Category Archives: State Oppression

Danish government introduces headscarf ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

DF niqabi judge posterJudges in the nation’s courts will be banned from wearing headscarves and other religious apparel under a proposal put forward by the government on Wednesday.

The bill, which also stated that judges in all courts would be required to wear robes, has the support of a vast majority in parliament, including the Social Democrats, the largest opposition party.

The proposal comes after nearly a month of debate unleashed by a Court Administration decision that it had no legal grounds to exclude Muslim women who wore headscarves from becoming judges.

“Judges that make decisions in court cases, probate courts and county courts need to appear fair and neutral. And we are ready to pass legislation to ensure that,” Lene Espersen, the justice minister, said.

In a commentary in Politiken newspaper on Wednesday, Birthe Rønn Hornbeck, who serves as both immigration minister and minister for ecclesiastical affairs, stated her opposition to a ban, suggesting that doing so would put Denmark on the path towards a “dictatorship”. She also criticised “fanatic anti-Muslims” who had launched a misleading advertising campaign warning against permitting judges to wear headscarves.

Copenhagen Post, 15 May 2008

Via Islam in Europe

See also Associated Press, which reports: “The new legislation … was prompted by discussions over a set of dress code guidelines issued last year by the court administration, which noted that Danish law does not bar judges from wearing head scarves. The guidelines went largely unnoticed until the government’s ally, the nationalist Danish People’s Party, decided to politicize the issue last month. The party, known for its anti-Muslim rhetoric, created a poster showing a woman wearing an all-encompassing burqa and holding a judge’s gavel. The party urged the government to introduce legislation ensuring that courts remain ‘neutral instances in the Danish judiciary’.”

Update:  See also BBC News, 19 May 2008

Detroit Muslim woman loses case – take off the veil demands judge

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A U.S. Federal Judge heard and dismissed a case on Monday involving a Muslim Detroit woman who claims that being forced to remove her veil in court caused her to lose her case.

In October 2006, 44-year old Ginnnah Muhammad donned a niqab – a traditional veil and scarf that covers the entire head and most of the face – during her hearing in which she was disputing a $3,000 fee from Enterprise Rent-A-Car to repair a vehicle which Muhammad claims burglars had broken into. According to the Associated Press, Judge Paul Paruk “told her he needed to see her face to judge her truthfulness and gave her a choice: Take off the veil or have the case dismissed.”

Margaret Nelson, Assistant state attorney general, represented Paruk and argued that he needed to “fully observe” Muhammad in order to properly determine the facts. “It was a temporary, necessary, limited action (that had) only incidental impact on the practice of her religion,” Nelson said.

Wired PR News, 13 May 2008

Agreeing with the BNP …

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Well, even a stopped clock is right two times a day and so it is that I find myself rather agreeing with the BNP’s recently elected to the London Assembly Richard Barnbrook who says that he will press for the Union Flag to be flown permanently over City Hall, for burkas to be banned from public buildings and for official celebrations to mark St George’s Day. He will resist the planned construction of a huge new mosque, the biggest place of worship in Britain, in Newham, East London.

“This seems fair enough to me – after all London IS British and not merely an overseas branch of Islamabad. I think the Burqa SHOULD be banned, and feel that the huge new mega mosque planned for East London should also be banned until such times as existing mosques prove they are not little more than recruiting offices for Jihad, and surely the flying of the Union Flag over City Hall is non-controversial?”

A Tangled Web, 6 May 2008

Judge in veil case to issue written ruling

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Muslim woman who lost a small-claims suit in Hamtramck district court in 2006 after she refused to remove her religious veil during testimony took her case before a federal judge today, hoping to overturn the district judge’s decision and establish precedent in eastern Michigan courtrooms.

But after 30 minutes of legal arguments, U.S. District Judge John Feikens said that he would issue a written decision in the case. He gave no indication of when he might rule, but hinted through questions to lawyers that he may take no action at all, which lawyers conceded he could do under Supreme Court decisions.

To get into the courthouse today, Ginnah Muhammad had to remove her veil and show a photo ID. She had to remove her veil in a private area in the presence of a female court security officer and show her Michigan license, which contains her photo. After court, Muhammad and her attorney, Nahib Ayad, said she routinely is required to remove her veil in the presence of female security officers when she goes to airports, and is accommodated by female officers.

“If the judge rules in our favor, it would preclude other judges from doing the same thing to others,” Ayad, of Plymouth, said Monday. “It is one of those cases that probably will go to the U.S. Supreme Court.” Ayad said he would appeal if the decision goes against his client.

Detroit Free press, 29 April 2008

Muslim BBC journalist held down by six officers

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Muslim journalist was held to the ground by police officers after his radio equipment was mistaken for an explosive device. Max Khan, 39, was covering a story for BBC Radio Stoke when six officers held him down and searched his backpack. Staffordshire Police said it had received reports that a man with a large backpack with wires or aerials coming from it was acting suspiciously outside the Potteries Shopping Centre in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent on April 7.

In a statement to The Muslim News Chief Superintendent Jane Sawyers, of Staffordshire Police, said, “Our first duty in cases like this is the safety of the public. The person and our officers, and presented with this limited information, local officers immediately responded and positively acted to ensure everyone’s safety. I want to apologise for any distress caused but the action taken was necessary. I am pleased with the positive and professional way the officers dealt with the incident. Bearing in mind the current national terrorism alert level we were able to resolve this incident quickly and safely.”

A spokesperson for the BBC told The Muslim News, “Police have apologised for this incident and as far as the BBC is concerned the matter is now closed.”

However, speaking on behalf of her husband who has been gagged by the BBC, Saadia Khan told The Muslim News, “I want to see how the BBC reacts if the same happens to one of its white reporters in China during the Olympics this summer. Will it accept an apology from the police there and call it an end to the matter?” She also challenged the rationale of the police, asking, “What’s so special about Stoke that Al Qa’ida would make it a target? Why should terrorists stick to rucksacks to carry their bombs and after months of planning why leave wires hanging out of it?”

Muslim News, 25 April 2008

Revered New Jersey imam, facing deportation, has interfaith support

Posted on by Bob Pitt

PATERSON, N.J. — For a dozen years, Mohammad Qatanani has supported the members of the Islamic Center of Passaic County by speaking at funerals, hashing out ethical dilemmas and sometimes opening his home to domestic-violence victims at a moment’s notice.

But now Dr. Qatanani, 44, the imam of the mosque here, requires the support of the members: he has been barred by federal immigration authorities from renewing his driver’s license, and must call on friends to ferry him to hospitals for visits with the sick among his flock. There are fund-raisers for him at the mosque. And after Friday prayers, the hugs the men give him seem to last extra long.

The imam, who is Palestinian, and most of his family face deportation because of his detention in Israel decades ago and questions about whether he lied about it on his application for permanent residency, which he made in 1999 and which was recently denied.

Immigrant advocate groups said that other imams, in Pittsburgh, Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles and Dearborn, Mich., are also facing possible deportation, which Kareem W. Shora, executive director of the Washington-based American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, called a major concern. “We don’t know if it’s policy-driven or not,” he said. “Is there a pattern? Is it very prevalent? Yes.”

Aref Assaf, president of the American Arab Forum, an advocacy group based in Denville, N.J., said of Imam Qatanani: “If you want to deport him, what sort of person do you want to keep in this country?”

Rabbi David Senter of Congregation Beth Shalom in Pompton Lakes called the imam “the most moderate individual you could imagine.” Rabbi Senter, who has publicly praised Imam Qatanani’s work on behalf of interfaith understanding, said he deserves due process. “My fear is, because of Sept. 11 and the wide brush we’ve been willing to paint Muslims with, he will not get that.”

New York Times, 24 April 2008

Binmen in Muslim areas ordered by police to snoop in residents’ rubbish bins

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Police chiefs ordered binmen to act as spies by sifting through rubbish to look for pamphlets produced by Islamic terror groups. Town halls responsible for areas with large Muslim populations were summoned to London and told to get their refuse collectors to search bins for discarded documents or material that might identify and incriminate Islamic extremists. But the bin-searching instruction was deemed so potentially damaging to community relations that councils simply refused to carry out any sort of spying.

Bradford City Council leader Kris Hopkins said: “We were asked to snoop on our own residents by getting our binmen to rummage around people’s rubbish. But the idea that our binmen should be rooting around a wheelie bin to see if they can spot dodgy bits of paper or funny wires is ridiculous. Our binmen aren’t there to act like the secret police. They’re there to empty our bins. It goes without saying that if any of our staff spotted something illegal they’d call the police. But our job is to bring communities together, to help our communities live side by side, not do the dirty work for MI5.”

Mail on Sunday, 19 April 2008

Muslim chaplain’s anger at airport ‘discrimination’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Muslim Chaplain from Liverpool claims “discriminatory” interrogation is happening on a regular basis at Manchester Airport. Adam Kelwick, from Wavertree, says he was stopped and questioned for two hours on arrival at the airport as he returned from a Middle Eastern business trip on Wednesday, the third time this has happened since the introduction of the Terrorism Act in 2006. He claims officials searched his lap top, phone, asked for his bank account pin number and put a string of questions to him.

The chaplain, who carries out charity work in the city to aid social cohesion, claims other friends and colleagues have complained about similar experiences. He said:

“Some people I know would rather tolerate the congestion of the airports in London, rather than put up with the unreasonable questioning and discrimination at Manchester. I was ordered to remove all my items from my baggage piece by piece and was then taken into a small room and asked questions like ‘what is your mother’s date of birth?’ and ‘what school did you go to?’.

“It has happened a few times before at the airport but never when travelling from Liverpool or London. It is ironic, I was travelling in traditional Muslim dress, but an international terrorist isn’t going to fly around the world with a beard and a gown on. It is discriminatory and unfair. The first time it happens you think ‘OK, this is helping to deal with terrorism’ so I don’t mind, but for it to happen on a regular basis is unnecessary.”

Liverpool Daily Post, 22 March 2008