Niqab Ban in France: An Identity Crisis?

A parliamentary commission in France is proposing the ban of the face-veil of Muslim women (Niqab or Burqa) in all public services facilities including transportation. Face-veiled women – under this ban – are supposed to be denied access to hospitals, buses, welfare offices and all other public facilities, according to the Financial Times 1.

Face-Veil Fears

Not only among politicians, but also the face-veil ban is being encouraged by about 57% of the French population for several reasons according to a poll for Le Point magazine published last week 2. One of these reasons is a feeling that the face-veil does not belong to the French culture that supports gender equality and secularism. Another reasons is believed to be for security purposes that aim at identifying individuals in public places thus avoiding terrorist attempts. These reasons are not exclusive to the French context only. Several European governments might consider the ban for these same reasons.

Ban u-Turn to Avoid Retaliation

But the French proposal has divided the ruling center-right party because of the difficulty of such a legislation that will affect personal choices and believes and thus could be challenged from the European Commission for Human Rights. The head of the parliamentary panel, MP Andre Gerin, who has spent the last six months studying the issue has declared that a full ban on the face-veil might lead to extremist tendencies from the Muslim population in France, according to the Daily Mail 3. That is why the proposal is now being modified to a partial ban that might include schools, hospitals and public services offices only. There are five million Muslims live in France representing the largest Islamic community in Western Europe. But in spite of this large Muslim presence, there are only 1,900 fully-veiled women in France, according to the French interior ministry 4.

Face-Veil is Not Welcome in France

In a speech at the Palace of Versailles last June, Nicolas Sarkozy, the president, said the burqa was "a sign of subservience" and that "it's not welcome" in France 5. The veil is banned by French law since 2004 from primary and secondary school classrooms but still permitted in public spaces such as universities and hospitals. The reason of the ban was to control religious symbols in schools. The ban has created storms of protest all over the world among Muslim communities as the ones expected the ban of the face-veil to produce, though with possibly less fervor.

Niqab Ban in Whole Europe?

In several other European countries there are similar debates regarding the veil and the face-veil. In the Netherlands several draft laws concerning the wearing of the veil are in the making, including a measure which would ban the garment for teachers and another for civil servants.

In Denmark the government is currently discussing the possibility of limiting wearing of the veil in public places, including school and courts. It is awaiting the opinion of a government commission before deciding.

In Italy a 1975 law, aimed at protecting public order, makes it illegal to cover one's face in public places. The provision applies equally to the veil and motorcycle helmets. Some mayors from the anti-immigrant Northern League have banned the wearing of the full veil, and the Muslim swimsuit, locally.

In Britain the education ministry in March 2007 published directives allowing directors of public establishments and denominational schools to ban the Niqab, after several high-profile court cases.

In Austria Social Democratic Women's Minister Gabriele Heinisch-Hosek launched the debate recently and is mulling a ban on the full veil in public spaces if the number of women veiled from head to toe increases dramatically.

In Belgium numerous districts ban the full veil in public places under local laws and police ban the wearing of masks in the street except during the period of carnival 6.

Euro-Muslims Editorial Desk

1. Jennifer Thomson. "Burqa plan divides UMP." Financial Times. 12 Jan. 2010. Accessed on: 26 January 2010.
2. Le Point
3. Peter Allen. "French U-turn ob Burka Ban over fears of 'terrorist reprisals'." Daily Mail. 26 Jan. 2010. Accessed on 26 Jan. 2010.
4. "France set to move towards burqa ban." AFP. 26 Jan. 2010. Accessed on 26 Jan. 2010.
5. Elaine Ganley. "Lawmaker's report wants limits on Muslim face veil." The Washington Post. 26 Jan 2010. Accessed on: 26 Jan 2010.
6. "Will the Niqab be Banned in Europe?" Siasat. 24 Jan. 2010. Accessed on: 26 Jan. 2010.

Prostrate Team’ Wins Africa Football Cup

CAIRO – Scotland has awarded Islamic Relief manager for his efforts to relieve thousands of people in ordeal worldwide, reported The Times on Saturday, January 23. “I congratulate Habib (Malik) on winning this award and for his commitment to international relief work over many years,” Culture Minister Fiona Hyslop said.

“It is particularly poignant to present this award at a time when its recipient is heavily involved in the international effort to assist those experiencing intolerable suffering and human tragedy in Haiti.”

Habib, 43, was awarded Friday the Burns Humanitarian Award for his efforts to relieve disaster-ravaged people around the world.

“My work with Islamic Relief has never been for my sake, but for the sake of those voiceless millions around the world who scream but are not heard,” Habib said.

“Robert Burns himself was born into poverty and has been described as a poet of the poor, and an advocate for social change,” he said, referring to the prize founder.

Launched in 2002, the Burns Humanitarian Award aims to recognize groups and individuals who help, aid and enrich the lives of others through sacrificing themselves, money and efforts.

The prize winner receives 1759 guineas, a sum which signifies the year of Burns’s birth and the coinage then in circulation, as well as a specially commissioned hand-made award.

Previous recipients include Guantanamo Bay human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith, Sir John Sulston, the eminent biologist who helped to decode the human genome and Adi Roche, the peace campaigner and Chernobyl activist.

Orphans Ambassador

Habib, of Lebanese origin, dedicates his time to give a helping hand to thousands of people harmed by disasters worldwide.

“I once walked with a woman for three hours to go and get one bucket of water, and then walked three hours back,” he recalled.

“The bucket was so heavy I could not carry it, but she did that every day.”

Habib was named the Scotland area manager for Islamic Relief and a member of the Disasters Emergency Committee, the umbrella organization that co-ordinates the British charity response to crises overseas, in October 2003.

He joined relief efforts in different parts of the world, including Indonesia following the 2004 tsunami disaster, Pakistan after a deadly earthquake in 2005, Sudan, Niger, Somalia and Haiti.

The Islamic Relief Scotland area manager is now busy raising funds for quake-hit Haitians, collecting more than £30 million in five days.

“It is hard for us, in our comfort zone in Britain; we cannot truly imagine what it is like,” he said.

“During the bad snow people were moaning about not having enough salt; they seemed to think that because their cars were slipping on the road they had real problems.”

Viewing himself as an employee for people in ordeal, Habib recalls hundreds of times he broke down because of the scenes of suffering people.

“When you appeal it has to come from the heart,” he said.

Established in Birmingham in 1948, Islamic Relief is an international Non-Government Organization seeking to promote sustainable economic and social development by working with local communities through relief and development programs.

“The orphans and widows I meet abroad can’t come here, so I have to absorb their pain then be an ambassador for them,” said Habib.

“When I stand on the stage, I am one of them.”

Source: IslamOnline

Zambia Taps into Islamic Finance

WASHINGTON – Americans still largely have a negative perception of Muslims and Islam despite growth in positive Muslim-American political and social activism and interfaith organizations in the past decade, according to a new report from the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies. "More than 50 percent of Americans said they had unfavorable opinions of Islam, while 29 percent of those reported a strong degree of prejudice towards Muslims," concluded the report, "Religious Perceptions in America: With an In-Depth Analysis of US Attitudes Toward Muslims and Islam.

It questioned 1002 interview subjects about different aspects of Islam and Muslims over a month-long period last year and married the results with those found in the Gallup World Religion survey, which surveyed Americans’ opinions on Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism and Islam and their followers.

Of the faiths, Islam and Muslims elicited the most negative perceptions.

"Religious Perceptions in America: With an In-Depth Analysis of U.S. Attitudes Toward Muslims and Islam." (Document) Other findings from the survey reveal that there is a great public prejudice towards Islam as a faith than Muslims as adherents of that faith.

Senior analyst Dalia Mogahed, who is the Executive Director for the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, noted that though more than half of respondents said they knew someone who was Muslim, that didn’t deter from having negative attitudes towards Islam.

"While not knowing a Muslim is significant into falling in that extremely prejudice group," she said, "knowing a Muslims is not enough to keep someone from not being prejudice."

Mogahed said that correlation is indicative of how Americans tend to separate an individual from a group.

"We found that it’s possible to know someone in a group and make them the exception, to say, ‘Sure, so-and-so is a good Muslim. But most Muslims are not like him.’"

Though 70 percent of surveyed Americans said they believe Muslims worldwide want peace, 66 percent said Muslims are not accepting of other religions.

Some 68 percent said there is little in common between Christianity and Islam.

Despite numerous efforts by Muslim American organizations and individuals to inform the public about Islam, a whopping 63 percent said they have either no knowledge (23 percent) or very little knowledge (40 percent) of Islam.

The report is co-produced by the Muslim West Facts Project (part of Gallup) and the Coexist Foundation.

Media Factor

The findings did not surprise Mogahed.

"Though Muslim-Americans are positively involved in the fabric of American life, it’s difficult to see that in light of the media coverage of things like Fort Hood, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the troubles in Pakistan."

But she asserted that all the negativity revealed by the survey was disheartening to see because there has been so much hard work done by Muslim-Americans and Muslims worldwide to inform the non-Muslim public about the beauty of Islam.

"When the public tide can be turned towards having a positive view of Islam, then that will help negate all the prejudices."

The problem stems from media coverage of Islam, according to Media Tenor, a research firm that monitors and analyzes media coverage.

The report stated that not only is Islam the most frequently mentioned religion on the newsworks in the US, but "a significant share of this coverage is negative."

An analysis of all statements made by television news between January and August of 2009 revealed that 36 percent of statements on religion is about Islam, and the tone of those statements is twice as likely (40 percent) to be negative than that about Christianity (20 percent).

Gallup’s survey surmised that the media coverage of the "fringe elements" of Islam "may shape Americans’ unfavorable attitudes towards Muslims."

"Muslims are different from one to the next. We live our lives differently, our world experiences are different and that shapes us," Mogahed said.

"But the one and only uniting factor of the group is Islam. And while acts of violence must be covered, perhaps what would help is for the media to pay attention to how it frames those stories."

Source: IslamOnline

US Baptists Arrested For Haiti Child Trafficking

WASHINGTON — A recommendation by a US government agency for an indefinite detention of dozens Guantanamo detainees is drawing rebukes from civil liberty groups for turning pledges to close the detention camp into empty words. "Just as important as closing the prison quickly is closing it right,” Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said in a statement cited by the BBC News Online on Saturday, January 23.

“And that means putting an end to the illegal policy of indefinite detention without charge or trial."

A Justice Department-led task force recommended Friday to release 110 Guantanamo detainees and prosecuting 35 others in federal and military courts.

The panel, formed to study how to deal with the detainees before the camp closure, also suggested holding the remaining 50 detainees indefinitely.

"This practice was wrong in Cuba and would remain so here, reducing the closure of Guantanamo to a symbolic gesture," Romero said.

The recommendation came as the Obama administration on Friday missed a one-year deadline to close the notorious detention camp.

Opened in 2002 by the Bush administration, the US has been holding terror suspects in the camp, branding them unlawful enemy combatants to deny them legal rights.

There have been reports of degrading and sadistic treatment of detainees at the infamous detention centre, which has been globally condemned as a stain on America's human rights record.

Unreliable

The rights group challenged the government claim that some of the detainees pose grave threats to the US security if released.

"If there is credible evidence that these prisoners are dangerous, there is no reason why that evidence could not be introduced against them in criminal trials," said Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU National Security Project.

Jaffer urged the Obama administration to either release the detainees or put them on trial before civilian courts.

"The criminal laws, and the material support laws in particular, are broad enough to reach anyone who presents a serious threat,” he said.

“The federal courts are fully capable of affording defendants fair trials while protecting the government's legitimate interest in protecting information that is properly classified."

The Obama administration on Friday withdrew charges against five detainees accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks, paving the way for their trial before a civilian court in New York.

The move came one day after Washington transferred two Guantanamo detainees to Algeria.

Jaffer said the Obama administration fears that the evidence against the detainees would not stand up in the US courts.

"Our justice system excludes coerced evidence not only because coercion and torture are illegal, but because coerced evidence is unreliable,” he said.

"If evidence is too unreliable to justify detention after criminal trial, it is certainly too unreliable to justify indefinite detention without trial."

Source: IslamOnline