Category Archives: Secular

Quebec Muslims defend religious rights

Posted on by Bob Pitt

QMDL press conferenceThe PQ’s proposed Charter of Values is continuing to raise a ruckus, as another group has announced its opposition to proposed legislation – making a demand for “inclusive secularism.”

The new group, Quebec Muslims for Rights and Freedoms, believes individuals should be free to wear whatever religious symbols they choose, and say the province should make policies without interfering with religious institutions.

The group represents 50 Muslim organizations across the province which collectively oppose the Charter that – if passed – would limit anyone wearing religious symbols from holding government positions.

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NSS thinks allowing Muslim employees to wear hijab is giving in to ‘Islamist demands’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Yesterday it was reported that the clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch had lost two lawsuits brought by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after the company sacked one young Muslim woman and refused to employ another because they wore headscarves. The company announced that it had now changed its policy and would allow employees to wear the hijab.

Most of us would think this was a welcome victory against discrimination. But how does the National Secular Society report it? Under the headline “Abercrombie & Fitch accede to Islamist demands”. It’s the sort of response you would expect from the likes of Pamela Geller.

‘Secularist’ irrationality over the veil

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The level of argument from secularists denouncing the niqab has reached a new low recently. Here, for example, is Joan Smith writing in the Independent on Sunday:

I’m aghast at the prospect of being treated by a health professional in a niqab. Patients often have to discuss intimate matters with GPs and nurse-practitioners, from sexual health to domestic violence. If someone doesn’t trust me enough to let me see her face, I’m hardly going to feel comfortable about her carrying out an intimate procedure such as a cervical smear. Nor is it easy to imagine a man discussing the symptoms of prostate cancer with a health professional whose idea of “modesty” doesn’t allow her to expose her nose.

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Don’t follow France’s burqa ban. It has curbed liberty and justice

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Join me in a criminal court in suburban Paris on almost any weekday and I’ll show you exactly where national debates about female face coverings end up.

Ever since France introduced its “burqa ban” in 2011, there has been a constant stream of wretched cases involving the handful of Muslims who choose to wear such garments. Not only are perfectly upstanding women being fined for their choice of dress, principally the full-body niqab, which leaves a slit for the eyes, but an increasing number of defendants are being tried for attacking them.

One case involves two self-styled “patriotic vigilantes” who targeted a pregnant 21-year-old in the commuter town of Argenteuil, north-west of Paris, in June. The new law persuaded the men to shout racist insults before putting the woman in hospital, where she lost her baby. Another three reported cases on the same council estate over the course of just one month this summer saw full-veil wearers assaulted as their attackers shouted: “Dirty Arab, dirty Muslim.”

Those calling for a veil ban in Britain have clearly ignored such depressingly routine cases. They do not realise how the legislation introduced by President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government has not only stigmatised Muslim women, but somehow legitimised physical attacks on them. The ban in France is a hateful assault on basic freedoms, one that has been seized on by an unlikely alliance of rightwing politicians and feminists.

Excellent article by Nabila Ramdani in the Observer, 22 September 2013

A ‘feminist’ attack on Muslim women, courtesy of the Daily Mail

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Julie Bindel at conferenceToday’s Daily Mail – a newspaper which of course has a long history of inciting bigotry against minority communities of recent migrant origin – carries yet another contribution to the niqab “debate”.

We’ve already heard Melanie Phillips’ views on this “sinister and intimidating black-out”, as she puts it, and now we have an article headlined “Why are my fellow feminists shamefully silent over the tyranny of the veil, asks JULIE BINDEL”.

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Woman says she was accosted in mall over her Islamic veil as Liberals threaten election over Quebec charter

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Montreal protest against Charter of Values
Saturday’s demonstration in Montreal against the so-called ‘Charter of Values’

The leader of the Quebec Liberals appears prepared to do everything he can to stop the Parti Quebecois government’s proposed charter of values – including fight an election over the issue. Philippe Couillard says he’s against any law that leads to employment discrimination and that Muslim women who wear a veil will always be welcome in his own party.

The PQ plan will become law “over my dead body,” Couillard said Sunday at a party meeting on women’s issues in Montreal. “The big mistake that the government is making is to make people believe that, in order to defend what is specific about Quebec, we must trample on other people’s rights.”

The PQ wants to forbid public employees from wearing religious headwear, including the veil, as part of a proposed charter announced last Tuesday.

Couillard’s remarks came after a Quebec woman of Algerian origin wearing an Islamic veil said she and her son were accosted at Place Laurier shopping centre in Quebec City two weeks ago by a woman citing the charter who demanded they change their religion and remove the headscarf.

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Thousands march through Montreal to protest Quebec values charter

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Montreal protest against PQ charter

Thousands jammed the streets of Montreal on Saturday afternoon to denounce Quebec’s proposed charter of values, calling on Premier Pauline Marois to put an end to “politics of division.” The protest march, billed as an inclusive, multicultural event, drew many members of the Muslim and Sikh communities in particular. Others who claimed no religious allegiance also took part.

A group from a local mosque walked with a large banner that read: “Multi-faith gathering for peace.” “This is a time for all religions to come together for what they believe in,” said Noman Safdar, a 24-year-old engineer who was helping hold up the sign. “We came here for freedom,” said Safdar, originally from Pakistan and wearing a Muslim cap. “You can’t go and impose things on people like this.”

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