http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/burqa/ en-us Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:13:10 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2384845/posts French President Nicolas Sarkozy says there is no place for full face and body veils such as the burqa, or for the debasement of women, in France. Sarkozy says all beliefs will be respected in France but says "becoming French means adhering to a form of civilization, to values, to morals." Sarkozy said Thursday during a speech on national identity that "France is a country where there is no place for the burqa." ap http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2384845/posts#comment Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:13:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2381906/posts KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Some women strode the catwalk in vicious spiked bracelets and body armor. Others had their heads covered, burqa-style, but with shoulders — and tattoos — exposed. Male models wore long, Islamic robes as well as shorts and sequined T-shirts. As surging militant violence grabs headlines around the world, Pakistan's top designers and models are taking part in the country's first-ever fashion week. While the mix of couture and ready-to-wear fashions would not have been out of place in Milan or New York, many designers made reference to the turmoil, reflecting the contradictions and tensions coursing through... AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2381906/posts#comment Mon, 9 Nov 2009 03:47:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2369591/posts A burka-wearing student has been banned from enrolling at a college after staff claimed the Muslim garment was a barrier to ‘safety and communication’. Shawana Bilqes, 18, was forced to abandon her learning plans after she refused to remove the head-to-toe gown which reveals only her eyes. She had been asked to show her face as a check to avoid identity fraud in case she was posing as someone else. But when she explained she could not due to her religious belief she was forced off her Access course for an HE Diploma at Burnley College, Lancashire. Today Miss Bilqes... dailymail.co.uk http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2369591/posts#comment Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:50:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2330370/posts The shameless phenomenon of Western leftist feminists abandoning millions of persecuted Muslim women under Islamic gender apartheid continues. Naomi Wolf has now come forward to say that she finds the Islamic chador sexy and supports its institutionalization throughout the Islamic world. Never mind that Muslim women in most cases do not have a choice of whether or not to cover themselves, and face bodily harm and death if they do not veil. How much, one wonders, does Wolf care about Aqsa Parvez, a 16-year-old Muslim girl who was murdered by her father for refusing to wear the veil? Does... NewsReal Blog http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2330370/posts#comment Wed, 2 Sep 2009 15:27:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2324744/posts As I always do around this time of year, I pushed aside the Arab-Israeli conflict for a moment to contemplate the more serious conflict between secular Muslims and Christian Arabs and the growing religious extremism in the Middle East. There are 22 Arab countries, yet only two had the courage (or pride in their women) to field entrants in this year's Miss Universe Pageant, which was held in the Bahamas, where string bikinis replace car bombs and women are truly free. The only two Arab countries that entered contestants, again, were Egypt and Lebanon. Now I know Egypt and its... Jerusalem Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2324744/posts#comment Wed, 26 Aug 2009 12:45:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2323071/posts At the recent World Swimming Championships, officials announced that competitors would soon be banned from using the new record-smashing, limit-testing buoyant high-tech polyurethane bodysuits. I’m sure Michael Phelps and his friends are bummed out. As a former record-setting competitive swimmer who used to shop for tight racing suits in the “infant” apparel section to score an advantage, I can attest to the desire to push the limit with one’s aquatic apparel. So can Muslims, apparently. Bans on their traditional burqas are sweeping Europe, so now they’re making them into “burqinis”, and arguing that since they have an aquatic spin, the... Townhall.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2323071/posts#comment Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:17:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2321156/posts There's been a big fuss this week because Michelle Obama wore shorts. She's worn shorts before - to walk the dog, do stuff around the White House. But the photos of her wearing them in that iconic descending-from-Air-Force-One-onto-the-tarmac setting proved too much for the media. Obamas? Check. Summer news doldrums? Check. Controversy? Close enough. It was a story. And people reacted. The Today Show's poll on whether she should have shown that much thigh got one of the show's biggest responses ever, with 83% pro-shorts. Local papers found "experts" to discuss the implications of the shorts for the Obama White... yahoo.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2321156/posts#comment Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:39:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2316774/posts An outright ban of the wearing of the burka in France would help stem the spread of the “cancer” of radical Islam, according to the country’s Muslim minister for urban regeneration. Fadela Amara, who is of Algerian descent, said the veil and headscarf combination covering everything but the eyes represented “the oppression of women, their enslavement, their humiliation”. In an interview with the Financial Times, Ms Amara said she was “in favour of the burka not existing in my country”. Financial Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2316774/posts#comment Sat, 15 Aug 2009 17:20:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2314857/posts A Paris swimming pool has refused entry to a young Muslim woman wearing a "burqini," a swimsuit covering most of the body, officials said Wednesday, adding to tensions over Muslim dress in France. The incident came as French lawmakers conduct hearings on whether to ban the burqa after President Nicolas Sarkozy said the head-to-toe body covering and veil was "not welcome" in France, home to Europe's biggest Muslim minority. Google News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2314857/posts#comment Thu, 13 Aug 2009 10:17:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2288207/posts Barack Obama gave the hijab the all-clear in his Cairo speech, but the poor female souls forced to live under asphyxiating layers are getting fed up. Obama said, “I reject the view of some in the West that a woman who chooses to cover her hair is somehow less equal,” creating the false impression that gender subjugation is an innocuous matter of beauty-salon options. Contrast that with yesterday’s Reuters story about burqas in Afghanistan: Commentary Magazine http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2288207/posts#comment Wed, 8 Jul 2009 18:31:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277858/posts PARIS (AP) — A top Muslim group in Britain lashed out at Nicolas Sarkozy as "patronizing and offensive" on Tuesday, after the French president said body- and face-covering Islamic garments such as the burqa turn women into prisoners. In Paris, parliament formally created a commission Tuesday to study the wearing of body-cloaking Muslim robes in France, a day after Sarkozy told lawmakers that the burqa would not be welcome in the country. A top official with the Muslim Council of Britain, an umbrella organization for British Muslim groups, accused Sarkozy of "divisive politics," and said his comments could fan an... AP via Google News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277858/posts#comment Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:09:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2277476/posts Almost every idea that ever came out of France has been bad for America, from the structuralist philosophical gibberish which has poisoned US academe to the grotesquely over-regulated tax and spend socialism which is now ruining the US economy. But if there's one area where the French do get it SO right it's in their uncompromising approach to Islam. President Sarkozy once again showed the way yesterday when in a presidential address to France's two houses of parliament, he said the burqa is not welcome in his country and should be banned. As he rightly went on to say the... Telegraph Blogs (U.K.) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2277476/posts#comment Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:21:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2276961/posts The Islamic burqa is ‘not welcome’ in France and should be banned, President Nicolas Sarkozy announced today. In comments which were set to infuriate radical Muslim leaders, he said the body covering ‘is not a sign of religion, it is a sign of subservience,’ adding: ‘It will not be welcome on the territory of the French republic.’ A group of 58 MPs from the Left and Right has called on Parliament to take action against women who are adopting what they called oppressive head-to-toe Islamic dress that ‘breaches individual freedoms’. There are more than five million Muslims in the secular... Daily Mail (U.K.) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2276961/posts#comment Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:25:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2275416/posts FRANCE may introduce a law banning full burqas if a parliamentary commission finds the growing number of women wearing them have been coerced into doing so. Nearly 60 legislators signed a proposal on Wednesday calling for a parliamentary commission to look into the spread of the burqa in France, a garment that they said amounted "to a breach of individual freedoms on our national territory". France, home to Europe's largest Muslim minority, is strongly attached to its secular values and to gender equality, and many see the burqa, which covers the wearer from head to toe and hides her face,... reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2275416/posts#comment Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:30:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2220522/posts CBC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2220522/posts#comment Thu, 2 Apr 2009 09:46:22 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2077609/posts In a letter to parliament, Dutch Education Minister Ronald Plasterk writes that the government intends to introduce a burqa ban in education. Not only teachers and schoolchildren, but also parents and school caretakers will be banned from wearing face-covering garments, both inside the school building and outside in the playground. The minister writes that it is important for children to learn that proper communication requires being able to look the other person in the eye. Radio Netherlands http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2077609/posts#comment Mon, 8 Sep 2008 20:51:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047360/posts A Muslim member of the French Government has attacked the head-to-toe Islamic dress as a prison, applauding a court decision to deny citizenship to a Moroccan woman who wore it. “The burka is a prison, a strait-jacket,” Fadela Amara, the Minister for Urban Affairs and a longstanding women's rights campaigner, said yesterday. “It is not religious. It is the insignia of a totalitarian political project for sexual inequality.” The court decision denying Faiza Mabchour, 32, French citizenship has drawn approval from both Left and Right, highlighting a rejection of Muslim customs that conflict with the values of the secular French... The Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2047360/posts#comment Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:40:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2044641/posts The fiancée of one of the leaders of the failed July 21 suicide attacks has been sentenced to three years in jail for helping him escape by dressing in a burka as a Muslim woman. Fardosa Abdullahi, who was 17 at the time, gave Yassin Omar her mobile phone handset, provided a scarf and handbag for his disguise and accompanied him to Golders Green coach station where he fled to Birmingham in his feminine disguise. Omar's family persuaded her to contact police but she claimed she did not know where he was and it was not until six days after... telegraph.co.uk http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2044641/posts#comment Sun, 13 Jul 2008 02:15:17 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2016110/posts Muslim women of the Middle East and beyond are shielded, clothed, and occulted away through a series of archaic dress rituals, collectively known as the Hijab, that subjugates and entraps them to an ossified code of conduct, which long ago, should have been abandoned. The Abbaya, Burqa, and Niqab, function as baggy drapes of cloth, which render Muslim women formless, invisible to her surroundings, a non-entity outside the domestic sphere, and should be viewed as a transgression against God's wishes...I present to you, the Beautiful and Vivacious Ladies of Iran, unhijabbed and free... Iraqi Bloggers Central http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2016110/posts#comment Thu, 15 May 2008 00:58:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2027950/posts When I came to this country, I took off my hijab. It wasn't an easy decision. I worried at night that God would punish me for it. That's what I had been taught would happen, and it filled me with fear. I was 27, coming from my home country of Iraq to study in California. I hoped that by taking off the hijab I had been wearing for eight years, I would be able to maintain a low profile. In Baghdad, you keep a low profile to stay alive. But in the United States, I merely wanted not to be... la times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2027950/posts#comment Sun, 8 Jun 2008 17:59:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2006540/posts THE HAGUE, 25/04/08 - The cabinet proposal to ban face-covering clothing for government functionaries, in education and in public transport is supported by the Lower House. But the Christian democrats (CDA) and Labour (PvdA) disagree over a ban in the health sector. The CDA wants to extend the 'burqa ban' to the health sector. "We do not want any face-covering in healthcare, certainly not among the personnel," according to MP Madeleine van Toorenburg. PvdA MP Jeroen Dijsselbloem is unconvinced. "The healthcare sector has never been asked for its opinion," he tried. But CDA's Healthcare Minister Ab Klink told Van Toorenburg... NIS News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2006540/posts#comment Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:36:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2000036/posts NOUAKCHOTT, April 10 (Reuters) - Mauritanian police arrested a suspected al Qaeda militant accused of killing four French tourists as he attempted to avoid capture disguised as a woman, a government spokesman said on Thursday. Marouf Ould Haiba is one of four suspected al Qaeda militants accused of killing the French tourists during a roadside picnic last Dec. 24. Fellow suspect Sidi Ould Sidna escaped from police custody outside a courtroom last week, sparking a manhunt that has led to two fatal shootouts in the usually sleepy capital Nouakchott that have killed three people in as many days. Police arrested... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2000036/posts#comment Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:03:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997472/posts Cambridge University has been given £8 million by a Saudi Arabian prince to establish an Islamic studies centre. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, ranked in the top 20 richest men in the world, with a fortune of about £10 billion, has donated the cash to the university to fund a centre in his name for the study of the role of Islam in the Middle East and globally. The gift has been recommended by the university's general board and is expected to be announced in June. advertisement The grandson of King Ibn Saud and nephew of King Abudllah, the prince counts... London Telegraph http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997472/posts#comment Sun, 6 Apr 2008 05:22:17 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1965076/posts The bright blue veil of the burqa is one of the most iconic and widely worn pieces of women’s clothing in Afghanistan. Since the fall of the Taliban, fewer women wear the burqa in Kabul, but elsewhere, in the provinces, the burqa is as ubiquitous as ever. The Zamarai family, shown in the video, have been tailors and burqa-makers for three generations. But recently there’s a new player in the Kabul burqa market: China, which mass-produces a style of burqa that many women here find more fashionable than the Zamarais’ traditional hand-assembled garments. The Chinese-made burqas’ tightly-crimped folds and machine-produced... Washington Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1965076/posts#comment Tue, 5 Feb 2008 02:30:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1958337/posts AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Dutch government is set to impose a ban on the Muslim burqa in schools and government offices, media reported on Wednesday, in a retreat from the previous cabinet's plan for a general ban. The cabinet has decided against a broad ban on burqas in public as that would violate the principle of freedom of religion, news agency ANP said, citing unnamed cabinet sources. The Muslim community says only about 50 women wear the head-to-toe burqa or the niqab, a face veil that conceals everything but the eyes. They said a general ban would heighten alienation among... Reuters via Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1958337/posts#comment Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:58:47 GMT