|
5th October 2004
Statement of Raghad Altikriti on behalf of Prohijab
The Eleventh Annual International Law and Religion Symposium:
“Religion in the Public Sphere: Challenges and Opportunities”
Brigham Young University
October 3-6, 2004.
Bismillah Arrahman Arrahim, In the Name of Allah the Most Merciful the Most Gracious
Respected Chair, Ladies and Gentlemen:
Good morning to all of you
It is the Assembly’s honour to share this platform with all of you
representing this respected array of religions and cultures from
across the world.
The Assembly for the protection of Hijab was initiated following the
alarming spread of Hijab ban across Europe including France, Belgium,
Germany and other countries like Turkey and Tunisia and around the
world. This ban denies Muslim women their most basic human rights -
their freedom of thought, conscience, and belief - which are enshrined
in numerous International Treaties.
The ban on Hijab gives rise to serious and profound concerns. Such
discriminatory legislation will alienate Muslim women and their
communities, and thus have a deep negative impact on community
relations, effectively encouraging racism and hostility towards
Muslims, thus stoking the flames of intolerance and hatred.
It has been argued that the ban is against all religious symbols in
places such as France, but the fact is that the Hijab is not a symbol
– it is a fundamental religious duty for Muslim women and goes far
beyond being an outward manifestation of the Islamic religion.
The idea that Muslim women are subjugated, voiceless creatures is
completely absurd. Muslim Women are at the forefront of their
societies, occupying leading roles, belying the stereotypical
oppressive image that the media often convey.
Just as we are housewives and
mothers, Muslim women are also highly educated professionals, leading
human rights campaigns, leading anti-war movements, leading student
societies, social activities and the like. The Hijab does not stop us
from doing any of these duties. We are educated about it and
understand its significance in our lives. This is about the
fundamental freedom to choose. Those who chose not to wear the Hijab
have joined forces with those who chose to wear it due to the belief
that the Hijab is a religious duty and not a symbol.
The Hijab ban, especially in
Europe, is being spearheaded by people who are well intentioned, yet
grossly misguided - who claim they want to liberate the Muslim Women
from being oppressed. Let me tell you - the Hijab has
never been and will never be a sign of oppression for Muslim women.
Thousands of young women marched in the streets of France wearing
Hijab in the colors of the French flag and holding their French
identity cards – confirming their French identity but reserving the
right to choose their dress. These women are surely not oppressed.
It must have come as a shock
to the French government, who strongly voiced its desire to ‘free
the oppressed Muslim women’ when we called for two worldwide
Hijab solidarity days. Thousands of Muslim women took part in
rallies in around 35 countries around the world on 17th Jan
2004 outside French Embassies and Consulates, making clear their
total rejection of the ban – this is hardly the actions of the
oppressed and meek!. On 4th September again, 21
countries around the world joined in a day of solidarity, showing
their strength and pride in their way of life.
Supposedly neutral Ministers of the state are trying
to assert that the hijab is a devious political symbol and an insult
to women’s dignity. Whereas secularity came to protect the individual
from state interference in personal affairs, the French state is
interfering in the crudest way, to the point of dictating to women how
they must dress. Secularity in France does not mean
neutrality; it means state control over religion and a violation of
Human Rights. We remind France and other European countries -that
banned the Hijab in schools, universities and hospitals- of their duty
as signatories of the European Convention of Human rights, to
guarantee freedom of thought and religion. On the other hand, Turkey
and Tunisia have long record of breaching the right of Muslim women to
practice their religion freely.
Based on trends in other countries with well-established bans on the
Hijab, we have witnessed that Muslim women are even turned away from
hospitals in acute emergencies if they are wearing the Hijab. Is
this the next step for the free and democratic states of Europe? Where
will it all ends?
Just two days ago, on Friday October 1st,
a 15 year old Cennet Doganay attended the Louis Pasteur Lycee high
school in Strasbourg but unlike any other day she arrived with her
hair shaved off. France’s extremist secular law known as la
loi sur la laïcité has led to despair and frustration for many
French Muslim school girls who are now being forced to take such
extreme measures as a desperate cry against the oppressive Hijab ban
and to demonstrate their opposition to an irrational and
unmistakably discriminatory law.
Such young women who think to seek refuge
with what is named as European Court of Human Rights have very little
hope in achieving their freedom of thought and religious practice.
Assembly for the Protection of Hijab was deeply dismayed to
hear the decision on 29/6 by the European Court of Human Rights
rejecting the appeal of Leyla Sahlin to sit her medical school exams
at Istanbul University while observing the Islamic Hijab.
The court’s claim that the ban prevented “certain fundamentalist
religious movements from pressuring students who do not practise the
religion in question or those belonging to another religion” thinly
veils the reality of the situation which is that the Turkish legal
system is being used to unreasonably pressure and prevent Muslim women
in Turkey from exercising their Article 9 European Convention on Human
Rights freedom to practise their religion, in what is clearly an act
of fundamentalist state religious and sex discrimination.
It is extremely worrying to see such a verdict coming from Strasbourg
because it will inevitably undermine many people’s trust in the
European legal process. It is indeed a disconcerting contradiction for
a body established to protect human rights and individual freedoms to
rule in favour of a ban that denies women even their most basic human
right.
This development is a confirmation that the way forward in securing
every Muslim woman’s basic human right to wear Hijab will be to
explore all possible avenues of peaceful campaigning in society,
politics and the media.
Ladies and Gentlemen
The British government has pledged its
support to the Assembly for the Protection of Hijab when it was
launched in the House of Commons on 14 June 2004, which confirmed that
the British Government takes pride in the diversity of the British
community and respects individual religious freedoms. Even the Mayor
of London Ken Livingstone has stood firmly in support of religious
freedom and extended his hospitality at City Hall on 12th
July by allowing the Assembly to hold its first conference there. This
is an example that needs to be replicated world-wide.
The conference, titled “Hijab – a Woman’s Right to Choose” was a
gathering of over 350 people, representing over 202 organisations from
15 countries around the world, including the USA.
We all listened to those women who have faced the ban, and heard the
horrendous stories of oppression and discrimination, of the physical
and psychological impact of the ban, of the nervous breakdowns and the
deep trauma. We can only ask: What will these governments achieve out
of this? - An isolated and separated community who will be cut off
from mainstream society and life.
Ladies and Gentlemen
There are clear records reflecting the increase in hatred,
Islamophobia and Xenophobia against Muslims in Europe, a total of
15-25 Million people.
A report produced by the International Helsinki Federation for Human
Rights on 14th Sept 2004 included very important facts
about the rise of Islamophobia in Europe and specifically in the UK.
The report states that:
“During the post September 11th campaign against
terrorism, previously existing trends of intolerance and
discrimination against Muslims have been reinforced in the United
Kingdom. Most worrisome, Muslim and rights groups have voiced concern
that the use of arrest and search powers under the anti-terrorism
legislation has disproportionately and discriminatorily targeted
Muslims, thereby eroding the confidence in law enforcement authorities
of this group and further alienating its members in society”.
The report carries on by stating that: “there have been reportedly
been a few cases where schools have attempted to ban headscarves or
persuade Muslim girls not to wear them. In March 2004, the commission
of Racial Equality concluded that a policy prohibiting the use of
headscarves adopted by a school in Luton amounted to ‘indirect
racism’. Headscarves are allowed on passport pictures and the
Metropolitan Police Force allows officers to wear uniforms that
correspond to their beliefs”.
Many in the British Muslim community feel that they are being
unfairly targeted by these arbitrary stop and search measures and
indeed statistics show this to be true. Like the headscarf ban in
France, it is claimed that these measures do not target any specific
community and yet in both cases, one community in particular is being
disproportionately punished and stigmatised.
It is the duty of the leaders in the international community to stem
the increase in Islamophobia, xenophobia and racism. Muslims are an
integral part of many countries around the world, their involvement is
highly important for the stability and development of these countries.
Muslim women as part of these Muslim Communities are eager to
participate positively in the prosperity and growth of their
countries.
Another factor that we must address is the underlying Islamaphobia
that is leading to such overt and covert forms of discrimination
against Muslims in every sphere of life.
Under the guise of anti-terrorism laws, the entire world is targeting
the Muslims in their midst. If a Muslim person boards a plane, they
know that every person on that plane probably has a slit second
thought – “Shall I get off?” The Islamic religion is not to blame
for terrorism, this goes against the very foundations of our beliefs.
This Islamaphobia is the anti-Semitism of the 21st century,
and just as we are all united in fighting that religious intolerance,
so too must we all unite to fight Islamaphobia the world-round. Most
domestic anti-terrorism laws target Muslims, and some states around
the world are reversing such legislation and admitting the injustice,
for example India. We must fight for this trend to continue.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
We as Muslim women still have a great role to play - we need to
improve the level of education among ourselves and among our
communities, we need to clarify different aspects of our faith to the
media, to teachers and to members of the public. We need to show that
Muslim women who choose to wear the Hijab are not being oppressed. We
still have a long way to go in raising awareness and in working hard
to improve the society we live in. This can only be achieved through
cooperation and liaison with other faith and non-faith communities,
human rights organisations and governmental departments which we are
committed to doing, and working hard to achieve.
Before concluding, it is important to mention the role of the European
Parliament in condemning the ban on Hijab and other religious symbols.
The Assembly, in conjunction with Caroline Lucas MEP, presented a
seminar in the European Parliament on 22nd September to
lobby MEPs to sign a written declaration regarding the ban, to be
presented before the European Parliament early next year. We
encourage assistance from all supporters of human rights to help exert
pressure on MEPs in all countries to sign this declaration.
These peaceful and legal means are our way, kidnapping can never be
the way forward; we strongly condemn the use of violence or kidnapping
such as that of French journalists Christian Chesnot and Georges
Malbrunot. Such actions undermine our peaceful initiatives to
reverse the Hijab ban in France and other countries around the world.
Our efforts will continue in the coming months to lift the ban and
prevent it from spreading any further. We are determined that, with
the help of all of you who are committed to the protection of human
rights and liberties, there will be no Hijab ban anywhere in the
world in the years to come. Rights and freedoms are not favours
bestowed on us by the state or the government of the day – they are
the inalienable entitlement of every human being, and it is imperative
that every one of us works to ensure that they continue to be so.
Thank you |
