Eretz Israel is our unforgettable historic homeland...The Jews who will it shall achieve their State...And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind. (Theodor Herzl, DerJudenstaat, 1896)

We offer peace and amity to all the neighbouring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East.
(From Proclamation of the State of Israel, 5 Iyar 5708; 14 May 1948)

With a liberal democratic political system operating under the rule of law, a flourishing market economy producing technological innovation to the benefit of the wider world, and a population as educated and cultured as anywhere in Europe or North America, Israel is a normal Western country with a right to be treated as such in the community of nations.... For the global jihad, Israel may be the first objective. But it will not be the last. (Friends of Israel Initiative)

Wednesday 14 February 2018

Where Did You Get That Hijab?

No, everyone does not, Ms Wells.
Pictured swathed in Burberry-patterned headgear a fortnight ago is Annie Wells MSP, Conservative and Unionist member of the Scottish legislature for the Glasgow district.

Ms Wells's choice of garment was not to protect herself against the February chills in her northerly part of the world, but to demonstrate her solidarity with women who wear the hijab.  For this Burberry number is indeed a hijab and she was marking "World Hijab Day" (1 February), now in its fifth year.

See some more Scottish politicians' reactions here; that from John Mason is nauseating.

It goes without saying that nobody should be insulted, much less assaulted, for wearing the hijab, but when western women are actively encouraged to wear it, and by the British Foreign Office too, then a step too far has surely been reached.

A London newspaper, the Evening Standard reported:
'The Foreign Office handed out free headscarves to staff and encouraged them to learn why Muslim women wear the garment as part of its World Hijab Day celebrations. The Government department, headed up by Boris Johnson, offered all employees the chance to wear a hijab for part of their day to mark the worldwide event on February 1. In an internal memo, the Foreign Office said that the headscarf is worn by some women who see it as representing “liberation, respect and security”.
According to reports, an email sent to staff said:  
“Would you like to try on a hijab or learn why Muslim women wear the headscarf? Come along to our walk-in event.Free scarves for all those that choose to wear it for the day or part of the day. Muslim women, along with followers of many other religions, choose to wear the hijab. Many find liberation, respect and security through wearing it. #StrongInHijab. Join us for #WorldHijabDay.”
A Foreign Office spokesman confirmed that the event was for staff at its London office who wanted to learn more about other cultures.'  [Emphasis added, here and below]
For the sake of pandering to the Islamic world at home and abroad the Foreign Office believes it appropriate for non-Muslim females to cover their heads in a scarf that many Muslim women themselves regard as a symbol of female subservience and which began as an indication of which women (the covered ones) were not to be considered fair game for sexual violence by Muslim men.

Having the right not to wear the hijab is the real issue.  

Just ask all those Iranian women who recently, in a brave act of defiance, have allowed their locks to blow freely in the wind as nature intended.

Let's look at that Foreign Office memo again:
“Would you like to try on a hijab or learn why Muslim women wear the headscarf? Come along to our walk-in event.
“Free scarves for all those that choose to wear it for the day or part of the day."
Methinks I sense Da'awa at work there.  This photo (above, left) from the Evening Standard would seem to confirm that view.

Reports the Daily Mail:
'The event was ... just days before Britain marked the 100th anniversary of women [aged 30 and above, plus university graduates aged 21-30] being given the vote.
Maajid Nawaz, who heads the counter-extremism think-tank the Quilliam Foundation, criticised the department for ‘supporting World Hijab Day and the institutional oppression of women through modesty culture, while brave Iranian women risk all to remove hijab tyranny’.
Anti-hijab activist Masih Alinejad told Reuters: ‘We are fighting against the most visible symbol of oppression. These women are saying, “It is enough – it is the 21st century and we want to be our true selves.”’ 
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: ‘I’d like to know whose bright idea this was. It is ridiculous, a complete waste of taxpayers’ money and not the business of a Government department.‘I can’t see the Foreign Office promoting Christianity or the handing out of crosses.’
No demonstrative Foreign Office stunts on behalf of the Islam-persecuted Christians of the Near and Middle East, then.

And I don't see the Foreign Office holding a demonstration of solidarity with Jews in the "new" Europe, who feel increasingly unsafe when wearing symbols of Judaism in public places.

World Kippa Day, anyone?

5 comments:

  1. One of my hounds likes to wrap himself in an old cashmere blend scarf when it's cold.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ISLAMIC QUOTES ABOUT WOMEN

    Koran, chapter 4, verse 34:
    “If you fear high-handedness from your wives, remind them [of the teachings of Allah], then ignore them when you go to bed, then hit them.”

    Tabari, chapter IX, paragraph 113:
    “Allah permits you to shut them [women] in separate rooms and to beat them, but not severely. If they abstain, they have the right to food and clothing. Treat women well because they are like domestic animals and they possess nothing themselves.
    Allah has made the enjoyment of their bodies lawful in this.”

    Hadith, Volume 7, Book 62, Number 124:
    The Prophet [Mohammed] said:
    "…Then I stood at the gate of Hell [the Fire] and saw that the majority of those who entered it were women."

    TRANSLATION NOTE:
    The Arabic word used for "the majority" here is 'Aammah, and it indicates beyond any shred of a doubt (in Arabic) the *VAST MAJORITY.
    -----------------------------------

    from Brigitte Gabriel:

    Wife-beating in Islamic nations is more prevalent than one can imagine.

    In Pakistan, is has been reported by the Institute of Medical Sciences that 90% of the female population has been beaten for such wrongdoings as giving birth to a daughter or cooking an unsatisfactory meal.

    After the African country of Chad attempted to outlaw wife-beating, Islamic clerics in that nation deemed the bill “un-Islamic”.

    SOURCE: They Must Be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It (Chapter 9, page 173) by Brigitte Gabriel, year 2008, year 2010, St. Martin’s Press, 288 pages, ISBN 0312571283, ISBN 9780312571283.

    MICROBIOGRAPHY: Brigitte Gabriel, the author of They Must Be Stopped, is a Christian Arab, born in Lebanon. Arabic is her native language.

    ReplyDelete
  3. *** QUOTE ABOUT ISLAM VS. WOMEN ***

    “The Islamic world is steeped in misogyny. The Koran explicitly states that a woman is worth only half a man (Suras 2: 228, 2: 282, 4:11), that women are unclean (5:6), and that a man can have sex with his wife whenever he wants (24:31). The Koran even says that men are allowed to have sex slaves (4:24), and that they have the right to rape women whom they have captured (24:31).

    The hadiths, the descriptions of the life of Muhammad, the ideal human being whose example all the Islamic faithful must follow, confirm that women are sex objects, that they are inferior beings like dogs and donkeys, and that there is nothing wrong with sexual slavery and raping female prisoners.

    Taharrush [the Arabic word for the phenomenon whereby women are encircled by groups of men and sexually harassed, assaulted, groped, raped] is quite common in Islamic countries. Women are frequently surrounded by men and subsequently abused. The Egyptian website Jadaliyya points out that it also happens to veiled women. Women are victims simply because they are women and not because they have provoked the men by their conduct or [allegedly] provocative clothing. It can happen in the streets, public transport, supermarkets, or during protest demonstrations.”

    SOURCE: Germany’s Merkel Faces a Firestorm of Criticism over Muslim Migrant Misogyny by Jerry Gordon of the Gatestone Institute, 2016 January 14
    http://5tjt.com/germanys-merkel-faces-a-firestorm-of-criticism-over-muslim-migrant-misogyny/

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good article -- comments even better -- on this sorry situation here Daph -- https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/feminists-world-hijab-day/

    ReplyDelete
  5. www.algemeiner.com/2018/02/15/the-west-embraces-the-hijab-as-muslim-women-risk-their-lives-for-the-right-to-choose/

    ReplyDelete

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