The editor of a satirical French magazine accused of insulting Muslims by reprinting cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad has been acquitted. A French court has ruled in favour of weekly Charlie Hebdo, rejecting accusations by Islamic groups who said it incited hatred against Muslims. The cartoons were covered by freedom of expression laws and were not an attack on Islam, but fundamentalists, it said.
Muslim leader ‘dismayed’ by new ban on veil-wearing at schools
The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) slammed new government guidelines spelling out the right of school heads to ban pupils from wearing religious dress such as the Islamic veil as “simply shocking” on Tuesday.
Education Secretary Alan Johnson has drawn up the updated guidance. The change follows defeat for a 12-year-old girl in a legal battle to wear the full-face niqab in class in her Buckinghamshire school last month. A spokesman for the Department for Education and Skills said that the government was not trying to impose a blanket ban on veils at schools.
But IHRC chairman Massoud Shadjareh said that he was “dismayed” at the guidelines. “Successive ministers, dealing with education issues, have failed to give proper guidance when requested by human rights campaigners about schools’ obligations regarding religious dress, including the head scarf, and other service delivery under human rights laws and norms. To now proceed to issue guidance against Muslim communities is simply shocking,” he added.
Muslim Council of Britain education spokesman Tahir Alam played down the significance of the new guidelines. He argued that “the matter still remains with the governing bodies and communities to resolve.”
Morning Star, 21 March 2007
See IHRC press release, 20 March 2007
See also the Guardian, 20 March 2007 and the Independent, 21 March 2007
Why this obsession with the niqab?
“Why are we talking about the niqab yet again? Once more this non-issue has hit the headlines.
“It is obvious that in light of the difficulties our schools are facing in tackling bullying, drug abuse, alarming rates of truancy, gang culture, knife and even gun crimes, and teacher abuse; the niqab certainly does not merit the Department for Education’s attention nor subsequent front page headlines in the news.
“A handful of girls wanting to observe the niqab should not be an issue and it should certainly not attract so much media coverage. All that this achieves is to provide further fodder for the ‘it’s those bloomin’ Muslims wanting more special treatment’ camp….
“The impact of the most recent circus surrounding the niqab will empower the Islamaphobes and force Muslims to stop debating the issue of the niqab internally, and unite against a perceived attack on their religious freedom. As a result, the natural progression of the niqab debate among Muslims may have once again been hampered.”
Rajnaara Akhtar of Protect-Hijab at Comment is Free, 21 March 2007
Canadian Federation of Students releases report on needs of Muslim students
The Canadian Federation of Students released a report examining college and university responsiveness to Muslim students today. The Federation’s Task Force on the Needs of Muslim Students compiled the report based on participation of nearly 1,000 Muslim students at 17 on-campus hearings over a seven month period.
“The goal was to develop a better understanding of the needs of Muslim students and to determine how well Ontario universities and colleges are addressing those needs,” said Jesse Greener, Ontario Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students. “It’s clear that every day Muslim students face both overt and subtle forms of Islamophobic discrimination on Ontario campuses.”
Islamophobia, as defined in the Ontario Human Rights Commission, is the use of stereotypes, biased or hostile acts towards individual Muslims or followers of Islam in general. The Ontario Human Rights Code sets out standards of religious accommodation for the beliefs and practices of racialised individuals or groups within workplaces and learning environments.
“A general ‘failure to accommodate’ was the most frequently identified problem by Muslim students in many facets of campus life,” said Ausma Malik, Task Force member and student at the University of Toronto. “From a lack of appropriate foods on campus and inadequate prayer space to inflexible academic policies that are often at odds with religious obligations, Ontario’s Muslim students often face a fundamentally different learning environment than other students.”
Lack of contact linked to intolerance
Quebecers have the least personal contact with Jews or Muslims of any Canadians, and less contact means more intolerance, an analysis of poll data suggests.
The findings help explain why “reasonable accommodation” of orthodox Jews and Muslims is so controversial in this province, the Montreal research group that crunched the numbers says.
The Environics poll also reveals that, when it comes to Arabs and Jews, a small minority of Canadians are equal-opportunity bigots – they dislike both.
Danish editor who published Prophet cartoons wins prize
The Danish newspaper editor who published controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in 2005 was awarded on Monday a free press prize for his “determination and courage.” The Danish-based Free Press Society awarded Flemming Rose the inaugural international Sappho Prize, worth $3,568 (€2,685).
The publication of the 12 cartoons in the daily Jyllands-Posten in September 2005 prompted an international dispute.
Lars Hedegaard of the Free Press Society said the prize honoured a “journalist who combines excellence in his work with courage and a refusal to compromise.” Hedegaard compared the pressure placed on Rose and his newspaper to apologise for publishing the cartoons to those voices calling for the appeasement of Nazi Germany at the dawn of World War II.
“Decisive to our decision was Rose’s courage to print the cartoons and to stand his ground under the worst storm any journalist has ever endured,” Hedegaard said.
Peterborough schools say no to girls’ veils
The city’s newest schools have backed Government plans to ban pupils wearing full-face Islamic veils. Despite being still under construction, the Voyager School, in Walton, and the Thomas Deacon Academy, in Eastfield, have said they will ban youngsters from adopting religious full-face coverings.
New Government guidelines on school uniforms were announced yesterday and the report stated: “Schools must act reasonably in accommodating religious requirements, providing they do not pose a threat to security, safety and learning, or compromise the well-being of the whole school community.”
Peterborough City Council’s cabinet member for education Geoff Ridgway said he believed the banning of full-face veils was the right decision. He added:
“The facial reaction to anything which is being discussed is very, very important and by not having a veil it also takes away that feature of secrecy. Of course people are entitled to their own religion, but they have also got to be conscious of the society they live in. The society we live in is one where we want openness and transparency and eye-to-eye contact.”
Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 21 March 2007
And how exactly does the niqab prevent eye-to-eye contact, you might wonder. It sounds like a better argument for banning sunglasses in Peterborough schools.
Religious moderates just provide cover for fanatics, says NSS president
“There’s an argument in religious circles that goes: in order to undermine the fanatics we have to encourage the liberal elements of religion. If you want to stop suicide bombers, you have to encourage the more moderate voices in Islam to speak up…. It’s a seductive argument and I used to subscribe to it myself. But I’ve changed my mind….
“Just as the terrorists of the Middle East will hide out in schools and hospitals to avoid being targeted by enemy bombs, so the ideological terrorists hide behind the liberals and the good-natured in order to spread their doctrine of intimidation and terror….
“The liberals pave the way, open the doors and give succour to the very people they say bring their faith into disrepute. But it’s no good the liberals trying to dissociate themselves from their wilder compatriots in faith. They promote and praise the same holy books that the fanatics use as justification for their murderous activities.”
Terry Sanderson of the National Secular Society at Comment is Free, 20 March 2007
Or, as Sanderson’s friend George Broadhead of GALHA has put it: “What does a moderate Muslim do, other than excuse the real nutters by adhering to this barmy doctrine?“
Has the veil been banned?
Inayat Bunglawala of the Muslim Council of Britain argues, that while “there does appear to be a shift in the advice the government is giving to our schools and while a signal is being sent that those schools which, following a consultation with parents and governors, decide to forbid the niqab will be supported, the Sun is wrong to suggest that there will be a blanket ban.”
Inayat continues: “The fact is, however, there are fewer than a dozen schoolgirls who actually wear the niqab out of half a million state school pupils. Still, it will no doubt have helped Mr Johnson – a contender for the post of deputy leader of the Labour party – to look as if he was being just as tough on this issue as his rival, Jack Straw.”
Sun backs Johnson over niqab
Veils will be banned in schools to help pupils learn and to keep them safe, Education Secretary Alan Johnson has ruled.
His decision will affect thousands of Muslim girls who wear clothing like the full niqab. He will publish details of his guidance to headteachers in the Commons today. The wearing of full-length robes may also be affected.
A source said: “Veils mean teachers can’t see the face. It’s a problem for security and it’s also a problem for learning because the teacher can’t see whether or not a child is understanding what’s being taught. A full face veil means you can’t see who the person is.”
Ministers will say it is also dangerous under health and safety regulations. A Bunsen burner could easily set light to a face veil in a science lab, Mr Johnson will point out.
School heads will be told to consult parents before going ahead with the ban. They will tell parents they CAN uphold religious traditions provided they do not put security and learning in jeopardy. The rules will also apply to faith schools.
But Mr Johnson is convinced there will be no serious opposition to the move.
In an editorial comment the paper welcomes a ban, asserting that the niqab is “divisive” and “provocative”.
The Guardian reports that this news was “leaked in advance to the Sun by Mr Johnson” – which gives you some indication of the audience he hopes his policy will appeal to, and how he wants to spin it. He’s certainly won the admiration of one BNP blogger, who hails Johnson’s proposals as “Some good news for once!”
See also the BBC poll on whether the veil should be banned in schools.