Netherlands: Burka ban might popularize it, warns Muslim politician

Via JPost:

It’s easy to see why Fatima Elatik dislikes burkas. The Islamist cloak of female chastity is in stark contrast to everything this young and charismatic Dutch-Muslim politician represents. She nonetheless adamantly opposes the new initiative to ban the garment, which the Dutch cabinet announced Friday.

“I’m no fan of the burka, but currently there are about 100 women who wear it in this country. Banning it might make it more popular,” says Elatik, an Amsterdam-born practicing Muslim of Moroccan descent.

Three years ago Elatik, 39, became district mayor of East Amsterdam, and one of the best-known faces of the Dutch Labor Party.

(source)

Netherlands: Police don’t intend to enforce burqa ban

Via RNW:

Once the burqa ban passed by the Dutch conservative coalition on Friday is approved by parliament, police will be obliged to enforce it, Security and Justice Minister Yvo Opstelten stresses.

“The minister expects police to enforce the ban in accordance with the law”, Mr Opstelten’s spokesperson emphasised. The statement comes in response to criticism voiced by the National Police Union and the central works council of the national police force that is currently being set up.

The chair of the police works council, Frank Giltay, had said there is no need for a burqa ban, which, he added, is unlikely to have any practical benefits. Burqas, he underlined, do not pose a threat to public security. He criticised the ban as a “symbolic policy”.

(source)

Netherlands: Satirist drops burqa song after death threats

Via RNW:

Dutch satirist Johan Vlemmix has decided not to perform his latest hit Do the Burqa onstage following death threats.

The song, a carnival parody to the music of Van McCoy’s Do the Hustle, is a huge success on YouTube, so much so that the video provider has switched off the comments facility. Too many people were posting angry reactions saying that they had been insulted.

The images show a woman wearing a T-shirt which can be instantly converted into a burqa, be it one that does not cover the breasts.

(source)

Surrey: girl attacked for wearing headscarf

Via the BBC (h/t Islamophobia Watch):

A race attack in Surrey on an 11-year-old girl will be the focus of community talks in Sunbury-on-Thames.

The girl was attacked by older white girls who kicked her, pushed her to the ground and drew on her face.

Surrey Police said it seemed the girl had been targeted on 11 January because she was wearing a headscarf.

(source)

Netherlands: PM says headscarves are not a symbol of oppression

Via RNW:

In a weekly meeting with the press, Prime Minister Mark Rutte has backed remarks made yesterday by Queen Beatrix that it is “nonsense” to say the Islamic headscarf is a symbol of women’s oppression.

(…)

Today, he added the queen’s comments were “completely right”. He said Mr Wilders’ comments on headscarves being a symbol of oppression were much too general, “There are lots of women who wear headscarves, they are not all oppressed.”

(source)

Netherlands: Majority Dutch think Queen should wear headscarf to mosque

Via De Telegraaf (Dutch):

Queen Beatrix wore a headscarf while visiting a mosque in Oman this week, as a sign of respect for local custom. The Party for Freedom (PVV) criticized her, saying she was supporting the oppression of women under Islam.

According to a Maurice de Hond poll, 79% of the Dutch think she acted properly. 20% think the Queen shouldn’t have worn a headscarf. 53% also think that Beatrix should wear a headscarf when visiting a mosque in the Netherlands. Among PVV voters, 47% think the Queen acted properly, 53% disagree.

58% of the poll respondents don’t think the headscarf is a symbol of the oppression of women. Among PVV voters, 77% do think so.

Sweden: Teachers free to ban Islamic veils

Via the Local:

Teachers in Swedish schools can, in certain situations, prohibit students from wearing Islamic veils that reveal only their eyes, the country’s school’s agency has ruled.

The ban covers clothing that could hinder interaction between students and teachers or which could pose a specific risk, such as in a laboratory.

However, a general ban on headscarves isn’t possible.

(source)

Denmark: Former abducted child threatened for acting Danish

Via BT (Danish, h/t uriasposten):

When she was 11, Nadia (now 17) had been abducted by her Palestinian father to Lebanon. Her Danish mother had turned to TV 2 for help and she featured on ‘The Abducted Children’ show. While in Lebanon she had been married off and had a child. She came back to Denmark with her husband about a year ago, and now she’s divorced.

She says it’s not easy becoming a normal Danish girl again. She’s had big problems with several things, in particular Arabs who oppose her removing her headscarf.

Nadia had gotten repeated threats after she took off her headscarf and began to look and act like a Danish girl again.

“I’ve gotten threats of beatings because of my piercing, because I go out and because I’ve taken my headscarf off,” says Nadia.

“For example, one time I was at a party, and several young Arabs came there and threatened to beat me. Luckily a friend of mine was there and said ‘just try’, and at the same time a police car came by, so nothing happened.”

Since she’s come home she’s been living in her hometown of Korsør.

Lyon: Muslim bride sues after order to remove veil

Via the Local:

A newly-wed Muslim couple are suing the mayor of Lyon after a local official insisted the bride remove her veil at the town hall wedding ceremony.

The bride, identified only as Nassima A., was asked to remove a veil which was covering her hair during her wedding ceremony at a town hall in Lyon in June.

“Nassima thought it was an order and did not think twice about removing her veil. She thought she had to do it to get married and took it off in front of everybody,” says her lawyer Gilles Devers in an interview with the French daily Liberation. He says she felt humuliated during the ceremony.

(source)

Netherlands/Abu Dhabi: Queen’s headscarf causes row

Via RNW:

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, who is in Abu Dhabi, wore a headscarf when she visited the Sheikh Zayed Mosque this morning out of respect for the customs, traditions and conventions of Islam, says Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal. The queen is on a two-day state visit to the United Arab Emirates.

“Not to have worn one during a visit to a mosque wasn’t an option. In that case, the invitation to visit to the mosque, one of the most important in the United Arab Emirates, would’ve had to have been refused,” explained Mr Rosenthal.

(source)