It looks like Lleida realized that there wasn’t a “burqa crisis.”

Spanish city’s ban on Islamic veils overturned

A Spanish court has overturned a city’s ban on wearing face-covering Islamic veils in municipal buildings, saying it infringes religious liberties.

In 2010, Lleida, in the northeastern region of Catalonia, became the first Spanish town to impose such a ban. It was temporarily suspended by a regional court following an appeal by a Muslim association but then later upheld.

Spain‘s supreme court on Thursday accepted a second appeal and said the city was not entitled to order such a ban.

It said that in line with Spanish and European rulings, such a prohibition must be based on a law, which does not exist in Spain at present.

The Lleida ban was largely symbolic since only about 3% of its population are Muslims and very few wear such garments.

But not the Hijab (in schools) or the face veil.

(h/t: Sir David)

Paris women finally allowed to wear trousers

(BBC)

The French government has overturned a 200-year-old ban on women wearing trousers.

The Minister of Women’s Rights, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, said that the ban was incompatible with modern French values and laws.

She said the law, imposed on November 17, 1800, had in effect already been rescinded because of incompatibility.

The move to formally repeal the law followed a parliamentary question asked last year.

According to the law, women needed to have the permission of local police if they wanted to “dress like a man” and wear trousers.

Though it has been ignored for decades, formally it remained on the statute books.

Ms Vallaud-Belkacem said the original law had been intended to prevent women doing certain jobs.

“This order was aimed first of all at limiting the access of women to certain offices or occupations by preventing them from dressing in the manner of men,” she said.

It was modified in 1892 and 1909 to allow women to wear trousers if they were “holding a bicycle handlebar or the reins of a horse”.

During the French Revolution, Parisian women had requested the right to wear trousers and working-class revolutionaries became known as “sans-culottes” for wearing trousers instead of the silk-knee breeches preferred by the bourgeoisie.

by Mooneye

For when you want to look like a “savage?”

In a twist to the Islamophobes’ “Halloween Jihad” theme, this year Sears was hawking a “fetishized Islamic ‘Arab girl’ burka-wearing ‘temptress’” costume for Halloween. Clearly, someone in Sears’ sales department thought selling such an “ethnic” costume was a good idea, there is a demand out there for “funny-Ay-rab-Mooslimy-savages” costumes and being the good Capitalists they are Sears wanted to corner that market.

At the time of the capture of the screenshot Sears either sold out or yanked the “product” from its line of Halloween costumes. It can still be found for sale on other sites like Buy.com.

According to tipster Sulayman F. a “student on Tumblr noticed it when doing a school project and searching google for images of Burkas.”

Sulayman went on to comment that, “This isn’t necessarily racist, but extremely degrading to the culture when the whole point of the burka is to preserve the modesty of the religious (from what I understand). And to add insult to injury, the description reads ‘Sexy In the Desert’.”

I concur that it is pretty degrading, and another ludicrous example of Halloween gone strangely awry. For some reason it is the one day of the year when people think they can dress up in whatever costume, Native American, Black face, “Arab girl” etc. and think they have a free pass from scrutiny and criticism. The reply goes something like, “get a sense of humor!”

What these people don’t realize is that this is not a costume for the people who actually wear “Niqabs” or “Burkas.”

What are your thoughts?

Remember Ian Brazier, the guy who used the antiquated reefer madness defense when he was being tried for ripping off a Muslim woman’s veil, well, he’s been spared jail time. I guess we can be thankful that he at least wasn’t on bath-salts:

Man who ripped off Muslim woman’s veil spared jail

A man who ripped off a Muslim woman’s veil in a shopping centre because he thought she was “just another illegal immigrant” has been spared jail.

Ian Brazier, from Shirley, Solihull, was given a six-week sentence, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete a diversity awareness course by magistrates in the town. The 26-year-old had admitted racially aggravated assault at an early hearing.

The court heard that he tore Farhana Chughtai’s niqab from her face and threw it on the floor in Solihull’s Touchwood complex on March 3 as she shopped with family.

Alan Bryce, defending, said his client was angry at the time of the incident because he had been smoking cannabis and the films he was planning to watch at the centre’s cinema were not showing. He said: “He was angry that he couldn’t see the films or the films he wanted to see weren’t there. All these pent-up emotions were unfortunately released when he saw this lady.”

The solicitor said Mrs Chughtai was a “random victim”, spotted by unemployed Mr Brazier as he came down an escalator in the complex. He said: “He had been taking cannabis and it had made him angry. He saw her and he thought ‘There’s just another illegal immigrant’.”

Click to read more …

Ridiculous excuse for racist attack: ‘Weed and the fact that my movies weren’t showing made me turn violent!’

When has anyone ever heard of someone smoking a joint and all of a sudden getting really “angry,” sounds like something out of one of the 1950′s government propaganda films about “reefer madness!” (via. Islamophobia-Watch)

Solihull man admits ripping off Muslim woman’s veil in race attack

A racist thug ripped off a Muslim woman’s veil in a drug-fuelled rage after the films he wanted to see were not showing at the cinema.

Farhana Chughtai said she was left humiliated when Ian Brazier pulled off her niqab as she walked with her family through Solihull’s Touchwood shopping centre.

Brazier, 26, and from Shirley, pleaded guilty to racially aggravated common assault at Solihull Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

Habib Ahmed, defending, said Brazier took out his fury on the 26-year-old victim after he became “upset” that the two films he had wanted to watch were not showing.

Mr Ahmed said Brazier had smoked two cannabis joints prior to the attack on March 3 this year – claiming it was the first time he had tried the drug – and that he “did not appreciate the effect it would have on him”.

“He directed his anger towards the first person that came across him,” he said. “He has never before made threats to anyone wearing a niqab and had not thought about it. He is clearly remorseful and upset about what he had done.”

Magistrate chairman Tony Tindale said: “We believe the immediate effect of your actions on the victim and the real humiliation she suffered were key points in the offence. It was carried out in public whilst you were under the influence of drugs which are all aggravating factors.”

Mr Tindale ordered for a pre-sentence report to be compiled and for Brazier to reappear at the court for sentencing on July 4.

Birmingham Mail, 13 June 2012

^Cindy Pugh photoshops the above image to add garbage bags (h/t: Martin)

Just your friendly Minnesotan Tea Party representative comparing Muslim women and children to garbage bags. It’s kind of appalling that she would teach this to her child.

She kinda reminds me of Lynne Torgerson, and will no doubt likewise go down in the annals of Islamophobic loon politics:

Minnesota: Tea Party candidate for state rep. compares Muslim women to garbage bags

Tea Party candidate for state representative Cindy Pugh uses her Facebook profile to defend Scott Walker, criticize Barack Obama, and boast about her ongoing campaign to defeat incumbent state Rep. Steve Smith, a Republican from Mound.

But she also used it recently to compare Muslim women and children clad in traditional Islamic garb to garbage bags.

Pugh shared the above photo on May 21 with the following commentary: “Disturbing … that women & little girls are OK with dressing like this!!! What will it take for these women to stand up and say, ‘NO’!? Wondering if they will ever do that?!”

The photo was originally uploaded by “Proud to be an Infidel,” a Muslim-bashing page with the following slogan: “It’s not Islamophobia when they are really trying to kill you.”

City Pages Minneapolis, 7 June 2012

What kind of man rips a veil off a woman’s face (via. Islamophobia-Watch):

Man arrested for attack on Muslim woman in Solihull

A Shirley man has been summoned to appear at Solihull Magistrates Court after he allegedly ripped a veil from a Muslim woman’s face in Touchwood.

Police reported that Ian Brazier, 26, had grabbed the victim, also 26, by her head and removed her face covering as she walked past the Disney store, on March 3. It’s alleged that he then threw the veil to the floor and left the shopping centre. A Solihull Police spokesman said the woman had not been physically harmed but was left severely shaken by the incident.

Officers tracked down Brazier following a CCTV image appeal. He will now appear at Solihull Magistrates on June 13.

Chief Inspector Kevin Doyle, from Solihull Police Station, said previously: “Reports of crimes like this are exceptionally rare both in Solihull and the wider West Midlands. We are treating this incident as a hate crime as we believe the woman was deliberately targeted because of her faith symbolised by her attire.”

Solihull News, 9 May 2012

Via ENGAGE

Bank Robbing: Hard to Kick the “Habit”

Robert Spencer writes in a blog titled, “Philadelphia: Police hunt niqab-wearing bank robbers”:

Here is still more reason why Western countries should take off the multiculturalist straitjacket and ban the burqa and niqab.

Spencer is unable to make legitimate criticisms about Islam or Muslims because underlying all of his half-baked arguments is a weak, fact-less, and hate-mongering core.

In this instance, in order for Spencer to attempt to make his point he succumbs to a baseless ridicule-centered argument by calling the niqab and/or burqa a “multiculturalist straightjacket”.

If one were to go along with Spencer’s logic of why the burqa and niqab should be banned, then he would paradoxically also be an advocate for banning the “habit,” i.e. the traditional catholic garb for nuns.

Just as the burqa/niqab has been used by criminals during bank robberies so has the habit:

The two suspects were both dressed in black sweat pants and sweatshirts and wore nuns’ habits and identical ghoulish rubber masks, with small slits for eyes.

No one calls for the banning of the habit. No one ridicules that religious garb as a symbol of oppression because that would be illogical.

Of course, when Spencer wants to make an anti-Islam/Muslim point he won’t allow common sense or logic to get in the way. This is just another instance of silly Spencer.

Women who wear the niqab usually remove it when no men are present, as was the case at the daycare. Photograph by: PHIL NOBLE REUTERS, Freelance

A woman in Canada admits she once held stereotypical views of modest clothing, largely because her impressions of Muslim women were shaped almost exclusively by the media.  A 2010 Time Magazine article found widespread prejudice against Muslims, though 62% of Americans polled didn’t personally know a single Muslim.

Jenn Hardy’s positive experience with a daycare run by Muslim woman who wears a face veil dramatically transformed her views.

‘What if my daughter is afraid of her?’

I used to glare at niqab-wearing women on the street, but then I opened my heart and mind – to a wonderful daycare provider

By Jenn Hardy, Freelance - Montreal Gazette

Not too long ago, if I saw a woman walking down the street with her face covered by a niqab, I would feel it was my duty to glare. As a non-religious feminist, I had decided that a woman who covers her face is oppressed – that she is uneducated, and that her husband is making her cover up because he’s crazy and/or jealous.

OK, I’m exaggerating a little, but you get the point.

And yet until two months ago, I didn’t even really know a single Muslim. I went to high school in an Ottawa suburb, where I was baptized a Catholic so that I could qualify for schooling in the Catholic school system, which was considered better than the more open public system.

We had one year of religious education that gave us a glimpse of world religions. But I’m pretty sure my education about Islam came mainly from CNN, or Fox. I went to university in a small town in Ontario. I didn’t meet any Muslims there, either.

My real education about Islam came very recently, courtesy of a Montreal daycare.

Last December, I was seeking daycare for my daughter. At only 10 months old, she was still very dependent on her parents, and we wanted to find a place that would nurture her – rock her to sleep if need be, warm up my expressed breast milk and even be open to using our cloth diapers.

I punched our address into the magarderie.ca database, and the first one that came up was a 30-second walk from where we would be moving in a matter of weeks. The daycare provider, Sophie, had outlined her views on discipline, praise, healthy foods and the child-centred approach of Montessori. She was someone I felt I could get along with.

I phoned her and we talked for an hour, laughing and chatting and eventually deciding on a time to meet. She shared a great many of the values that my partner and I do. She was also highly educated, trained as a civil engineer.

Before we said goodbye, she added, “Oh, just so you know, I’m Muslim.”

I said I didn’t care, because I didn’t.

She assured me that her daycare didn’t teach religion. Cool.

But then she told me that when she’s in public, she covers her face.

She said the last time she didn’t warn a family over the phone that she wears the niqab, they walked into the meeting and then walked straight out.

I said I didn’t care, but when we got off the phone, I realized I did care. The first thing I thought was, “What if my daughter is afraid of her?”

My family drove over to meet Sophie, her husband and son.

She came to the door, dressed in black from head to toe.

It was the first time I had been in the same room as a woman wearing the niqab.

I felt nervous. But my daughter didn’t flinch.

The daycare was cozy; most of the toys were made of natural materials. There were lots of books, a reading corner and a birdwatching area. Books on Montessori activities lined the shelves. Nothing was battery-operated; there was no television.

It was perfect.

We spoke for a bit, all together in the room before Sophie’s husband put a hand on my fiancé’s back and they went downstairs to see the other half of the daycare. Once the guys left, Sophie took off the niqab.

I could feel my heart and my mind open at that very moment.

My daughter has been going to this daycare for more than two months now, and we are very happy with the care she is given.

When they are inside with the children, the daycare providers (the majority of whom are Muslim) are mostly dressed in plain clothes – jeans and a sweater, long hair pulled back in a loose ponytail. These women do not cover their faces in the presence of children, women or close family.

My daughter isn’t afraid of any of the women who take care of her, whether they have their faces covered or not. On the contrary, she reaches out to them for a hug every morning. To my daughter, the women who work at the daycare are simply the women who hold her when she’s sad, wipe blueberries off her face, clean her snotty nose and change her cloth diapers.

My daughter isn’t growing up with the same ideas about Muslim women that I did.

I’m glad she’s learning something in daycare.

So am I.

JENN HARDY is a freelance journalist and blogger who challenges mainstream parenting at mamanaturale.ca.

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/What+daughter+afraid/6190977/story.html#ixzz1nJoVJAJs

An-Sofie DeWinter Being Used by Her Father Filip DeWinter

This story comes to us via. Bob Pitt at Islamophobia-Watch who writes:

“You can see why the Mail is so keen on this story. It offers the opportunity to scaremonger about a (so far non-existent) “Muslim backlash” while at the same time publishing a picture of a woman in a bikini.”

Belgian politician risks Muslim backlash after using teenage daughter dressed in burka and bikini for campaign against Islam

by Rick Dewsbury (DailyMail)

A Belgian politician has risked causing uproar among Muslims after starting a ‘Women Against Islamization’ campaign featuring his 19-year-old daughter wearing a burka and a bikini.

Filip Dewinter, leader of the far-right Vlaams Belang party, uses a shot of his daughter An-Sofie Dewinter in the dark blue bikini for the political campaign.

The glamorous teenager dons a burka that covers her head and face, while the rest of the Muslim garment is draped over her back.

The provocative image is likely to inflame tensions among Islamic groups and nationalists in the racially-divided country.

The poster shows the words ‘Freedom or Islam?’ written on a red bar across Ms Dewinter’s breasts.

Further down the poster a black panel with the words ‘You choose!’ is seen covering the teenager’s crotch.

The extremist Vlaams Belang party claims that it wants to convince women to take a stand against Islam.

Ms Dewinter told the Belgian press she does not feel used by the party.

She said: ‘I’ve suggested (the poster) myself, I have learned to live with it but I have had everything up to death threats made at me.’

She said that she ‘ wanted to make this statement.’

She added: ‘What is the greatest contrast with a niqab? Nude.

‘The campaign fits in perfectly with how I feel about the whole issue . As women, we must choose: freedom or Islam.’

The teenager claimed that she had been threatened by Muslim groups

She added: ‘Death threats and criticism no longer scare me off.’

Her father, the party’s leader, said: ‘Women are always the first victims of Islam. We want to make clear that they have a choice.’

The potentially incendiary poster comes after The Islamic fundamentalist group Shariah4Belgium was slammed for its aggressive stance.

The group opened the country’s first Sharia court, a putting it on a collision course with the country’s nationalists.