The pro-hijab conference held Monday, July 12, at the Greater London Authority, announced an international hijab solidarity day and an action plan to defend the right of Muslim women to take on the headscarf.

Titled the Assembly for the Protection of Hijab, the conference declared September 4, 2004, an International Hijab Solidarity Day because Muslim students across Europe will be back to school by then.

Participants also pledged to rally behind young Muslim girls, who are discriminated against in their western society because of their hijab.

The conference further unveiled a plan of action to build on the recommendations of the one-day conference, calling for educating people on the importance of hijab to Muslim women through seminars and media.

Continue reading →

Ken Livingstone yesterday hosted the first conference of a campaign to safeguard the right of Muslim women to wear the hijab or headscarf, and declared the ban in French schools the most reactionary proposal since the second world war.

London’s mayor also railed against the “demonisation” of Islam in some British newspapers – and warned that in his second term he would examine whether media organisations’ recruitment policies reflected the diversity of the community.

He was addressing the Assembly for the Protection of Hijab (known as Pro-Hijab), which holds that the right to wear the headscarf is a fundamental aspect of religious freedom.

Continue reading →

“Assembly for the Protection of Hijab ‘Pro-Hijab’ and all those associated therewith would like to note their sincere thanks and profound appreciation to all our speakers, guests, delegates and the Greater London Authority staff for the remarkable efforts that went in to making this landmark conference a reality.”

Assembly for the Protection of Hijab (Pro-Hijab) statement, 12 July 2004