Category Archives: Women

Hijab ban threatens basketball phenom

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Bilqis Abdul-QaadirMEMPHIS – A basketball phenomenon, Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir has always dreamed of a flourishing future as a professional basketball player who has reserved the title of the best player in the state during her high school years.

“As of right now I’m really in a holding pattern because of FIBA,” Abdul-Qaadir told MassLive.com on Thursday, June 12. “I think in many ways the key word in FIBA is international. I think that’s what upsets me most.”

The youngest of seven children in a devout Muslim family, she was always taught to practice her faith and be proud of whom she was. And basketball came naturally to her, as she shot hoops as a toddler and kept working at her skills as she grew older, emulating her older brothers. She was encouraged to put time into her studies as well and remained a top student throughout high school.

During high school, the talented Muslim player made history becoming the top scorer in Massachusetts high school history, breaking the mark of 2,710 points achieved by Women’s National Basketball Association star Rebecca Lobo 17 years ago. Later on, she joined Division I basketball team at the University of Memphis, becoming the first female athlete to play Division I sports – the highest level of sports at the US college level – in full hijab.

Those dreams no longer exist due to the rules of International Basketball Federation (FIBA). According to FIBA rules, Islamic headscarf or hijab is banned in matches. The ban was justified by FIBA as a way to remain religiously neutral.

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Brisbane: Christian college rejects student teachers who wore hijab

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Redlands CollegeThe principal of a Christian College has come under fire for transferring two student teachers after they turned up for work dressed in traditional Muslim headwear.

The two women, in their final year of a teaching degree, had started a work placement at Redlands College this year.

In a newsletter addressed to the school’s parents on Tuesday, principal Mark Bensley outlined his reasons for dismissing the pair, explaining he had acted out of a “duty of care”.

“I have a duty of care to ensure that those teaching at the College are actively supporting the Christian principles, practices and beliefs of the College,” he wrote. “I see the wearing of the hijab as openly acting in a manner that is contrary to or inconsistent with these principles, practices and beliefs.”

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Queensland rejects anti-niqab bill

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Peter WellingtonThe Queensland government has rejected a push by independents and minor parties to force Muslim women to remove their burqas or veils to prove their identity.

The bill, introduced by the independent MP for Nicklin, Peter Wellington, would have allowed lawyers, police, prison officers, justices of the peace and other “persons of responsibility” to require a person to remove any face covering to establish their identity.

Wellington said the measure was especially necessary in light of the upcoming G20 meeting in Brisbane. “It is not about religion; it is about doing the right thing, about making sure there is security in Queensland,” he said.

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‘Race hate’ arsonists burn down Birmingham community centre

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Ulfah Arts arson

Arsonists have destroyed a Birmingham community centre – home to the country’s first female Muslim band – in a suspected racially-motivated attack.

Ulfah Arts and Media, based at Highgate Craft Centre in Highgate Square, was completely devastated in the 5am blaze yesterday. It is home for The Ulfah Collective, the first practising Muslim female band. The group sings traditional Islamic songs alongside Christian gospel music and once appeared in front of 12,000 fans at Wembley Arena with the late Bee Gee, Robin Gibb.

Ulfah Arts and Media spokeswoman Sarah Javid said she feared the arson attack was racially-aggravated and targeted against the social enterprise’s CEO, Prashant Singh.

“Over the last two months our CEO has been receiving hate mail which has been anti-Islamic,” she said. “He also received a DVD which was full of race hate messages. Mr Singh has no idea why anyone would have a personal vendetta against him or the organisation. But the fire has destroyed everything. It’s destroyed equipment, but also all of our projects, some we have been working on for over a year.”

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English Defence League set to march in Stevenage

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL Stevenage protest ad

Members of the EDL – which claims to be a human rights organisation protesting about Islamic extremism but whose marches are characterised by racism, violence, death threats and arrests – plan to march through Stevenage on Saturday, June 7.

The group’s page on social networking site Facebook says the march is “to protest at grooming incidents”. More than 250 people have so far confirmed through the site that they will be taking part in the march, which is set to start at 1pm.

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Muslim woman called ‘Taliban’ during interview about anti-Muslim candidate

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Republican Louis Tafoya is running against New Mexico State Rep. Georgene Louis (D), but Tafoya is raising eyebrows by sharing some anti-Muslim statements and links on his Facebook page.

Tafoya’s Facebook page includes a link titled, “Pedophilia & Islam,” noted Progress Now New Mexico. Tafoya also shared a post on Facebook that all religions can get along, except for Muslims.

The GOP candidate refused to comment about his Facebook posts, but Khadija Chudnoff, a member of the University of New Mexico’s Muslim Student Association, told KRQE, “New Mexico deserves somebody who is going to check their facts before they click, ‘share,’ on their Facebook page. This is something a teenager would do. It’s not something someone searching for political office should be doing.”

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Vlaams Belang tries to boost election prospects with anti-Islam stunts

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Vlaams Belang Flair and Libelle covers

The Helsinki-based company Sanoma Media is threatening to take action against the Belgian far-right party Vlaams Belang for circulating fake front pages of the magazines Flair and Libelle featuring women in veils and burqas.

VB is protesting against the magazines’ refusal to accept adverts for the book Hoer noch slavin – vrouwen en islam (“Whore or slave – women in Islam”) by Anke Van dermeersch, who is leader of the Vlaams Belang group in the Belgian Senate.

VB leader Filip Dewinter has accused Sanoma Media of upholding “the misogynistic views of Islam”. He defended the fake covers, which associate Muslim women with firebombs and grenades, as merely a “humorous parody”.

Last year VB was successfully sued by French footwear designer Christian Louboutin over the use of his shoes on an anti-Islam poster.

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Wikipedia edit from government computer added Muslim insult

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The charity that represents Wikipedia in the UK has condemned edits made from government computers after more incidents of vandalism emerged.

The BBC has discovered that the phrase “all Muslims are terrorists” was added to a page about veils. Another edit deleted text in Cherie Blair’s entry about the flat-buying scandal that made headlines in 2002. The Liverpool Echo last week revealed that insults had been added to the entry for the Hillsborough Disaster.

Stevie Benton, from Wikimedia UK, told the BBC: “We find this kind of vandalism appalling.”

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