Afshan Abubakar, UK Muslim Woman Accuses Employer of Sacking Her Over Gaza Genocide Views
New Age
Islam News Bureau
04 January 2024
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Afshan Abubakar, UK Muslim
Woman Accuses Employer Of Sacking Her Over Gaza Genocide Views
·
Muslim Woman, Jannah Hague,
Sues Kent County Over Forced Hijab Removal for Arrest Booking Photo
·
UN Representative Accused Of
Normalizing Afghan Girls’ Education Ban: Civil Organizations
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/afshan-gaza-genocide/d/131452
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Afshan Abubakar, UK Muslim Woman Accuses
Employer Of Sacking Her Over Gaza Genocide Views
Afshan
Abubakar with her Palestinian husband Hani Abualqaraya (Image: Afshan Abubakar)
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3rd January 2024
A Muslim woman from Oldham is
threatening to sue her former employer, Citizens Advice, after being sacked
from her job after she made her feelings known about the Gaza genocide and the
plight of her Palestinian husband who is trapped there.
The 42-year-old mum-of-three, Afshan
Abubakar, had her contract as a trainee consultant for Citizens Advice
terminated on November 17 following a welfare meeting.
In her termination of employment letter,
it was cited that her employment had been ended for “inappropriate behaviour.”
The letter also claims that her actions had been “offensive and wholly
inappropriate,” among other reasons.
However, speaking to 5Pillars, Ms
Abubakar said she did nothing to justify a dismissal.
“I completely reject their baseless
suggestion that I did anything abusive. I was invited into a ‘welfare’ meeting,
but instead of receiving any concern for my welfare, my employer started attacking
and criticising me. This made me very distressed, and I tried to assert my
rights to a proper process.
“They then fired me without any warning…
I stand by what I said. Israel is committing genocide, and I did nothing wrong
by mentioning this.”
The welfare meeting was conducted after
Ms Abubakar had been off sick from work due to the “stress of the situation”
after Israel’s attacks on Gaza began.
She believes she was discriminated
against over the sacking, claiming that one of the reasons for her dismissal
was because she spoke about Palestine and referred to the events in Gaza as a
“genocide.”
Her connection to Palestine is personal
as well as religious. Her husband, Hani A AAbualqaraya, is a Gaza-born
Palestinian whose home was destroyed during the recent escalation.
Mr Abualqaraya was forced to flee to
south Gaza after Israel dropped leaflets from the sky demanding Palestinians
flee south, where he remains trapped along with his family.
Citizens Advice response
A spokesperson for Citizens Advice
Oldham was quoted in The Oldham Times, on November 23, responding to the
accusations.
“The Citizens Advice service in Oldham
prides itself on being impartial; this is especially important when people and
communities are experiencing difficult times. We’ll continue to support our
colleagues and those who need help in this way, always endeavouring to respect
everyone’s views and put our colleagues and those who need us first.”
They added: “As a charity, we value
diversity. We have clear employment policies and guidelines that all staff and
volunteers are expected to adhere to at all times. We don’t tolerate abusive,
aggressive, derogatory, or personal conduct that is considered offensive and
inappropriate.
“The policies are in line with
employment law and ACAS (advisory, conciliation and arbitration service) good
practice. Any staff member who feels they have been treated unfairly is able to
challenge that through internal processes or an employment tribunal.”
Speaking to 5Pillars, Ms Abubakar’s
barrister, Franck Magennis, explained how he believes Citizens Advice’s conduct
has been “utterly heartless.”
“This is one of the most egregious cases
of unfair dismissal I have ever encountered. Instead of receiving support and
understanding, Afshan was shoved out of the organisation without even the
slightest regard for proper procedure. To do this at a time when her husband is
trapped in Gaza, while it endures what many experts believe amounts to
genocide, is utterly heartless. Her former employer owes Afshan a deep and
sincere apology.”
Magennis clarified that Ms Abubakar is
in the process of commencing legal proceedings against her former employer. If
the parties are not able to agree a settlement, she will “not hesitate to issue
a claim against them in the Employment Tribunal.”
Husband trapped in Gaza
Afshan Abubakar met her husband, Hani
Abualqaraya, through volunteer work in 2022.
She helped to teach English to children
at the Al Fakhoora school in Gaza City, over Telegram and Zoom.
While she has not visited Gaza herself,
she finally managed to meet Abualqaraya in Egypt after performing an Islamic
marriage online.
After Israel began its assault on Gaza,
Abualqaraya and his reletaves were forced to flee his family home. Luckily they
escaped before it was destroyed.
“Leaflets fell from the sky asking them
to move south and leave north Gaza,” Ms Abubakar told 5Pillars.
“Prior to this, Hani’s brothers flat was
bombed and my husband’s family home was also bombed and destroyed.
“Hani’s brother and wife were going
south with their twins. They were shot at. His sister-in-law was shot in the
leg. Her son, in the head! We don’t know if they are alive. They were at Al
Shifa hospital before it was invaded. My husband doesn’t want to disclose their
details if they’re still alive he’s worried for their safety.”
Ms Abubakar has launched a petition
aiming to get Hani Abualqaraya, who has ended up stranded near the Rafah border
crossing between Gaza and Egypt, expedited to Britain.
“We urge the government not only fulfil
their duty but also show compassion by doing everything within their power to
expedite clearance for my husband so that he can escape this dangerous
situation,” the petition reads.
Since October 7, the Gaza death toll has
passed 22,000 with the number of injured exceeding 57,000 with Israel accused
of conducting an indiscriminate bombing campaign.
The majority of the killed are
considered civilian casualties, including 70% women and children according to
statistics shared by the Gaza Health Ministry.
Source: 5pillarsuk.com
https://5pillarsuk.com/2024/01/03/muslim-mum-accuses-former-employer-of-sacking-her-over-gaza-genocide-views/
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Muslim Woman, Jannah Hague, Sues Kent
County Over Forced Hijab Removal for Arrest Booking Photo
Kent County federal court
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3rd January 2024
A Muslim woman from Grand Rapids is
suing Kent County officials over the "forcible removal" of her
religious head covering for an booking photo and releasing it to the public
after her arrest in May.
The Michigan chapter of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations filed the lawsuit Wednesday in federal court on
behalf of Jannah Hague. Kent County, Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young and her
office were named as defendants, court records showed.
Hague, 23, and the advocacy group are
seeking more than $75,000 in punitive damages for the alleged
"insurmountable amount of humiliation and trauma" she endured when
her Islamic headscarf was removed for a booking photo, which was subsequently
released to the public and revealed her person in a "state of
undress" following her arrest last year, said Amy Doukoure,
CAIR-Michigan's staff attorney. The suit claims Hague's First Amendment rights
as well as other federal and state laws were violated by the Kent County
Sheriff's Office.
The lawsuit, additionally, seeks an
injunction to prevent the Kent County Sheriff's Office from removing hijabs for
future booking photos, describing the practice as a "substantial burden on
religious practice" against Muslim women.
On April 8, Hague and her husband were
arrested at their home in connection with a domestic violence dispute,
according to the lawsuit. While she was being processed at the Kent County
Sheriff's Office, she was told she had to remove her hijab, a religious head
covering, for at least one booking photo and that the hijab could remain for
another photo, the suit said.
When Hague was "forced" to
remove her hijab, according to the suit, two male sheriff's officials were
allegedly in the room with their backs turned to her, but was "within her
view, for the duration of the time her hijab was removed for a booking
photograph."
A photo of Hague barring her head
covering, according to Doukoure, was then uploaded and published to the
sheriff's public detainee website and a Michigan State Police database as a
public record. She was later released from the Kent County jail without charge,
CAIR-Michigan officials said in a news release.
Doukoure said the photo of her client
was "shared around" and resulted in Hague's "emotional
harm." She said the photo was removed from the Kent County Sheriff's
Office website, but was not recalled from the MSP database after the advocacy
group requested the department to remove the photo and enact a policy change
that allowed Muslim women to maintain their hijabs while booking photos were
taken.
Reached Wednesday, the sheriff's office
in a statement said during Hague's processing, a "female corrections
officer took (Hague) out of view of all male officers and inmates and asked her
to remove the head covering to inspect it for weapons or other restricted
material," adding that she was allowed to restore the hijab to her head
before entering the booking area.
"At the end of the booking process,
it is required by law to take a photograph of the arrestee," said Lt. Eric
Brunner, public information officer for the Kent County Sheriff's Office.
"When this photograph was taken our female corrections officer ensured
that no male officers or inmates were able to view Ms. Hague without the head
covering. There is a video and audio recording of this booking process in its
entirety."
An internal investigation was conducted
and a violation of Hague's rights "was not substantiated," Brunner
added.
But Doukoure said a Muslim woman's hijab
removal in public is a "defilement" of her religious beliefs and
traditions that stem from the Quran, the primary holy book of the Muslim faith.
"For Muslim women, this is very,
very offensive," Doukoure told The News. "Muslim women wear their
hijab at all times when they're in public or when they're in the presence of
men who are not close family relatives, which means they would have to be your
husband, or your brother, or your father, your grandparent — in order to see
you without your hijab.
"Being stripped of that while
you're out in public, and then having a picture released of you for public
consumption is akin to having a photo taken and released in a state of
undress," Doukoure said.
CAIR-Michigan has represented women in
similar cases over forced hijab removal in Metro Detroit.
In May 2022, the city of Ferndale
reached "a full and satisfactory settlement" with Helana Bowe, who
filed a federal lawsuit in October 2021 after the city's police forced her to
remove her hijab for a booking photo in June in front a male officer.
In another case, a 36-year-old woman
sued the city of Detroit and the Michigan Department of Corrections in federal
court, alleging she was forced to remove her hijab while a booking photo was
taken in 2019 at the Detroit Detention Center.
The Michigan Department of Corrections,
in their operation of the Detroit Detention Center along with the Detroit
Police Department, abolished policies requiring the removal of religious head
coverings for booking photos, according to the Hague lawsuit.
In the same year, Ferndale and the
Genesee County jail also terminated their policies requiring that women remove
their hijab for booking photos, "even those that are uploaded to the
Michigan State Police department’s database," the lawsuit said.
In July 2015, the Dearborn Heights
Police Department changed its booking procedures after a woman was forced to
remove her hijab in the presence of men during her booking photo and while in
custody. Following a lawsuit, the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that
"releasing the booking photograph of a Muslim woman without her hijab
would be a clear unwarranted invasion of the woman’s privacy," the Hague
lawsuit noted.
Source: detroitnews.com
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2024/01/03/muslim-woman-forced-hijab-removal-for-arrest-booking-photo-grand-rapids-kent-county-michigan/72099047007/
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UN Representative Accused Of Normalizing
Afghan Girls’ Education Ban: Civil Organizations
Fidel Rahmati
January 4, 2024
Afghan groups and individuals have
criticized the UN’s representative for Afghanistan, calling her comments on girls’
education in religious schools “irresponsible” and accusing her of normalizing
the ban on girls’ education.
They argued that schools under Taliban
control serve as places for “extremism and radicalization.” This criticism was
outlined in an open letter signed by over 140 organizations, civil activists,
human rights defenders, judges, defense lawyers, and Afghan writers, addressed
to Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
In the letter, during a Security Council
meeting, they expressed their objections to the remarks made by Raza
Otunbayeva, the UN Secretary-General’s representative in Afghanistan.
Ms. Otunbayeva, during this meeting,
stated, “There is ample evidence that girls are allowed to attend religious
schools.” She added, “Taliban do not allow any oversight of these schools, and
we do not know what they teach there.”
These organizations and activists have
emphasized that Afghanistan, and particularly Afghan women, require modern
education, while religious schools do not provide modern subjects.
The letter stated, “Religious subjects
are primarily taught in these schools. Several reports have shown that
individuals studying in religious schools under Taliban control have become
radicalized and inclined towards extremism and insurgency.”
The remarks made by the UN
Secretary-General’s representative regarding the education of girls in
religious schools have drawn criticism from some human rights organizations.
Heather Barr, the acting co-director of
the Women’s Rights Division at Human Rights Watch, argued that these schools
are not an “acceptable substitute” for formal education. She added that Raza
Otunbayeva is “ready to make huge and profoundly harmful concessions” when it
comes to Afghan girls and the Taliban.
This senior human rights official wrote
on the Ex-Nas website that for a country whose children are only learning
“extremist doctrines,” there is no future.
In the letter addressed to the UN
Secretary-General, Afghan organizations and activists also noted that
“Afghanistan cannot progress with religious studies, and the country is already
facing a shortage of skilled female labor in all sectors, including healthcare.”
After returning to power, the Taliban
has shown particular interest in the reconstruction of religious schools and
mosques across the country.
Source: khaama.com
https://www.khaama.com/un-representative-accused-of-normalizing-afghan-girls-education-ban-civil-organizations/
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/afshan-gaza-genocide/d/131452