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Here's what I wrote in response to this post on Redline: I absolutely support Marieme Helie Lucas comments about the cancelling of the atheist speaker in Canada. But the wearing of the veil as a statement of solidarity is a very different issue. Of course in places like Iran and Algeria women have been attacked and killed for not wearing the veil. It is important that the left does not confuse solidarity with Muslims with support for fundamentalism. But at the moment, the actual enemy of Muslims in Christchurch was a white nationalist killer who sees someone the wearing of a veil as a legitimate target for execution. The circumstances are very different so the symbolism of an action are also different. A woman I know who decided to wear the hijab for a day did her regular 15 minute duty outside the school gate 1km from the Linwood Muslim centre where some of the killings occurred. Within that 15 minutes, she was told at least six times to fuck off by passing drivers. No one on the staff is now under any illusions about the level of racist abuse Muslims, and particularly women, are subjected to on a daily basis. On the other hand, giving zakaat would be an invisible act of solidarity in terms of sending a message to the people whose white supremacist politics have given support to this killer. And of course, in a sense, people have done that too, because crowd sourcing pages have raised large amounts of money to support the survivors of the massacre. Ironically, I've just recently been engaged in an argument with a woman who also objected to the veil because, as a woman, she saw it as a mark of women's subservience and wanted to raise veiling as an campaign worth raising now. In my opinion it would actually divert attention from the solidarity issue into a campaign Islamophobes could feel comfortable in. I asked her if her solidarity with women forced to wear the veil would extend to supporting their right of return to her "home", from whence they had been expelled in 1948. I haven't heard from her since. We have to see the differences between our situation in New Zealand, where White Nationalism is the immediate threat and the situation of struggle in Muslim majority countries where Islamic fundamentalism is the threat. Different situation, different tactics. Cheers, John On Wed, Mar 27, 2019 at 4:44 PM Philip Ferguson via Marxism < [email protected]> wrote: > ******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ******************** > #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. > #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. > #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. > ***************************************************************** > > "New Zealand Prime Minister Ms Jacinda Ardern, followed by other officials > (and then by ordinary citizens as well) saw it fit to wear a so-called > Islamic head covering during their public functions. > > "We believe that there were many other symbols that could have been chosen > in order to comfort Muslim believers, than one which is contested the world > over by women of Muslim heritage, - believers and unbelievers alike. . . . > > full at: > > https://rdln.wordpress.com/2019/03/27/open-letter-from-algerian-woman-activist-on-the-wearing-headscarves/ > _________________________________________________________ > Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm > Set your options at: > https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/johnedmundson4%40gmail.com > -- The law locks up the man or woman Who steals the goose from off the common But leaves the greater villain loose Who steals the common from the goose _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
