Thursday, October 19, 2006
Regarding Tunisian efforts (sometimes clearly over the line into capricious violence) to keep the hijab out, the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) (and echoed in email by our local Muslim American Society) is trying to put pressure on the Tunisian government to overturn the ban:
CAIR ACTION ALERT #503
DEMAND AN END TO TUNISIAN BAN ON HIJAB
Contact the Tunisian Embassy and U.S. Department of State Today
(WASHINGTON D.C., 10/18/06) - CAIR is urging all people of conscience to contact the government of Tunisia and the U.S. Department of State to demand that the religious rights of Tunisian women who choose to wear hijab be protected.
Media reports indicate that Tunisian police are stopping women on the streets and asking them to take off their headscarves and to sign a pledge that they will not wear a scarf again. A 1981 Tunisian law prohibits Islamic attire in schools or government offices...
...In a statement, CAIR said: "Freedom of religion should be a valued aspect of any society. People of all faiths must be granted the right to freely practice their religion without government interference or intimidation.
"The Tunisian law banning Islamic attire in certain areas, and the apparent expanded interpretation of that law, violates international human rights standards set forth by the United Nations and ratified by virtually every nation on earth.
"We call on the government of Tunisia to respect the religious rights of its citizens by ending all measures that restrict the wearing of religiously-mandated headscarves. We also call on the U.S. Department of State to use whatever influence it has to convince Tunisian authorities to abide by international norms of religious freedom.
"Tunisia cannot claim to be a free and open society while carrying out such repressive and authoritarian actions."...
The headscarf is a complicated issue. It is, at least on the surface, a freedom of choice issue. On the other hand, it is also an overt indicator of those who are submitting to Islam, and its wearing is itself very often enforced "off the record." Countries facing the threat of Islamism have an interest and an argument to make in limiting what can become a creeping symbol and tool of radicalism.
