Category Archives: Women

$287,000 awarded in Ramadan scarf suit

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A federal jury has ordered Alamo Rent A Car to pay a Muslim woman $287,640 for firing her because she refused to remove a head scarf she was wearing during the holy month of Ramadan. The firing of Bilan Nur, then 22, came just four months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued the company for what it termed a “post 9/11 backlash,” alleging that Nur was fired because of her religious beliefs in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

U.S. District Judge Roslyn O. Silver ruled last year that the government had proven religious discrimination and Alamo had shown no proof that it had taken reasonable steps to allow Nur to follow her beliefs before firing her. That left the jury in the trial that ended Friday with only the question of how much damages to award, said Mary Jo O’Neill, the regional attorney for the EEOC. The jury in the three-day trial awarded Nur $21,640 in back wages, $16,000 in compensatory damages and $250,000 in punitive damages.

Associated Press, 3 June 2007

Muslim women players fight to wear hijab on the pitch

Posted on by Bob Pitt

FootballA national five-a-side Muslim women’s football team is fighting for the right to play in their religious headscarf. Team captain and chairwoman of the Muslim Women’s Sport Foundation Rimla Akhtar is leading the campaign.

Under rules of the International Football Association Board, scarves such as the hijab cannot officially be worn. Individual referees can decide whether to let women flout the regulations or send them off. Miss Akhtar, from north London, said the attitude towards the hijab was causing resentment and is demanding legislation be altered to allow it.

The IFAB is yet to make an official decision but Miss Akhtar said that if football bosses continued to drag their feet, sides such as Iran could lose their best players. “I wear the hijab and it is kept on very securely, so it is not a safety problem”, she said. “There is as much chance of a player pulling on your shirt as there is of them pulling on your hijab.”

IFAB guidelines state a player must not “use equipment or wear anything that is dangerous to himself/herself or another player”.

Liverpool supporter Miss Akhtar, who was the only Muslim girl in her school team, belongs to the British Muslim Women’s Futsal Team. Futsal is a form of football first developed from street football in South America.

Miss Akhtar said five years since Bend It Like Beckham was released, in which a young Sikh player fights against prejudice, discrimination has not been stamped out. “We should be clear that wearing the hijab is not an issue.”

Evening Standard, 31 May 2007

Students protest headscarf ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

BRUSSELS – Hundreds of students of the Koninklijk Atheneum Andrée Thomas demonstrated in front of their school this morning against the planned ban on headscarves at the institution.

The administration of the school, which has a great many Muslim students, has decided to ban all outward signs of religious convictions, including the headscarf.

The pupils were protesting because they regard the ban as a violation of free expression and freedom of religion. A number of protestors carried banners that stated that they would leave the school if not allowed to wear a headscarf.

The school administration defends its decision claiming it will contribute to social integration and encourage respect for different ways of life.

Expatica, 30 May 2007

Anti-Islamic writer stirs hatred, Muslims warn

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A visit to Sydney by a controversial Somali writer who calls the prophet Mohammed a pedophile and says Islam is inferior to Western culture has outraged Muslims, who accuse her of inciting hatred. Ayaan Hirsi Ali will arrive in Sydney today amid tight security normally reserved for foreign dignitaries or royalty. Her writings and talks focus on what she calls the backwardness of Islamic culture and the persecution of Muslim women.

University of Technology Sydney Islamic law lecturer Jamila Hussain said Hirsi Ali’s ideas were extreme and stigmatised Muslims. “I think she’d be better staying where she came from,” Ms Hussain said. “I’ve read enough of her thoughts. It’s a narrow and radical opinion, and I don’t agree with it. She’s obviously had some dreadful experiences, but they’re not typical.”

News.com.au, 29 May 2007

Muslim women are all oppressed says agony aunt

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Mariella Frostrup replies to a letter from a woman objecting to the restrictive attitudes of her Muslim boyfriend:

“He’s the product of a culture that has a long way to go when it comes to accepting not only the equal rights but more worryingly the basic human rights of women. No doubt this response will be met by a barrage of correspondence from intelligent, emancipated Muslim women arguing that it is possible to be liberated, equal, female and a devout Muslim. And I’m sure it is, if your husband allows it….

“When the debate about the wearing of the hijab in schools was raised I found my principles severely compromised. On the one hand I believe absolutely in the right of any individual to express their beliefs and practise their religion. On the other, if that involves a visible declaration of inequality it’s hard to reconcile that with the world I want to live in. No matter how you spin the hijab, it cannot be described as an acceptable tool in furthering equality. I fear it’s the road down which you are heading if you don’t stop believing your boyfriend’s behaviour is acceptable and yours is not.”

Observer, 27 May 2007

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Denmark: Proposal to ban veils

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Danish People’s Party wants a total ban on veils in Denmark, but both the opposition and the government don’t support it. Pia Kjærsgaard, leader of the Danish People’s Party, said in an interview: “I want the headscarf to be completely banned in Danish society. It is oppressive and I cannot tolerate it.” She suggested to start with schools and institutions. Kjærsgaard is not talking about Jewish skullcaps and Christian crosses, saying they’re not the same and are not religious laws. According to a survey 46% of Danes support a ban on veils in schools.

Islam in Europe, 19 May 2007

Isma beaten by racist, 15

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Isma DinThis Muslim woman was attacked in the street by a 15-year-old white girl who punched her repeatedly in the head while screaming racist obscenities. Isma Din, aged 23, suffered a fractured eye socket, swelling, and cuts to her nose, mouth and teeth in the assault in Meersbrook, while being called a “Paki bitch”.

Today she told The Star she believed the motivation for the attack could be the hijab head scarf she wears as a practising Muslim. She said: “She just kept on punching me and punching me. She would not stop. She was calling me a Paki – it was definitely a racist attack.”

Isma, who was on her way to work at the time of the attack, said her ordeal lasted three or four minutes but “it felt like a lifetime”. It only stopped when a female motorist pulled up to intervene. Now Isma is suffering blurred and double vision and will have to undergo an operation on her eye socket once the swelling has gone down.

Sheffield Star, 16 May 2007

World Tae Kwon Do Federation upholds hijab ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

MONTREAL — Muslim women who participate in competitions sanctioned by the World Tae Kwon Do Federation will not be allowed to wear a hijab.

The decision came Monday following a request for a ruling from the Canadian Tae Kwon Do Federation after two young Muslim girls were banned from a competition last month in Longueuil, Que.

The world federation indicated in a letter to the Canadian federation that it does not recognize any religion and would not make any accommodation for hijabs.

The world federation is the sport’s largest organization and is recognized by the International Olympic Committee.

The rule, which forbids wearing anything under protective head-gear, remains unchanged and will be in effect when the world championships begin on Friday in Beijing. The competition is the first in a series to determine which athletes will compete in the Olympic summer games in Beijing in 2008.

The world federation also indicates in the letter the IOC agrees with its decision.

The world federation is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, and oversees world and Olympic tae kwon do competitions.

The Canadian federation says it will accept the ruling while the Quebec Federation of Tae Kwon Do says the ruling shows it was justified in applying the rule last month in Longueuil.

Last week, the International Tae Kwon Do Federation, a separate entity which is not sanctioned by the IOC, announced it would temporarily accept competitors wearing a hijab until a committee could be formed to study the issue further.

Canadian Press, 14 May 2007

Poll: Ban veils in shopping centres

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“More than four out of 10 Britons want to ban garments that hide the face – such as the Muslim veil – from shopping centres, a survey has said…. The online poll of 1,000 people for G4S Security Services showed shoppers were more worried by anti-social behaviour than by the threat of terrorism. However, the poll was conducted before a jury at the Old Bailey convicted five Muslim extremists of plotting to use a stash of 1,300 lbs of fertiliser to blow up targets including Bluewater shopping centre…. Of those polled, 41% called for a ban on items of clothing that obscured the face. The survey did not specify any particular type of garment, although a G4S spokesman said it would be fair to assume some people interpreted the question to refer to a veil.”

Press Association, 14 May 2007