Showing posts with label muslims in europe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label muslims in europe. Show all posts

"Burka Ban" Approved by Spain Senate

, , , 8:01 PM | 0 comments

Spain's senate has narrowly passed the "burka ban" in public spaces, a topic that has united party lines. While, no, I am not in favor of the burka, I do find the fact that this is occupying such an exhaustive amount of public time ridiculous. Like I said before, there are a whole host of more substantive public policy agenda items that would be a better use of time to work towards female empowerment of migrant Muslim women.


Some of the text from the act that was approved reads as follows, taken from an article today in El País:

"El Senado insta al Gobierno a realizar las reformas legales y reglamentarias necesarias para prohibir el uso, en espacios públicos o acontecimientos públicos que no tengan una finalidad estrictamente religiosa, de vestimentas o accesorios en el atuendo que provoquen que el rostro quede completamente cubierto y dificulten así la identificación y la comunicación visual, al suponer esa práctica una discriminación contraria a la dignidad de las personas y lesionar la igualad real y efectiva de los hombres y las mujeres".

Rough translation: the Senate asks the government to make the legal reforms necessary to outlaw the use in public spaces that do not have a religious purpose, of clothing and accessories that cover the face completely or make it difficult to be identified or impede visual communication, assuming that this practice is a discrimination contrary to the dignity of people and to the fulfillment of true and effect equality between men and women.

Interestingly, I had found an earlier article in the Sunday edition of El País by Ferran Balsells entitled "El problema no es el burka", where the the reporter interviewed several people in Tarragona, Reus, El Vendrell, smaller cities of Cataluña. One of the stories caught my eye. The reporter interviewed a social worker in Reus named Sergi who has been giving Spanish classes to muslim women in the area for ten years now and who said that the the isolation of these women who use the burka doesn´t get solved by throwing out the cloth, so to speak.

He notes that teaching in the class is quite difficult, that there are some women who have been living in the region for 11 years and are still unable to recognize their names to fill out a document form. He says that the problem is that they do not know how to read even in their own language-a cultural, more than a religious problem. In class, they identify themselves by the silhouette of animals that have been assigned to them at the beginning of the course. He asks "what use will it be that these women come without the burka? What will it serve?"

Sergi asks a very interesting point...what is the end goal of the banning of the burka? It should be a starting point to address a great many challenges that migrant Muslim women face coming to Spain, many of whom come from North Africa. To give you some figures from the CIA World Fact Book, the female literacy rates are as follows: Morocco 40% (2004 est.), Algeria 60%, (2002 est.), Tunisia (65%), Libya (72%), Egypt (60%). The average gap in the difference between male literacy and female literacy rates in these five countries is more than a 20% gap. Among low-income women, this rate must be even higher. What are our priorities?

Unveiling Moderation

, , , 10:43 AM | 0 comments

I have been curiously following op-ed articles from Kuwaiti and Spanish newspaper journals to get a greater understanding of the debate on the wearing of the veil in Europe. My time abroad in the Middle East has led me to believe more in "live and let live" than to strict credence of "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" but render to Ceasar...


Nonetheless, what is quite apparent to me is that the debate has been extremely narrow, and each side seems to be ratcheting up their narrow-mindedness. European male, pale and stale political members seem to have a superficial obsession with the appearance of Muslim women immigrants...fixated on clothing rather than amplifying the political debate on how immigrant women can be offered better public services for employment, education and opportunities for intergenerational mobility of their children.

Secondly, the lack of presence of Muslim women in the debate itself, be it in consultation in these political dialogues or through interviews in the media and press, has been starkly absent.

The pre-ocupation with the millimeter-thick veil as the centerpoint of the entire debate on women's rights in the Muslim-migrant community symbolically demonstrates that although the lake might be wide, its actually quite shallow.

Lastly, lets not forget that this grabbing of the hijaab issue is a calculated move on the behalf of the wider anti-immigrant xenophobic agenda of many conservative parties in Europe. On the other hand, the aforementioned parties' opponents (often male, pale and stale themselves, but on the liberal end) often approach the topic naively, clouded by feelings of colonial guilt and an overall identity crisis on the dimensions of how to reconcile women's rights with the right to freedom of religion.

However, when 26-year old Mamel Marmouri became the first woman in Italy to be fined for wearing a burqa in public, my sympathies were truly tested-as soon as her husband opened his mouth. Her golden nugget of a sppouse, Ben Salah Braim, 36, was quoted as saying:

"I just don't know where we are going to get 500 euros to pay the fine. We thought as she was going to the mosque she was OK to wear the burka. We knew about the law and I know that (the law) is not against my religion but now Amel will have to stay indoors. I can't have other men looking at her. If the law says she can't wear one then she will have to stay inside night and day. There is nothing I can do".

These statements make things difficult for those of us more moderate on the issue about whether or not a woman can wear a burka or veil. Lots of politicians in Arab countries are piggybacking on the minaret and burka debates to denounce Europe for personal gain.

Libyan leader Qaddafi declared a jihad against Switzerland, a country that has irked him ever since his son was arrested for abusing a maid. The op-ed articles I heard from many Gulf newspapers were ludicrous and only served to fit the baffoonish, belligerent stereotype that the conservative political movement on immigration in Europe would like to set as the norm. Notions of Islam conquering Europe like an unstoppable wave (the topic of one op-ed in Kuwait, seriously). And I strongly believe that many countries, such as Saudi Arabia and even Kuwait, need to seriously examine how they treat DIVERSITY OF RELIGION in their own borders before they go ranting on the rights of others abroad.

I don't identify with either movement. So where is the space for those of us who would like to examine the question with understanding, tolerance and moderation among these two caricatures on the spectrum of political discourse? I was happy to read yesterday in an op-ed article from Al-Watan Daily a stance that I viewed more balanced, coming from Dr. Shamlan Yousef AlـEissa. I am putting the link to it here, but copying it below as well.

At an opportune time when civilized nations are seeking to spread the concept of peace and peaceful coexistence with each other, we find some of our own MPs are indulging in projecting a negative image in their dealings with each other. The Ummah Tenets Party''s Secretary General MP Mohammed Hayef had earlier announced a move concerning the stance of the GCC, Arab and Islamic parliaments in initiating action against France. One of the initiatives called for not signing any agreements with France simply because that country went ahead with its ban on the veil. The honorable MP has forgotten an important issue which is that the French measures were taken and applied to enable French citizens to enjoy their religious freedom which the Arabs cannot even dream of guaranteeing in their own countries of origin.

MPs belonging to the political Islamic school of thought know very well that it is better for a man to be a Muslim living in Paris, London and Washington than to be a Christian living in Kuwait, Riyadh or Sudan. Kuwaiti MPs always seem to be the last of the lot where speaking about religious or personal freedoms is concerned. MP Khalid AlـSultan, slammed the French position over wearing veils, and considered it as a downright restriction of personal freedoms while his comrades in Parliament enacted a law in 1980 that bans granting the Kuwaiti citizenship for our fellow Christians. Isn''t such a law a stain on the face of Kuwaiti democracy?

French measures have been initiated for several national and security reasons, mainly involving religion in the daily lives of citizens. France is generally a secular nation which rejects any kind of religious insignia in its schools and official institutions, and this resolution is applied to one and all ـ not just Muslims. The decision was taken purely for security reasons that are in no way related to religion.

Islam in France and other Western countries including the United States spreads rapidly due to the migration of Muslims to these countries in huge numbers. If Muslims, at any given point of time, harbored this feeling that they would be persecuted and unable to practice their religion freely in those counties, why would they leave their countries of origin to live in those countries in the first place?

Frankly, the interference of MPs in the internal issues of France and defending wearing the niqab is not surprising to us at all. It is not surprising despite the fact that niqab has nothing to do with religion as it is a dress code that has spread among the Muslim communities in the Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula and has even moved further to some Arab countries. The Grand Sheikh of AlـAzhar has banned wearing the niqab in AlـAzhar universities while the Egyptian education minister banned it in universities after which Tunisia also followed suit. It is only natural then, that our representatives are required to take action against some of our own Arab countries before going a step further and boycotting France.

Op-Ed Reaction to Khalil Ali Haider: "The Spaniards Do Not Want to Learn Arabic"

, , 8:23 PM | 3 comments

As a person teaching Spanish to some of the most diligent, interested Kuwaiti students of the language, I couldn't help but being intrigued by this op-ed. I agree with Mr. Khalil on many points. Spaniards are very lazy at learning languages, and can't seem to be bothered. Arabic, unfortunately, is just another victim to this. More critically, however, the Spaniards don't want to learn English either. Spain has one of the lowest rates of English fluency in the entire European Union. Its really a national embarrassment for me. To be honest with you, before promoting any other second language, English needs to be invested in heavily in Spain to bring the country's citizens to international standards regarding understanding of the English language, perhaps then we can focus on other foreign languages, such as the author writes, Arabic or Chinese.

Spain also has an integration problem. In comparison to other European countries, Spain has only recently had waves of migration into the country, and its immigrant population is still relatively new. How Spain is able to integrate the children of these first-generation citizens, will depend on how well Spain can educate its people on multiculturalism, tolerance for diversity and battling of racism--which is, unfortunately, notoriously horrible in Spain, as many national public embarrassments during several international sporting competitions can attest. For a long time, Spain was an immigrant-exporting country, and the people must never forget this fact in their discussion of integration and migration in the present day.

Now, regarding the promotion of the Arabic language, something that perhaps the promoters could learn from. Spain has what we might call soft or cultural diplomacy, in the form of El Instituto Cervantes, a center for Spanish cultural promotion and language abroad. They have offices all over the world. This is similiar to perhaps the British Council. Why not begin one focused on the Arabic language?

Last month, a Spanish citizen poured icy cold water on the Arab-Spanish cultural relations and at the same time offered it a beautiful rose. On Jan. 1, 2010 Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported that the local government in Andalusia Province's latest bill to teach the Arabic language as a second foreign language in educational institutions was met with strong oppositions.

The newspaper's correspondent Subaih Sadiq said that the bill aims at integrating Arab and Roman immigrants into the Spanish society. The concerned committee suggested allocating 25 million euro until 2013 to implement the proposal. The bill suggests teaching Arabic as a second foreign language in the Andalusia Province and urging educational institutions to open Arabic departments. 400 opponents commented on the bill through an electronic newspaper.

Some said that: "Teaching Arabic will not benefit them. The government should encourage studying Spanish instead." Others said: "We have always been studying English and French and now they want to teach us Arabic?" Others said: "There is no doubt that studying languages is important but what is the point of studying Arabic? All those who come to our country should study our language instead of teaching us their language." An extremist said: "I hope that Catholic rulers could be in power to dismiss them again."

Two days later, there were several calls to cancel the Official holiday of Granada on Jan. 2 which was the day when the last Arab kingdom in Andalusia fell in 1492. Granada celebrates the occasion at official and public levels. The Granada Society has announced that it would organize a celebration for dialogue among civilizations and against the fall of Granada as well as to honor the Gypsies, Jews and Arabs who were dismissed from Andalusia.

The Andalusia People's Society issued a statement in which it said: "We want to express our rejection of celebrating the fall of Granada and we call for cancelling this celebration and to replace it by June 26 as the National Day of Granada, which was the day when Maryana Beneida (1804-1831) was executed. Maryana was known for her opposition to oppression and autocracy in Madrid. (Al-Sharq Al-Awsat 3/1/2010).

If there was a proposal to teach the Chinese language in Spain, would the responses of Spanish authorities be the same? I don't know. Many schools in the US, and perhaps in Europe, encourage teaching Arabic. It is said that the annual salary of a translator working for the US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan is more than 180,000 US dollars. In the past we used to fear the Europeans who studied Arabic. Nowadays, the new generations in Europe have no interest in learning Arabic. (link here)

BBC: "France refuses a citizenship over full Islamic veil"

, , 7:59 AM | 0 comments

The French government has refused to grant citizenship to a foreign national on the grounds that he forced his wife to wear the full Islamic veil.

The man, whose current nationality was not given, needed citizenship to settle in the country with his French wife.

But Immigration Minister Eric Besson said this was being refused because he was depriving his wife of the liberty to come and go with her face uncovered.

Last week, a parliamentary committee proposed a partial ban on full veils.

It also recommended that anyone showing visible signs of "radical religious practice" be refused residence permits and citizenship. (link to article here)

'Integration'

In a statement, Mr Besson said he had signed a decree on Tuesday rejecting a man's citizenship application after it emerged that he had ordered his wife to cover herself with a head-to-toe veil.

"It became apparent during the regulation investigation and the prior interview that this person was compelling his wife to wear the all-covering veil, depriving her of the freedom to come and go with her face uncovered, and rejected the principles of secularism and equality between men and women," he said.

Later, the minister stressed that French law required anyone seeking naturalisation to demonstrate their desire for integration.

Mr Besson's decree has now been sent to Prime Minister Francois Fillon for approval.

The interior ministry says only 1,900 women wear full veils in France, home to Europe's biggest Muslim minority.

In 2008, a French court denied citizenship to a Moroccan woman on the grounds that her "radical" practice of Islam was incompatible with French values.

Al-Watan Daily"Egyptian liberal thinker banned from entering Kuwait" by Hussain Al-Qatari

, , , 11:49 AM | 4 comments

To the disappointment of Kuwait's liberal front, the Ministry of Interior has banned Egyptian liberal Islamist thinker Nasr Abu Zaid from entering Kuwait. As soon as he arrived at Kuwait International Airport on Tuesday evening, Abu Zaid was told that his visa was invalid and informed that he would be sent back to Egypt on a return flight the same night.

Abu Zaid had been invited by the Women's Cultural Social Society to give two lectures on Islam and democracy. Abu Zaid, who is known for his radical theories on Islam, has previously been accused of abandoning the Islamic faith, leaving in the mid 1990s for Europe, where he now lives.

The Ministry of Interior's decision to ban Abu Zaid from entering Kuwait appears to have been influenced by pressure from Islamist MPs, most of whom had adopted a negative stance against Interior Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Khaled Al-Sabah, whose no-confidence vote session in the parliament is due to be held today.

Talking to the press, Islamist MP Walid Al-Tabtabae said that it is surprising that a person like Abu Zaid was invited to Kuwait in the first place, questioning the intentions of whoever organized this event. "Kuwait does not need to import issues; these radical views on religion are alien to our society and are not welcome," he said.

MP Ali Al-Omair asserted that Kuwait is a land of faith, where religion figures hugely and thanked the Ministry of Interior (MoI) for its efforts, saying, "Such radical ideology has no place here in Kuwait.

Tribal MP Mohammad Al-Mutair said that a "blasphemous irreligious person like Abu Zaid is not welcome to enter Kuwait with his beliefs because it is damaging to our society," adding that religion is a red line that cannot be crossed in the name of freedom. (for full article click here)

BBC: "European Muslims prefer mixed areas - survey" by Rob Broomby

, 7:38 PM | 0 comments

Most of Europe's Muslims want to live in mixed communities, not segregated neighbourhoods, a new report says.

The work by the Open Society Institute (OSI), an independent think-tank, looked at the social integration of Muslims in 11 West European cities.

It calls for improved efforts to tackle discrimination.

Europe's Muslim population is expected to double by 2025 and could reach 40 million. But data on them is very limited, OSI says.

The report says religious discrimination remains a critical barrier to their participation in European society, and the situation has worsened in recent years.

The OSI says its aim is to promote tolerance and fairness. (for full article, click here)

Switzerland...

, 6:47 PM | 0 comments

the bastion of tolernance and human rights? really...?

ACLU on Guantanamo Discharged Prisoners

, , 6:44 PM | 0 comments

The American Civil Liberties Union has compiled a video of several different former Guantanamo inmates-all of whom entered without a real charge and left years later without a charge, still trying to piece together why this happened to them and now dealing with lost time from their lives and loved ones that they must now recuperate. Very powerful testimonies.


The Swiss about to Vote on Allowing Minarets in Their Cities

, , 6:22 PM | 0 comments

Here is an article by the BBC on mosques' efforts in Switzerland to work on a public relations campaign in preparation for an important vote that will decide whether to ban the construction of minarets or not. Switzlerland, where I used to live, is a curious place.


On one hand, you have international cities like Geneva that have a host of different peoples well-integrated and living more or less in social harmony (one-third of the population is foreign in this city).

On the other hand you have some conservative cantons where you still need a sword to vote in domestic politics, if I am not mistaken as one of my Swiss friends from Appenzell told me once, and where women did not get the right to vote until the 1990s.

As someone who has repeatedly been woken up from my nice Sunday late morning dozing by church bells, I do not see why minarets would cause such a calamity. In fact, it is utter hypocracy not to allow them. However, mind you, while Swiss political parties may disagree in their religious in/tolerance, one thing all Swiss have in common is their disdain for loud noises. I once got a dirty note from my land lady for beating eggs too loud and too early in the morning. You can potentially get fined for flushing your toilet after ten pm there. Minarets Kuwaiti-style, aka, with mega-blast mega-phones and broadcast sermons, I do not think would thus fly. Here is the article.

Muslims in many parts of Switzerland have invited the public into mosques - three weeks before a vote on whether to ban the construction of minarets.

Muslim organisations say they hope their open day will counter what they say are fears and prejudices. The conservative group that initiated the vote - the largest party in the Swiss parliament - says minarets are a symbol of Muslim political power. Opinion polls suggest the proposed ban will be rejected by voters. A Muslim community leader in Zurich, Tamir Hadjipolu, said the proposal - launched by the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP) - was "open discrimination".

Preaching to the converted?

Switzerland is home to 400,000 Muslims, who have about 200 places of worship. Only four have a minaret, local media say. The open day was held on Saturday in 12 cantons, including Geneva, Vaud and Freiburg. "We hope these meetings will build a dialogue and better understanding," said Hisham Maizar, a senior Muslim representative in eastern Switzerland.

The BBC's Imogen Foulkes, who visited a mosque in Zurich, says the many non-Muslims who came enjoyed themselves. But the debate is raging outside the building, our correspondent says, and the Muslims inside were likely to be preaching to the converted.

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