staff escape NHS hygiene rule” in the Sunday Telegraph.

“Met allows Islamic protesters to throw shoes” in the Sunday Times.

Update:  See also “Islamic colonisation of Britain continues: NHS relaxes hygiene measure to accommodate Muslim staff but bans crucifix”, BNP news article, 11 April 2010

Further update:  And Douglas Murray, “The police encourage Muslims to throw shoes at them? Just what community relations needed”, Telegraph blog, 12 April 2010

One more update:  See Ben White, “Did the Met really allow Muslims to throw shoes?”, Pickled Politics, 14 April 2010

Quebec Muslim woman ordered to unveil or leave French course

Posted on by Bob Pitt

One morning recently, a young Muslim woman whose face was hidden by a religious covering was pulled out of her government French class near Montreal and told to unveil or leave the course.

“Aisha,” a 25-year-old permanent resident from India, is the second such case to come to light in Quebec. Last month, the same ultimatum was given to Naema Ahmed, an Egyptian-born woman whose case sparked an uproar and led to landmark provincial legislation against religious face veils.

But, while Ms. Ahmed was portrayed in media accounts as difficult to accommodate, Aisha, as she has asked to be called to shield her identity, didn’t make waves.

According to former classmates and officials at the suburban centre she attended, the young woman was a model student who placed no demands on others and even teamed up with male students for class assignments.

“She was an excellent student. I saw in this woman a will to integrate,” said Mustapha Kachani, executive director of the Centre d’intégration multi-services de l’Ouest de l’Île.

The Immigration Department’s assertion that her veil, or niqab, posed a problem for “pedagogical” reasons was unfounded, Mr. Kachani said.

“She demonstrated great diligence in the course, in addition to actively participating in class, all the while articulating very well,” he wrote in a letter to Immigration Department officials and copied to Quebec Immigration Minister Yolande James. “The decision upset the whole class.”

Globe and Mail, 11 April 2010

Update:  See also Montreal Gazette, 12 April 2010