 In a discussion in the French parliament on French identity, Carl Pincemin, human resources consultant for CAC 40 companies, described how employees get religious menus, refusing to have halal meat offerend next to 'normal' meat dishes, which are considered impure.
Clearly they want separate dining halls and do not want to sit anymore next to people who are eating pork, said Jacques Myard UMP deputy. Others create the eqivalent of a religious union: they demand recognition of Muslim holidays, places of worship at work, and want the serving women to cover their arms.
These demands in the name of Islam, from the most simple to the most extravagant, put the management in an awkward situation. Anthropologist Dounia Bouzar says that some are afraid of being called Islamophobes if they refuse, and so they yield to intolerable practices. For example, accepting that male employees don't go through an assessment interview anymore with their female boss. While others, on the other hand, suppress all manifestations of faith, even if they don't disturb the smooth operation of the company.
André Gerin (PCF), president of the parliamentary commission on the full veil, says that hospitals are also having problems. The deputies visited the maternity ward in Lyon, where the staff feels abandoned.
There are 4-5 incidents a week in the obstetrics department, says Gerin. In October a midwife called in to help during a difficult birth was beaten up by the husband, said a hospital official. CPR had to be administrated before they could go ahead with the birth.
The entire department is traumatized and in more and more cases they need to find their way between religious requirements and violence from some people. Husbands insist that their wives be seen by female doctors. Many refuse anesthesia for fear it that a man would show up, says the staff.
As they did in 2004, when chief gynecologists denounces these pressures to the Stasi commission (which later decided to ban the headscarf). Since then there's a charter saying that one can't choose a doctor in the public healthy system. But the staff are left to their own devices to manage those conflicts, says André Gérin.
The mayors of the suburbs are concerned about the increase of religious demands. After the pork-free meals in school, the requests for menus without meat or halal, there are demands for special hours reserved for women in swimming pools and gyms.
Source: Le Figaro (French), h/t NRP
See also:
* France: Companies confronted by religious demands
* France: Anti-Muslim backlash hurts Jews With thanks to Islam in Europe
 An elementary Catholic school in Weert (Netherlands) decided to serve just halal food this year for its Christmas meal. The school has about 400 students and about ten Muslim students. However, after some parents complained, the school backed down.The Christmas meal is organized every year together with the parents association. According to principal Margo Janssen they decided for practical considerations to serve halal for everybody. In previous years they took the Muslims into account and served them separate halal dishes, but this wouldn't be necessary if everybody is served halal. Janssen points out that this is also done in hospitals and prisons. This year they thought it would be simpler and cheaper to serve everybody halal. According to Janssen this also follows Christian thought, which says you should take others into account. He says that there's no real reason to make a fuss about it. "It's the spirit of the times. We have no intention at all to give a signal with this. It's still a Christmas meal with a Christian background." They would have a nativity scene and a candle march. It all happened with the best of intentions, he says. Jean Paul van der Donk, chairman of the parents association, says they've received eight complaints from angry parents. But, he says, those parents should understand that they didn't choose halal food for religious reasons, but purely for practical reasons. Catholics aren't forbidden to eat halal meat, while the opposite is the case for Muslims. After getting complaints from parents the management decided to review the issue. The school has since changed its mind and decided to offer every student a choice of what to eat. "We've been naive as a school," the school's site says. They hope to now go back to having a festive Christmas meal, and hope the school's name won't be damaged by one not so well thought out decision. Sources: Telegraaf, Trouw, Rorate (Dutch), h/t NRP
 Despite its reputation, the regime at the Pentagon facility on Cuba's southern coast offers privileges that would not be enjoyed at the federal "supermax" prison at Florence, Colorado, the likely alternative for the most dangerous al-Qaeda suspects. Sensitive to criticism that the detention centre was not meeting international standards, the Pentagon has gradually improved living conditions at Guantánamo. Adm Thomas Copeman, the commander, now confidently describes it as a "model detention facility" in terms of environment, though he refused to be drawn on the policy and legality of detentions that have lasted for nearly eight years, in most cases without trial. Peter King, a Republican congressman who visited earlier this year and wants the prison kept open, said that "if there's any scandal at Guantánamo, it is that the detainees are treated too well". The 221 remaining inmates receive between four and 20 hours outdoor recreation in the Caribbean sun and anything from weekly to almost unlimited access to DVDs and receive three newspapers (USA Today, plus one Egyptian and one Saudi Arabian title) twice a week. Every bed has an arrow pointing towards Mecca and every cell a prayer rug. Adm Copeman said "generally speaking the rules are about the same" for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-confessed mastermind of the September 11 attacks, and the 15 other "high value detainees", who are held at Camp 7, which is out of bounds to the media. The detainees' diet is exclusively Middle Eastern and halal, in observance of regional and religious sensitivities.
Dates, olive oil and honey are provided daily and pita bread is baked on the premises. They drink the same bottled water as the prison's staff and have the same access as other prisoners to 16,000 books and 1,600 magazines held at the library. Read more here,,,, Source: Telegraph 
 The headline for the article is "The Muslims are our greatest foreign threat", though this was probably thought up by Aftonbladet. The Local decided to headline its article "Islam 'Sweden's biggest threat': far-right leader". But Åkesson doesn't actually say either.In his article Åkesson rejects the idea that Islam is similar to Christianity and points out that Muslim youth are radicalizing. The article ends as follows: Twenty years ago, I think that most Sweden would have found it difficult to imagine that Islam would become Sweden's second largest religion, that Swedish artists who criticize or joke about Islam would live under constant death threats, that a dozen Muslim terror organizations would establish themselves in Sweden, that leading Muslim representatives would make demands about imposing Sharia laws in Sweden, that Swedish county councils would use taxpayer's money to circumsise fully healthy little boys, that Sweden would have the most rapes in Europe and that Muslim men would be highly over-represented among the perpetrators, that Swedish pools would introduce separate swimming times for men and women, that Swedish municipalities would consider introducing sex-segregated swimming classes in the schools, that the freezer sections in our grocery stores would offer ritually slaughtered meat while Swedish preschools would stop serving pork, that Swedish schools would introduce new vacations to celebrate the end of Ramadan while Church graduations would be banned in more and more schools and so forth. All this is today a part of Swedish reality. The question is how it would look a few more decades from now, when the Muslim population, if the current pace continues, will multiply in size and many of Europe's major cities, including Malmö, would almost certainly have a Muslim majority.The multicultural social elites might see this future as a colorful, interesting change for a Sweden and Europe, which all too often denies ever being 'Swedish' or 'European'. As a Swedish Democrat I see this as our greatest foreign threat since WWII, and I promise to do everything in my power to change the trend when we go to the polls next year.
 Earlier today, we posted a link to an article which mentioned that Kuwait Islamic Bank had entered into a joint venture with Colorado-based real estate company UDR: http://www.shariahfinancewatch.org/blog/2009/08/17/shariah-compliant-sovereign-wealth-funds-resume-investing-in-west/ We were curious as to what, if any, restrictions were to be imposed on the real estate properties in which Kuwait Islamic Bank invested here in the United States, so we made an inquiry via UDR’s “contact us” form on the company’s web site. The company was quick to reply as, within minutes, we received a phone call from Dave Messenger, CFO of UDR. I asked Mr. Messenger two questions: 1. What, if any, special restrictions or qualifications relating to Shariah were required in the deal with Kuwait Islamic Bank? 2. Are zakat payments to be made as part of this venture? Mr. Messenger did not attempt to address question number 2, but referred me to Kuwait Finance House to get an answer to that question. Mr. Messenger was also quite insistent that UDR’s agreement was in fact with Kuwait Finance House and not with Kuwait Islamic Bank. We regard this as a distinction without a difference, since Kuwait Finance House is an arm of Kuwait Islamic Bank. In all the media being devoted to this new deal, the entity identified is in fact Kuwait Islamic Bank. Mr. Messenger was able to provide much more information in response to question number 1. His answer was troubling, right from the outset. First of all, he mispronounced “shariah.” Shariah is pronounced shu-ree-uh. Messenger pronounced it shu-rye-uh. It does not inspire a great deal of confidence in terms of due diligence when the CFO of the American entity which entered into the agreement with an Islamic bank cannot even correctly pronounce the name of the underlying doctrine which governs their joint venture partner. Messenger was not bashful at all about the issue of shariah-compliance. He declared that the entire agreement was written to be shariah-compliant to make sure that the joint venture properties fit in with their partners’ religion. When asked about specific provisions which he knew about to establish and maintain shariah compliance, Messenger named two: “cinematography and food served on the property.” I asked what he meant by cinematography and he explained that some of their properties include movie theaters. Evidently, Kuwait Finance House/Kuwait Islamic Bank wants to make sure that no offensive movies are shown on properties in which they invest. In terms of “food served on property” Messenger explained that no pork would be served on the property at functions put on by UDR. I asked him if any of the properties leased to sandwich shops or delis or such. He said that 8 of their 160 properties did have such tenants. Again, evidently, those businesses would be prohibited from serving pork to prevent any conflict with shariah or the religion of UDR’s venture partners. Messenger explained that potential conflicts with shariah were addressed up front with the JV partners and would continue to be addressed up front to prevent conflicts. What has clearly happened here is that Kuwait Islamic Bank has been able to impose shariah here in the United States by using its financial leverage over UDR. This is the essence of Shariah-Compliant Finance. Source: Sharia Finance Watch
Solveig Horne of the Progress Party says no to special diets in prison. She thinks the reporting of Trondhem prison to the police for serving pork to muslims should be dismissed.A muslim prisoner at Trondheim prison has reported the prison for discrimination, after muslim prisoners were served pork without being told. Muslims reacted strongly when they discovered they had eaten pork, which is forbidden for muslims. Pork in the sauce«We were given fish in bread-crumbs. While we ate, someone discovered small pieces of pork in the sauce that was inside the fish. Many here pray and practice their religion more than me, and several of them were furious when they found out they had eaten pork,» says the 39.year old Salma to Adresseavisen. He has reported the prison on behalf of himself and the other muslim prisoners. Read more ... Source: AftenbladetSolveig Horne
Latest recipient of The MASH Award
 October 10, 2008 - 6:03PM
Alcohol, food and gender relations are the key barriers to social interaction between Muslim and non-Muslim Australians, a study suggests.
The findings emerged from a study commissioned by the federal government to develop better community-based integration programs.
The project focused on Muslims who have experienced racism since the 2005 Cronulla riots.
To determine social barriers, researchers interviewed a group of 10 Muslims who socialise predominantly with other Muslims. They also spoke to 10 non-Muslims from the Cronulla area who did not mix with Muslims.
Among the non-Muslims, it was not well-known that drinking alcohol is forbidden under Islam.
The concept of halal - denoting what is permissible under Islam - was also little understood.
Female Muslim interviewees said they could not understand how drinking by non-Muslims can be seen as responsible behaviour.
Their male counterparts said they would refuse invitations to events where alcohol was consumed to shield the women from it.
Some of the respondents said they felt morally compelled to avoid alcohol, even if halal food was provided.
Experiences of racism, language barriers and social demographics also made the Muslim participants more hesitant to mix with non-Muslims.
The study also looked at community-based programs designed to promote integration and socialisation between the two groups.
It found local councils were doing relatively little to build bridges between Muslims and non-Muslims.
The non-government sector was found to be the leader in building relations. And activities that encouraged contact, like sport, were the most successful.
"There is great scope for greater participation by councils in this area," the study says.
It said local, state and federal governments should do more to engage mainstream community groups with Muslim organisations, fund documentaries that feature positive stories of Muslims, and undertake a "public myth-busting" campaign to promote peace and tolerance.
Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs Laurie Ferguson welcomed the report.
"It is by undertaking and evaluating research such as this that we become more responsive to our community's changing needs," he said in a statement.
"We all have a role to play in making our communities more inclusive and stronger for the future."
In 2006 there were 340,000 Muslim Australians, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
NSW has the largest Muslim population, close to 170,000, of whom most live within 50km of the Sydney city centre. Source: The Age
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