*** Is it not ironic that to counter those men who force their women to wear the veil - those men are now encouraged to force Muslim women to take it off. Progress! MS ***
FROM: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/100719/world/ml_syria_islamic_veils
DAMASCUS, Syria - Syria has banned the face-covering Islamic veil from the country's universities.
The Education Ministry's ban on the niqab comes as similar moves in Europe spark cries of discrimination against Muslims.
An official at the ministry says the ban affects public and private universities and aims to protect Syria's secular identity. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Sunday's ban does not affect the headscarf, which many Syrian women wear.
The niqab is not widespread in Syria, although it has become more common recently. It's growing popularity has not gone unnoticed in a country governed by a secular, authoritarian regime.
Last month, hundreds of primary school teachers who wear the niqab were moved to administrative jobs, local media reported.
Showing posts with label burka ban. Show all posts
Showing posts with label burka ban. Show all posts
Monday, July 19, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
HIJABS, BEARDS AND BIOMETRICS
*** The issue of identity and security is a much more legitimate one in the ME and Asia but not (yet) in Canada. A compromise is necessary. MS ***
FROM: http://www.alittihad.ae/details.php?id=24842&y=2010
Algeria is witnessing a heated debate over new requirements imposed by the Algerian interior ministry to issue new biometric passports and national identity cards. The new administrative procedures require that the photo ID should have a clear face photo. Under the requirement men have to shorten beards and the woman have to keep the
hijab behind the ears. The ministry said this system is important for international security, combating fraud and countering terrorism.
FROM: http://www.alittihad.ae/details.php?id=24842&y=2010
Algeria is witnessing a heated debate over new requirements imposed by the Algerian interior ministry to issue new biometric passports and national identity cards. The new administrative procedures require that the photo ID should have a clear face photo. Under the requirement men have to shorten beards and the woman have to keep the
hijab behind the ears. The ministry said this system is important for international security, combating fraud and countering terrorism.
Monday, June 7, 2010
THE NIQAB IN COURT
*** Ignorant interpretations of Shariah are obsolete - welcome to the Sharia of the West where the rights of all - including a brave Muslim woman sexually assaulted by a relative - can wear her veil AND get her justice. This proves - again - that Canada is one of the most fair and just countries in the world - so terrorists need not make the argument it is anti-Islamic and deserving of destruction. They will protect the rights of your mother, sister, daughter - even you. THAT is Islamic. THAT is justice. MS ***
FROM: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/crime/article/819811--battle-over-the-niqab-heads-to-court
She remains very much a mystery, a woman known as N.S., whose niqab shrouds everything but her eyes.
And as she heads to court Tuesday in a battle to wear the veil while testifying, she is being compared to heroines of civil rights struggles.
“Henrietta Muir Edwards just wanted to sit in the (Canadian) Senate. Rosa Parks just wanted to sit at the front” of the bus, David Butt, a lawyer representing N.S., says in a written argument filed with the Ontario Court of Appeal.
“N.S. just wants to sit in the witness box wearing her niqab.”
The case, which will be heard by a three-judge panel over two days, pits religious freedom against the right to a fair trial under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It is also the first time in Canada that the courts have been asked to rule on whether the religious head covering can be worn by a witness at a trial.
A recent Angus Reid poll found a majority of Canadians support a proposed Quebec law that would refuse government services to women wearing a niqab or burqa.
Lawyers for two men charged with sexually assaulting N.S. when she was a child say the ability to confront one’s accuser and assess that person’s demeanour during cross-examination is a crucial component of their right to defend themselves.
But a prominent women’s organization says forcing N.S., who is Muslim, to remove her head covering is a form of “undressing” at the request of the accused and amounts to a symbolic “re-enactment” of the crime.
“At a personal level for niqab-wearing women, such an order may very well be experienced as public stripping and nakedness,” argue Susan Chapman and Joanna Birenbaum, lawyers for the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund, one of several intervenors in the case.
While screens have been used in Canadian courtrooms to shield witnesses, particularly child witnesses testifying in sensitive circumstances, they are designed to block the witness’ view of the accused — not vice-versa.
Butt and another group intervening in the case argue that how a person looks when answering questions isn’t useful in determining whether they are telling the truth, so nothing would be lost if N.S.’s face couldn’t be seen.
“Poker is an interesting game precisely because demeanour can be so misleading,” Butt says.
Courts regularly accept testimony from witnesses whose demeanour can only be partially observed, said Bradley Berg and Rahat Godil, lawyers representing the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
“The right to make full answer and defence is not infringed when a witness is blind, or when a witness’ mouth occasionally twists into a grimace due to a congenital defect,” they say in their material.
But in an affidavit, Jack Pinkofsky, a lawyer for one of the two men charged with assaulting N.S., explained how being able to observe the reactions of a witness could have a bearing on an accused person’s defence.
“I might conclude, easily, that the witness is prevaricating, the witness is not being forthright and I may want to explore that area further.”
One possible outcome, should N.S. be forced to remove her niqab, is that she might decide not to testify, Berg and Godil have told the court.
If that happens, everyone is a loser, they contend.
The consequences include “the potential loss of valuable testimony, compromising society’s interest in truth through the trial process . . . and marginalizing religious minorities and infringing their right to access the justice system.”
FROM: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/crime/article/819811--battle-over-the-niqab-heads-to-court
She remains very much a mystery, a woman known as N.S., whose niqab shrouds everything but her eyes.
And as she heads to court Tuesday in a battle to wear the veil while testifying, she is being compared to heroines of civil rights struggles.
“Henrietta Muir Edwards just wanted to sit in the (Canadian) Senate. Rosa Parks just wanted to sit at the front” of the bus, David Butt, a lawyer representing N.S., says in a written argument filed with the Ontario Court of Appeal.
“N.S. just wants to sit in the witness box wearing her niqab.”
The case, which will be heard by a three-judge panel over two days, pits religious freedom against the right to a fair trial under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It is also the first time in Canada that the courts have been asked to rule on whether the religious head covering can be worn by a witness at a trial.
A recent Angus Reid poll found a majority of Canadians support a proposed Quebec law that would refuse government services to women wearing a niqab or burqa.
Lawyers for two men charged with sexually assaulting N.S. when she was a child say the ability to confront one’s accuser and assess that person’s demeanour during cross-examination is a crucial component of their right to defend themselves.
But a prominent women’s organization says forcing N.S., who is Muslim, to remove her head covering is a form of “undressing” at the request of the accused and amounts to a symbolic “re-enactment” of the crime.
“At a personal level for niqab-wearing women, such an order may very well be experienced as public stripping and nakedness,” argue Susan Chapman and Joanna Birenbaum, lawyers for the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund, one of several intervenors in the case.
While screens have been used in Canadian courtrooms to shield witnesses, particularly child witnesses testifying in sensitive circumstances, they are designed to block the witness’ view of the accused — not vice-versa.
Butt and another group intervening in the case argue that how a person looks when answering questions isn’t useful in determining whether they are telling the truth, so nothing would be lost if N.S.’s face couldn’t be seen.
“Poker is an interesting game precisely because demeanour can be so misleading,” Butt says.
Courts regularly accept testimony from witnesses whose demeanour can only be partially observed, said Bradley Berg and Rahat Godil, lawyers representing the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
“The right to make full answer and defence is not infringed when a witness is blind, or when a witness’ mouth occasionally twists into a grimace due to a congenital defect,” they say in their material.
But in an affidavit, Jack Pinkofsky, a lawyer for one of the two men charged with assaulting N.S., explained how being able to observe the reactions of a witness could have a bearing on an accused person’s defence.
“I might conclude, easily, that the witness is prevaricating, the witness is not being forthright and I may want to explore that area further.”
One possible outcome, should N.S. be forced to remove her niqab, is that she might decide not to testify, Berg and Godil have told the court.
If that happens, everyone is a loser, they contend.
The consequences include “the potential loss of valuable testimony, compromising society’s interest in truth through the trial process . . . and marginalizing religious minorities and infringing their right to access the justice system.”
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
FRANCE BANS VEIL
*** Plays right into the hands of extremists: those veiled women (the one's I assume we're trying to 'rescue' from Islamism) will not even be allowed to leave their home to buy milk. But it keeps them out of sight and out of mind, I guess. :o
Secondly, it is a major shortcoming to draw in some dislike of a particular Islamic outlook if our aim is to delegitimize the wearing of the Muslim veil. To say "walking coffin" and the like is almost comical. It is better to assert that: it is well within the right of the legitimate, lawful authority of any land, to demand to have a persons face visible for identification.
I protest the hostility in the debate and mostly, the attacks on Islam. I wonder how many people have actually spoken to a veiled woman, to find out what SHE feels. Heck, you can do your own security screening:
Smile. :) and ask: Sister, how are you today?
Proceed to check for an accent
Does she look me in the eye?
Is she scared of me or is she glad to have a chat?
Did she just ask to see my badge?!
Does the guy standing with her (if so) seem relaxed or about to call the cops?
You get the idea but talking to a veiled woman to find out HER opinion - is that even legal these days?
:)
MS ***
FROM: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/100511/world/eu_france_muslim_veils
French lawmakers unanimously passed a resolution on Tuesday asserting that face-covering Muslim veils are contrary to the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity on which France is founded.
The non-binding resolution, passed 434 to 0, lays the groundwork for a planned law forbidding face-covering veils in public, including in the streets.
One lawmaker compared women who fully cover themselves to "phantoms" and "walking coffins."
The bill calling for a global ban on such garments goes before parliament in July. A draft text is to be reviewed by the Cabinet on May 19. A similar veil ban is in the works in neighbouring Belgium.
Tuesday's resolution, sponsored by President Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative party, had been widely expected to win approval in the National Assembly with rival Socialists backing it despite concerns about the wording of an eventual law. Lawmakers in the 577-seat house who opposed the resolution abstained.
"The freedom of women is what brings us here ... Have we the choice (to say no) when the symptoms of the regression of women are in the streets?" asked Nicole Ameline, a lawmaker from Sarkozy's UMP party and former minister for women's rights.
Sharp criticism has accompanied France's nearly year-long debate on banning burqa-style veils, with those opposed saying, among other things, that the entire process has stigmatized the nation's estimated 5 million Muslims — the largest Muslim population in western Europe. They also claim it is a political ploy because only an estimated 1,900 women wear veils that hide the face.
Justice Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, who is writing the draft law, said it is the veil that "stigmatizes Islam" and "harms the liberty of women on whom it is imposed."
Andre Gerin, a Communist deputy who headed an information panel on the issue, said veils transform women into "phantoms," ''walking coffins" and represent the "barbarism" of Muslim extremists.
A law banning the veils "will be a law of liberation," he said.
France banned Muslim headscarves and other "ostentatious" religious symbols in classrooms in 2004 after a bitter debate.
The road from a resolution to a bill then a law fully banning face-covering veils is likely to be rocky, too. Sarkozy's government has been warned by the Council of State, the nation's highest administrative body, that such legislation may not pass constitutional muster, in France or in European forums.
Earlier Tuesday, a Council of Europe commission opposed a blanket ban on face coverings such as the burqa and niqab, the cloth that exposes only the eyes.
A statement by the Strasbourg-based commission said such a ban would rob women of their freedom of expression and could violate their religious freedoms.
The panel also urged Switzerland to end its ban on the construction of Islam minarets as soon as possible. The Council of Europe, a 47-nation human rights institution, is to discuss the burqa issue next month. Its rulings are binding on all Council of Europe member states.
Secondly, it is a major shortcoming to draw in some dislike of a particular Islamic outlook if our aim is to delegitimize the wearing of the Muslim veil. To say "walking coffin" and the like is almost comical. It is better to assert that: it is well within the right of the legitimate, lawful authority of any land, to demand to have a persons face visible for identification.
I protest the hostility in the debate and mostly, the attacks on Islam. I wonder how many people have actually spoken to a veiled woman, to find out what SHE feels. Heck, you can do your own security screening:
Smile. :) and ask: Sister, how are you today?
Proceed to check for an accent
Does she look me in the eye?
Is she scared of me or is she glad to have a chat?
Did she just ask to see my badge?!
Does the guy standing with her (if so) seem relaxed or about to call the cops?
You get the idea but talking to a veiled woman to find out HER opinion - is that even legal these days?
:)
MS ***
FROM: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/100511/world/eu_france_muslim_veils
French lawmakers unanimously passed a resolution on Tuesday asserting that face-covering Muslim veils are contrary to the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity on which France is founded.
The non-binding resolution, passed 434 to 0, lays the groundwork for a planned law forbidding face-covering veils in public, including in the streets.
One lawmaker compared women who fully cover themselves to "phantoms" and "walking coffins."
The bill calling for a global ban on such garments goes before parliament in July. A draft text is to be reviewed by the Cabinet on May 19. A similar veil ban is in the works in neighbouring Belgium.
Tuesday's resolution, sponsored by President Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative party, had been widely expected to win approval in the National Assembly with rival Socialists backing it despite concerns about the wording of an eventual law. Lawmakers in the 577-seat house who opposed the resolution abstained.
"The freedom of women is what brings us here ... Have we the choice (to say no) when the symptoms of the regression of women are in the streets?" asked Nicole Ameline, a lawmaker from Sarkozy's UMP party and former minister for women's rights.
Sharp criticism has accompanied France's nearly year-long debate on banning burqa-style veils, with those opposed saying, among other things, that the entire process has stigmatized the nation's estimated 5 million Muslims — the largest Muslim population in western Europe. They also claim it is a political ploy because only an estimated 1,900 women wear veils that hide the face.
Justice Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, who is writing the draft law, said it is the veil that "stigmatizes Islam" and "harms the liberty of women on whom it is imposed."
Andre Gerin, a Communist deputy who headed an information panel on the issue, said veils transform women into "phantoms," ''walking coffins" and represent the "barbarism" of Muslim extremists.
A law banning the veils "will be a law of liberation," he said.
France banned Muslim headscarves and other "ostentatious" religious symbols in classrooms in 2004 after a bitter debate.
The road from a resolution to a bill then a law fully banning face-covering veils is likely to be rocky, too. Sarkozy's government has been warned by the Council of State, the nation's highest administrative body, that such legislation may not pass constitutional muster, in France or in European forums.
Earlier Tuesday, a Council of Europe commission opposed a blanket ban on face coverings such as the burqa and niqab, the cloth that exposes only the eyes.
A statement by the Strasbourg-based commission said such a ban would rob women of their freedom of expression and could violate their religious freedoms.
The panel also urged Switzerland to end its ban on the construction of Islam minarets as soon as possible. The Council of Europe, a 47-nation human rights institution, is to discuss the burqa issue next month. Its rulings are binding on all Council of Europe member states.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
BAN THE BURQA ? !
*** See, no country believes in freedoms without limits. It is indeed, the right of a country to do as it sees fit. I would add that for the French to put so much into this minor issue - considering the issues they have with Muslim citizens - is a waste of time. Focus on jobs - the veils will come off when a paycheque is at stake. ;) MS ***
FROM: http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/holy-post/archive/2010/01/26/lawmakers-in-france-propose-burka-ban.aspx
PARIS -- A French parliament report called Tuesday for a ban on the full Islamic veil, saying Muslim women who wear the burka were posing an “unacceptable” challenge to French values.
After six months of hearings, a panel of 32 lawmakers recommended a ban on the face-covering veil in all schools, hospitals, public transport and government offices, the broadest move yet to restrict Muslim dress in France.
“The wearing of the full veil is a challenge to our republic. This is unacceptable,” the report said. “We must condemn this excess.”
The commission however stopped short of proposing broad legislation to outlaw the burka in the streets, in shopping centres and other public venues after raising doubts about the constitutionality of such a move.
“The wearing of the full veil is the tip of the iceberg,” said communist lawmaker Andre Gerin, the chair of the commission, who presented the report to the parliament speaker.
“There are scandalous practices hidden behind this veil,” said Mr. Gerin who vowed to fight the “gurus” he said were seeking to export a radical brand of fundamentalism and sectarianism to France.
Tensions flared at the last minute when a group of right-wing lawmakers pushed unsuccessfully for a tougher measure to ban the burka in all public venues.
In the end, the commission called on parliament to adopt a resolution stating that the all-encompassing veil was “contrary to the values of the republic” and proclaiming that “all of France is saying ‘no’ to the full veil”.
The National Assembly resolution would pave the way to legislation making it illegal for anyone to appear with their face covered at state-run institutions and in public transport, for reasons of security.
Women who turn up at any government building wearing the full veil would be denied services such as a work visa, residency papers or French citizenship, the report said.
The opposition Socialists refused to endorse the final report, to protest the government’s launching of a debate on national identity, which has exposed French fears about Islam.
Critics of the “burka debate” have warned that it risks stigmatizing France’s six million Muslims and describe the wearing of the garment as a marginal phenomenon affecting few women.
But President Nicolas Sarkozy sought Tuesday to reassure France’s estimated six million Muslims, saying in a speech at a cemetery for French Muslim soldiers that freedom to practise religion was enshrined in the constitution.
“Our country, which has known not only wars of religion but also fratricidal battles due to state anti-clericalism, cannot let French Muslim citizens be stigmatized,” he said at Notre Dame de Lorette cemetery in northern France.
An imam in Drancy, a northeastern suburb of Paris, who recently backed a ban on the full veil, calling it a “prison for women”, complained to police on Tuesday after around 80 people burst into his mosque and threatened him late on Monday.
The intruders seized the microphone in front of 200 worshippers and called the imam, Hassen Chalgoumi, an “infidel” before threatening to “liquidate” him, a councillor from the Conference of Imams, which Mr. Chalgoumi leads, told AFP.
Mr. Chalgoumi said he would not be intimdated by the threats, saying the intruders wanted “extremism and hatred” towards Christian and Jewish communities.
Despite a large Muslim presence, the sight of fully-veiled women is not common in France. Only 1,900 women wear the burka, according to the interior ministry.
Half of them live in the Paris region and 90% are under 40.
Home to Europe’s biggest Muslim minority, France is being closely watched at a time of particular unease over Islam, three months after Swiss voters approved a ban on minarets.
Mr. Sarkozy set the tone for the debate in June when he declared the burka “not welcome” in France and described it as a symbol of women’s “subservience” that cannot be tolerated in a country that considers itself a human rights leader.
French support for a law banning the full veil is strong: a poll last week showed 57% are in favour.
The leader of Sarkozy’s right-wing party in parliament, Jean-Francois Cope, has already presented draft legislation that would make it illegal for anyone to cover their faces in public.
The bill is not expected to come up for debate before regional elections in March.
In 2004, France passed a law banning headscarves and any other “conspicuous” religious symbols in state schools after a long-running debate on how far it was willing to go to accommodate Islam in its strictly secular society.
Denmark, the Netherlands and Austria are also studying measures to ban the full veil.
Read more: http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/holy-post/archive/2010/01/26/lawmakers-in-france-propose-burka-ban.aspx#ixzz0dkqGj9jj
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FROM: http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/holy-post/archive/2010/01/26/lawmakers-in-france-propose-burka-ban.aspx
PARIS -- A French parliament report called Tuesday for a ban on the full Islamic veil, saying Muslim women who wear the burka were posing an “unacceptable” challenge to French values.
After six months of hearings, a panel of 32 lawmakers recommended a ban on the face-covering veil in all schools, hospitals, public transport and government offices, the broadest move yet to restrict Muslim dress in France.
“The wearing of the full veil is a challenge to our republic. This is unacceptable,” the report said. “We must condemn this excess.”
The commission however stopped short of proposing broad legislation to outlaw the burka in the streets, in shopping centres and other public venues after raising doubts about the constitutionality of such a move.
“The wearing of the full veil is the tip of the iceberg,” said communist lawmaker Andre Gerin, the chair of the commission, who presented the report to the parliament speaker.
“There are scandalous practices hidden behind this veil,” said Mr. Gerin who vowed to fight the “gurus” he said were seeking to export a radical brand of fundamentalism and sectarianism to France.
Tensions flared at the last minute when a group of right-wing lawmakers pushed unsuccessfully for a tougher measure to ban the burka in all public venues.
In the end, the commission called on parliament to adopt a resolution stating that the all-encompassing veil was “contrary to the values of the republic” and proclaiming that “all of France is saying ‘no’ to the full veil”.
The National Assembly resolution would pave the way to legislation making it illegal for anyone to appear with their face covered at state-run institutions and in public transport, for reasons of security.
Women who turn up at any government building wearing the full veil would be denied services such as a work visa, residency papers or French citizenship, the report said.
The opposition Socialists refused to endorse the final report, to protest the government’s launching of a debate on national identity, which has exposed French fears about Islam.
Critics of the “burka debate” have warned that it risks stigmatizing France’s six million Muslims and describe the wearing of the garment as a marginal phenomenon affecting few women.
But President Nicolas Sarkozy sought Tuesday to reassure France’s estimated six million Muslims, saying in a speech at a cemetery for French Muslim soldiers that freedom to practise religion was enshrined in the constitution.
“Our country, which has known not only wars of religion but also fratricidal battles due to state anti-clericalism, cannot let French Muslim citizens be stigmatized,” he said at Notre Dame de Lorette cemetery in northern France.
An imam in Drancy, a northeastern suburb of Paris, who recently backed a ban on the full veil, calling it a “prison for women”, complained to police on Tuesday after around 80 people burst into his mosque and threatened him late on Monday.
The intruders seized the microphone in front of 200 worshippers and called the imam, Hassen Chalgoumi, an “infidel” before threatening to “liquidate” him, a councillor from the Conference of Imams, which Mr. Chalgoumi leads, told AFP.
Mr. Chalgoumi said he would not be intimdated by the threats, saying the intruders wanted “extremism and hatred” towards Christian and Jewish communities.
Despite a large Muslim presence, the sight of fully-veiled women is not common in France. Only 1,900 women wear the burka, according to the interior ministry.
Half of them live in the Paris region and 90% are under 40.
Home to Europe’s biggest Muslim minority, France is being closely watched at a time of particular unease over Islam, three months after Swiss voters approved a ban on minarets.
Mr. Sarkozy set the tone for the debate in June when he declared the burka “not welcome” in France and described it as a symbol of women’s “subservience” that cannot be tolerated in a country that considers itself a human rights leader.
French support for a law banning the full veil is strong: a poll last week showed 57% are in favour.
The leader of Sarkozy’s right-wing party in parliament, Jean-Francois Cope, has already presented draft legislation that would make it illegal for anyone to cover their faces in public.
The bill is not expected to come up for debate before regional elections in March.
In 2004, France passed a law banning headscarves and any other “conspicuous” religious symbols in state schools after a long-running debate on how far it was willing to go to accommodate Islam in its strictly secular society.
Denmark, the Netherlands and Austria are also studying measures to ban the full veil.
Read more: http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/holy-post/archive/2010/01/26/lawmakers-in-france-propose-burka-ban.aspx#ixzz0dkqGj9jj
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