Birmingham College Bans Muslim Veils

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A college has been accused of discrimination after it banned Muslim students from wearing religious veils.

Birmingham Metropolitan College ordered all students, staff and visitors to remove any face coverings so individuals are "easily identifiable at all times".

The move led to claims that Muslim students were being discriminated against after women were told they could not wear the niqab, a veil that leaves only a slot for the eyes.

The disclosure comes as proposals to ban face coverings in public places are being debated in Parliament.

A private members bill proposed by Philip Hollobone, the Conservative MP for Kettering, would make it an offence for someone to wear “a garment or other object” intended primarily to obscure their face, in public. » | Edward Malnick | Tuesday, September 10, 2013

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The Veil as Resistance: Muslim Women and Social Change

Anti-Dhimmitude! France to Ban Veil Says Nicolas Sarkozy
THE TELEGRAPH: Nicolas Sarkozy has said that France will ban the full Muslim veil.

The move would protect the dignity of women, the president added.

“The full veil is contrary to the dignity of women,” he said. “The response is to ban it. The Government will table a draft law prohibiting it.” >>> | Thursday, March 25, 2010

For Pakistani Women, Dupattas Are More Than a Fashion Statement
LOS ANGELES TIMES: The long scarves that many wear with traditional shalwar kameez outfits are laden with religious and cultural significance. For some it's a sign of Islamic modesty, for others a cumbersome relic.

A Pakistani woman in Islamabad adjusts her dupatta. The scarf has served as protest symbol, political must-have and, for some, a burden imposed by Islamic fundamentalists. Photograph: Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Karachi, Pakistan - Seeking a competitive edge, fabric designer Vaneeza Ahmad spent hours on the phone to China but couldn't find anyone to make her new line of dupattas, the omnipresent scarves that Pakistani women drape over their arms, head, chest.

China may be the world's factory floor, but its scarf makers aren't equipped for something that can be more than 8 feet long. Ahmad fretted, until, after much wrangling, she found a solution.

"I've located a curtain maker who could do it," she said triumphantly. "They've got the only machines big enough to handle our dupattas."

Essence of femininity, grist for film and literature, political statement, cultural icon, albatross, these few ounces of cotton or silk fabric have woven their way across Pakistan's shoulders, history and fashion runways, morphing from protest symbol to political must-have to sometimes-burdensome accessory demanded by Islamic fundamentalists.

The South Asian dupatta, which lies somewhere between its religious cousins -- the shorter head scarf popular in Turkey and Indonesia and the take-no-prisoners niqab and abaya worn in Saudi Arabia -- is such a fixture of Pakistani culture that many women here say they feel naked without one.

And while it may grow longer or shorter, wider or narrower, plainer or more extravagant with fashion's whims, it's a long-standing fixture in this conservative Islamic country, with a role in bolstering izzat, or modesty and respect. Nearly all Pakistani women wear a dupatta, at least occasionally. >>> Mark Magnier | Tuesday, February 23, 2010

German Killer of Muslim 'Veil Martyr' Jailed for Life
THE TELEGRAPH: Alex Wiens, a German who stabbed a pregnant Egyptian woman, Marwa El-Sherbiny, to death in a courtroom in front of her husband and three-year old son, has been jailed for life for her murder.

The case of Alex Wiens, 28, who has admitted holding anti-Islamic and xenophobic views, shocked Germany and incensed the Muslim world, sparking protests from Egypt to Iran.

Security was exceptionally high for the trial, with 200 police officers and snipers securing the court in Dresden, the east German city where the killing took place in July.

Wiens, of Russian origin, was convicted of murdering Marwa El-Sherbiny, whom he stabbed 16 times with a kitchen knife, and given the maximum penalty. He also stabbed her husband Elwy Okaz, who was trying to defend her.

Their son, Mustafa, watched as his mother bled to death in the courtroom.

Mrs El-Sherbiny came to be knwon [sic] as the "veil martyr" as she was wearing a headscarf when Wiens murdered her.

Wiens was shielded by bulletproof glass, his head covered by a hood, his eyes hidden behind dark glasses, and his ankles shackled as the verdict and sentencing were read. >>> | Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Anti-dhimmitude: School Bans Muslim Mother from Parents' Evening for Wearing Veil
MAIL ONLINE: A mother was barred from a parents' evening at her child's school because she was wearing a veil.

The mother-of-one arrived at the function wearing a full veil which covers every part of the body except the eyes.

But she was turned away on health, safety and security grounds after the headteacher said visitors' faces should be visible at all times.

The woman, who is a former pupil of the school, is furious with her treatment and says her religion should not affect her access to the Catholic school.

The incident happened in Blackburn, Lancs, which was at the centre of controversy three years ago when Jack Straw MP angered Muslim groups by suggesting women who wear veils over their face can make community relations harder.

The former foreign secretary branded the veil as a 'visible statement of separation and of difference' in 2006.

The move caused fury among Muslim groups who condemned Mr Straw and accused him of discrimination.

The latest incident is set to reignite the row over the right to wear whatever clothing the religious believer chooses. >>> By Jaya Narain | Friday, April 3, 2009

Cherie Not So Cheerful about the Niqab
THE TELEGRAPH: Cherie Blair has questioned whether the full-face veil restricted Muslim women from being "people in their own right".

The wife of the former Prime Minister said full veils, such as the niqab or burqa, could prevent a woman from expressing her personality.

Mrs Blair told Radio Four's Today programme: "I think we can get very hung up about women's clothes. The question is whether we honour people's religious beliefs or not. I am happy to honour people's religious beliefs, provided they are freely undertaken.

"Women covering their heads, women dressing modestly, I have no problem with at all. I think, however, that if you get to a stage where a woman is not able to express her personality because you can't see her face, then you do start to have to ask whether this is something that is actually acknowledging the woman's right to be a person in her own right." Cherie Blair: my doubts about the Muslim veil (more) By Laura Clout