Dear Brothers in Islam,
I myself live in Australia and very much acquainted with the
Hijab-debate-going-now.
The complete event is greatly misunderstood by the muslim community here and
also outsider as they mixed up hijab with niqab. The question was all about
niqab which directly conflicts with Australian social security system as it
is an obstruction of face identification by security camera.
I myself wear Hijab and always found the non-muslim here greatly appreciating
it.
Ma'assalam,
Farjana.
--- On Sat, 2/7/09, sha...@yahoo.com sha...@yahoo.com wrote:
From: sha...@yahoo.com sha...@yahoo.com
Subject: Bismillah [IslamCity] Hijab ban in Australia
To: eGroup For Muslims Around The World islamcity@yahoogroups.com
Date: Saturday, February 7, 2009, 7:04 AM
Hijab ban in Australia
Please vote below, it takes 2 seconds
Do you support calls to ban hijabs, helmets and hoodies in shops?
Vote NO : http://www.news. com.au/heraldsun /poll/1,, 661-5037790, 00.html
Hume: No to hijab ban
HUME shopping centres have dismissed calls by a national retailers association
to ban women wearing hijabs or burqas in shops and banks.
The Queensland-based retail group said head and face coverings made it hard to
identify criminals.
Centro Properties Group corporate marketing manager Mitchell Brown said Centro,
which manages the Meadow Heights Shopping Centre, did not have any plans to
introduce a ban on traditional Muslim dress.
``We do not have any shopping centres where hijabs or burqas have presented
problems,’’ Mr Brown said.
Broadmeadows Shopping Centre manager Rosemary Kent said her centre ``did not
have any dress code restrictions in relation to these items of clothing’’.
Executive director of the retail association Scott Driscoll said the ban would
be in line with motorcycle riders removing their helmets when entering a bank
or shop.
Mr Driscoll said a new law was needed to ensure burqas, sunglasses, baseball
caps and hooded jumpers were all removed when entering shops.
Muslim Community Cooperative spokesman Nail Aykan said the proposed ban would
be absurd, and his Coburg-based group had never received complaints about the
hijab.
``Hypothetically, if someone in a hijab robbed a bank it’s not because of the
hijab but because the person is a criminal,’’Mr Aykan said.
He said about a third of Muslim women in Hume wore a hijab, which covers their
hair, and about one in a thousand women wore a niqab or burqa, which cover the
entire face.
Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria chairperson Sam Afra commended the
Victorian Government for rejecting the ban.
He said the suggestion was discriminatory.
http://leader- news.whereilive. com.au/news/ story/hume- no-to-hijab- ban/
Hijab row leads to death threats
THE Brisbane radio announcer who suggested the hijab be removed in banks and
shops has received death threats.
4BC announcer Michael Smith on Wednesday said wearing a face-covering such as
some Muslim women do posed a security risk because it made identification
difficult in the event of a crime.
Wearing a face-veil in certain places, such as shopping centres, was also
offensive and scared little children, he said.
In a recorded threat on the station website a caller says you're head is on a
plate (expletive beeped). You're going to be dead soon (expletive beeped),
racist bitch''.
Station general manager David McDonald today said most of the calls seemed to
emanate from Sydney and he said Smith's original comments had been taken out of
context.
This has been really blown out of total proportion,' ' Mr McDonald said.
There was never any racism in this at all. There was nothing about religion,
it was all about purely security and safety issues.''
Mr McDonald said Mr Smith's call was only to show the face, not to remove
headwear.
A lot of criminals have used this to sort of disguise themselves.' '
Mr Smith, an ex-policeman, was aware of the trauma robberies cause, Mr McDonald
said.
It was never about racism.
Complaints, both to official channels and those phoned in to the radio station,
were based on media interpretations of Mr Smith's comments rather than the
comments themselves, the general manager said.
That is extremely disappointing that it's been hijacked for other purposes..''
Mr McDonald said upset staff had been counselled and security stepped up.
On the station's website Mr Smith defends his comments.
It seems this country's media finds it difficult to talk sensibly about
certain topics,'' today's entry reads.
I've been branded a racist in writing by a major national television network
who should know better.
``How could anyone say that my comments were racist?''
Queensland police acknowledged that a complaint had been made by the radio
station and said it was under investigation.
http://www.news. com.au/perthnow/ story/0,21498, 24922112- 5005361,00.
html?from= public_rss
Look at these pigs trying to ban the hijab
