exploring muslim identities in europe & north america

In the video below (in Greek with English subtitles), Anna Stamou, Public Relations at MEE (Greek Muslim Union), speaks at Tatiana Stefanidou's show "Αξίζει να το Ζείς", on Star Channel. The conversation revolves around  her decision to convert to Islam and, perhaps more importantly, her decision to wear the hijab. This was a very positive moment for Muslims in Greece, especially for those who have converted to Islam and face disapproval and marginalization. Stamou's presence in the programme went some way to challenge representations of Islam and Muslims as alien - she represented an example of both boundary crossing (converting to Islam) and challenging boundaries (as she did not fit to the stereotype of an "outsider", of someone who "did not quite belong").  Having said that, interestingly, the discussion was advertised as focusing on the " Greek woman who married to the President of the Muslims [Greek Muslim Union] and wore the...

The French Conseil d'Etat considered back in May that a total ban of the face veil in France would present serious constitutional risks and could not rest on any sound juridical foundation.           Burqa : le Conseil d'Etat écarte l'interdiction - kewego Une interdiction totale du port du voile intégral en France présenterait de sérieux risques constitutionnels et ne pourrait trouver aucun fondement juridique incontestable, estime le Conseil d'Etat.     Keywords: voile intégral nijab burqa musulman conseil etat loi interdiction                 Video from bfmtv    

Earlier yesterday members of the French parliament approved with 336 votes for and 1 against a controversial law banning the voile intégral (the burqa). The vote has not come as a surpise as it has been discussed and anticipated for several months. Although the reasons put forward in support of the ban consider the burqa a “prison for women” and a “sign of their submission to their husbands, brothers or fathers” and therefore identify Muslim women as the target of this law, the legislators crafted the law in such a way as to ban any face-covering material, to “forbid concealing one’s face in public.” On the surface, a gender blind piece of legislation whose authors claim no intention to discriminate against Islam, the law curiously contains elements that clearly negate the declarations of its sponsors. In a display of determined arrogance that totalitarian regimes would envy, the law stipulates that, alongside a fine of  €150, women who will be caught covering their faces will b...

In my post of 26 June, I expressed my doubts as to the stated rationale behind Barcelona’s ban of the face veil from civic buildings. Despite the feeble attempts of Barcelona’s mayor, Jordi Hereu, to decouple the burqa ban from popular and official unease and prejudice towards Islam, the statements of Spanish Justice Minister Francisco Caamano reveal the complexity of the issue: the Spanish Government is prepared to repeat the onslaught against Muslim women at national level on the grounds of safety and security and of its concern about the dignity of Muslim women. Poster from the Swiss minaret referendum where the face veil is recruited to add to the moral panic about the Islamization of the country "We have to defend women's dignity and the burqa and similar garments - regardless of the religion they are from - that do not permit identification of the wearer, affect the dignity of that person, and in this case women," Caamano told reporters. Spokespersons of the cons...

I am reproducing here a press release from Amnesty International on the Barcelona ban. As promised, I will resume my discussion of the ban and its repercussion in my next post. Spanish politicians urged to reject bans on full-face veils  Spain is the third European country this year to consider the banning of full-face veils 29 June 2010 Amnesty International has called on law-makers in the Spanish region of Catalonia not to adopt a motion on Wednesday in favour of banning women from wearing the full-face veil in public buildings and spaces. "Any wide-ranging ban will violate the rights to freedom of expression and religion of those women who choose to wear a full-face veil as an expression of their identity or beliefs," said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International's expert on discrimination in Europe. "Women should be free to choose what and what not to wear. This is their right under international human rights law. This right extends to forms of dress th...

The whole affair started by a short, dry statement from the Barcelona municipal government issued on the 14 th of June which announced in no uncertain terms that the city of Barcelona was going “to forbid the use of the burqa, niqab and any other item which hinders personal identification in any of the city's public installations” (these include civic centres, libraries, markets and nurseries, to name but a few). We then learned that the city administration had gone to great lengths to ensure that all sensitivities were taken into account as the city's commission on immigration policy had discussed a legal opinion, as to the extent and the legality of such a ban. According to news reports revealing the extent and ambition of the vision behind the ban, Barcelona’s mayor and member of the Partit dels Socialistes del Catalunya (PSC), presiding over a coalition municipal administration with the Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds , (ICV), a Green Left party as it defines itself, “r...