Muslim Pc’s boss ‘accused him of looking like Osama Bin Laden’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Muslim police officer was told he looked like the terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden by his boss because of his long beard, an employment tribunal has heard. Pc Tariq Dost has taken West Midlands Police and the police authority to a tribunal for racial and religious discrimination and victimisation following the remarks made to him from 2007.

Pc Dost, from Small Heath, Birmingham was working as a recruitment officer for the force when his manager Darren Yates is alleged to have made several discriminatory comments to him based on his race, beliefs and religion. The tribunal heard how Mr Yates made remarks about the length of his beard on several occasions and also questioned why he tucked his trousers into his boots.

Giving evidence, Pc Dost said: “I believe he felt uncomfortable with me because of my appearance. I found them (his comments) to be discriminatory and ignorant and embarrassing.” Pc Dost, 42, also claimed Mr Yates referred to Muslim prayer as “shouting and wailing” when he asked to go to afternoon prayer while at a recruitment fair at Birmingham’s NEC.

Mr Yates is alleged to have laughed at him as he turned up to the fair in Islamic clothing and robes as he was off duty. “I found it to be highly offensive and demeaning and discriminatory towards myself and Muslims as a whole,” Pc Dost said. “His actions were racist and Islamaphobic.”

Daily Telegraph, 25 June 2009

Update:  See “Muslim policeman awarded damages from West Midlands force”, Birmingham Post, 26 June 2009

Harry’s Place debates the ‘burka ban’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Harry's Place logo

We’ve rather given up responding to the appalling Harry’s Place over the past couple of years, mainly because keeping up with the Islamophobic posts on that particular blog would be a full-time job in itself.

However, if anyone needs convincing of the culture of anti-Muslim bigotry that pervades that obnoxious site, it’s worth scrolling through the comments on their recent “Berks and Burqas” thread.

Continue reading →

Express links veil to terrorism, calls for ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Ban the BurkhaIt is a city that has found itself at the heart of the debate about ­Muslim extremism after providing a home to three suicide bombers who brought devastation to London in the July 7 2005 attacks. And in Leeds yesterday the number of women clad head-to-foot in burkhas provoked anger among growing numbers who believe they should be banned.

Groups of Muslim women dressed in the restrictive robes refused to comment on their personal reasons for wearing the garment which continues to cause controversy. And even though they were walking along a busy street among shoppers and workers, most refused to be seen engaging with a non-Muslim man in public.

Leeds has a fast-growing Muslim population of at least 40,000 – double the number of 10 years ago. Locals say that since the 7/7 attacks in July 2005 – three of the gang hailed from Leeds – there has also been a increase in the number of Islamic women choosing to wear the burkha, much to the anger of many of the city’s inhabitants.

German-born au-pair Chantal Manzal, 23, has been living in Leeds for a year but returns home next month. She said yesterday: “I cannot believe what I have seen in Britain. In Germany the burkha is hardly ever seen but here I see women wearing them whenever I go out. I find them really scary.”

Hairdresser Sarah-Jane Martin, 21, said: “There is no doubt these terrible things should be banned immediately. It is a sign of oppression against women and on those grounds alone, in this day and age, they should be outlawed.”

Businesswoman Marcia Booth, 37, said: “There is no more prominent sign of female oppression by men than the burkha. I find it so demeaning and whenever I see these women hiding themselves away my blood reaches boiling point and I just want to scream at them.”

Daily Express, 24 June 2009

See also ENGAGE, 24 June 2009

How to ban the veil?

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Answer: find some co-operative Muslims who will agree with you, and promote their views as representative of the community. That way you neatly deflect accusations of racism. So we have the Express asserting that “both Muslims and non-Muslims” advocate a ban, while the Daily Mail wheels out Saira Khan, who writes in terms that could just as easily be found on some far-right website:

“In hardline Muslim communities right across Britain, the burkha and hijab – the Muslim headscarf – are becoming the norm…. Thanks to fundamentalist Muslims and ‘hate’ preachers working in Britain, the veiling of women is suddenly all-pervasive and promoted as a basic religious right. We are led to believe that we must live with this in the name of ‘tolerance’.

“… the growing number of women veiling their faces in Britain is a sign of creeping radicalisation, which is not just regressive, it is oppressive and downright dangerous. The burkha is an extreme practice. It is never right for a woman to hide behind a veil and shut herself off from people in the community. But it is particularly wrong in Britain, where it is alien to the mainstream culture for someone to walk around wearing a mask.

“So what should we do in Britain? For decades, Muslim fundamentalists, using the human rights laws, have been allowed to get their own way…. For the sake of women and children, the Government must ban the wearing of the hijab in school and the burkha in public places….

“My message to those Muslims who want to live in a Talibanised society, and turn their face against Britain, is this: ‘If you don’t like living here and don’t want to integrate, then what the hell are you doing here? Why don’t you just go and live in an Islamic country?'”

‘Take off burkas’ call by Lib Dem MEP

Posted on by Bob Pitt

chris davies(2).jpgA North West Euro MP has reignited a debate about Muslim women wearing the burka.

Liberal Democrat Chris Davies says the burka “does not belong in 21st century Britain” and is calling on Muslim women in Lancashire to take them off. He made the remarks after President Sarkozy of France this week attacked the burka as an assault upon the dignity of women. Mr Davies said:

“There is no mention in the Qur’an of the burka and it is a style of dress used principally in those countries where women are treated as mere chattels of men. I believe that it does not belong in 21st century Britain.

“I have a passionate belief that women and men are equals, and both sexes should be free to express their identity through the dress they wear. In my experience, the burka acts as a mask, reducing identity and discouraging women from developing their own skills and personality. If there are men who want to use the burka to impose their own will upon women in their family they should feel the full force of society’s disapproval.”

Salim Mulla, vice-chairman of Lancashire Council of Mosques, said: “It is absolute nonsense to say men force their partners, wives or daughters to wear the burkas. He probably needs to talk to people like myself and the Council of Mosques to educate himself about the issue. It is up to individuals if they want to wear the burka.”

Burnley-born Communities Minister Shahid Malik said: “It is not the job of government to dictate what people should or should not wear in our society – that is a matter of personal choice.

”This freedom to choose is one of the great values of our nation and why we are revered around the world. There are no laws stating what clothes or attire are acceptable and so whether one chooses to wear a veil or burka, a mini-skirt or goth outfit is entirely at the individual’s discretion.

”It is true that many Muslims feel the veil and its rationale are misunderstood and so sensible discussion provides an opportunity to create a better understanding and ultimately ensures we are more at ease with the diverse society within which we live.”

Lancashire Telegraph, 24 June 2009

See also Asian Image, 24 June 2009

French secularist defends hijab ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Agnes Poirier“… the burka and all ostentatious religious signs have already been banned in state-run schools since 2004. And in hospitals or municipal offices, anywhere where people interact as equal citizens, staff are not allowed to wear hijabs or burka, and patients or members will be told to unveil.

“The ban in schools was passed in 2004 as a reaction to the Socialist Government of Lionel Jospin, which was seen as violating the spirit of the 1905 law on the separation of Church and State. Its laissez-faire attitude allowed a handful of teenagers to start wearing the hijab in school, provoking national outrage and a debate that lasted until the 2004 law finally enforced the Republican principle.

“That such a debate is taking place again reveals the sturdy health of secularism in France, a tradition that doesn’t shy away from being confrontational even in a country with the largest Muslim and Jewish communities in Europe.

“Similar debates seem impossible in Britain. When Jack Straw dared to state the obvious in 2006 by saying that the burka and the niqab were ‘visible statements of separation and of difference’ before asking politely that women visiting his constituency surgery consider removing them, it provoked angry protests from Islamic associations and the British liberal-Left, always inclined, it seems, to defend the rights of liberty’s enemies.

“Seen from France, Britain’s tolerance of extremist views looks at best naive, at worse dangerous…. Seen from Britain, French principles of equality and secularism are often misinterpreted, and dismissed as authoritarian or prejudiced. But critics of the French approach don’t seem to understand that secularism is neutral – the State doesn’t recognise any religion in particular but protects them all, guaranteeing cultural and religious diversity by ensuring that one faith does not get the upper hand.”

Agnès Poirier in the Times, 24 June 2009

Yes, that’s the same French state that is so committed to observing strict neutrality towards all faiths that it banned the Islamic headscarf from schools but ordered flags on all public buildings to be flown at half mast to mark the death of the Pope.

And it’s the same Agnès Poirier who is so committed to the principle of public debate that she rejected an invitation to speak at Ken Livingstone’s “Clash of Civilisations” conference because she would have faced other platform speakers who disagreed with her narrow and dogmatic interpretation of secularism.

MCB statement on Sarkozy’s support for veil ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Sarkozy Defies Universal Values as he tells Women What Not to Wear: French leader’s Burqa remarks are designed to whip-up further xenophobia against Muslims

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) criticised French President Nicholas Sarkozy’s intention to ban the wearing of Burqa – a garment worn by a minority of Muslim women in accordance with their religious belief. Reiterating its long established position that individuals must have the freedom to choose their attire on the basis of deeply-held religious beliefs, the MCB called upon the French President to desist from engaging in and promoting divisive politics towards its Muslim inhabitants. In this respect, the MCB echoes the US President Barack Obama’s caution that “it is important for Western countries to avoid impeding Muslim citizens from practising religion as they see fit – for instance, by dictating what clothes a Muslim woman should wear. We cannot disguise hostility towards any religion behind the pretence of liberalism.”

Assistant Secretary General of the MCB, Dr. Reefat Drabu said: “It is patronising and offensive to suggest that those Muslim women who wear the burqa do so because of pressure or oppression by their male partners or guardians”. She added: “Such suggestions can legitimately be perceived as antagonistic towards Islam. Instead of taking a lead in promoting harmony and social cohesion amongst its people, the French President appears to be initiating a policy which is set to create fear and misunderstanding and may lead to Islamophobic reaction not just in France but in the rest of Europe too”.

MCB press release, 23 June 2009

Update:  See also the Daily Telegraph, 24 June 2009

BBC supports Islam and attacks Christianity, claims former radio presenter

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Don MacleanOne of Radio 2’s most popular religious presenters has launched a stinging attack on the BBC suggesting the broadcaster is biased against Christianity. Don Maclean, 66, who hosted Good Morning Sunday for 16 years, said the broadcaster was “keen” on programmes that attack the Christian church.

He said programming chiefs were keen to take a “negative angle at every opportunity” in a way they do not with other faiths like Islam. He admitted that he was dismayed that the BBC recently appointed Aaqil Ahmed, a Muslim, as its new head of religious programming.

Mr Maclean said: “They’re keen on Islam, they’re keen on programmes that attack the Christian church. They seem to take the negative angle every time. They don’t do that if they’re doing programmes on Islam. Programmes on Islam are always supportive.”

The presenter claimed “the last thing we want is war on the streets” adding that “we need all the moderate Muslims to stand up and be counted”.

He added: “They’re all in private telling you how dreadful they think Islamic terrorism is, but they’re not forming together in a group and standing up against it. But it’s as big a threat as Nazism was in the 1930s when Germans stood back and didn’t stand up against that, and if they had maybe the Second World War wouldn’t have started.”

The presenter said when he had presented Good Morning Sunday he argued with bosses who claimed the show was a “multi-faith” programme. He added: “I said ‘No, it’s a Christian programme because the presenter is a practising Christian and this is a Christian country, so it’s a Christian programme’.”

Daily Mail, 22 June 2009

Veil is ‘not welcome on the territory of the French republic’ says Sarkozy

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Nicolas_SarkozyFrench President Nicolas Sarkozy has spoken out strongly against the wearing of the burka by Muslim women in France.

In a major policy speech, he said the burka – a garment covering women from head to toe – reduced them to servitude and undermined their dignity. Mr Sarkozy also gave his backing to the establishment of a parliamentary commission to look at whether to ban the wearing of burkas in public.

“We cannot accept to have in our country women who are prisoners behind netting, cut off from all social life, deprived of identity,” Mr Sarkozy told a special session of parliament in Versailles. “That is not the idea that the French republic has of women’s dignity. The burka is not a sign of religion, it is a sign of subservience. It will not be welcome on the territory of the French republic.”

A group of cross-party lawmakers is already calling for a special inquiry into whether Muslim women who wear the burka is undermining French secularism, the BBC’s Emma Jane Kirby in Paris says. The lawmakers also want to examine whether women who wear the veil are doing so voluntarily or are being forced to cover themselves, our correspondent says.

BBC News, 22 June 2009

For Yusuf Smith’s comments see Indigo Jo Blogs, 22 June 2009

Update:  See also ENGAGE, 23 June 2009