Free Republic

The Taliban has ordered Afghan women to wear burkas in public. The burka, which covers the wearer from head to toe and leaves only a person’s eyes exposed, became the group’s staple order on women in Afghanistan during its first reign of terror, between 1996 and 2001. The decision to re-introduce the garment serves as a chilling echo of the drastic restrictions Afghan women are once again facing under the Taliban’s control. If women have no important work outside the home, they should stay at home, the group also declared. Refusal to comply with the order can result in a...

Sri Lanka on Saturday announced plans to ban the wearing of burqas and said it would close more than 1,000 Islamic schools known as madrassas, citing national security. Minister of Public Security Sarath Weerasekara said he signed a paper on Friday seeking the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers to ban burqas — outer garments that cover the body and face worn by some Muslim women. “The burqa has a direct impact on national security,” Weerasekara told a ceremony at a Buddhist temple on Saturday, without elaborating. “In our early days, we had a lot of Muslim friends, but Muslim...

A year into the pandemic, a lot has changed. And we're reminded of that every time we go outside (if we go outside). Masks have joined the traditional don't-leave-home-without-them trifecta of keys, wallets and phones - and they are here to stay. There are folks who hate them, who can't breathe through them, or who think they're a sign of political oppression. But for others, the widespread use of masks has made the past year one of liberation. With a mask, you can sing in the grocery store, talk to yourself on a walk, grimace in the gym, leave the...

Nike has announced the upcoming launch in February of its new and oddly entitled Victory Swim Collection featuring Islamic swimsuits and hijabs for Muslims, and that leads me to ask a question. What exactly does the word ‘victory‘ here refer to? Is it signifying a ‘victory’ of the Muslim swimmer over the water? Is it referring to a Muslim victory over America? Is it anticipating a Democratic win in 2020 that would mean Islam could then come to power and that Sharia Law could finally be instituted? I think this is a very real and very important question that every...

A Dutch ban on the wearing of face-covering garments such as the burqa which came into place in August has “no place” in a tolerant society, a U.N. representative said Monday. Tendayi Achiume, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on racism, said the ban reflected a wider “consolidation of Islamophobia” in the Netherlands. As Breitbart News reported, the Dutch ban took effect in August, 14 years after it was first mooted by Dutch populist Geert Wilders. The new legislation makes it illegal to wear face coverings in public buildings and on transport. “From now on the wearing of clothing which covers the...

Two senior German politicians have called for a more progressive form of Islam in order to align the religion with the European way of life. Health Minister Jens Spahn and Schleswig-Holstein State Premier Daniel Günther published the appeal Thursday in a guest contribution for the Rheinische Post regional daily. “Instead of tolerating symbols of a reactionary, misogynistic form of Islam, we must promote the development of a European Islam, which shares our values, in order to preserve our free European way of life,” penned the two Christian Democrats. The topic of burkas is one of particular concern for both Spahn...

A Michigan city worker was fired over an anti-Muslim Facebook post about a Sports Illustrated model that he tried to cover up, insisting he was hacked. Bill Larion, 58, was axed Wednesday by Dearborn officials, four days after he denigrated Somali-American model and activist Halima Aden by comparing her to a camel. The part-time surveyor for the city’s engineering division made the degrading remark while off-duty, the Detroit Free Press reports.

FULL TITLE: US cop is found guilty of third-degree murder and manslaughter after he shot dead Australian woman Justine Damond in her pyjamas The US cop who shot dead an unarmed Australian woman in her pyjamas outside her home has been found guilty of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. A jury of ten men and two women reached a verdict on Tuesday in the trial of former Minnesota police officer Mohamed Noor after three weeks of testimony. The jurors were sequestered. Noor, 33, was charged with murder and manslaughter in the 2017 death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, a dual citizen...

Denmark becomes the sixth European country to enact such a ban, after France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Bulgaria and Austria. "The face is your passport. When you refuse me to see you, I am a victim." — Jacques Myard, a former conservative MP who supported the ban in France. "[S]ome people do not want to be a part of Danish society and want to create parallel societies with their own norms and rules." — Danish Justice Minister Søren Pape Poulsen. The Danish Parliament has passed a ban on Islamic full-face veils in public spaces. The new law, sponsored by Denmark's center-right...

Three ministers from the Norwegian government presented on Friday a proposal to ban face-covering garments at schools, daycares and other educational institutions. The proposal was presented by ministers from each of the three parties in the coalition government — Finance Minister Siv Jensen (Progress), Minister of Education and Integration Jan Tore Sanner (Conservative) and Minister of Education Iselin Nybø (Liberal). “Even though few people wear the burqa and niqab today, there are instances of it. A national ban will make things clearer for everyone,” Sanner said to NRK. The ban will ensure good communication in educational contexts, the minister added....

A man dressed as a shark has been arrested under Austria's burka ban laws while working as a mascot outside a shop. The employee was standing outside McShark in a shark suit to advertise the new electronics store in Vienna. Police officers demanded he removed his shark head and when he refused, protesting he was 'just doing his job', they arrested him and slapped him with a fine.

The Prime Minister, in a dark blue trouser suit, made sure she had her wrists and ankles covered, in accordance with strict dress codes for women in Saudi Arabia. But her choice of outfit as she arrived on Tuesday afternoon was contrary to Foreign Office guidelines, which state: “Women should wear conservative, loose-fitting clothes as well as a full length cloak (abaya) and a headscarf.” Mrs May won widespread praise on Twitter, with users saying they were “proud you have not bowed down” to the regime, and that “secular women are equal and free”.

In the modern-day culture wars over Islam’s place in America, fashion has become a flashpoint. Should Muslim women in the U.S. publicly show their faith with garments, from hijabs to burkinis? If the marketplace is any indication, that debate has been settled: Muslim fashion is here to stay. Modest fashion -- the term for a wide range of clothing that caters to women who prefer looser garments or more coverage -- is now within the mainstream. “In today’s world, Muslims have the largest population of millennials, and they’re demanding to be more and more stylish,” said Alia Khan, chairwoman of...

Residents in Spain have an answer for Starbucks’ company officials who announced plans to hire 10,000 refugees from mostly Muslim communities – and if a picture says 1,000 words, this message is a volume. From the blog: “All the Starbucks branches in Madrid have been redubbed ‘STARBURKA REFUGEES’ in a mass sticker protest action against that company’s decision to employ 10,000 Muslim invaders posing as refugees—while unemployment in Spain is over 20 percent. “The protest action, carried out by Spanish nationalist activists Hogar Social Madrid (HSM), saw activists print up ultra-sticky full size stickers to replace existing store signage, made...

A ban on all Muslim face veils in public places is part of new measures agreed by Austria’s ruling coalition partners, and is due to be implemented before the next parliamentary vote in 2018. The ban is a part of the ‘integration law’ included in the coalition’s new action plan, which was negotiated by the representatives of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPO) and the conservative People's Party (OVP), which together form the ruling centrist coalition. The contents of the new governmental program were presented on Monday. The proposed Muslim face veil ban mostly applies to the burka and niqab...

[Undermining the Constitution and the US legal system -Sharia Step #1 (my comment)] Harvard Law School has announced the launch of a series of paid fellowships for research on issues of Islamic law during the 2017-2018 academic year, aimed at influencing public discourse and U.S. policy on Sharia. According to.... Harvard’s Islamic Legal Studies Program, Intisar Rabb, the launch of the new program comes “just in time” for the beginning of the Trump administration and has the goal of “building a community of Islamic law scholars in the academy” as well as informing “policy and media discourse about Islamic law.”...

ANGELA Merkel today completed an astonishing U-turn as she formally endorsed a full burka ban following a backlash over her open-door migration policies. The German chancellor made the comments at a Christian Democratic Union (CDU) conference having recently declared she will seek re-election. The German chancellor also said she would avoid a repeat of the huge migrant influx that occurred under her watch last year She told the annual congress that it was legitimate to expect integration from newcomers, underlining her party’s bid to ban the full face veil. “The full veil must be banned wherever it is legally possible,”...

Angela Merkel has called for a ban on the burka "wherever possible" in Germany and said there can be no repeat of last year's migrant crisis in a speech launching her bid for another two-year term as Chancellor. "German law takes precedence over sharia," Mrs Merkel said during a speech at her party's annual two-day congress in the western city of Essen. "The full face veil should be banned, wherever legally possible," she added, to prolonged applause. That is expected to mean a ban on burkas in public life including for civil servants, schools, universities and while driving - described...

Angela Merkel has called for a burka ban after saying the 'full veil is not appropriate' in Germany, it has emerged. In an astonishing U-turn, the German chancellor told her conservative CDU party conference that wearing the burka should be outlawed 'wherever that is legally possible'. It comes after the 62-year-old stressed her determination to ensure there is no repeat of last year's huge migrant influx as she seeks a fourth term as chancellor.

A new book titled “A President Should Not Say That…” has revealed that François Hollande calls Nicolas Sarkozy “a Duracell bunny”, how his ex-partner was obsessed by another ex-partner, and how he believes a Muslim woman could one day be the symbol of France (if she feels free enough to ditch her veil). The new book was penned by journalists Gérard Davet and Fabrice Lhomme who met with the president 61 times since he has been president. They recorded their private conversations with him in which the president made several headline-making statements. Firstly the one that has caused the most...