Religious Reactionaries
Nick Cohen writes in The Spectator about the sexualisation of young schoolgirls by religious reactionaries in the Muslim community.
https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2018/01/two-muslim-cultures-are-emerging-in-britain-2/
Two Muslim cultures are emerging in Britain
By Nick Cohen - The Spectator
Suppose you were a white supremacist who wanted to keep Muslim children down. Or suppose you were a Machiavellian middle-class parent, who wanted to handicap the competition your child would face when the race for university places began. In either case, you would be delighted by what is happening at St Stephen’s primary school in Newham.
Despite having an intake of poor children from Pakistani and African families, the head Neena Lall and chair of the governors Arif Qawi transformed it into one of the best state primaries in England. Now it is falling apart. Qawi resigned last week. Lall faces angry parents, mosque leaders, and activists whipped up by the clerical agitators in MEND, tonight. By all accounts she is in despair. She may bow to their demands to resign, or walk out of her own volition.
Qawi, a Muslim philanthropist, has been accused of being an ‘Islamophobe’. The dedicated teachers are now accused of being part of a plot to ostracise Muslims. MEND itself says that the ban imposed by this hardworking, little school in Upton Park suggests that ‘being Muslim and British are incompatible’.
Here’s what the monstrous school did. It wanted to ban girls under the age of eight from wearing the hijab. Most strains of Islam don’t force girls to cover up. Qawi studied the Koran with Ken Livingstone’s friend the reactionary Egyptian cleric, Yusuf al-Qaradawibefore rebelling against religious conservatism. He can beat any imam you chose to throw against him in theological argument without breaking into a sweat. For all his learning, however, the school’s policy had nothing to do with religion.
Five year-old girls in a hijab stood apart. Their gender identity, and the news they possessed some kind of dangerous allure (in the dirty minds of some of the men who would constrain them at least) were imposed while they were still little more than toddlers. The school is not anti-hijab. The deputy head has chosen to wear it in middle age. But, it argued, there was every difference between adult women making a decision of their own volition, and highly conservative religious authorities enforcing their dogmas on children. A girl who has no choice about sexual stereotyping is unlikely to grow up to sail through A-Levels and go on to a good job. St Stephen’s may be in the East End but it is just a few miles away from the wealth of central London and the City. The school was ambitious. It did not see why working-class girls should not aspire to work somewhere better than Aldi.
It thought, too, that the fasts of Ramadan were too much for children. They fell asleep or went into dizzy spells when they were meant to be studying. Its bans on the hijab and fasting on school premises were done to put the interests of the child first, as every saccharine-coated commentator on social affairs says schools must. But not, it seems, when the children are Muslim.
MEND and a local mosque went for the school. They tapped into a wave of religious reaction that is barely noticed in mainstream society. You should not view with equanimity the abandonment of a school. For it has been left on its own. Labour-controlled Newham Council found the choice between defending teachers and the education of children, and upsetting agitators and clerics who can shift block votes, no choice at all. A group of Labour councillors said that the ban would leave Muslims ‘victimised, intimidated and threatened when practicing their faith’. The Department for Education cannot be bothered to fight. They say that uniform is a matter for ‘individual schools,’ even though the case of St Stephen’s shows they are nothing of the sort.
I could go off on a rant about the sexist and racist double standards of British society. I could say that if a liberal Church of England school were forced to bend the knee to Christian fundamentalists we would never hear the end of it. But I would rather end with a warning than a philippic. People at the school I have spoken to are close to giving up. Like many liberal Muslims I know, they wonder what the point of all their efforts has been. No one will defend them when religious reactionaries come hammering at their door. With honourable exceptions, liberals and conservatives, Corbynites and Tories, back away or, more often, choose the side of clerics.
We are seeing the emergence of two Muslim cultures in Britain. Muslims who make a success of their lives are withdrawing now. They are learning the hard way that it is dangerous to try to help the communities they came from, educate children and fight misogyny. They know that, when they try, white society, which shouts #metoo and proclaims its opposition to every variety of prejudice, will leave them to swing in the wind.
As they back off, they leave behind an impoverished Muslim working class confined in its ghettos. Their isolation suits religious extremists well and, as I said at the beginning, it suits middle-class white society too. No smart girls from St Stephen’s will be challenging their children for jobs and university places. The education system will keep them down: out of sight and, most assuredly, out of mind.
Wear What You Want (27/04/17)
Journalist and writer Zineb El Rhazoui makes a fair point about women being able to wear what they want in different parts of the world.
nyti.ms/2nM9Khh
Wear What You're Told (14/03/17)
The Independent reported recently that Iran's morality police arrested and beat up a young 14-year-old girl for the crime of wearing 'ripped jeans' in public.
When some local authorities in France introduced a 'burkini' ban there were protests outside the French Embassy in London - 'Wear What You Want' was the protesters battle cry.
But so far at least there are no signs of similar protests being held in response to the heavy handed 'Wear What You're Told' religious police in Iran.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iran-morality-police-14-year-old-girl-teenage-ripped-jeans-sharia-guidance-patrols-womens-right-a7582206.html
Iranian morality police beat and detain 14-year-old girl 'for wearing ripped jeans'
‘I still carry the bruises sustained from their beatings on my face ... my ribs still hurt’
The ripped jeans worn by a 14-year-old girl detained by morality police in Iran
A 14-year-old girl has been beaten and detained for wearing ripped jeans in Iran in the latest incident of police brutality against women and girls.
Zahra*, who The Independent is not identifying for fear she may suffer reprisals, was celebrating her birthday with friends last week when a patrol of “morality police” pulled up.
The teenager said officers tried to force her and her friends into their car in the city of Shiraz, beating them when they resisted.
Photos of injuries suffered by a 14-year-old girl at the hands of morality police in Iran
The Huffington Post reported on the story of a 23-year old Australian woman, Zeynab Alshelh, who traveled all the way from Australia to protest about the 'burkina ban' in France.
In doing so Zeynab must have flown across a host of Islamic countries where conservative religious leaders (men with beards) lay down strict rules and dress codes instructing Muslim women on what they can and cannot wear.
In fact in some of these countries women would not be able to even visit the beach without the permission of a male relative, yet Zeynab's wrath is directed exclusively at France.
Now I don't agree with the 'burkini ban' in France anymore than I agree with the 'bikini ban' in Saudi Arabia, but I find it interesting that some Muslims only wish to protest about human rights in western secular countries - while turning a blind eye to what's going on elsewhere in the Islamic world.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/burkini-french-beach_us_57df960be4b04a1497b53f0e?
Burkini-Wearing Woman Gets Chased Off French Beach
Zeynab Alshelh donned a blue burkini and walked onto a beach in southeastern France. The 23-year-old medical student had crossed 10,000 miles, flying with her family from her home in Sydney, Australia, to Europe, to reach the sands of Villeneuve-Loubet.
Her journey, she said, had been fueled by just one goal: to stand in solidarity with local Muslims after dozens of resorts in the French riviera banned the burkini, a kind of full-body swimsuit, earlier this summer.
The burkini ban in Villeneuve-Loubet was overruled in August by the country’s top administrative court. But that, as footage of Alshelh’s time in the resort town shows, did not stop beachgoers from chasing her away and threatening her with police action.
“I just wanted to see it for myself. I just wanted to see what is going on here,” Alshelh told Channel 7, an Australian TV network that filmed her experience on the French beach. “Why is this happening? I wanted to speak to the girls that have gone through all this stuff. Hopefully [there’s something] we can do to help these girls just live a normal life.”
If I had been in London yesterday, I would have gone along to support the 'wear what you want' (WWYW) protest outside the French Embassy.
Because for me it's an issue about freedom of expression and despite the terrible Islamist atrocities in France recently this is a time for cool heads - not demonising Muslims.
But I have also been in touch with the organisers of the 'wear what you want' event to ask when and if they intend taking their protest to the Saudi and Iranian embassies - countries where women are unable to say, do or wear what they like, of course.
In the Islamic theocracy of Saudi Arabia a woman is not even allowed to go to the beach without a male escort, never mind wear what they like, yet women are permitted to operate vacuum cleaners and washing machines, but are prevented from driving a car or travelling on their own.
So I hope the WWYW campaign is not just another anti-western leftist campaign because that would be very sad and terribly hypocritical to boot.
Read the report below in The Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/25/protesters-throw-beach-party-protest-in-london-against-burkini-ban
Burkini ban protesters throw beach party at French embassy in London
Demonstrators sport burkinis and park deck chairs, lilos and makeshift sand outside French embassy
Burkini ban protesters stage beach party outside French embassy in London
By Alice Ross - The Guardian
Demonstrators have staged an impromptu beach party complete with sand, deck chairs and a lobster-shaped lilo outside the French embassy in London to protest against burkini bans that have become law in many French coastal towns and cities.
Under the bemused gaze of the embassy’s armed police officers, some protesters sported burkinis – swimsuits that cover the wearer’s whole body, including her hair – or swimsuits, while others threw beach balls at the lunchtime protest.
Shortly after midday, a van pulled up and deposited several sacks of sand, to the consternation of police officers. The 40 or so protesters set up deck chairs and brandished placards among a scrum of journalists.
A 14-year-old girl has been beaten and detained for wearing ripped jeans in Iran in the latest incident of police brutality against women and girls.
Zahra*, who The Independent is not identifying for fear she may suffer reprisals, was celebrating her birthday with friends last week when a patrol of “morality police” pulled up.
The teenager said officers tried to force her and her friends into their car in the city of Shiraz, beating them when they resisted.
Photos of injuries suffered by a 14-year-old girl at the hands of morality police in Iran
Bikinis and Burkinis (20/09/16)
The Huffington Post reported on the story of a 23-year old Australian woman, Zeynab Alshelh, who traveled all the way from Australia to protest about the 'burkina ban' in France.
In doing so Zeynab must have flown across a host of Islamic countries where conservative religious leaders (men with beards) lay down strict rules and dress codes instructing Muslim women on what they can and cannot wear.
In fact in some of these countries women would not be able to even visit the beach without the permission of a male relative, yet Zeynab's wrath is directed exclusively at France.
Now I don't agree with the 'burkini ban' in France anymore than I agree with the 'bikini ban' in Saudi Arabia, but I find it interesting that some Muslims only wish to protest about human rights in western secular countries - while turning a blind eye to what's going on elsewhere in the Islamic world.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/burkini-french-beach_us_57df960be4b04a1497b53f0e?
Burkini-Wearing Woman Gets Chased Off French Beach
Villeneuve-Loubet’s burkini ban has been overturned. But that didn’t stop beachgoers from threatening 23-year-old Zeynab Alshelh.
By Dominique Mosbergen - The Huffington Post
CHANNEL 7
By Dominique Mosbergen - The Huffington Post
CHANNEL 7
Zeynab Alshelh donned a blue burkini and walked onto a beach in southeastern France. The 23-year-old medical student had crossed 10,000 miles, flying with her family from her home in Sydney, Australia, to Europe, to reach the sands of Villeneuve-Loubet.
Her journey, she said, had been fueled by just one goal: to stand in solidarity with local Muslims after dozens of resorts in the French riviera banned the burkini, a kind of full-body swimsuit, earlier this summer.
The burkini ban in Villeneuve-Loubet was overruled in August by the country’s top administrative court. But that, as footage of Alshelh’s time in the resort town shows, did not stop beachgoers from chasing her away and threatening her with police action.
“I just wanted to see it for myself. I just wanted to see what is going on here,” Alshelh told Channel 7, an Australian TV network that filmed her experience on the French beach. “Why is this happening? I wanted to speak to the girls that have gone through all this stuff. Hopefully [there’s something] we can do to help these girls just live a normal life.”
France Is Not Alone (29/08/16)
If I had been in London yesterday, I would have gone along to support the 'wear what you want' (WWYW) protest outside the French Embassy.
Because for me it's an issue about freedom of expression and despite the terrible Islamist atrocities in France recently this is a time for cool heads - not demonising Muslims.
But I have also been in touch with the organisers of the 'wear what you want' event to ask when and if they intend taking their protest to the Saudi and Iranian embassies - countries where women are unable to say, do or wear what they like, of course.
In the Islamic theocracy of Saudi Arabia a woman is not even allowed to go to the beach without a male escort, never mind wear what they like, yet women are permitted to operate vacuum cleaners and washing machines, but are prevented from driving a car or travelling on their own.
So I hope the WWYW campaign is not just another anti-western leftist campaign because that would be very sad and terribly hypocritical to boot.
Read the report below in The Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/25/protesters-throw-beach-party-protest-in-london-against-burkini-ban
Burkini ban protesters throw beach party at French embassy in London
Demonstrators sport burkinis and park deck chairs, lilos and makeshift sand outside French embassy
Burkini ban protesters stage beach party outside French embassy in London
By Alice Ross - The Guardian
Demonstrators have staged an impromptu beach party complete with sand, deck chairs and a lobster-shaped lilo outside the French embassy in London to protest against burkini bans that have become law in many French coastal towns and cities.
Under the bemused gaze of the embassy’s armed police officers, some protesters sported burkinis – swimsuits that cover the wearer’s whole body, including her hair – or swimsuits, while others threw beach balls at the lunchtime protest.
Shortly after midday, a van pulled up and deposited several sacks of sand, to the consternation of police officers. The 40 or so protesters set up deck chairs and brandished placards among a scrum of journalists.
— CaoimheMc (@CaoimheMMC) August 25, 2016
'Aslef of Arabia' (29/12/11)
A number of readers have been in touch to ask where the 'We the Women' picture came from - to accompany the post about women drivers - dated 27 December 2011.
Well it comes from people campaigning in Saudi Arabia - against the ban on women driving cars and other motor vehicles - public or private.
According to the Saudi authorities it's against Islamic teaching that women should drive cars - never mind trains - it's against the law of the land.
Any women caught doing so - by the religious police - are liable to be severely punished.
But all hope is not lost - because people are fighting back - with courage, wit and humour.
By arguing that it's ridiculous and even anti-Islamic - to suggest that God somehow proclaimed that women can't drive.
'We the Women' is their campaign slogan.
And the campaigners think of all kinds of ways to illustrate how crazy it is - to ordain that women can use washing machines or mobile phone or computers - but not cars (or trains for that matter).
Some women have taken to dressing up in male clothes and wearing false moustaches - to ridicule the authorities - but as the law stand women still need a man to drive them around.
Apparently a father, brother, son - or just about any old male relative will do - which seems bizarre.
Now to look at the statistics on the number of women train drivers in this country - or the number of women members in Aslef - you'd be forgiven for thinking that God had made a similar proclamation in the UK.
But thankfully no one believes that kind of nonsense in this country.
So maybe 'We the Women' will catch on in the UK - maybe even deep in the bowels of the still male dominated parts of the UK trade union movement.
I for one hope so - anyway.
Well it comes from people campaigning in Saudi Arabia - against the ban on women driving cars and other motor vehicles - public or private.
According to the Saudi authorities it's against Islamic teaching that women should drive cars - never mind trains - it's against the law of the land.
Any women caught doing so - by the religious police - are liable to be severely punished.
But all hope is not lost - because people are fighting back - with courage, wit and humour.
By arguing that it's ridiculous and even anti-Islamic - to suggest that God somehow proclaimed that women can't drive.
'We the Women' is their campaign slogan.
And the campaigners think of all kinds of ways to illustrate how crazy it is - to ordain that women can use washing machines or mobile phone or computers - but not cars (or trains for that matter).
Some women have taken to dressing up in male clothes and wearing false moustaches - to ridicule the authorities - but as the law stand women still need a man to drive them around.
Apparently a father, brother, son - or just about any old male relative will do - which seems bizarre.
Now to look at the statistics on the number of women train drivers in this country - or the number of women members in Aslef - you'd be forgiven for thinking that God had made a similar proclamation in the UK.
But thankfully no one believes that kind of nonsense in this country.
So maybe 'We the Women' will catch on in the UK - maybe even deep in the bowels of the still male dominated parts of the UK trade union movement.
I for one hope so - anyway.
