Category Archives: Women

JROTC’s headscarf rule keeps girl from parade, spurs bias claim

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Demin ZawityA Ravenwood High School freshman said her Muslim beliefs were put to the test when commanding officers in her Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program told her she couldn’t both wear a headscarf and march in the September homecoming parade.

Demin Zawity, 14, has since quit the JROTC and returned to regular physical education classes, but the Council on American-Islamic Relations sent a letter of complaint to Williamson County Schools Director Mike Looney.

Zawity said she felt like crying when she was told she couldn’t wear the headscarf with her uniform. She’d been wearing it all along, but homecoming marked the first time she was going to wear her JROTC uniform as well. “They were making something that is not such a huge deal into something so dramatic,”she said. “The next day was the parade, and I couldn’t march. If I can’t march, I want it to be because I don’t want to and not because of my religious headwear.”

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MP wants to extend NSW face coverings legislation to Queensland – but claims he isn’t targeting Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Sunshine Coast MP says he may be accused of discrimination in wanting stricter identification laws in Queensland.

Independent Peter Wellington plans to introduce a Private Member’s Bill into State Parliament this afternoon requiring people wearing face coverings or motorbike helmets to remove them when needed for identification. Mr Wellington says the proposal is modelled on recent legislation in New South Wales and can be used by police, court and prison staff and JPs. He says the law is not meant to target women who wear burkas.

“It’s not about trying to discriminate against different religions,” he said. “What it’s saying very clearly … in Queensland there’s one law for everyone. There’s one indisputable standard of cooperation that we all have to abide by and that is if the police want to identify you for a range of purposes you have to reveal your face.”

ABC News, 13 October 2011

Spanish girl thrown out of exam for wearing headscarf

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Spanish schoolgirl has been expelled from school during an exam after refusing to remove her Islamic headdress or hijab, school officials said. “They told me to remove it… they humiliated me in front of my peers,” she told El Mundo newspaper.

The 14-year-old girl, who lives in Madrid, decided to wear hijab this summer. Her parents became outraged by the expulsion and described it an “abuse,” reporting the case to judiciary officials.

This comes while there are no clear guidelines prohibiting the wearing of headscarves in state schools in Spain. Muslims currently account for just over one million of Spain’s 46-million population. Muslims in Spain have been witnessing a growing trend of Islamophobia as e hostility towards the expressions of Islamic symbols and practices grows in the European state.

The discriminatory policies on the rise in Spain clearly breach the country’s Law of Religious Freedom, as well as the International Human Rights law.

Press TV, 8 October 2011

See also Bikya Masr, 5 October 2011

Belgium: constitutional court refuses to suspend veil ban law

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Belgium’s highest court on Wednesday refused to suspend a law banning the wearing of burqas, but said it was still examining whether the recently-adopted act is legal.

The Constitutional Court ruled that there was no evidence that the two women who have appealed against the law have suffered serious discrimination, the Belga news agency reported – leaving no ground to suspend it.

The measure came into force in July, making Belgium the second in Europe after France to criminalize the burqa, which completely covers women’s bodies, as well as other types of Islamic veils.

Anyone caught in public places with their face completely or partially covered – thus preventing identification – is liable to a fine of up to 137 euros (182 dollars) and up to seven days’ imprisonment.

DPA, 6 October 2011

Lisa Valentine wins settlement: Douglasville courthouse screenings will now be adapted to accommodate religious head coverings

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Lisa_ValentineDOUGLASVILLE, Ga. — A Muslim woman who was arrested in 2008 after refusing to remove her hijab in a Douglasville courtroom has received a settlement from the city.

The settlement includes changes to the way people wearing religious head coverings are screened when they enter the courthouse, according to Azadeh Shahshahani with the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia.

Lisa Valentine spent several hours in jail in December 2008 after declining to take off her hijab while accompanying her nephew to a traffic hearing in Douglasville Municipal Court. She sued the city in December 2010, saying her free speech rights were violated when she was asked to remove the head covering.

“We are glad that the city of Douglasville has acknowledged that the way that Ms. Valentine was treated was inexcusable and awful,” Shahshahani said. “No one should feel singled out in a court of law simply for observing her faith.”

According to Thursday’s settlement, Douglasville has adopted a special policy that allows people wearing religious head coverings to be screened in a private area by an officer of the same gender.

“I am glad that Douglasville has agreed to formal policies to make sure this never happens to anyone else,” Valentine said after her settlement hearing.

WXIA-TV, 6 October 2011

See also ACLU press release, 6 October 2011

US Supreme Court clears way for Muslim woman to sue over headscarf removal

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Supreme Court will let a Muslim woman sue Southern California jailers for making her take off her head scarf in a courthouse holding cell.

The court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from Orange County, Calif., officials, who were sued in 2007 by Souhair Khatib.

Khatib had gone to the Orange County Superior Court to ask for more time to complete her community service. But a judge ordered her jailed, and jailers forced Khatib to remove her head scarf.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments that holding cells aren’t covered by a federal law protecting the religious practices of prisoners. They also ruled Khatib had the right to wear the scarf unless jailers could show it was a security risk.

Associated Press, 3 October 2011

Muslim woman had veil ripped from her face

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A woman admitted ripping the head veil off a devout Muslim woman in Halifax. Jacqueline Zaro, of East Street, Sowerby Bridge, pleaded guilty on the first day of her trial to intent to cause religiously-aggravated harassment, alarm or distress in the incident on June 11 at King Cross Road, Halifax.

James Weekes, prosecuting, told Calderdale Magistrates’ Court the victim had moved to this country six years ago and was a devout Muslim who wore the veil to cover her face. He said the victim said she has had sleepless nights since and now feels vulnerable and too afraid to go out shopping on her own.

The court heard Zaro told police she had drunk three litres of cider beforehand and when she was shown CCTV footage she accepted she had pulled off the headscarf.

Magistrates gave Zaro a 12-month community order with supervision and six months’ with an alcohol treatment team. They also ordered her to pay £100 prosecution costs and £100 compensation to the victim.

Halifax Courier, 3 October 2011

Express website carries call for murder of Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Sometimes the most obnoxious aspect of the coverage of Islamic issues by right-wing newspapers is the sickening online comments their articles provoke. Two days ago the Express published a short report on the Swiss parliamentary vote in favour of banning the veil. The one comment it has so far attracted openly calls for Muslims to be killed. Despite the comment being reported, the admins at the Express website evidently have no interest in removing it.

Express comment on Swiss veil ban

Swiss MPs back SVP motion banning veil

Posted on by Bob Pitt

SVP racist posterSwiss MPs have approved a far-right move to impose a ban on the burqa or other face coverings in some public places, including on public transport.

With 101 votes against 77, the lower chamber of the house approved the motion, which was titled “masks off!”, on Wednesday. The draft bill will still have to be examined by the upper chamber.

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Muslim mother is abused by schoolchildren

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Tracy ShahA mum who converted to Islam says she is being subjected to abuse each day as she walks her children home from school by pupils who jeer at her from a passing bus.

Tracy Shah, 31, of Shipley, who wears a headscarf, claims she has been spat and sworn at since February by a group of pupils travelling on a bus from St Bede’s Catholic Grammar School, which passes her on Canal Road and Gaisby Lane.

Orange juice has been thrown over her two-year-old daughter, water has been thrown at them from bus windows and verbal abuse hurled, Mrs Shah claims.

The mother-of-three who converted to Islam in 2003 before marrying her husband, said: “They have sworn at me and shouted out of the windows at me “why are you wearing a towel on your head?”

Telegraph & Argus, 26 September 2011