French Police Shoot Woman Who Shouted 'Allah Akbar' On Paris Train
New Age
Islam News Bureau
01 November 2023
·
French Police Shoot Woman Who
Shouted 'Allah Akbar' On Paris Train
·
Iranian Women “Haunted by Fear”
over Forced Hijab
·
Pre-Arrest Bail of Imran Khan’s
Sisters Uzma Khan and Aleema Khan in May 9 Cases Extended
·
Muslim Women in The West in The
Crosshairs of Zionists, White ‘Feminists’
·
Women-Only Swimming Classes
Offered to Coventry Muslims
·
EU Provides 15 million Euros to
Support Women-Led Businesses
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/french-police-allah-akbar/d/131026
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French Police Shoot Woman Who Shouted
'Allah Akbar' On Paris Train
French
police officers stand at the entrance of Bibliothèque François-Mitterrand
station (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
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31/10/2023
Unidentified woman is said to have a
history of psychiatric issues, and has been left in critical condition.
Paris police shot and seriously injured
a woman who made threatening remarks and shouted "Allah Akbar" on a
train on Tuesday.
The police were called in after two
passengers reported at around 07:30 that a woman wearing a "full
veil" was making threats on a train in Val-de-Marne, Paris police prefect
Laurent Nuñez told a press conference.
The incident comes as France grapples
with rising tensions over the war between Israel and Hamas.
Prefect Nuñez added that according to
witnesses, the woman also shouted: "You're all going to die".
According to the police commissioner,
she was subsequently located by police at the Bibliothèque François Mitterrand
station in Paris, which was quickly evacuated.
The police officers "asked her to
sit down on the ground", explained the prefect, but the woman got up and
"went towards the police officers". They asked her not to move and to
show her hands to check that she had no weapon, but she "refused to
comply".
Two police officers then fired eight
shots, said the public prosecutor, who had initially reported a single shot was
fired by a police officer.
The woman was seriously injured in the
abdomen and hospitalised. Police say her injuries are life-threatening.
Checks established that she had neither
explosives nor a weapon on her person. The station was still closed early on
Tuesday afternoon, and Transport Minister Clément Beaune visited the scene.
Troubled history
The woman, aged 38, had already been
stopped in July 2021 by soldiers during Operation Sentinelle. That day,
"also wearing a full veil" and carrying a "screwdriver",
she had made "religious remarks" with a "threatening attitude",
explained Laurent Nuñez.
She was held in police custody for a
time before being "interned" because she was suffering from
"psychiatric problems".
She had not been the subject of a
radicalisation file, contrary to what police sources had initially indicated.
The identity of the woman, who gave her
name to the hospital but had no identity papers with her, has yet to be
confirmed, officials stressed.
Two investigations have been opened. One
has been entrusted to the Paris judicial police for "apology, death
threats and intimidation of a public official"; the other has been
entrusted to the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) and
concerns the police officers' decision to shoot, as happenes whenever a police
officer uses a firearm.
Tense atmosphere
This case comes at a time of tension in
France, due to the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, and following the
murder of teacher Dominique Bernard in Arras on 13 October by a young man with
a record of Islamic radicalism.
Since the attack, France has moved its
national terror alert to the highest level of readiness. Bomb threats have been
issued at dozens of locations in France, leading to multiple evacuations of
airports, train stations and tourist sites such as the Palace of Versailles.
A total of 100 bomb threats have been
made to French airports since 18 October, the French Minister for Transport,
Clément Beaune, said on Tuesday.
On Monday, Interior Minister Gérald
Darmanin recorded "819 anti-Semitic acts" and "414 arrests"
in France since October 7th, when Hamas fighters stormed into Israel and
murdered hundreds of people before abducting hundreds of hostages. Israel has
responded with its largest assault on Gaza since it withdrew from the area in
the mid-2000s.
Source: euronews.com
https://www.euronews.com/2023/10/31/french-police-shoot-woman-who-shouted-allah-akbar-on-paris-train
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Iranian Women “Haunted by Fear” over
Forced Hijab
Iranian women
------
NOVEMBER 1, 2023
Videos and testimonies shining a light
on violent encounters between women and girls without head coverings and hijab
enforcement officers have recently emerged.
The 16-year-old Armita Geravand died
after being assaulted at a Tehran metro station for not wearing a headscarf,
while Roya Zakari, 31, was taken to a mental hospital in the northwestern city
of Tabriz after a physical altercation at the hands of the morality police.
Many women in Iran grapple with the fear
of being subjected to similar acts of violence.
"When I step onto the subway or a
bus, I'm haunted by the fear that one of their agents might be there, ready to
harm me,” says a young woman living in the outskirts of Tehran. “When I'm not
wearing a headscarf, I constantly glance over my shoulder."
"In the past, you could wear a mask
and sunglasses and they would simply issue you a summons. However, their
tactics have now shifted toward violence," she adds.
The current tense atmosphere reminds her
of a series of acid attacks which led to the deaths and maiming of several
young women in the central city of Isfahan in 2014. The attacks are thought to
have been carried out by extremists who took issue with women who did not wear
hijab.
"It was similar back then, and I
wasn't the only one,” the woman recalls. “When a motorcycle passed by, we
trembled in fear that it might be an acid attacker."
Mahtab Qolizadeh, a journalist and
women's rights activist, took to the social media platform X to relate an
incident that took place at a gas station on October 30.
"I was refueling when the gasoline
hose suddenly burst and gasoline splashed onto my face,” Qolizadeh wrote. “At
that very moment, I was gripped by fear that a government agent might be
punishing me for not complying with mandatory hijab rules. I was worried that
someone might ignite a lighter and set me on fire."
"My eyes stung and I screamed,
fearing I might go blind or that someone would throw a lighter at me. A kind
woman and a man rushed to my aid, helped me and reassured me that nobody had
any intention of harming me. The gasoline nozzle had malfunctioned, causing the
accident," she continued.
The Iranian authorities have intensified
their crackdown on women and girls who refuse to wear a headscarf following
months of unrest in 2022 sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while
in police custody. Amini had been detained for allegedly wearing a head
covering improperly.
However, many defiant women continue to
appear in public without hijab, in a direct challenge to the country’s clerical
rulers.
"Women in Iran are engaging in
civil disobedience against mandatory hijab laws, and the government is
employing various tactics to threaten or punish women in an attempt to quash
this civil resistance," Saeed Peyvandi, a sociologist and professor at the
University of Lorraine in France, tells IranWire.
"The government is displeased with
this infringement of the law, but since it lacks the means to control hundreds
of thousands or even millions of women in Iran to ensure compliance with hijab,
an atmosphere of intimidation and fear has taken hold among women,"
Peyvandi continues.
"Those engaging in aggressive
behavior [against women] in subways, buses, and on highways are predominantly
individuals like members of the [paramilitary] Basij force, who receive minimal
salaries for their services and often have other jobs elsewhere," he says.
"However, they are mobilized to safeguard the government. Following the
authorities' threats, these individuals heed the orders and permit themselves
to act aggressively and harm women."
Psychotherapist Shahrazad Pourabdullah
underscores that many women experienced trauma when witnessing acts of violence
committed by government forces against women without headscarf.
When these traumatized women find
themselves in a “threatening scenario,” they might “experience panic, shortness
of breath, trembling limbs, scream, faint or flee," according to
Pourabdullah.
The psychotherapist encourages women in
the country to develop better control over their reactions, insisting that
“women in Iranian society should work on this matter."
"We may briefly feel like we're
under attack for a few seconds to a couple of minutes, but we need to swiftly
gather ourselves and engage the rational part of our brain to evaluate [the
situation] and calm down," Pourabdullah says.
Source: iranwire.com
https://iranwire.com/en/women/122104-iranian-women-haunted-by-fear-over-forced-hijab/
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Pre-Arrest Bail of Imran Khan’s Sisters
Uzma Khan and Aleema Khan in May 9 Cases Extended
November 1, 2023
LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court on
Tuesday extended pre-arrest bail of PTI former secretary general Asad Umar and
former prime minister Imran Khan’s sisters Uzma Khan and Aleema Khan in
multiple cases of May 9 riots.
All three appeared before the court, and
the investigating officer (IO) said custody of the suspects was required as
they had not joined the investigation.
PTI leaders’ counsel Burhan Moazam Malik
said the IO was misleading the court. He said the petitioners found the IO
absent from his office whenever they visited him.
He asked the court to determine a day
and time for the petitioners to join the investigation.
ATC extends judicial remand of Dr
Yasmin, Alia Hamza and Khadija Shah
The counsel further asked the court to
order the IO to furnish the prosecution’s allegations to the petitioners.
Judge Arshad Javed directed both sides —
the police and the petitioners — to decide a time with mutual convenience so
that the investigation could be completed.
The judge also extended the pre-arrest
bail of the PTI leaders till Nov 22.
The bail petitions were filed in cases
including attacks on the Jinnah House, which also serves as the residence of
Lahore corps commander, Askari Tower in Gulberg, torching of PML-N offices in
Model Town and a container near Kalma Chowk.
Talking to the reporters, Mr Umar
expressed his commitment with the PTI.
The PTI’s former secretary said he had
invitation from Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP), launched by Jahangir Khan
Tareen. “However, I wished them best of luck in their politics,” he added.
Judicial remand
In another development, an
anti-terrorism court on Tuesday extended judicial remand of PTI-Punjab
President Dr Yasmin Rashid, former MNA Alia Hamza, fashion designer Khadija
Shah, and others in the May 9 cases of attacks on the Jinnah House and Askari
Tower.
The police produced the PTI women before
the court on the expiry of their previous 14-day judicial remand.
Judge Abher Gul Khan extended the
judicial remand of the suspects for the next 14 days with a direction to the
police to submit challan in the cases.
In a brief conversation with the
reporters, Dr Rashid said justice seemed no more blind as it was targeting her
and amassing new cases while allowing all the “declared absconders” to walk
free who left the PTI only to join another party.
She said the prosecution had so far
failed to submit a challan and had been employing
delaying tactics at almost 25 hearings
since her arrest some six months ago.
She said the justice system was no more
ready to lay hands on women absconders, including Andleeb Abbas, who recently
parted her ways with the PTI.
Dr Rashid said that 11 new cases had
been registered against her — seven in Kasur and four in Faisalabad — without
mentioning any charges.
Source: dawn.com
https://www.dawn.com/news/1785425/pre-arrest-bail-of-asad-umar-imrans-sisters-in-may-9-cases-extended
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Muslim women in the West in the
crosshairs of Zionists, white ‘feminists’
31 Oct 2023
For twenty-four long days, and with no
end in sight, the Israeli government has been committing genocide against the
Palestinians in Gaza with explicit and unconditional support from the US
government.
On October 7, in response to a terror
attack by Hamas that killed some 1,400 people in Israel, its forces unleashed
hell on Gaza. The Israeli military started indiscriminately bombing homes,
mosques, churches, hospitals and schools in the overpopulated Palestinian
enclave, killing Palestinian civilians in their thousands. Israel has also put
the Strip under a total siege, preventing the entry of water, food, fuel,
electricity or medical supplies, and leaving more than two million people faced
with death by starvation, dehydration and disease.
For such war crimes to be committed in
plain sight, and with no meaningful contestation from the international
community, the Palestinians at the receiving end of Israel’s bombs had to be
dehumanised, and their allies around the world discredited as anti-Semitic and
violent.
Such othering occurs through a
relatively straightforward mechanism. First, Palestinians as a group are
presented as barbaric, violent and over all less than human, so people around
the world do not object to them being indiscriminately killed and starved. Then
those who do not buy this racist narrative and insist on protesting against the
oppression of the Palestinian people are smeared, censored, doxed and
criminalised.
At the forefront of numerous grassroots,
intellectual, and political movements opposing Israel’s ongoing war crimes, in
the United States and elsewhere in the staunchly pro-Israel West, are Muslim
women. Courageous Palestinian, Arab, South Asian, and Black women are leading
mass protests, political action campaigns, teach-ins at universities,
fundraisers for humanitarian aid, and writing letters to university presidents,
demanding they protect their Palestinian and Muslim students from doxing,
harassment, and intimidation by Zionist organisations on and off campus.
These Muslim women’s civic and political
engagement is almost always met with attacks on their own safety, defamation of
their character, and threats to their employment – all aimed at silencing their
voices.
If these threats on their lives and
livelihoods do not work, Muslim women who speak up for the Palestinians –
especially those holding positions in higher education – are dismissed as “too
emotional”, “ignorant”, “bigoted”, or “professionally incompetent” by their
pro-Israel peers.
Marginalised simultaneously for their
religion, race and gender, Muslim women have long been forced to manoeuvre a
triple bind to avoid discrimination, harassment and stigmatisation. They are
required to be “good Muslims”, “good women”, and “good racial minorities” all
at once and at all times to avoid being targeted within the coercive
assimilationist paradigm that constantly polices their behaviour.
Being a “good Muslim woman of colour”
entails a daily emotional and psychological tax of trying to fit into myriad
clashing identity performance pressures imposed by Eurocentric, Judeo-Christian
cultural normativity.
A “good Muslim woman of colour” cannot
show emotions such as anger, frustration, or passion lest she be deemed
irrational, hysterical, or weak.
A “good Muslim woman of colour” must be
unconditionally loyal to the US. She must frequently pepper her speech with
comments and statements underlining how grateful she is to be in the US. How
lucky she is to live in a country ruled by white men and women who uphold
liberal values of democracy, equality, and freedom; irrespective of whether she
benefits from these proclaimed values or not.
A “good Muslim woman of colour” must
never criticise the policies and practices of Western countries that violate
international law, indiscriminately kill Muslims, collectively punish
Palestinian civilians, or systematically discriminate against Muslim and Arab
diasporas in purportedly liberal societies. She must prove that she does not
support terrorism in any form, which requires repeated condemnation of any acts
of violence by Muslims anywhere in the world.
A “good Muslim woman of colour” can
never be a feminist and advocate for Muslim women’s rights in the West. White
women accept her as a feminist only if she directs her writings and advocacy at
Muslim, Arab, and South Asian societies. But when Muslim women in the West
speak out about the discrimination they face where they are, or call out white
women for their support of wars that kill and maim Muslim women abroad, they
quickly transition from “fellow feminists” to “traitors”.
Thus, a “good Muslim woman” is
simultaneously infantilised and patronised, vilified and censored, and
depoliticised in a society that is incapable of seeing her as a smart,
independent, strong female leader. As soon as her coworkers, neighbours,
employers and political representatives discover that she is in fact her own
feminist – not their feminist – they defame, exclude, discredit and ignore her
as they search for another Muslim woman whom they can point to in their media
and political campaigns as the “good Muslim woman of colour”.
This triple bind is carried today by the
Black, Arab, and South Asian Muslim women at the forefront of advocating for
the human rights of Palestinians in the media, politics, grassroots organising,
the courts, and academia in the US and beyond.
As they fend off attacks against them,
these courageous women must simultaneously protect their own Muslim children
from harassment, bullying, and intimidation by Zionists in their towns and
schools who have monopolised the conversation about Palestine to declare that
only Israelis are human, while Palestinians, in the words of the Israeli
defence minister, are merely “human animals”.
This triple bind leaves Muslim women in
the West asking: “Why aren’t the white feminists coming to our defence?”
Why are so many white feminists now
Zionists first, and busy smearing our reputations by calling us anti-Semitic
simply on account of our defence of Palestinian human rights?
Why can’t the white feminists see our
struggle to end the dehumanisation of Palestinian, Arab and Muslim women as a
feminist issue?
Why do white women only want to save
Muslim women from the Taliban, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Arab governments, but not
from the US government, the Israeli government, Zionist groups, or white men?
Will white feminists ever look in the
mirror to recognise their own anti-feminism as they rebuke strong, smart,
confident, and fearless Muslim feminists within their workplaces, their
neighbourhoods, and on their faculties for speaking up in support of their
sisters in Gaza?
The answer to this question is likely a
resounding “no” for too many white women too invested in protecting the status
quo and their privileged place in society.
Yet, Muslim women in the West are not in
need of white feminist support anyway.
We have learned from our African
American sisters. We do not need any approval or permission from anyone to
fight for what we know is right. We just need white feminists to get out of our
way so that we can do the work of real feminism in solidarity with our
Palestinian sisters.
Source: aljazeera.com
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/10/31/muslim-women-in-the-west-in-the-crosshairs-of-zionists-white-feminists
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Women-Only Swimming Classes Offered to
Coventry Muslims
Ushma Mistry
NOVEMBER 1, 2023
A group of women have trained to become
lifeguards and swimming instructors to support Muslim women who cannot swim
with men for religious reasons.
They now offer regular sessions at two
pools in Coventry, which are screened off to make them private.
Some of those taking part had never
tried to learn to swim, saying they were afraid of the water.
One of the coaches, Mina Said, said:
"It's very rewarding to give somebody the independence of the water."
With the support of local sports group
Go Foleshill and the city council, 11 women have trained to become instructors
so far and a further five have become lifeguards.
Ms Said, who trained as both, said her
religion was very important to her.
"I have to be secluded from the
eyes of men when I'm dressed like this," she said.
She described one session where she
helped a woman get in at the deep end and everybody cheered.
"It's satisfying to see that,"
she said.
'Getting over fear'
Nicola Walker, a swimming development
manager for the council's swimming pool operator, CV Life, said it came about
because Go Foleshill came forward and explained "there was whole community
of people that potentially weren't able to utilise the swimming pool for
religious reasons".
Ms Walker said it was all down to those
women who trained that these sessions are now possible.
One of those taking part, Sabiyah Khanum
from Stivechell, was scared to get into a pool until three weeks ago.
She said: "I can't swim and my
husband and daughter can and when we go on holiday they're swimming away like a
fish and there's me standing and holding the sides."
Now she is getting over her fear and she
said: "I'm really glad that they're doing that, it's excellent."
Source: bbc.com
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-67273489
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EU provides 15 million Euros to support
women-led businesses
Fidel Rahmati
October 31, 2023
The Head of the European Union
Delegation in Kabul has emphasized the economic empowerment of women in
Afghanistan as a pivotal priority. She stated that the European Union is
allocating 15 million euros to support local businesses led by women in the country.
On Tuesday, Raphaella Addis, the Head of
the European Union Delegation in Kabul, said in her social media platform X
that this assistance is intended to support local businesses led by women and
enhance their access to financial services. The United Nations Development
Office in Afghanistan will manage it.
According to her, women’s economic
empowerment in Afghanistan is “crucial.”
It should be noted that in the past two
years, women who were previously deprived of education and job opportunities
have increasingly turned to professions such as calligraphy, painting, and
small-scale businesses. They continue to face challenges in this regard.
Local sources in Balkh province have
confirmed that officials from the Taliban administration in Afghanistan
recently banned 15 women’s tailoring factories in Mazar-e-Sharif’s “Zalal”
commercial market.
The Taliban administration had
previously instructed these women tailoring owners to relocate their shops to a
specialized women’s market called “Khadija Kubra Market.” However, they refused
to do so, as their shops were separate, and men did not have access to these
places. Due to a lack of customers, they did not move their businesses to the
market created by the Islamic Emirate.
Meanwhile, Husna Raufi, a determined
woman in Kabul, expresses concern over the closure of 15 tailoring centres in
Balkh, stating that many women who engage in tailoring can contribute to
various sectors through these centres.
According to Ms Raufi, the closure of
these tailoring centres, alongside the “very harsh financial blow,” has
inflicted additional hardships on women, their small local businesses, the
country, and the Ministry of Economy.
Ms Raufi calls on the authorities of the
interim administration to reconsider their decision to block women’s tailoring
centres in Balkh and create designated spaces for women as soon as possible.
She emphasizes that women in Afghanistan, especially in various cities, lack a
specific marketplace to conduct their business. Most national and international
centres are tailored for men, and women’s job markets are non-existent or
limited in customer access.
Ms Raufi urges the Ministry of Economy
and Trade to designate a specific place for determined women. She thinks
closing shops and women’s activities in Balkh demoralise other women in the
province.
Source: khaama.com
https://www.khaama.com/eu-provides-15-million-euros-to-support-women-led-businesses/
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/french-police-allah-akbar/d/131026