Category Archives: Women

Europe ‘too soft’ on Muslims, says Jerusalem Post

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Jerusalem Post offers its take on moves across Europe to ban the wearing of the veil:

Those who support such legislation realize that an easygoing multiculturalism works only when there are basic shared values and a willingness to integrate. But European multiculturalism has deteriorated into rudderless moral relativism and a pusillanimous reluctance to criticize radical Islamic customs for fear of being branded an Islamophobe.

Sadly, some Jewish leaders, such as Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, chief rabbi of Moscow and leader of the Conference of European Rabbis, have helped foster such unfounded fears. “Sixty-five years after the liberation of Auschwitz,” wrote Goldschmidt in the New York Times in February, in an op-ed opposing the idea of bans on the burka, “Europeans can permit themselves to be squeamish about how things start and how things, if left unabated, can end.” As a rabbi, he added, “I am made uncomfortable when any religious expression is restricted, not only my own.”

Goldschmidt has got it wrong. Europeans have a right to feel uncomfortable. But not, as Goldschmidt argues, because Europeans are being too hard on Muslims. Rather, because they are being too soft.

French government continues to incite Islamophobia over veil

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The fining of a French Muslim woman for driving whilst wearing a niqab, or face veil, has somersaulted, in the space of a weekend, from political embarrassment to political windfall for President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Controversy raged yesterday after the Government alleged that the husband of the fined woman was a suspected polygamist and social security fraud with possible links to an extreme Islamist organisation. The interior minister, Brice Hortefeux, who made the allegations in a letter released to the press, was accused by moderate Muslim groups and left-wing politicians of cynical “exploitation” of the affair for political gain.

The media spotlight instantly switched over the weekend to Anne’s husband, Lies Hebbadj, 35, an Algerian-born butcher and taxi operator, said to be living in three bungalows near Nantes with his 12 children and four or maybe three, fully-veiled women.

In a letter to the immigration minister, which was released to the press, Mr Hortefeux said that “according to information at my disposal”, Mr Hebbadj belonged to a radical Islamist group called Tabligh. The minister said that Mr Hebbadj was “thought to be living in a polygamous situation with four women”. Each woman was “believed to be” claiming benefit as a single mother.

Mr Hortefeux said that he had asked for an investigation into “possible polygamy and social security fraud”. He urged the immigration minister to consider action to revoke Mr Hebbadj’s French nationality (acquired when he married Anne in 1999).

By associating the veil with extremist movements, polygamy and fraud, the government evidently hopes to seize control of a “burqa” debate which had threatened to spin out of its control. It was announced last week, after months of indecision, that the Government would use emergency procedures to push through a complete ban on the burqa (full-length veil) or niqab (detachable face veil) in public places by July.

According to an opinion poll yesterday, only 33 per cent of French people support a ban. Another 31 per cent approve of banning burqas and niqabs from public buildings like hospitals and schools. The decision to push ahead with a full ban – against official advice – has been widely interpreted in the press as an attempt by Mr Sarkozy to prop up his failing presidency by pleasing his core, hard-right supporters.

Hence the scarcely concealed Government glee at the alleged activities of Mr Hebbadj, the husband of the veiled driver of Nantes. In a statement yesterday, the combined mosques of Nantes said that all Muslims were being “stigmatised” by the “exploitation” of an “insignificant event, which is not representative of the Muslim majority”.

The mayor of Nantes, Jean-Marc Ayrault, who is the leader of the Socialist main opposition group in the National Assembly, accused the Government of “dramatising and exploiting” the affair. “This man’s situation has been known for some time to the services of the State … Why was nothing done about him? Why are they pretending to discover the facts now?” Mr Ayrault asked.

Independent, 26 April 2010

Continue reading →

Muslim pupil given detention for resisting harassment over hijab

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Grahamsville, New York — The insults first came in fifth grade, pursuing Xelina Encarnacion in hallways, classrooms and the school bus that carried her between her Loch Sheldrake home and Tri-Valley Elementary School.

The taunts of “bomb baby,” “terrorist” and “towel head” followed her into the seventh grade at Tri-Valley Secondary School as she began wearing a hijab, a traditional head covering that Muslim women begin wearing at puberty.

When a boy pulled her hijab Wednesday, Xelina retaliated, landing in detention after chasing him down and hitting him. “I felt violated,” she said. “I felt like I didn’t deserve it, because I was protecting myself.”

Times Herald-Record, 24 April 2010

Auburn man sentenced in attack of Muslim woman, baby

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Eric GarnerSEATTLE — An Auburn man found guilty of threatening a local Muslim woman and her baby for their race and religion is headed to prison.

A judge sentenced Eric Lee Garner to 17 months in prison on Friday, handing down the maximum sentence allowed for an incident that took place at the Seattle Indian Health Board in July 2009.

Investigators said 24-year-old Gardner, wielding a knife, made derogatory comments to a young mother and her 6-month-old baby, and threatened to cut them.

Garner told the woman, “You Muslim people scare people when you wear that clothing,” and “When I see a black woman, it makes me want to throw up,” according to the statement of probable cause.

The alarmed mother said she asked him what was wrong, to which he responded, “I’m talking to you (expletive), Muslim people,” the statement said.

When the woman said, “What I wear does not make me a bad person,” Garner told her, “You scare people,” and cursed at her, the woman told detectives.

The woman tried to move away from the aggressive man, but he followed her. He then pulled out a sheath knife with an 8- to 10-inch blade, held it in front of her face and said, “I’m going to cut you and your baby with this knife,” the statement said.

Garner slammed the knife on the counter, struggling to get it out of the sheath, detectives said. A staff member of the health clinic reached over and took the knife away from the man.

“I just heard a big slam on the counter and I looked over and it was a knife,” said employee Alissa Stewart. “My first instinct was to grab it and get it out of reach.” Garner then lunged over the counter, grabbed the knife out of Stewart’s hand and fled, investigators said.

Another clinic employee who had dealt with the boisterous man earlier in the day identified him as Garner.

Police found Garner walking in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood the following night. They said Garner, who was carrying a knife, admitted he had “pulled a knife on a Muslim woman earlier in the day because he was ‘doing his part to defend America,'” according to the statement.

In March Gardner pleaded guilty to charges of malicious harassment and second-degree assault. He has a long criminal history with prior convictions for assault and felony harassment.

KOMO News, 23 April 2010

Qaradawi stands up for women’s rights

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Qaradawi and MandelaQatar-based Islamic scholar Sheikh Yousuf al-Qaradawi yesterday slammed the practice of denying women access to mosques by Muslims of South Africa as well as of the Indian subcontinent and said that he was surprised that women were not allowed to attend any of his lectures in Johannesburg during his recent visit there.

In his Friday sermon, Sheikh Qaradawi said that during his visit to South Africa, he was surprised by the “unreasonable practice” of not allowing women from entering mosques as well as by the ban to videotape his lectures in Johannesburg.

“It was my first visit to South Africa and I was impressed with its Muslim community’s commitment to Islamic rules as well as its unity, but it was the ban on women’s entry into mosques which drew my attention. I told the (community members) that this was un-Islamic and they should stop it,” he told a congregation in a mosque at Khalifa South.

“I know they did that because they follow the Abu Hanifa school of thought but they should know that time has changed. If Abu Hanifa himself were with us today, he would have changed his mind. It is unreasonable that women could now go to universities, markets and travel, but are not allowed to enter a mosque in some countries.”

Gulf Times, 23 April 2010

French poll: 33% back complete ban on veil, and further 31% favour restrictions

Posted on by Bob Pitt

France veilTwo-thirds of French people want a law limiting the use of face-covering Islamic veils such as the niqab and the burqa, with only a minority backing the government’s plan for a complete ban, a poll showed Saturday.

The TNS Sofres/Logica poll, which was carried out on Thursday and Friday, showed that 33 percent of French people want a complete ban, while a further 31 percent want a more narrow law applying only to certain public spaces.

The results of the survey of 950 people were roughly the same for men and women. Support for some kind of legal restriction on the full veil cut across age groups, professions and political affiliation, though it was stronger among right-wing voters – more than 80 percent of them favoured a law.

Reuters, 24 April 2010

French police fine Muslim driver for wearing veil

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A French Muslim woman has been fined for wearing a full-face veil while driving a car. Police in the western city of Nantes said the veil – which showed only her eyes – restricted her vision and could have caused an accident. The woman’s lawyer says they will appeal against the decision, which he described as a breach of human rights.

After stopping the 31-year-old woman – who has not been named – police asked her to raise her veil to confirm her identity, which she did. They then fined her 22 euros ($29; £19), saying her clothing posed a “safety risk”.

“This fine is not justified on road safety grounds and constitutes a breach of human and women’s rights,” her lawyer, Jean-Michel Pollono, told AFP news agency. He said the woman’s field of vision was not obstructed and added that a veil was no different from a motorcycle helmet in terms of hindrance to vision. He said he had formally complained to the state prosecutor. “The ball is clearly in the authorities’ court,” he said. “Currently no law forbids the wearing of the niqab.”

BBC News, 23 April 2010

Muslim girl’s headscarf divides Spain

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Pressure was mounting in Spain on Friday to resolve the case of a Muslim girl who was expelled from school because she started wearing the Islamic headscarf in class.

Najwa Malha, 16, a Spaniard of Moroccan origin, would not accept to go to another school which admits headscarves, her father Mohammed Malha told the daily El Pais. The governing board of the school in Pozuelo de Alarcon near Madrid recently confirmed the school’s earlier decision not to admit Najwa to class unless she took her scarf off.

Three of Najwa’s classmates, who were also Muslims, started wearing the hijab to show their solidarity with her. But the girls have now removed the scarves for fear of being attacked, after anti-Islamic stickers appeared and were removed from the school gates, reports said.

An internet support forum for Najwa has collected hundreds of signatures while the human rights group Amnesty International also sided with her. Islamic associations have called protests and pledged to take the case to courts.

Najwa’s case has divided politicians, with the governing Socialists generally stressing the need for tolerance and dialogue, while some politicians in the ranks of the opposition conservatives described the hijab as a sign of discrimination against women. Children’s right to education was more important than anything else, Education Minister Angel Gabilondo said, describing the hijab as a “sign of a particular identity which does not attack others.”

Earth Times, 23 April 2010

Amnesty: Belgium full face veil ban would breach international law

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Amnesty International has urged the Belgian Parliament not to pass a draft law which would prohibit the wearing of full face veils anywhere in public as the country’s Chamber of Deputies prepares to vote on the issue on 22 April 2010.

“A general ban on the wearing of full face veils would violate the rights to freedom of expression and religion of those women who choose to express their identity or beliefs in this way,” said Claudio Cordone, Amnesty International’s Interim Secretary General.

Amnesty International news release, 22 April 2010