 The Center for Equal Opportunities and the Fight against Racism (CGKR) wants to take the edge of the headscarf debate. Therefore the Center will from now speak about the 'external expression of convictions' instead of the 'external expression of religious, philosophical and political convictions'. Furthermore the Center wants a ban on the external expression of convictions in elementary schools. The question of wearing external expression of convictions is found mainly in three essential sectors, according to the Center: employments, public services and education. CGKR is therefore launching a site ( www.diversiteit.be/veruiterlijkingen) where it formulates recommendations for those three sectors. The freedom to express one's convictions in a peaceful manner should be the starting point, says Jozef De Witter, director of CGKR. "Naturally no single freedom, even a basic one, absolute. Evantuall limits should however be carefully justified. A ban should, in other words, be an exception and not the general rule," according to De Witte. In education the Center thinks that the current system has reached its limits. De Witte says there should be a legal arrangement, but that they want a calm debate involving everybody concerned. The individual freedom of the student should remain a fundamental principle, but it could be limited in order to deal with missionary zeal and in the name of security. The Center wants a ban on external expression of convictions in elementary education. As for secondary education, the communities should start a process to think it over. Individual freedom should remain in higher education. Source: HLN (Dutch)
 By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor PARIS (Reuters) - France will issue recommendations against full face veils but not pass a law barring Muslim women from wearing them, a leading backer of a legal ban said on Friday. Andre Gerin, chairman of a parliamentary inquiry into use of full face veils in France, reluctantly ruled out a ban one day after President Nicolas Sarkozy repeated his conviction that "France is a country that has no place for the burqa." France banned Muslim headscarves in state schools in 2004 following a similar inquiry and looked set to bring in an outright ban on veils coverings the whole face, such as burqas or niqabs, when it launched the panel last June at the request of Gerin, a Communist deputy from Lyon. But at its weekly hearings, legal experts, local officials, Muslim leaders and even some militant secularists have told the deputies on the panel that a ban could be anti-constitutional, counterproductive and impossible to enforce. Gerin, who denounces the head-to-toe veils as "walking coffins," told Europe 1 radio: "We'll end up with recommendations ... not a law in itself against the burqa, maybe a symbolic law, a law of liberation (of women)." Backing off from a complete ban, he said the panel might propose "radical measures" to ban full face veils in municipal hospitals and other public institutions, but gave no details. France, whose five million Muslims make up Europe's largest Islamic minority, has been criticized in the Muslim world for considering a burqa ban. French Islamic community leaders have warned against passing a law that would stigmatize Muslims. Skepticism about a ban grew after a police report said only 367 women in France wore such veils, which are common in Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia but not in the North African countries where most Muslim immigrants to France came from. Another estimate spoke of about a thousand such veils. The veil inquiry coincides with Sarkozy's plan for a public debate about immigration and national identity due to culminate in a conference just before regional elections next March. The opposition Socialist Party accuses him of stirring up the issue to poach anti-immigration voters from the far-right. Winning those voters away from the National Front party was a key to Sarkozy's election as president in 2007. Gerin said the panel was studying a possible ban on all face coverings in public, an approach experts also cast doubt on. "We can't impose a state of permanent control on citizens," legal expert Remi Schwartz told the panel. "That would mean everyone should be identifiable at all times, which would make public space into a vast zone of video surveillance." Read more,,,, Reuters 
 MADRID — A Muslim lawyer in Spain said Wednesday she was ejected from a courtroom for wearing a head scarf and has filed a discrimination complaint with the body that oversees Spain's judiciary system. Spanish law stipulates that trial lawyers must wear black robes but says nothing about head scarves. The General Council of the Judiciary, which supervises the Spanish court system, said it has opened a preliminary probe of the judge named in the complaint. An official with the council said he could not recall a similar incident. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with council rules. The attorney, Zoubida Barik Edidi, a Moroccan-born Spaniard, said she was attending an Islamic terror trial Oct. 29 at the National Court when Judge Javier Gomez Bermudez kicked her out of the room because of the purple scarf. Barik Edidi, 39, was sitting next to a colleague acting as defense attorney, but was not formally part of the defense team. The judge said defense attorneys or prosecutors at a trial cannot wear such a garment, she told The Associated Press. "Madam, you cannot remain in this courtroom," she quoted the judge as saying. Barik Edidi noted that she was not a defense attorney per se, and had attended the previous day's session without the judge complaining about her scarf. Gomez Bermudez said he had erred and should have thrown her out the first time. "This is my courtroom and here I give the orders," Barik Edidi quoted the judge as saying. Barik Edidi said her complaint accuses the judge of discrimination and abuse of authority, and that she is concerned about his action possibly being copied by other judges. "The fear I have is that I will not know what courtrooms I am allowed into and which ones I am not," she said. During that same trial — involving nine men accused of recruiting suicide bombers to go to Iraq — Gomez Bermudez expelled a witness who wore a burka-style outfit and refused his request that she show her face. The judge said Spanish court rules bar people from testifying with their face concealed. Read more here,,,, Source: FoxNews
 CAIRO — Egypt's top Islamic cleric said Thursday that students and teachers will not be allowed to wear face veils in classrooms and dormitories of Sunni Islam's premier institute of learning, al-Azhar, part of a government effort to curb radical Islamic practices. The decision announced by Sheik of al-Azhar Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi came days after he said the face veil, or niqab, "has nothing to do with Islam." His comments and actions have sparked an outcry from Islamists who see them as an attack on their religion and some rights organizations who believe banning the niqab violates constitutional freedom. The explosive issue of how much of a Muslim woman's body should be covered remains contested among Islamic scholars. The majority of scholars say the face veil is not required but is merely a custom that dates back to tribal, nomadic societies living in the Arabian desert before Islam began. While a vast majority of Egyptian women wear headscarves, few wear the niqab, which is common in Saudi Arabia where the more conservative form of Wahhabi Islam is practiced. The trend seems to be gaining ground in Egypt, leading to government attempts to ban the face veil from public institutions. Tantawi, who was appointed by the Egyptian government, first attacked the niqab Sunday during a field visit to a middle school where he asked a student to remove her face veil, according to local media. Read more here,,,, Source: FoxNews
Hijab (The Headscarf)—Yes; The Burqa—No
Pajamas Media 15 September 2009 Banning the burqa in the West might be one way to ban Islamist fundamentalism and the barbaric subordination of girls and women in certain immigrant communities. For this reason, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and French Minister Fadela Amara have again called for this ban. Earlier today, French immigration Minister, Eric Besson, called the burqa “debased.” I would hope that the French take their argument further. In the past, they have mainly cited security concerns: Burqa wearing women might be “racially” attacked or burqa wearers themselves might be terrorists or criminals who are planning to attack or rob civilians. I would hope that the French also argue for such a ban on women’s rights/human rights grounds, as I have already proposed. Thus, clothing which completely covers the face and head in a way which muffles speech, hearing, and vision, which limits or prevents all human communication and identification, and which, in effect, functions like an isolation chamber is, by definition, a violation of human rights. None of this applies to hijab, the Islamic headscarf, which has already been banned in France in school and which is the subject of protest and controversy across Europe.
With all due respect for the good intentions of the French, perhaps Western governments should not automatically or necessarily ban hijab for women; the matter is tricky and complicated for girls as we have seen, as city after city across Europe has discovered. Indeed, this is a complex and challenging matter. Today, in Holland, in the very country that is putting the sober and very brave parliamentarian,Geert Wilders on trial for exercising his political free speech—another bright Dutch light, Trouw historian Tineke Bennema has called on “women who were born in the Netherlands to voluntarily put on a headscarf ‘out of solidarity’ with the hijab wearers.” You know, like the Danes allegedly once wore the yellow Jewish star. Read All here: http://europenews.dk/en/node/26287
 The head scarves are designed to match the force's uniform | Avon and Somerset Police is issuing head coverings to its female officers so they can enter mosques. The force says the move will help its officers respect Muslim religious customs while carrying out their job. The garments, designed to match the force's uniform, were designed in consultation with Muslim groups. Imam Rashad Azami, of Bath, said: "This will go a long way in encouraging a trustful relationship between the police and the Muslim community." Mr Azami, director of Bath Islamic Society, said: "The police have been working closely with the Muslim community in the area on many levels for the last few years." There are two versions of the head coverings, to match the black of a police officer's uniform and the blue of the Police Community Support Officer uniforms. Both carry the force's crest. Source: BBC H/T: Jihad Watch
By J. Samia Mair Oregon Senate Bill 786, which effectively bans Muslim women who wear a headscarf from teaching in public schools, may soon be law in Oregon, needing only Governor Ted Kulongoski’s signature. The operable language states: No teacher in any public school shall wear any religious dress while engaged in the performance of duties as a teacher. A school district, education service district or public charter school does not commit an unlawful employment practice under ORS chapter 659A by reason of prohibiting a teacher from wearing religious dress while engaged in the performance of duties as a teacher. Ironically, the proposed legislation is entitled the Oregon Workplace Religious Freedom Act. Read more ...Editor's note: Ironically? Religious Freedom means Freedom of Religion and Freedom from Religion! Source: Examiner
Revolution cannot be successful if sacrifice brings more Islamic repression and degradation with another face and a new set of Ayatollahs.By Ruth King When the French résistance was fighting the Nazis in 1940, the British and the Americans encouraged them with oratory but withheld any material help. This led the French to say “the British will fight the Nazis to the last drop of French blood.” I hesitate to encourage the women to resist to the last drop of their blood, but I am dismayed by a number of stylish, well coiffed, décolleté and manicured “feminists” in America, including Iranian expatriates, who urge the courageous women of Iran to continue their bloody struggle against the regime in Iran without naming the real enemy….Sharia. It is like telling them to die in vain. Read more ... Source: FSM
The Bulgarian government has approved a draft bill banning the Muslim head-dress for women and other religious symbols in schools. "We express our disagreement and bitterness with this decision," Hussein Hafazov of the Chief Mufti office told the Reuters news agency. "It completely damages the rights as well as the responsibilities of Muslim women." The bill calls for banning the hijab and other religious symbols in schools. It still needs to be approved by parliament. Bulgaria is the latest European country to ban the Muslim headscarf. France banned the Muslim veil in public places in 2004, with several European countries following suit. The Chief Mufti warned that the bill would increase community tensions in the Balkan country. Read more ...Source: Balkan Insight
 Drivers license photos of Hindia Ali and Suban Khalif,
from a WCCO-TV broadcastBy Drew Zahn Muslims in Minnesota are speaking out over a bill introduced in the state's House of Representatives that would require all drivers licenses to include an identifying photo that shows the full head and face without any form of headwear. Suban Khalif and Hindia Ali told WCCO-TV in Minneapolis that their Muslim faith demands they wear a traditional head scarf nearly 24 hours a day, and that to remove it for an identifying photo would trample their religious rights. "Daily, I cover my hair," Khalif told the television station. "And I don't think I need to show my hair on a driver's license. It just doesn't make sense to me at all." Ali added, "My facial expressions, my face, my nose, my eyes should be clearly enough for any person to tell us apart." Aman Obsiye of the United Somali Movement told WCCO, "There's no logic behind the bill, so we want to know really what is the motivation behind the bill." Read more ...Source: WND
 THE RIGHT TO WEAR -- Muslim women with headscarves
protest Dec. 23 2008 in Copenhagen against headscarf
bans in France and Germany. Many Danish workplaces will
not hire woman with headscarves. Many Muslims in some
European countries are in favor of implementing Sharia law.By Olivier Guitta Pakistan recently gave in to the pressure of Islamist militants. Indeed to buy off peace, Pakistani authorities allowed the imposition of Sharia (Islamic law) in the Swat valley. How long the cease-fire will last is anyone's guess. But in any case, Pakistan has allowed a precedent that could extend to other provinces; in fact the Swat valley is only about 100 miles away from Islamabad, the capital. But Sharia is not just making inroads in Pakistan but actually creeping in the West and in particular in Europe. One area particularly touched by this phenomenon is the judicial system in Europe. Two recent cases in Italy and France are particularly troublesome. First, in Italy, three members of a Brescia-based Maghrebi family (father, mother and eldest son) were accused of beating up and sequestering their daughter/sister Fatima because she wanted to live a "Western" life. Read more ...Source: Middle East Times
The Douglasville Police Department said Monday its officers will undergo "sensitivity and cultural diversity training" after a Muslim woman who refused to remove her head scarf at a courthouse was jailed. Lisa Valentine has been shaken "to her core" by her arrest last week, her lawyer says. "We never want this to happen again. It's not our intent to embarrass anybody," Police Chief Joe Whisenant said at a news conference. The judge who had the woman jailed briefly for contempt of court will also take part in the training, Whisenant said. The incident took place December 16 when Lisa Valentine, who also goes by her Muslim name, Miedah, accompanied her nephew to a hearing at Douglasville's municipal courthouse. The scarf, called a hijab, covered her hair but not her face. It is part of her religious belief that her hair should be covered in public, as a form of modesty. Read more ...Source: CNNH/T: Dhimmi WatchLisa Valentine
CAIR
Latest recipients of the Distinguished Islamofascist Award
 ORANGE, Calif. - A Southern California county will allow jailed Muslim women to wear headscarves after settling a lawsuit with a woman who claims that deputies violated her religious freedom by making her remove her hijab. The settlement agreement signed by the county last week and released Monday specifies that Muslim women must be provided a private area to remove their headscarves after arrest and must be provided with county-issued headscarves to cover themselves when they are in the presence of men. The county, which did not admit wrongdoing, will also pay $45,000 in damages. Plaintiff Jameelah Medina will get $10,000 after subtracting attorney fees, said Hector Villagra, director of the Orange County office of the American Civil Liberties Union. A spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Department did not immediately return a call Monday from The Associated Press. Medina, 30, was arrested in December 2005 in Pomona for having an invalid train pass. She spent 12 hours in jail but was never prosecuted. Read more ...Source: AP
The Turkish parliament early Thursday adopted a constitutional amendment allowing women to wear Islamic headscarves in universities, a move that is strongly opposed by secularists and still has to be ratified. Assembly deputy speaker Nevzat Pakdil announced that two votes by secret ballot easily achieved the two-thirds majority necessary to modify the constitution. The ban on headscarves in universities has been implemented in varying degrees over the years, forcing many women to abandon their education and others to hide their headscarves under wigs to attend classes. Read more ...Source: AFP
KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti Islamist MP presented a request yesterday to question the Gulf state's only woman minister, a liberal who has been under hardline fire for refusing to wear a head scarf. Nouriya Al Subeeh had stirred the anger of Islamist MPs when she took the oath in parliament in April without wearing a head cover in line with strict Muslim laws. Since then she has been under scrutiny by Islamist MPs and could be dismissed if the grilling leads to a parliamentary no-confidence motion against her. Read more ...Source: Gulf Daily NewsH/T: Dhimmi Watch
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