The appearance of a Muslim character in a comic book is being celebrated, but she is not going to end Islamophobia, argues Leon Moosavi.
Baby-Loup hijab ban upheld by appeals court
A French court has upheld the controversial sacking of a childcare worker who wore a headscarf to work.
In a case that has gripped France for five years, a Paris appeals court ruled on November 27 that the dismissal of nursery worker Fatima Afif was legal.
Baby-Loup, the crèche employing Fatima Afif in the multicultural Parisian suburb of Chanteloup-les-Vignes, fired her in 2008 after she refused to remove her Islamic headscarf at work.
Secular France bans religious signs in public educational institutions. But the Court of Cassation ruled last March that privately-owned Baby-Loup had discriminated against its employee on religious grounds. France’s highest court then sent her case to the Paris appeals court for retrial.
The judge followed the advice of the state prosecutor, who had asked for the sacking to be confirmed in the name of France’s secularism. Wednesday’s ruling states that the crèche had a “public service mission” and had a right to “impose neutrality on its personnel”.
Islamophobia Awareness Month event in Leeds this evening
EDL founder Stephen Yaxley-Lennon admits mortgage fraud
English Defence League (EDL) founder and former leader Stephen Yaxley-Lennon has admitted mortgage fraud offences.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiring with others to obtain a mortgage by misrepresentation from the Abbey and Halifax banks.
The 30-year-old, also known as Tommy Robinson, committed the offences in 2009.
Stephen Timms MP defies critics of Islamic festival in Newham
Stephen Timms MP has defended his support for a controversial Islamic conference, calling criticism of it “misplaced” and saying he would attend the event again if asked.
Veteran campaigner Peter Tatchell criticised Mr Timms and London Mayor Boris Johnson for supporting the Global Peace and Unity Festival (GPU) held at the ExCel centre in Newham last weekend, which critics say promotes hate preachers.
Mr Tatchell said: “It is appalling that the mayor, City of London police and prominent public figures are endorsing an event that promotes at least seven speakers with bigoted, violent views. It’s the equivalent of supporting an event with BNP and EDL hate speakers.”
Mr Timms hit back against the critics, saying he had spoken at previous GPU events and found them “a useful way to communicate with a significant group of constituents”. He said: “I have never believed that speaking at an event involved endorsing the views of all the other speakers, so I think the criticism is misplaced.”
Study: Muslim job candidates may face discrimination in Republican states
A new study by Carnegie Mellon University found that in the most Republican states in the country, employers may be less likely to interview job candidates whose social networking profiles indicate that the applicants are Muslim.
As part of a social experiment, the researchers created four fictitious job candidates – each with a unique name that most likely points to someone who is male, U.S. born and Caucasian. The candidates had identical resumes. The researchers also created social network profiles for each of the candidates that revealed either his sexual orientation or whether he was a Muslim or Christian. All other information, including the profile photograph used for each candidate, was the same. The resumes, which did not mention the candidates’ online profile, were then sent out to more than 4,000 employers nationwide with job openings.
Mosques defilement angers Belgians
Belgium Muslims have denounced the heinous attacks on mosques in the Belgian town of Genk after they were desecrated with swastikas and abusive slogans.
“Despite the shocking nature of the crimes committed, the EMB enjoins Muslims not to respond to the provocation, unless by peaceful and legal means, in accordance with what Islam advocates,” Semsettin Ugurlu, the chairman of the Muslim Executive of Belgium (EMB), said in a statement cited by Saphir News.
Ugurlu has also strongly condemned the “heinous acts of racism, Islamophobia and vandalism.”
California: Muslim woman told she can’t wear head scarf to work
A woman in El Dorado Hills said she was given the okay to wear a hijab, a scarf worn by Muslim women that covered their head and chest, to work. But the very next day, Rosemary Hassan was told to take it off.
Hundreds of Muslims attend conference to eradicate Islamophobia
Several hundred Muslims were in Atlanta this weekend to tackle two big issues: how do you overcome people’s fear of Islam, and how should the Muslim community address issues facing Muslim women. Those issues were the focus points of this Islamic World International Conference held near the Atlanta Airport.
The event space of the hotel was filled with a variety of tables from people selling Hijabs to outreach programs and academies for Muslim children.
Quebec profs don hijab in Muslim solidarity
Showing solidarity to the Muslim minority, two renowned Montreal professors have donned hijab in a protest against the proposed ban on religious symbols in the Parti Québécois’ secular charter.
“I wear it as a kind of sign of solidarity,” Concordia University history professor Nora Jaffary told CBC on Monday, November 25.