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Politics : The Truth About Islam -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lorne who wrote (3302)	11/17/2006 5:53:28 PM
From: steve harris	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 20106

It's how we stopped the radical Japanese.... Face them with extinction. I would have nuked Falujah the day after our four contractors were dragged through the streets, burned, and strung up on the bridge. But that's just me, an old fart talking.

To: lorne who wrote (3302)	11/18/2006 9:04:20 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 20106

Tribunal to rule on guide dog vs. religion (Muslim cabbie refused service to infidel w/ dog) Jane Seyd A case potentially pitting rights of the disabled against religious beliefs will be heard by the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal after a blind man from the North Shore who uses a guide dog to get around launched a complaint against North Shore Taxi. Bruce Gilmour filed the complaint after a cab driver from North Shore Taxi refused to let his guide dog into the cab in January of this year. Gilmour, who says it's not the first time he's been refused service by a taxicab, is complaining that North Shore taxi discriminated against him on the basis of physical disability. But the taxi driver, Behzad Saidy, is arguing his Muslim religious beliefs will not allow him to take dogs in his taxi, because Muslims can't associate with dogs. According to documents filed with the Human Rights Tribunal, North Shore Taxi said about half of their drivers are "unable to take animals in their taxis due to medical or religious reasons." The taxi company asked the human rights tribunal to toss the case against it out. But tribunal member Lindsay Lyster ruled recently it is important that the case be heard, saying the case presents "important and difficult issues" for the tribunal to resolve including both the rights of blind people to equal services and the rights of employees to have their religious beliefs accommodated. The taxi company says another driver was sent out to get Gilmour right after the first driver refused to let the guide dog in the car. Gilmour and the taxi driver disagree on what was said about the dog at the time. Saidy has told the Human Rights Tribunal he told Gilmour at the time that he was refusing because of religious beliefs. But Gilmour's lawyer Nazeer Mitha said all the driver said to Gilmour was, "No dogs, no dogs," before driving away. The first Gilmour heard about religious objections was after he filed a formal complaint, said Mitha. Since then, the taxi driver has filed a statement from a Muslim cleric stating that Islam has some restrictions towards certain animals, including dogs. But Mitha says Gilmour has also filed a statement from a different Muslim cleric, stating that there can be exceptions to blanket refusals to deal with dogs, especially if it means helping someone in need. Mitha said all that would be required in most circumstances would be for a Muslim person to wash their hands before eating if they have been in contact with a dog. "That's not a terrible task to go through," he said. Lyster said the case is made more complicated by the fact that "different Islamic people may hold different beliefs about appropriate conduct in relation to dogs." Mitha says it's not the first time Gilmour's been refused service by taxi drivers because of his guide dog. "It happens to him very frequently," both on the North Shore and elsewhere, he said. Mitha said the real reason this happens probably doesn't have anything to do with religion. "People don't want dogs in their cabs," he said. Under legislation, however, cab drivers must be willing to take certified assistance dogs. North Shore taxi and company lawyer William McLachlan refused to comment further on the case. The Human Rights Tribunal hearing is scheduled for next summer. nsnews.com

To: lorne who wrote (3302)	11/19/2006 10:12:59 AM
From: DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 20106

Dutch to ban wearing of Muslim burqa in public thestar.com.my By Alexandra Hudson AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Dutch government agreed on Friday a total ban on the wearing of burqas and other Muslim face veils in public, justifying the move on security grounds. Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk will now draw up legislation which will result in the Netherlands, once one of Europe's most easy-going nations, imposing some of the continent's toughest laws against concealing the face. Burqas on display as part of a headscarf exhibition in Amsterdam in this February 28, 2006 file photo. The Dutch government agreed on Friday a total ban on the wearing of burqas and other Muslim face veils in public, justifying the move on security grounds. (REUTERS/Paul Vreeker) "The cabinet finds it undesirable that garments covering the face -- including the burqa -- should be worn in public in view of public order, (and) the security and protection of fellow citizens," the Dutch Justice Ministry said in a statement. The debate on face veils and whether they stymie Muslim integration has gathered momentum across Europe. The Netherlands would be the first European state to impose a countrywide ban on Islamic face coverings, though other countries have already outlawed them in specific places. The move by the centre-right government comes just five days before a general election. The campaign has focused so far on issues like the economy rather than immigration because most mainstream parties have hardened their stances in recent years. Last December Dutch lawmakers voted in favour of a proposal by far-right politician Geert Wilders to outlaw face-coverings and asked Verdonk to examine the feasibility of such a ban. Because veils were worn for religious reasons, she had feared new legislation could come into conflict with religious freedom laws. But she said on Friday this was not the case. MUSLIM HEADSCARF Existing legislation already limits the wearing of burqas and other total coverings on public transport or in schools. France has banned the Muslim headscarf and other religious garb from state schools while discussion in Britain centres on limiting the full facial veil, or niqab. Italy has a decades-old law against covering the face in public as an anti-terrorism measure. Some politicians have called for this rule to be enforced against veiled Muslim women. The Muslim community estimates that only about 50 women in the Netherlands wear the head-to-toe burqa or the niqab, a face veil that conceals everything but the eyes. Dutch Muslim groups have complained a burqa ban would make the country's 1 million Muslims feel more victimised and alienated, regardless of whether they approve of burqas or not. "This will just lead to more girls saying 'hey I'm also going to wear a burqa as a protest'," Naima Azough, a member of parliament from the opposition Green Left, told an election campaign meeting for fellow members of the Moroccan community. Job Cohen, the Labour mayor of Amsterdam, said he opposed burqas in schools and public buildings, and said women wearing one who failed to get a job should not expect welfare benefits. "From the perspective of integration and communication, it is obviously very bad because you can't see each other so the fewer the better," he told foreign journalists. "But actually hardly anybody wears one ... The fuss is much bigger than the number of people concerned." Since the murder of anti-immigration maverick Pim Fortuyn in 2002, the Dutch have lost a reputation for tolerance, pushing through some of Europe's toughest entry and integration laws. Social and religious tensions have escalated in the last few years, exacerbated by the murder of film director and Islam critic Theo van Gogh by a Dutch-Moroccan militant in 2004. (Additional reporting by Emma Thomasson) Copyright © 2006 Reuters