Kuwaiti Women Allowed To Enlist In Military in Combat Roles For First Time
New
Age Islam News Bureau
13
October 2021
• 97 Women Win Seats in Iraqi Upcoming Parliament
•
Now, 200 Women To Manage Saudi Arabia’s Two Holy Mosques
•
Girls and Teachers Have Urged the Taliban to Reopen Schools for Girls and Young
Women
•
Al-Azhar Chief Urges Taliban to Let Women Have Access to Education
•
French Captain to File Suit Over 2018 Capture of Dubai Princess, Latifa, Case
to 'Also be Against India'
•
Under Years of Taliban Rule, Women Nurses Work Alongside Men at Tangi Saidan in
Wardak Province
•
American Feminism Doesn’t Include Muslim Women – And Especially Not Their
Hijabs
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/kuwaiti-women-combat-military/d/125568
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Kuwaiti Women Allowed To Enlist In Military In Combat Roles For First Time
October
12, 2021
Photo
courtesy: BreezyScroll/ Years of long
wait have come to end. Kuwaiti women can now serve in the military in combat
roles.
-----
KUWAIT
— Kuwait's Defence Minister Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali Al-Sabah, who is also the
country's deputy prime minister, on Tuesday issued a decision, for the first
time in Kuwait, to allow female citizens to join the military in combat roles.
Kuwaiti
women will be allowed to enlist in the military in combat roles after years of
having been restricted to civilian roles, the army said on Tuesday.
The
decision issued by the Minister to open the doors for Kuwaiti women to join the
military services as non-commissioned, specialty officers and individual officers.
The
decision is currently limited to the field of medical and military services.
The
door had been opened for women to join various combat ranks, including as
officers, the Kuwait Armed Forces tweeted.
"The
time has come for Kuwaiti women to be given the opportunity to enter the
Kuwaiti military side by side with their brothers," the minister said in
remarks carried by state news agency KUNA.
He
expressed confidence in women's "capabilities... and their ability to
endure hardship".
Kuwaiti
women earned the right to vote in 2005 and have been active both in Cabinet and
parliament — though they did not gain any seats in the current parliament.
Source:
Saudi Gazette
--------
97
women win seats in Iraqi upcoming parliament
October
12, 2021
BAGHDAD
— The preliminary results of Iraq's early parliamentary elections showed that
up to 97 women won seats in the upcoming parliament.
According
to the Iraqi constitution, women are guaranteed no less than 25 percent of the
329 seats in parliament to ensure women's representation in all decision-making
bodies.
"The
success of women in reaching the new parliament is a natural result of the
efforts of those women who showed courage and determination to participate
actively, and their experience today is a victory for Iraqi women and a source
of pride for all," Yusra Mohsin, head of the Empowering Women Office at
the General Secretariat for the Council of Ministers, said in a statement.
According
to an analysis of the preliminary results, there are 14 seats more than the set
quota (83 seats) for women, including winners for minorities, Mohsin was quoted
as saying.
"The
real message of the women winners is not only to join the parliament, but to
participate in various stages of the political process and decision-making, in
addition to struggling for women's rights," the statement read.
On
Monday, the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) announced the
preliminary results of early parliamentary elections, with the Sadrist Movement
led by the Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the lead with more than 70 seats,
according to local media counts.
Furthermore,
the political alliance known as Taqaddum, or Progress, headed by the outgoing
parliament speaker Mohammed Al-Halbousi, won about 40 seats in Baghdad and
other Sunni provinces.
The
Iraqi parliamentary elections, originally scheduled for 2022, were held in
advance in response to months of protests against corruption, poor governance,
and a lack of public services.
In
Sunday's polls, 3,249 candidates competed individually and within 167 parties
and coalitions to win 329 seats in the upcoming parliament. — Agencies
Source:
Saudi Gazette
https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/612108/World/97-women-win-seats-in-Iraqi-upcoming-parliament
--------
Now,
200 women to manage Saudi Arabia’s two Holy Mosques
12th
October 2021
Riyadh:
In yet another progressive and historic move, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has
employed more than 200 hundred women for the administration of the Two Holy
Mosques. The General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques said
the move was carried out to promote female presence in Saudi society.
Dr
Abdulrahman Al-Sudais, Imam of the Grand Mosque in Makkah and president of the
general presidency, met with locals and spoke about women’s roles and
involvement in managing the mosques’ affairs. He said, “In the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia, women have a clear path, and thus, we have granted our sisters, who
hold doctorates and master’s degrees, an opportunity,” according to an Arab
News report.
Al-Sudais
stated, “We stand by our leaders to support the Saudi Vision 2030 to empower
women and encourage the youth. Women have achieved massive success at the
presidency that should be praised and highlighted by the media.”
MS
Education Academy
Saudi
Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman plans to change economic and social
rules as part of his vision 2030 plan to diversify the country’s economy.
The
Grand Mosque’s Imam in Makkah asserted women have played a historical role in
the establishment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. “Today, the Kingdom is
committed through its vision 2030 to empower women in line with our Islamic
values and our national identity,” he added.
In
August, Al-Sudais appointed Dr Al-Anoud Al-Aboud and Dr Fatima Al-Rashoud as
assistants to his office in addition to other senior positions within the
organization.
Source:
Siasat Daily
--------
Girls
and Teachers Have Urged the Taliban to Reopen Schools for Girls and Young Women
Oct
13, 2021
KABUL:
Girls and teachers have urged the Taliban to reopen schools for girls and young
women.
Schools
for girls have been closed for about two months after the Taliban takeover.
Only three provinces in Afghanistan-- Balkh, Kunduz and Sar-i- Pul-- have
reopened schools for girls.
Madina,
a 12th-grade student of a school in Kabul wished for schools to reopen in the
capital city and other provinces too.
"I
am optimistic about reopening schools in some provinces. We wish that schools
will be opened in Kabul and other provinces. As the winter is coming and the
weather is getting cold and facilities are very limited in public schools, so
then we can't study," she said.
Ashoqullah,
who is a schoolteacher, said that girls have the right to education and schools
must be reopened immediately.
"Girls
also have the right to education and the schools must be immediately opened. A
big section of society, which is women, should not be affected,"
Ashoqullah said.
Earlier
on Monday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the
Taliban has broken all the promises made to Afghan women and girls.
"I
am alarmed to see promises made to Afghan women and girls by the Taliban being
broken," Guterres said.
He
further appealed to the Taliban to keep their promises under the international
human rights law.
"I
strongly appeal to the Taliban to keep their promises to women and girls and
their obligations under international human rights law."
Source:
The Times of India
--------
Al-Azhar
Chief Urges Taliban to Let Women Have Access to Education
October
13, 2021
“Islam
liberated women from ignorant customs that robbed them of their rights and saw
them as imperfect human beings that lack free will,” Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb said
in a Tuesday post on Twitter on the occasion of the International Day of the
Girl Child.
“On
the ‘International Day of the Girl Child’, we call for all necessary measures
to guarantee girls and young women their Islamically protected rights to
education and dignity,” he added.
The
message came amid reports that the Taliban have restricted women and girls’
access to education in the new school year in Afghanistan.
On
Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also appealed to the Taliban to
stop breaking their promises to allow women to work and girls to have access to
education.
Guterres
pointed to promises by the Taliban since the takeover to protect the rights of
women, children, minority communities and former government employees –
especially the possibility of women working and girls being able to get the
same education as boys.
“I
am particularly alarmed to see promises made to Afghan women and girls by the
Taliban being broken,” he said, stressing that “their ability to learn, work,
own assets, and to live with rights and dignity will define progress.”
The
Taliban overran most of Afghanistan as US and NATO forces were in the final
stages of their chaotic withdrawal from the country after 20 years. They
entered the capital, Kabul, on Aug. 15 without any resistance from the Afghan
army or the country’s president, Ashraf Ghani, who fled.
Source:
Iqna
https://iqna.ir/en/news/3476020/al-azhar-chief-urges-taliban-to-let-women-have-access-to-education
--------
French
Captain to File Suit Over 2018 Capture of Dubai Princess, Latifa, Case to 'Also
be Against India'
Ashis
Ray
October
13, 2021
London:
Herve Jaubert is a former French naval intelligence officer who captained the
US-registered yacht, Nostromo, on which Princess Latifa, daughter of Dubai
ruler Sheikh Mohammed, was attempting to escape from her father’s clutches in
February-March 2018. A London high court judgment in December 2019 ruled that
she was thwarted by Indian armed forces in international waters in the Arabian
Sea at Mohammed’s instigation.
“The
description of the way in which Latifa was treated by the Indian security
services and also, once the Arabic man [her father’s agent] had identified her,
does not give any indication that this was a ‘rescue’ [Mohammed’s argument]
rather than a ‘capture’,” was the court’s verdict.
Jaubert
is now planning to file a suit against the United Arab Emirates – Dubai being
an emirate of the UAE – in a United States court. This was corroborated by his
London-based lawyer Radha Sterling, who added: “I want to ensure things like
this cannot happen – that the UAE does not feel emboldened to do whatever they
want, wherever they want.”
Jaubert
has dual nationality: he is a citizen of the US as well as France. His action
could be lodged in two other jurisdictions, which he would not disclose. In an
interview to The Wire, he warned the case will also be “against India”. Latifa,
he asserted, had a valid visa to visit India at the time she was captured by
Indian commandos and handed over to the UAE authorities. She had intended to
apply for asylum in the United States upon reaching India.
Also
read: Before Indian Soldiers Captured Dubai Princess on High Seas, UAE Zeroed
in on Her Friends’ Numbers
Jaubert’s
plan to initiate legal proceedings follows a July 2021 report in the American
newspaper USA Today, which said it learned that the American Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) had “helped locate the princess (in the Arabian Sea)” in
response to “an urgent plea from Sheikh Mohammed’s office.”
The
publication wrote: “USA TODAY’s sources said they believe the FBI was misled
about her circumstances aboard the yacht. The Dubai government claimed the
princess had been kidnapped and needed emergency aid to secure her release,
according to multiple people familiar with the FBI’s role in the highly
sensitive operation. That prompted FBI agents to obtain geolocation data from
the yacht’s internet provider and supply it to Dubai officials.”
It
continued: “In doing that, the agents may have violated FBI protocols, legal
experts said; (that is) if they obtained the data without subpoenaing the
provider, as normally would be required.” It then emphasised: “Without the
FBI’s assistance, Princess Latifa might never have been found during her
escape.” The paper detailed that “one person with direct knowledge of the operation”
said “the FBI truly believed this was a kidnapping case and the US was saving
the day”.
Latifa,
contrary to Jaubert’s instructions to observe a communication blackout, “sent
at least one email, probably several, from a private Yahoo account, using the
yacht’s satellite internet provider, which left a footprint disclosing her
location”, USA Today pieced together. “Sheikh Mohammed’s office contacted an
FBI agent stationed in the US consulate in Dubai. The agent was told Mohammed’s
daughter had been kidnapped and there was a ransom demand…Mohammed’s office
asked the FBI agent for emergency help to determine when and where email
accounts used by Latifa were last checked,” it recounted.
It
furthermore set out: “The agent immediately called FBI headquarters in
Washington but was not given clear instructions on how to proceed.” However:
“The FBI agent in Dubai contacted Nostromo’s satellite company directly. The
agent was told a subpoena was required, but the request was elevated, and the
company agreed to release the information after the agent insisted it was an
emergency situation involving a hostage who was the daughter of the leader of a
close US ally in the Middle East, according to people familiar with the
operation.”
Norms
given go by and Modi’s ‘role’
USA
Today reported that contract documents revealed that the Nostromo’s internet
provider at the time of the raid by Indian naval troops was a US-based company
named KVH Industries. A former FBI assistant director, Tom Fuentes, told the
daily that formal subpoenas generally follow the emergency requests. “I don’t
know of any internet provider who would provide it (the data) without some kind
of paperwork,” he was quoted as remarking.
His
view was that a request such as the one from Dubai would have “raised red
flags”. Senior FBI and US State Department officials in Washington along with
the US ambassador in the country would need “to determine whether it would be
appropriate to provide the assistance requested and to consider whether we (the
US government) are being used for a bad purpose”.
Another
erstwhile US intelligence officer is said to have stated: “The Emiratis have a
tremendous capability themselves. It’s unusual they would have gone to the US
for help in the first place.”
A
spokesperson for Barbara Leaf, who was the US ambassador to the UAE at the
time, told USA Today she had no knowledge of any FBI involvement in Sheikh
Mohammed’s efforts to locate Latifa. Leaf is now the US assistant secretary of
state for Near Eastern Affairs.
The
FBI’s National Press Office was emailed for a reaction. It replied: “The FBI
has no comment.”
Whether
the FBI aided the UAE with Nostromo’s location or the UAE tracked down the boat
on its own, there is no confusion about what followed. Information about the
boat was forwarded to India, which then proceeded to intercept the vessel in
international waters. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
in an ‘Opinion’ published in March 2021 underscored what happened in no
uncertain terms:
“The
detainee (Latifa) was extradited by the Indian forces, which had intercepted
her yacht in international waters off the coast of Goa in March 2018, after the
Prime Minister of India had made a personal telephone call to the Prime
Minister of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of the Emirate of Dubai (Sheikh
Mohammed).”
It
appears to be in black and white that on March 3, 2018, the UAE requested
Interpol to issue a Red Notice arrest warrant in the name of a crew member of
the Nostromo. The charge against him was “kidnapping”. The “summary of facts of
the case” said “the French national ELOMBO Christian Alain kidnapped a United
Arab Emirates woman, with the complicity of the United States national JAUBERT
Herve Gean Pierre and the Finnish national JAUHIAINEN Tiina Johanna (Latifa’s
friend accompanying her in the getaway)”. The UAE is notorious for making false
and frivolous complaints to Interpol. For Modi to have rung Mohammed – as
outlined by the UNWGAD – is troubling. It is not clear what due diligence, if
any, the Indian side undertook before Modi reached out to the Dubai ruler.
Escape
and capture
On
February 24, 2018, Latifa reportedly boarded the Nostromo, a 100-ton yacht, off
Oman, having driven there from Dubai. Six days after setting sail, USA TODAY
maintained, “Jaubert noticed another vessel trailing their route a few miles
behind.” Also that an Indian “coast guard spotter plane from the Indian
mainland made several observational flights over the boat”. The yacht’s last
known position on March 4, 2018 was about 50 miles off the coast of Goa.
Jaubert
doesn’t mince his words: “On March 4, Indian coastguards attacked.” Asked what
exactly they did, he replied:
“They
stopped the boat with speedboats and commandos, without warning. You have to
understand, they acted illegally and out of the protocols of maritime law. We
were in international waters. If they had a reason, they would have to contact
us by radio, ask us to stop to request boarding. They would have to notify the
US embassy. They didn’t do any of that. They were like terrorists, not
coastguards. After the attack unfolded, we were not fighting back, we were not
resisting and yet they beat us for an hour or an hour and a half. I lost
consciousness. They threw my crew overboard head first into the sea. Why did
they do that?”
He
identified the attackers as “Indian MARCOS, elite commandos of the Indian
Navy”, adding, “They had the Indian Air Force as cover. It was a massive
operation, like wartime. Only the highest officer in India could have ordered
such an operation.”
Asked
how he knew the men were from the navy and not the coastguards, he responded:
“I looked at their weapons. I am familiar with foreign military. I later
checked and established the MARCOS had such weapons, not the coastguards. But
they didn’t behave like commandos. I have been a commando myself. To beat up
and torture people who are restrained is not done. Everybody on board (the
Nostromo) had a valid Indian visa.”
Also
read: Indian Action Under the Scanner as UN Special Rapporteur Probes Fate of
Dubai Princess
He
mentioned there were three crew members in addition to Latifa, Jauhiainen and
himself on the yacht. The two women were in a cabin below. “The two ladies were
forced upstairs, then they put them on the floor, restrained them on the deck.
Latifa was screaming all the way, saying she didn’t want to go back to Dubai.
She was seeking asylum, she was in international waters on an American boat,
but that didn’t stop the MARCOS. They took her out of the boat. They took her
away from the rest of us, they took her on a speedboat.”
Asked
if they took her to Goa, he answered: “No. They flew her to Mumbai. They told
me. They took her on a helicopter. Then she was flown on a private jet to
Dubai.”
“Shoot
me here! Don’t take me back (to Dubai)!” Latifa is said to have screamed when
the Indian forces stormed the yacht in the darkness of night and captured her.
Before
this happened, Latifa desperately contacted Sterling, who later recorded: “I
received a shattering call from Princess Latifa in the midst of an unprecedented
attack on a US yacht.”
There
followed a WhatsApp exchange between them:
Latifa
at 19:24 CET (Central European Time or 23:54 Indian Standard Time) –
“Please
Help
Please
please there’s men outside I don’t know what’s happening”
Sterling
at 19:25 CET (23:55 IST) –
“Record
Send
WhatApp voice messages”
Sterling
at 19:27 CET (23:57 IST) –
“Record
what you can and send”
Sterling
at 19:28 CET (23:58 IST) –
“Are
you on a boat?
Did
you go to land?”
Sterling
at 19:31 CET (00:01 IST)
“Are
guns still firing?”
Sterling
at 19:33 CET (00:03 IST)
“Can
you send video?”
Sterling
at 20:01 CET (00:31 IST)
“Call
as soon as you can
Or
I will have to alert police.”
According
to Sterling, Latifa “swung into action and tried to record messages, but
communications were abruptly stopped. Both Captain Herve Jaubert and Princess
Latifa were cut off.”
Jaubert
said he saw, “three frigates” come alongside the Nostromo to corner it. He
identified two of these as Samarth and Samar of the Indian coastguards, with
naval helicopters on their landing pads. But he could not name any of the
commandos, since, he pleaded, none was wearing a lapel on their uniform.
After
Latifa was taken away, Jaubert maintained, Emirati troops mounted the yacht. It
was then towed away by a naval ship to Dubai, where he, Jauhiainen and the
crewmen were imprisoned for 12 days before being released.
Article
3 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea stipulates: “Every
State has the right to establish the breadth of its territorial sea up to a
limit not exceeding 12 nautical miles, measured from baselines determined in
accordance with this Convention.” India signed this treaty in 1982 and ratified
it in 1995.
Shortly
before the USA Today story was published this July, photos of Latifa in Spain
appeared in media. A London law firm Taylor Wessing issued a statement
attributed to her, which said: “I can travel where I want. I hope now that I
can live my life in peace.”
Jaubert
was sceptical: “It is difficult to reconcile that the woman who planned her
escape for seven years and who recently (in February) released videos speaking
of pressure in Dubai had bestowed upon her to agree to their (the Dubai
authorities’) propaganda plan, is truly free.” The ‘Free Latifa’ campaign in
London, in which Jauhiainen was active, has wound up.
Jaubert
underlined: “In any event, she should never have been kidnapped from a
US-flagged yacht in international waters. She was abducted and forced against
her will to Dubai, with the help of India.” He reiterated: “We intend to pursue
justice for the victims and accountability for those who orchestrated the
violent, military attack on the Nostromo.”
*
Note: The public relations officers of the Indian Coastguards and the Indian
Navy and the Joint Secretary (External Publicity) of the Indian Ministry of
External Affairs were requested to comment on Herve Jaubert’s charges. They did
not do so. In the event they reply on-record in future, such responses will be
published.
Ashis
Ray is a former editor-at-large of CNN. He currently analyses international
affairs on the BBC.
Source:
The Wire
--------
Under
Years of Taliban Rule, Women Nurses Work Alongside Men at Tangi Saidan in
Wardak Province
October
13, 2021
DAYMIRDAD,
Afghanistan: In a village deep in the mountains of central Afghanistan that has
been ruled by the Taliban for a quarter of a century, women openly work
alongside men at a vital health clinic.
Tangi
Saidan in Wardak province has lived in the shadow of the front line but never
been under the full control of government forces since a US-led invasion ousted
the brutal and repressive Taliban regime in 2001.
Reached
by narrow dirt roads, the Tangi Saidan clinic is alone in offering surgery in
the remote area, with local Taliban leaders allowing some flexibility in the
movement’s rules on the segregation of the sexes.
“We
have to operate here. If we don’t, women will die,” said Sharif Shah, a man and
the only surgeon, who carries out procedures on women.
It
takes hours to reach the clinic from some surrounding villages, and in the
winter, when snow blocks the roads, patients are often carried on foot.
Reaching
better health facilities in the capital Kabul, a day trip away on rocky,
winding roads, is out of the question for people in this impoverished mountain
area.
There
are seven women among the clinic’s 28 staff members: one nurse, a vaccine
specialist, two midwives, a nutritionist and two cleaners, often working side
by side with men.
“When
it is necessary, Islamic law permits it,” Mohammad, the Taliban official in
charge of health care in Daymirdad district, told AFP.
The
Taliban, who seized power in August as US-led forces withdrew from Afghanistan,
have yet to issue clear guidelines on how they will govern in line with sharia
law.
They
initially ordered women to refrain from returning to work until Islamic systems
were in place.
The
group later called women health workers back to clinics and hospitals, but many
were too afraid to resume their duties.
Others
in Kabul, the most progressive Afghan city, said rules on segregation made their
work too difficult.
But
Jamila, the sole female nurse at the Tangi Saidan clinic, said she had never
had to worry about working in Daymirdad, although she is chaperoned by a male
“mahram,” or guardian, when she does the night shift.
“People
don’t have a problem with men doctors, because a doctor is like a mahram,” she
said.
Clear
rules govern this coexistence — one of few exceptions granted by the Taliban.
When
there are no male nurses, a female nurse can care for male patients.
And
when there are no female doctors, a male physician can treat women.
“Men
and women can work together in the same room, although under normal
circumstances there should be a curtain between them,” the Taliban official
explained.
Yet
at the Tangi Saidan clinic, there is no curtain, and nurse Jamila chats openly
with her male colleagues.
In
deeply conservative Afghanistan, even in areas under the control of the
previous US-backed governments, women and men were expected to be treated by a
health professional of the same sex.
Jamila
is more concerned with whether she will continue to be paid.
The
country’s health service is on the brink of collapse, with Western nations
largely halting the aid that propped up Afghanistan’s clinics and hospitals.
Many
staff at government health centers have gone months without salaries, while
medicines are dwindling and skilled staff such as doctors have fled the
country.
The
Taliban victory has brought economic hardship but also an end to air strikes
and night raids by airdropped government forces in the village, located near a
front line.
The
clinic run by the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan was repeatedly targeted by
troops looking for Taliban militants, who were treated alongside civilians
during the conflict.
Behind
its green walls, still pockmarked from automatic fire, Mandanda, a patient in
her 60s who has come from a neighboring village for chest pains, is relieved.
“We
are no longer losing our children. It is as though the sun has finally risen,”
she said.
But
in a neighboring bed, Jamila, a 40-year-old mother of seven, is less upbeat.
“They
have brought us peace, but we have nothing to eat,” she told AFP.
Mastura,
a 27-year-old midwife, recalls with horror an attack on the clinic two years
ago — helicopters roaring above, screams, and a gun pointed at her when Afghan
government forces charged in.
Two
staff members died in the raid.
During
her seven years at the clinic, the fear of raids was part of everyday life, but
Mastura said she had avoided run-ins with the Taliban.
“They
are not in the street saying ‘do this or don’t do that’. They live here with
their families as part of society,” she said.
But
Mastura is under few illusions about the future under the Islamists.
“My
mother and my grandmother had very difficult lives. I am only 27 and my life
has already been very difficult.
“I
don’t think that it will be any better for my daughter.”
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1946951/world
--------
American
feminism doesn’t include Muslim women – and especially not their hijabs
Hafsa
Lodi
October
13, 2021
I
sit down to write this just after moderating a panel discussion about the
policing of Muslim women’s bodies. Our conversation went over the hour as we
lamented the different ways in which visibly-Muslim females still fall victim
to Orientalist narratives that deem us “oppressed”. There was so much ground to
cover that we didn’t even get a chance to talk about the latest injustice in
our community.
Last
week, at Seth Boyden Elementary School in New Jersey, a teacher allegedly
pulled the hijab off one of her Muslim students – a 7-year-old Black Muslim
girl, who reportedly resisted, and tried to hold on to her hijab as her teacher
ripped it off. American-Muslim Olympian fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad raised
awareness about the incident through Instagram, in a post that has gone viral
among Muslim social media users.
Suffice
to say, Muslims across the globe are outraged. Hijabs are already banned in
various places across Europe and Canada: earlier this year, the EU Court of
Human Rights upheld a law allowing companies to ban their employees from
wearing hijabs at work, and a Quebec court upheld most of a law that prevents
government workers from wearing hijabs. The French Senate voted in favor of
banning hijabs on women under the age of 18, prompting the #handsoffmyhijab
campaign on Instagram.
Women
who follow traditional guidelines of hijab keep their bodies and hair covered
while in the presence of men who aren’t close kin, usually from the age of
puberty. Headscarves, for them, are integral to their public attire; forcibly
removing them can be seen as a form of stripping them down. “Imagine the
humiliation and trauma this experience has caused her,” wrote Muhammad on
Instagram. “This is abuse.”
As
a Muslim woman who doesn’t cover her hair, I have a tremendous amount of
respect and admiration for young women who have the courage to commit to
wearing the hijab. It takes guts and an impressively strong conviction of faith
to cover your hair in a society that places so much emphasis on “good hair
days” for women, promoting Brazilian blowouts and pressuring us to conform our
hairstyles to certain standards and ideals – often to look more “attractive” to
men. That’s why covering your body, and by extension, your hair, can be such a
powerful “feminist” statement.
But
Western feminism has been historically selective and deceptive. Non-religious
American women who march topless in protests are applauded for their feminism,
while women of faith who cover their hair are deemed intrinsically un-feminist.
As we campaign against enforced veiling in Afghanistan in the name of liberty
and freedom, violations of Muslim women’s body autonomy are all too frequent on
our own soil.
Yes,
in some cases, hijabs are enforced or encouraged in patriarchal families – a
form of coercion which should in no way be condoned – but many Muslim women
cover their hair by choice, be it for religious, cultural or political reasons.
And they often do so to proudly assert their Muslim identity in the West.
Proponents
of the hijab often say that covering their hair can be liberating, as it takes
a stance against societal pressures that measure a woman’s beauty by her
tresses. The New Jersey teacher reportedly told her hijabi student that her
hair was “beautiful” and that she didn’t need to cover it – but that is
precisely why hijabi women cover their hair, as a means to keep their beauty
private, rather than public. And it’s their prerogative to do so.
I
believe every woman should have the right to dress how she wants to, whether
that means baring her skin in a bikini or concealing it underneath a burqa. But
while bikinis and burqas might be at two opposite sides of the “modesty”
spectrum, only one of them is deemed “extremist” attire.
The
resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan has certainly helped fuel anti-hijab
sentiments, not least since the urgent need to save and de-veil Afghan women
was one of the core premises for America’s invasion of Afghanistan. But that
was 20 years ago. Call me naïve, but I like to think our views on veiling have
progressed since then.
In
the past half-decade alone we’ve seen hijabi models like Halima Aden walk
runways at New York Fashion Week and cover prestigious fashion publications.
Haute Hijab, an American headscarves label, was featured in an ad in New York’s
Times Square, and in a summer campaign for The Gap – can you get any more
American? Hijabi fashion designer Ayana Ife became a finalist on reality
television series, Project Runway. We’ve seen hijabi politician Ilhan Omar
sworn into office, and cheered on Ibtihaj Muhammad, a hijab-wearing American
Muslim fencer, as she earned a medal for the US at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
To
my mind, had the teacher in New Jersey wanted to discreetly ask her young
student whether she was covering her hair out of choice or compulsion, that
would have been completely acceptable. But the sheer audacity of publicly
stripping her of her headscarf was a classic display of white savior syndrome.
It’s clear that there’s a real need for cultural sensitivity awareness and
training among educators in the US, where, despite claims or tolerance and
multiculturalism, prejudicial views of Muslims still prevail.
It
goes without saying that the school should investigate the matter, take
immediate disciplinary action against the teacher, issue a public apology, and
adopt more inclusive training procedures to accommodate its diverse students.
Failure to do so will make them complicit in Islamophobia, which is toxic,
bigoted and threatening to the many Muslim Americans who live in the land of
the free but are denied the freedom they deserve.
Yet
taking a stand against the fashion policing of Muslim women is not just about
Muslims – it’s about all women in America. As Muhammad put it on Instagram: “By
protecting Muslim girls who wear hijab, we are protecting the rights of all of
us to have a choice in the way we dress.”
Source:
Independent
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/feminism-hijab-muslim-women-us-b1936995.html
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