Behind France’s Ban On Abaya: Institutional Harassment Of Muslims
New Age
Islam News Bureau
13 October 2023
·
Behind
France’s Ban On Abaya: Institutional Harassment Of Muslims
·
Taliban’s Policies
Threaten Women And Girls’ Rights Worldwide: Rina Amiri, Special Representative Of
The United States
·
90% Of
Those Killed By Afghanistan Earthquake Were Women And Children, UN Says
·
Saudi
Women’s Premier League: The Start Of Second Season
·
Muslim
Women Lead Interfaith White House Vigil For Victims Of Hamas Atrocities
·
Female Labour
Force Participation Rate Improved To 37 Percent In 2023: WCD
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/france-ban-abaya-muslims/d/130892
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Behind France’s Ban On Abaya:
Institutional Harassment Of Muslims
Women demand
the right to control what they wear, protesting the French ruling.
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October 12, 2023
Salah Lamrani
France’s new Education Minister, Gabriel
Attal, launched the 2023 school year with a thunderous announcement: “I decided
it will no longer be possible to wear an Abaya at school,” he said, in the name
of a preposterous conception of secularism (or “laïcité”) adopted by President
Emmanuel Macron.
This “abaya ban” is a serious violation
of the fundamental rights of presumed Muslim (i.e., racialized) pupils, who are
unfairly stigmatized and discriminated against.
Though he is the youngest Minister of
the Fifth Republic, 34-year-old Attal used the oldest and dirtiest trick in the
book, namely the politics of scapegoating an oppressed, defenceless minority.
Just like his predecessors, who were fond of such nauseating polemics that
obscure the real and glaring problems of the French educational system.
What is an abaya?
The term “abaya” refers to a variety of
dresses of varying lengths, which are in no way religion-specific garments, but
simple fashion items with a cultural connotation at most. Major brands such as
Zara, H & M and Dolce & Gabbana have been making their own for a long
time.
As proof of this, when Sonia Backès, the
French Secretary of State in charge of Citizenship, was shown on TV several
types of dresses to identify if they were abayas and whether they should be
accepted or forbidden in schools, she hesitated, stammered and side-stepped the
question, replying that “it depends on the context.”
Thus, in a quasi-official manner, the
criteria for acceptance or rejection depend not on the garment itself, but on
the pupil wearing it and their supposed religion, something that has only been
based on their skin color and/or name. At the height of hypocrisy, Attal
justified this blatant discrimination by saying that “you shouldn’t be able to
distinguish, to identify the religion of pupils by looking at them.” (Journal
de Dimanche, Aug. 27)
A traumatic start to the school year
Yet this is exactly what has been
happening since the start of the school year, with hundreds, if not thousands,
of middle- and high- school girls being scrutinized, hounded, stigmatized and
humiliated, even extorted, and ordered to partially undress or be sent home for
wearing outfits as neutral as a tunic, skirt or kimono, deemed too loose or too
covering, as if the suspected modesty was a crime of lese-laicity. This
obsession with controlling women’s bodies is reminiscent of the colonial
period.
Ironically, such a step places France
alongside retrograde countries such as Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan that have
instituted a “morality police” enforcing a strict dress code, with the notable
distinction that French bans do not apply to everyone, but only to pupils
presumed to be Muslim.
One can only be outraged by the
criminalization of teenage girls through traumatizing interrogations and expulsions,
which take place outside any legal framework and could only be justified by a
proper disciplinary procedure. Attal’s office counted the cases of pupils
wearing abayas to the nearest unit (as compared with the number of missing
teachers in half the secondary schools).
Attal even sent journalists a list of
the middle schools and high schools concerned, inviting them to cover the start
of the new school year there. This showed no regard for the serenity and safety
of staff and pupils, sacrificed to the media hype surrounding this new
witch-hunt.
This amounts to real institutional
harassment, sponsored by the same person who claims to find it “unbearable that
a pupil should go to school with a lump in his stomach because he is harassed”
and to make this issue a priority (notably through “empathy courses,” a quality
this government clearly lacks). It is another eloquent example of Macron’s
famous “at the same time” (advocating one thing and doing the opposite).
Laicity or “laicism”?
The abaya ban has nothing to do with
secularism, which is even flouted by this political attempt to unilaterally
extend the domain of what is religious. Rather, it is the very thing that the
candidate Emmanuel Macron himself denounced in 2016-2017 as “laicism,” this
“radical and extreme version of secularism that feeds on contemporary fears”
(Challenges, Oct. 16, 2016), and which
targets Islam exclusively, turning millions of our fellow Muslims into enemies
of the Republic.
By considering the wearing of simple
clothing as a deliberate attack on secularism, a concerted offensive “in an
attempt to challenge the republican system,” (bfmtv.com, Sept. 1) or even a
reminder of the 2015 terrorist attacks and the murder of the teacher Samuel
Paty, who was beheaded for showing his pupils derogatory “Charlie Hebdo”
cartoons depicting the Prophet of Islam, Macron and his ministers unmask
themselves, adopting a discourse that was reserved for the most hateful
right-wingers.
By putting tens of thousands of
teenagers under suspicion – behind their qamis and abayas – of
being “enemies from within,” united to bring down republican values and even of
being potential terrorists and by urging us to be “relentless” against these
migrants, they are descending into a kind of state conspiracy mongering that is
as absurd as it is abject.
This insidious logic of stigmatization
and exclusion was already at work in the 2004 law banning conspicuous religious
symbols in schools, opposed by teacher unions such as the CGT Éduc’action as it
only really targeted the Islamic veil, described as “proselytizing” and
“ostentatious” in a grotesque abuse of language that heralded current and
future excesses.
Far from turning schools into a
protected “sanctuary,” these politically driven measures are spreading racism,
sexism and hatred and turning them into a veritable battlegrounds. This alleged
desire for emancipation through coercion to impose an arbitrarily defined
“republican dress code” on suspicious middle- and high-school girls flouts the
concept of equal treatment of pupils and the inalienable right of some of them
to choose their clothing style, driving them to angst and failure at school.
Will we have to wait for a tragedy to put an end to this “shame”?
Worse still, these vexatious measures
may give rise to a whole generation of teenagers — an age that is particularly
sensitive to injustice — who have a legitimate distrust and resentment of the
institution and its staff, who are transformed into the zealous auxiliaries of
a kind of “dress police,” coupled with a “police of intentions” summoned to
track down alleged Islamist overtones (which would be both conspicuous and
concealed — a very French oxymoron) behind inoffensive fabrics.
The “communitarianism” and “separatism”
that are supposedly fought against can only emerge stronger, just like the
right wing, which is closer to power than ever thanks to the institutional
backing given to its prejudices, rhetoric and fallacious battles, adopted by a
dubious “republican arc,” which reaches as far as the French Communist Party.
The real priorities
This umpteenth polemic, validated by
docile and irresponsible media echo chambers, and by part of the left,
conveniently eclipses from the headlines all the glaring problems from which
public education, its staff and users are suffering: shortage of teachers and
assistants for pupils with special needs; job cuts and class closures;
incessant budget cuts; lack of attractiveness of our underpaid professions;
difficult working conditions; overcrowded and overheated classrooms due to
under-resourcing of establishments and inadequacy of equipment and premises;
international downgrading in terms of achievements; inflation; impoverishment
of the population, with nearly 2,000 children on the street and tens of
thousands out of schools; and so on.
Instead of tackling these fundamental
problems, the government prefers to continue its authoritarian headlong rush
and its policy of deliberately destroying public services for the benefit of
the private sector. Moreover, this same government will have no trouble
presenting the General National Service [a monthly session in military
facilities for high school pupils] and the uniform — symbols of its reactionary
vision of schooling currently being tested — as a panacea for problems fully of
its own creation and which tend only to bring young people into line and divide
society even further.
Every individual has the fundamental
right to choose their clothing without being subjected to discriminatory
restrictions. The abaya ban is an unacceptable intrusion into pupils’ privacy
and constitutes an attack on their freedom and personal identity, trampling
underfoot the ideas of inclusion, living-together and acceptance of differences
that are officially advocated.
The lack of response from teachers’
unions and the civil society to this iniquitous law, which scorns the vocation
of educational staff and tarnishes the image of France abroad, speaks volumes
about the normalization of Islamophobia in the so-called “Cradle of Human
Rights” and the oppression of its millions-strong Muslim community.
Source: workers.org
https://www.workers.org/2023/10/73899/
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Taliban’s Policies Threaten Women And Girls’
Rights Worldwide: Rina Amiri, Special Representative Of The United States
Rina Amiri, Special Representative Of
The United States
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By Fidel Rahmati
October 12, 2023
Rina Amiri, the Special Representative
of the United States for Women and Human Rights in Afghanistan, has stated that
both domestic and international efforts to change the mindset of the Taliban
administration towards women have been futile.
Ms Amiri, on Thursday, said on her
social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, “Taliban continue to ignore
domestic and international requests to restore women’s access to education,”
emphasizing, “Do not lose hope, you women and girls.”
The U.S. Special Representative for
Afghan Women made these remarks one day after “International Day of the Girl”
while consistently defending the essence of engagement with the Taliban
administration.
Rina Amiri addressed Afghan women and
girls, writing, “We will continue to support you in defending your rights,
including your right to quality education, by any means possible.”
According to her, the “Taliban’s strict
policies” do not only affect Afghanistan but may set a precedent for other
societies, impacting efforts towards gender equality universally.
Expressing concern over the Taliban’s
mindset regarding women’s freedoms, Rina Amiri added, “Taliban’s strict
policies are not just Afghanistan’s problem. They create a dangerous pattern
that others may emulate.”
She said, “They (Taliban) are creating a
dangerous precedent that others may follow.
This approach jeopardizes the rights of
women and girls everywhere. It is our shared duty to resist these extremist
policies meaningfully.”
It has been over two years since the
resurgence of the Taliban administration in Afghanistan, during which United
Nations organizations have described its restrictions on women’s lives and work
as “draconian.”
From September 2021 to 2023, the Taliban
administration issued over 50 decrees restricting women’s personal and social
lives, targeting various aspects of women’s freedom for education and work and
eroding them.
This is happening while, according to
United Nations experts’ findings, gender apartheid prevails in Afghanistan.
Continuing the current situation may lead to “sexual harassment,” which, under
international law, is a crime against humanity.
Source: khaama.com
https://www.khaama.com/talibans-policies-threaten-women-and-girls-rights-worldwide-rina-amiri/
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90% of those killed by Afghanistan
earthquake were women and children, UN says
PTI
Oct 13, 2023
More than 90 per cent of the people
killed by a 6.3-magnitude earthquake in western Afghanistan last weekend were
women and children, U.N. officials reported Thursday.
Taliban officials said Saturday's
earthquake killed more than 2,000 people of all ages and genders across Herat
province. The epicentre was in Zenda Jan district, where 1,294 people died,
1,688 were injured and every home was destroyed, according to U.N. figures.
Women and children were more likely to
have been at home when the quake struck in the morning, said Siddig Ibrahim,
the chief of the UNICEF field office in Herat. “When the first earthquake hit,
people thought it was an explosion, and they ran into their homes,” he said.
Hundreds of people, mostly women, remain
missing in Zenda Jan.
The Afghanistan representative for the
United Nations Population Fund, Jaime Nadal, said there would have been no
“gender dimension” to the death toll if the quake had happened at night.
“At that time of the day, men were out
in the field,” Nadal told The Associated Press. “Many men migrate to Iran for
work. The women were at home doing the chores and looking after the children.
They found themselves trapped under the rubble. There was clearly a gender
dimension.”
The initial quake, numerous aftershocks
and a second 6.3-magnitude quake on Wednesday flattened entire villages,
destroying hundreds of mud-brick homes that could not withstand such force.
Schools, health clinics and other village facilities also collapsed.
The Norwegian Refugee Council described
the devastation as enormous.
“Early reports from our teams are that
many of those who lost their lives were small children who were crushed or
suffocated after buildings collapsed on them,” the council said.
The maternity hospital in Herat province
has cracks that make the structure unsafe. The U.N. has provided tents so
pregnant women have somewhere to stay and receive care, Nadal said.
U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said
the world body also has provided ambulances to a regional hospital and
distributed solar lamps, hygiene kits and other aid to hundreds of displaced
families. The World Food Program is sending over 81 tons of food, Dujarric said
at U.N. headquarters Thursday.
Many people inside and outside Herat's
provincial capital are still sleeping outside, even as temperatures drop.
The disproportionate impact of the quake
on women has left children without mothers, their primary caregivers, raising
questions about who will raise them or how to reunite them with fathers who
might be out of the province or Afghanistan.
Aid officials say orphanages are
non-existent or rare, meaning children who have lost one or both parents were
likely to be taken in by surviving relatives or community members.
Earthquakes are common in Afghanistan,
where there are a number of fault lines and frequent movement among three
nearby tectonic plates.
Women may be at risk of not getting
information on earthquake preparedness because of Taliban edicts curtailing
their mobility and rights, and restrictions imposed on female humanitarian
workers, a U.N. report has warned.
Authorities have barred girls from
school beyond sixth grade and stopped women from working at non-governmental
groups, although there are exceptions for some sectors like health care. The
Taliban also say that women cannot travel long distances without male
chaperones.
Aid agencies say their female Afghan
staff members are “for now” working freely in Herat and reaching women and
girls affected by the earthquake.
UNICEF has launched a USD 20 million
appeal to help the estimate 13,000 children and families devastated by the
earthquake.
Source: hindustantimes.com
https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/90-of-those-killed-by-afghanistan-earthquake-were-women-and-children-un-says-101697153399088.html
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Saudi Women’s Premier League: the start
of second season
PAUL WILIAMS
October 12, 2023
Excitement is building in Saudi Arabia
ahead of this weekend’s opening round of the new Saudi Women’s Premier League
season.
Women’s football around the world is
riding the crest of a wave at the moment after the stunning success of the FIFA
Women’s World Cup 2023 in Australia and New Zealand just a few months ago.
The tournament shone a light on the
rapid development of the women’s game globally, and while Saudi Arabia may not
have been at the tournament, several world stars who did participate will now
be turning out in the SWPL.
In just its second season, the SWPL has
already taken enormous leaps forward from the inaugural campaign that saw
Al-Nassr crowned champions in a thrilling title fight.
A new era awaits
While the inaugural campaign was a
stunning success, the 2023-24 season already promises to be bigger and better
thanks to a pair of exciting new initiatives.
Firstly, just this week the Saudi Arabia
Football Federation inked a deal with Pepsi Co. for their sub-brand Lay’s to
become the title sponsor for the SWPL, highlighting the commercial value of the
league and marking the largest sponsorship of women’s sport in Saudi Arabia.
“Our partnership with Lay’s for the
Saudi Women’s Football League is a testament to the growing support and
recognition of women’s sports in Saudi Arabia,” LamiaBahaian, vice-president of
the SAFF, said.
“The league’s expansion, with the
backing of Lay’s, is a significant step forward in achieving our objectives to
nurture and showcase the incredible talent of female footballers in our nation.
“Together, we are working towards a future
where women’s football takes its rightful place on the global stage and
inspires young girls across Saudi Arabia and beyond.”
Secondly, and perhaps even more
substantially, the entire season will be broadcast on TV in Saudi Arabia for
the first time, via the Saudi Sports Co., promising a bigger and wider
audience.
From the world to Saudi Arabia
Moroccan international IbtissamJraidi
made history when she became the first Saudi Arabia-based player to play and
score at the FIFA Women’s World Cup. But based on the influx of global stars in
the off-season, she will not be the last.
Clubs all across the league have made a
number of headline-grabbing signings, perhaps none more so than Al-Ittihad with
their signing of English-born Nigerian international Ashleigh Plumptre.
The 25-year-old, who left Women’s Super
League side Leicester City at the end of last season, played all four games for
Nigeria at the recent Women’s World Cup and was reportedly courted by the likes
of Manchester United in the off-season.
But it was Al-Ittihad who snared her
signature, signaling that the ambition of Saudi Arabia in the women’s game is
as high as that of the men’s.
Plumptre is far from alone in Jeddah,
however, with Al-Ittihad also signing Morocco’s Women’s World Cup star Salma
Amani, former Liverpool defender Leighanne Robe and young Swedish striker Nor
Mustafa, who recently played for West Ham.
When you add in the appointment of
experienced coach Kelly Lindsey, the Jeddah-based outfit have clearly signaled
their intent ahead of the new season.
More big stars coming
LinethCedeno, who scored for Panama
against France at the Women’s World Cup, is headed to Riyadh to join Al-Hilal
as they look to go one better than last season after finishing as runners-up to
crosstown rivals Al-Nassr.
Pakistan’s captain Maria Khan has joined
Shua’lat Al-Sharqia, or the Eastern Flames, in Dammam, as has former Blackburn
defender Erica Cunningham and Nigerian international TochukwuOluehi, who was
part of the Super Falcons’ squad at the recent Women’s World Cup.
Another Nigerian international, veteran
attacker Rita Chikwelu, has signed with Al-Shabab, as has Venezuelan
international Oriana Altuve, who was previously one of the leading scorers in
Spain’s Liga F with Rayo Vallecano.
Meanwhile, Rania Salmi, a Moroccan
international, has joined her international teammate Jraidi at Al-Ahli.
New teams and storylines galore
While the league remains at eight teams,
which will grow to 10 next year, this season welcomes two new sides in
Al-Riyadh and Al-Qadisiyah, replacing relegated Sama and Al-Yamamah.
While Sama proved to be uncompetitive
last season, losing all 14 games and conceding a staggering 173 goals, the two
new teams this season promise to make things far more competitive and that can
only be a good thing for the league.
How the new teams fare, with a host of
big-name signings of their own — like former Brazil international Rayanne
Machado and former Spanish international Miriam Dieguez — will be fascinating
to watch, with just one team facing the drop this season as the league looks to
expand to 10 teams.
The race for the title looks to be wide
open again, with Al-Ittihad surely the team to beat after their heavy
investment in playing and coaching talent. Last year they ended 14 points off
the pace.
With so much attention on their big-name
signings, just what impact they can have on Al-Ittihad’s fortunes, and those of
the league, will be intriguing to watch unfold.
Last season’s top two — Riyadh rivals
Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal — have only strengthened and should also be in the mix
for silverware come the end of the season.
Or could there be a bolter in the mix to
upset the established order? Could Al-Shabab usurp their Riyadh rivals? Can the
inspirational story of Shua’lat Al-Sharqia add an exciting new chapter?
This promises to be another exciting
season in the Saudi Women’s Premier League.
Source: arabnews.com
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2389846/sport
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Muslim Women Lead Interfaith White House
Vigil For Victims Of Hamas Atrocities
Oct 12, 2023
Judy Rotich
A leading Muslim American group is
organizing a multi-faith peace vigil outside the White House in solidarity with
victims of the recent Hamas atrocities in Israel. The American Muslim
&Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council (AMMWEC) is partnering with diverse
faith groups on to help inspire Americans of all backgrounds to come together
in response to the massacre.
The vigil comes at a time when some
prominent Muslims have shocked the mainstream public by trying to downplay the
massacre as an understandable reaction caused by Israel. Others gone a step
further, with one prominent Muslim leader in Australia hailing the attack as a
“'a day of courage.”
The vigil, organized in conjunction with
Sikhs of America and Muslims of America, will condemn all forms of terrorism in
front of the White House, starting at 3pm EST.
“We cannot let extremists hijack defame
the word of God in the name of hate and atrocity,” said Anila Ali, AMWEC’s
President. Ali is also one of the most prominent Muslim signatories of the “Not
In My Name” campaign by Muslims who condemn Hamas for rape, kidnapping, and
murder of toddlers, women, and even elderly Holocaust survivors.
The campaign cites the Qur`an’s repeated
expressions of admiration for Jews and Jewish scripture, including its citing
the scripture’s quote that “whosoever killed a person… it shall be as if he had
killed mankind.”
Ali noted that this was the worst
antisemitic attack since the Holocaust – and that President Biden recently
urged: “This is a moment for the United States to come together to grieve with
those who are mourning.”
Vigil organizers note that victims of
the attack include Muslims, and that Hamas violence has often targeted fellow
Muslims. For example, in 2007, Hamas seized the Gaza Strip in a violent coup
which cost 161 lives including 39 civilians and two United Nations personnel.
The campaign also points to a heinous
false claim in the Hamas charter that the "Day of Judgement will not come
about until Muslims fight the Jews. When the Jew will hide behind stones and
trees, the stones and trees will say, 'O Muslims, O Abdulla, there is a Jew
behind me, come and kill him.'"
“This language is genocidal,” observed
Ali. “We must stand instead for coexistence and peace.”
The current fighting has resulted in 1,300
people killed and 3,400 wounded in Israel, with over 150 abducted or missing.
Inside the Gaza Strip over 1,500 have been killed and over 330,000 people
internally displaced.
Source: forbes.com
https://www.forbes.com/sites/zengernews/2023/10/12/muslim-women-lead-interfaith-white-house-vigil-for-victims-of-hamas-atrocities/?sh=4227d975173b
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Female labour force participation rate
improved to 37 percent in 2023: WCD
13th October 2023
Neha Khan
New Delhi: The female labour force
participation rate in the country has improved by 4.2 percentage points to 37
per cent in 2023, the government said on Friday.
According to the data shared by the
Women and Child Development Ministry, the female labour force participation
rate increased from 23.3 per cent in 2017-18 to 24.5 per cent in 2018-19; 30
per cent in 2019-20 to 32.5 per cent in 2020-21 and 32.8 per cent in 2021-22 to
37 per cent in 2022-23.
“The Periodic Labour Force Survey Report
2022-23 released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on
October 9, 2023 shows that the female labour force participation rate in the
country has improved significantly by 4.2 percentage points to 37 per cent in
2023, as per the usual status’ concept of measuring labour force
participation,” the ministry said.
Source: siasat.com
https://www.siasat.com/female-labour-force-participation-rate-improved-to-37-percent-in-2023-wcd-2720923/
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/france-ban-abaya-muslims/d/130892