Category Archives: Women

‘Isolation is no longer an option for British Muslims’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Riots Over Mosque“The violence in the quintessentially English town of Windsor is a shocking example of what crude multiculturalism can lead to – neighbouring communities with seething resentments towards each other and nothing in common.

“The great omission of the first wave of mass immigration from Asia was the failure of Britain’s political class to tell new arrivals what was expected of them in terms of integrating and accepting British values. Time and again the supine British establishment chose to look the other way or howl down objectors as racist whenever Islamic practices clashed with our culture….

“This discredited approach is, shockingly, still predominant within the British establishment. Hence a Muslim police officer is excused shifts protecting the Israeli embassy, while Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly has made a risible call for broadcasters to hire more Muslim women wearing the hijab to present television progammes.

“Things are beginning to change. Jack Straw is to be commended for asking Muslim women to discard their veils…. British Muslims must face up to their changed circumstances in the wake of last year’s London bombings. Insulating themselves against mainstream society must no longer be an option.”

Editorial in the Daily Express, 6 October 2006

‘I defend my right as a Muslim to wear a veil’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Ruqayyah Ghani, 23, a British-born Muslim from Manchester, reacted strongly to Mr Straw’s comments last night and defended her right to wear a veil. Miss Ghani was brought up in an Islamic environment but did not start to immerse herself in her religion until she was 18. At that stage she started to wear the hijab (head scarf) and two years later began covering her face in public.

“According to Islam, a woman should cover herself up in front of any men apart from those she cannot legally marry. That is why I wear the niqab (face veil). I have not been forced to wear it by my family, in fact I am the only one in my family who chooses to wear one. They were as surprised as some outside the family when I decided to start covering my face. But they accept it. People see it as a symbol of repression, but that, along with the stereotype of the Muslim woman covered from head to toe needs to be done away with.”

Miss Ghani rejected Mr Straw’s comments that the face veil hindered community relations. “I have successfully studied and have a job in the health service, it has not held me back. It can become a hindrance if you want to make it an issue but if you put it aside and deal with people on a personal level, it is not a problem.”

Daily Telegraph, 6 October 2006

Not that this line of argument finds favour with the Torygraph’s leader writers. An editorial in the same issue, headed “Straw leads where the Met fears to follow“, opines: “Integration is not aided by the wearing of veils, just as it is not aided by the failure of immigrants to learn English. It is another example of the damage done by multiculturalism to the cause of real integration. Mr Straw is to be commended for brushing aside the politically correct nostrums that have inhibited such discussion among senior politicians.”

The editorial continues: “What a contrast to the supine behaviour of the Metropolitan Police when Pc Alexander Omar Basha sought to be excused duty outside the Israeli embassy – and was allowed to do so…. Once again, ultra-sensitivity to Muslim sensibilities appears to be warping the judgment of senior officers and could jeopardise the cohesion of the force.”

Nazis back Straw

Posted on by Bob Pitt

It’s not often that the fascists of the British National Party have a good word to say about a Labour politician, but they’re happy to applaud Jack Straw for “quite rightly, observing the problems of communication arising from the wearing of veils by Muslim women”, and they contrast Straw’s principled stand with the position of “other figures in the British establishment” who are “allowing the country’s native majority to descend headlong into a state of dhimmitude.”

BNP news article, 6 October 2006

MCB criticises Straw’s veil comments

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Straw’s comments play into the hands of the intolerant

The Muslim Council of Britain is concerned that the comments made yesterday by such a high-profile figure as Jack Straw may play into the hands of those who are intolerant of Muslims and Islam. There may be a difference of opinion on niqab (face-veil), but we have to respect a woman’s right to choose to adopt it. Mr Straw’s comments have the potential of further undermining civil liberties in our country, which appear to be gradually eroding in the aftermath of the terrible atrocities of July last year.

“There can be no doubt that we are already witnessing an increasingly bigoted anti-Muslim climate being fostered in Britain. Recent weeks have witnessed several arson attacks against mosques and assaults on Muslim individuals around the country. Jack Straw’s comments will hardly help,” said Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain.

MCB press release, 6 October 2006

Blaming the veil is wrong

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Why oh why can’t we Muslims just take some constructive criticism for a change? We live in ghettos, we can’t accept that terrorism is our fault, our Mosques are recruiting centres for jihadis and now Jack Straw has ‘sensibly’ pointed out that women who cover their faces are a hindrance to social cohesion, we’re up in arms again … ”

Rajnaara Akhtar of Protect-Hijab at the Guardian’s Comment is Free, 6 October 2006

See also Protect-Hijab statement, 5 October 2006

Guardian blogger revolted by veil

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Jack Straw says that he is made to ‘feel uncomfortable’ by women wearing a full veil. I feel uncomfortable too and have been wondering about the nature of that discomfort and what I should do about it. When I walk down the street in London, or in Bristol where I live, and see a woman covered head to toe, I not only feel uncomfortable; I feel a physical sense of revulsion.”

Sue Blackmore at the Guardian’s Comment is Free, 6 October 2006

Mike Marqusee takes a different line:

“Like Jack Straw, I find it awkward to talk with women who veil their faces. Unlike Jack Straw, I don’t assume that the onus is on them to relieve me of my discomfort, or that this discomfort is inevitable and entrenched, or that it betokens an unbridgeable cultural gap or irreconcilable social difference…. Speaking personally, the people I feel most uncomfortable talking with are perma-tanned politicians in expensive, perfectly pressed suits with a record of shameless mendacity. Jack Straw’s complicity in the lies that led to the invasion and occupation of Iraq makes him responsible for divisions both domestic and foreign of far greater consequence, far greater menace to us all, than any woman walking the streets of Blackburn with her face veiled.”

Comment is Free, 6 October 2006

Jack Straw: Muslim women ‘should discard veils completely’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Take Off Your VeilCabinet Minister Jack Straw today waded further into the row over his call for Muslim women to remove their veils by saying he would like the garments to be discarded altogether.

The former Foreign Secretary sparked controversy when he revealed that he asks female visitors to his constituency surgery to uncover their faces, to improve “community relations”. But asked on the BBC if he would rather the veils be discarded completely, Mr Straw said: “Yes. It needs to be made clear I am not talking about being prescriptive but with all the caveats, yes, I would rather.”

Last night, Muslim leaders in the Commons Leader’s Blackburn constituency said many Muslim women would find his comments, originally made in his local newspaper, “offensive and disturbing” and Respect MP George Galloway demanded his resignation. But Mr Straw said the increasing trend towards covering facial features was “bound to make better, positive relations between the two communities more difficult”.

Associated Press, 6 October 2006

Straw’s Lancashire Telegraph article is reprinted in the Guardian, 6 October 2006

Straw’s veil comments spark anger

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Jack_StrawJack Straw, the ex-foreign secretary, has angered Muslim groups by suggesting women who wear veils can make relations between communities more difficult. The Blackburn MP says the veil is a “visible statement of separation and of difference” and he asks women visiting his surgery to consider removing it.

The remarks attracted an angry response from some organisations representing Muslims.

It was “astonishing” that Mr Straw chose to “selectively discriminate on the basis of religion”, said Massoud Shadjareh, chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission. Halima Hussain, from civil liberties group the Muslim Public Affairs Committee, asked BBC News 24: “Who is Jack Straw to comment on negative symbols within a religion that is not his own?” Rajnaara Akhtar, who chairs the organisation Protect-Hijab, suggested the “appalling” comments showed “a deep lack of understanding”.

BBC News, 5 October 2006

See also “Straw in plea to Muslim women: Take off your veils”, Lancashire Telegraph, 5 October 2006

And Jack Straw, “I want to unveil my views on an important issue”, Lancashire Telegraph, 5 October 2006

Hijab-wearing television presenters? ‘I’ll dispose of my TV set’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A letter writer in the Torygraph takes issue with Ruth Kelly’s suggestion that British TV should employ hijab-wearing Muslim women in more visible roles:

“On the very day that the Islamic radical Abu Izzadeen declares our Home Secretary persona non grata in a Muslim enclave, Ruth Kelly urges that Muslim women wearing the hijab should be given front-line roles in the media.Utterly predictable, of course, but the moment I see a female television presenter wearing the hijab will be the point at which I shall dispose of my set and surrender the licence. This is Britain, not Saudi Arabia or Iran.”

Daily Telegraph, 22 September 2006