Free Republic

IRAN: University Female Students Rebel Against Veil Tehran, 19 April (AKI) - Female students at Tehran Polytechnic University, where students protested against Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a visit last December crying 'dictator go away' and throwing firecrackers, are staging a major protest against new regulations enabling police as of 21 April to arrest women who do not abide by the Islamic dress code. A group of 700 female students organized a rally on campus and signed a letter to the dean calling the new rules "an offence to the dignity of women" and accusing him of "wanting to extend...

Tehran, 19 April (AKI) - Female students at Tehran Polytechnic University, where students protested against Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a visit last December crying 'dictator go away' and throwing firecrackers, are staging a major protest against new regulations enabling police as of 21 April to arrest women who do not abide by the Islamic dress code. A group of 700 female students organized a rally on campus and signed a letter to the dean calling the new rules "an offence to the dignity of women" and accusing him of "wanting to extend to academia the sexual apartheid imposed by...

KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwait's new female education minister refused to wear a veil as she took an oath when the OPEC oil producer's new government was sworn in on Monday, leading to protests by several Islamist parliamentarians. Nouriya al-Subaih defied calls by some deputies to cover her hair when taking the oath with the rest of the Gulf Arab country's cabinet. "The minister must comply with the provisions of sharia (Islamic law) approved by parliament. The government must uphold the law," said deputy Dhaifallah Buramia, who stood up in parliament until Speaker Jassem al-Kharafi told him to sit down. Another...

A Muslim woman who said her religious and civil rights were violated is suing a judge. Ginnah Muhammad filed the suit Wednesday in federal court. The suit claims Hamtramck Judge Paul Paruk's request that she remove her veil -- and the dismissal of her small-claims case when she didn't -- was unconstitutional based on her right to practice her religion. Muhammad wore a scarf and veil that leaves only the eyes visible during the October hearing. Paruk told Muhammad he needed to see her face to judge her truthfulness and gave a choice: take off the veil while testifying or...

MUSLIM women will have to make sure their face is fully visible when they have a photograph taken for the government's new access card. The proposed system will replace the Medicare card and be compulsory for any Australian who wants to access up to 16 other government health and welfare services. In its submission to a Senate inquiry examining the access card legislation, which is currently before parliament, the government provided examples of a how a photograph would be taken of a person wearing a headscarf.

A 12-year-old schoolgirl has failed in an attempted legal challenge to her school's ban on a full-face veil. Mr Justice Silber had been told that the girl's three older sisters had attended the same school and had worn the niqab with no problems. But the school, in Buckinghamshire, had told the girl it was not acceptable because teachers believed it would make communication and learning difficult. The judge has now rejected her lawyers' arguments for a judicial review. They said after the judgment that the family were "bitterly disappointed". They are considering making an appeal, but would have to make...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2 Police killer suspect fled Britain in a veil ANDREW NORFOLK • Most wanted man posed as sister to escape • Inquiry demanded into Heathrow security Comment Central: real freedom means Muslim women should be able to wear a veil A man who was being hunted for the murder of a policewoman is understood to have escaped from Britain by disguising himself as a veiled Muslim woman. Mustaf Jama, a prime suspect in the fatal shooting of PC Sharon Beshenivsky, assumed his sister’s identity — wearing the niqab and using her passport — to evade supposedly stringent checks at Heathrow,...

ITALY: MP RECEIVES DEATH THREATS OVER HER ANTI-VEIL BATTLE Rome, 10 Jan. (AKI) - Italian conservative MP Daniela Santanche has received death threats over her opposition to the Muslim veil, Italy's leading paper Corriere della Sera reported in a front-page article on Wednesday. Santanche reportedly received a letter in Arabic and English at her lower house office Tuesday night with pictures of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh, murdered in 2004 by an Islamist fundamentalist for his movie Submission, which denounced violence on women in Muslim countries, and Dutch MP Hirsi Ali, the film's author, who has also received death threats....

Ramadan 2006 may well be remembered as the Ramadan of the veil. In remarks widely reported in the Arab press, former U.K. foreign secretary Jack Straw described the veil as "a visible statement of separation and difference"; in the ensuing controversy, British Prime Minister Tony Blair lent his support to Straw and made similar comments. In a related development, a teaching assistant in the U.K., Aisha Azmi, was suspended for refusing to remove her veil when teaching. However, the most divisive controversy erupted not in Europe, but in Tunisia, where the government launched a campaign to implement "Decree 108," first...

Muslims ask to worship at Cordoba More than a million of Spain's 44 million inhabitants are Muslims [GALLO/GETTY] Spanish Muslims have written to the Vatican to demand the right to worship at Cordoba Cathedral. Spain's Islamic Board wrote to Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday, calling on him to grant them permission to worship in the cathedral, parts of which were built as a mosque during Spain's period of Islamic rule. The group said in their letter: "What we wanted was not to take over that holy place, but to create in it, together with you and other faiths, an ecumenical...

Man attacked over wife's veil comment By Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - A man,whose wife made a passing comment about a Muslim woman's full face veil, suffered a broken nose and lost his front teeth after being attacked and headbutted by the woman's partner, police said on Sunday. The victim, a 46-year-old white man, was walking through Regent's Park with his wife, son and daughter when they passed another family, a Muslim man and his wife who was pushing a baby in a pushchair. "The victim's wife made a comment directed to her husband that she thought it must be...

VEILED women will be forced to reveal their identities at UK airports under a government plan to tighten security, Scotland on Sunday can reveal. Home Office insiders last night confirmed that immigration officials will be ordered to impose their legal right to lift the veils of passengers after it emerged a suspected police killer may have escaped the UK dressed as a Muslim woman. But the plan has been attacked by unions, which claim it would impose intolerable demands on their members, particularly female officers who would be the only ones allowed to look under veils. Ministers have been forced...

A man who was being hunted for the murder of a policewoman is understood to have escaped from Britain by disguising himself as a veiled Muslim woman. Mustaf Jama, a prime suspect in the fatal shooting of PC Sharon Beshenivsky, assumed his sister’s identity — wearing the niqab and using her passport — to evade supposedly stringent checks at Heathrow, according to police sources. The use of the niqab, which leaves only a narrow slit for the eyes, highlights flaws in British airport security. At the time, Jama was Britain’s most wanted man, while Heathrow was on a heightened state...

Veil-wearing Muslim woman backs out of Channel 4 alternative to Queen's message By Richard Alleyne Last Updated: 1:41am GMT 16/12/2006 A muslim woman who was due to deliver Channel 4's alternative Christmas message wearing a full veil backed out yesterday after criticism from inside and outside her community. Khadija Ravat has worn the full veil since she got married Earlier this month, Khadija Ravat agreed to front the six-minute slot that is broadcast as the Queen delivers her own thoughts on Christmas Day. She said she wanted to argue that women should have the right to cover their faces if...

A veiled Muslim woman will deliver this year's alternative Christmas speech on Channel 4, the broadcaster has said. Khadija, a Zimbabwean-born British citizen who has been wearing the full veil - or niqab - for 10 years, has been given the slot. The message will reflect a year in which the wearing of religious clothing and symbols have "dominated the news agenda", said a Channel 4 spokesman. A counterpoint to the Queen's Christmas speech first appeared on C4 in 1993. The spokesman added that the specific contents of the message would be released closer to Christmas Day.

School sacks woman after veil row  Ms Azmi's lawyers said they were unaware of the decision to sack her A Muslim classroom assistant suspended by a school for wearing a veil in lessons has been sacked.Aishah Azmi, 23, was asked to remove the veil after the Church of England school in Dewsbury, West Yorks, said pupils found it hard to understand her. Last month, an employment tribunal ruled Mrs Azmi had not been discriminated against, but awarded her £1,100 for "injury to feelings". Kirklees Council confirmed the teaching assistant had been dismissed. A spokesman said a staffing dismissals committee...

THE HAGUE -- The Dutch government announced plans yesterday for legislation banning full-length veils in public places and other clothing that covers the face -- putting the Netherlands at the forefront of a general European hardening toward Muslim minorities. The Netherlands, once considered one of Europe's most welcoming nations for immigrants and asylum seekers, is deeply divided over moves by the government to stem the tide of new arrivals and compel immigrants to assimilate into Dutch society. "From a security standpoint, people should always be recognizable, and from the standpoint of integration, we think people should be able to communicate...

Dutch Muslims have hit out at a proposed government ban of face veils, saying it was over the top, ill-conceived and infringed religious rights. On Friday the Dutch cabinet said it was proposing a bill banning clothing that covers the face in public, targeting in particular Muslim woman wearing the burqa or niqab. The burqa is an Islamic veil covering the entire face and body and a mesh screen to see through, while the niqab is a veil covering the face but leaving the eye area clear. The garments are worn by a few dozen women in the Netherlands. Rita...

One of the Church of England's most senior figures today risks a row with the Muslim community by suggesting that Islamic women should not wear veils in public.In a wide-ranging interview with the Daily Mail, Dr John Sentamu warns that 'no minority' should impose its beliefs on the rest of society and that the veil causes Muslim women to 'stick out'. The Archbishop of York - who ranks second in the Church's hierarchy - also says the BBC is biased against Christians because Anglicans don't threaten to 'bomb' the corporation. And in a strongly-worded analysis of the state of modern...

THE Dutch government has announced that it would seek a way of banning the wearing of burqas and other Muslim face veils in public places, possibly becoming the first European country to impose such a ruling. The announcement comes at a time when the debate on such veils and whether they prevent Muslims from integrating has gathered momentum across Europe and drawn comments from leaders such as Britain's Tony Blair and Italy's Romano Prodi. Last December Dutch lawmakers voted in favour of a proposal by far-right politician Geert Wilders to outlaw face-coverings, partly on security grounds, and asked Immigration Minister...