Why do journalists choose to ignore the Amnesty International report which outlines in clinical detail how the Tunisian authorities have increased their "harassment of women who wear the hijab"?
I have a bee in my bonnet – or hijab to be more precise.
On an almost daily basis there are horrific stories pouring out of Tunisia about
how the state police are ripping off the hijabs of women living there.
Some of these women, who are merely fulfilling their religious obligation to
wear a hijab, have been assaulted, sexually abused and even locked up in prison
by the authorities.
Unbelievable when you consider western tourists are topless sunbathing on the
coastal resorts, soaking up the Tunisian sun.
So it is okay to get your kit off if you are a western tourist who pays
handsomely for sun, sand, sex and sangria …but try wearing a hijab and see what
happens in this so-called liberal, Muslim country.
At the moment I am in Tehran where Iranian police are occasionally stopping
women in the streets to remind them of their religious obligations by wearing a
full hijab.
There's been an outcry in the Western media about how the Iranian authorities
are fining women who fail to wear their hijabs correctly in public.
I call these women the half-jabis – you know the ones, they balance their
designer scarfs precariously on the back of their heads and spend the rest of
the day adjusting and picking their scarfs from the nape of their necks.
It might have endeared Princess Diana to half the Muslim world when she
'covered' in Muslim countries, but most women who try and emulate the Di style
just look plain stupid.
But what a pity those same journalists don't travel to Tunisia and write about a
real story like the human rights abuses against women in down town Tunis instead
of focusing on Tehran.
Why do journalists choose to ignore the Amnesty International report which
outlines in clinical detail how the Tunisian authorities have increased their
"harassment of women who wear the hijab"?
Is it because the Tunisian government is a craven devotee of the Bush
Administration whereas Iran was identified as the now infamous Axis of Evil?
Surely the media is not that fickle? (Rhetorical question merely for the benefit
of the mentally challenged).
The actions of the Tunisian regime make Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
and his government look like a group of Tupperware party planners.
For instance, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the Interior and the
Secretary-General of Tunisia's ruling political party, the Constitutional
Democratic Rally, have stated they are so concerned about rise in the use of the
hijab by women and girls and beards and the qamis (knee-level shirts) by men,
that they have called for a strict implementation of decree 108 of 1985 of the
Ministry of Education banning the hijab at educational institutions and when
working in government.
Police have ordered women to remove the head scarfs before being allowed into
schools, universities or work places and others have been made to remove them in
the street.
According to Amnesty's report, some women were arrested and taken to police
stations where they were forced to sign written commitment to stop wearing the
hijab.
Amnesty International states quite clearly it believes that individuals have the
right to choose whether or not to wear a headscarf or other religious covering,
consistent with their right to freedom of expression.
They have called on the Tunisian government to "respect the country's
obligations under both national law and international human rights law and
standards, and to end the severe restrictions which continue to be used to
prevent exercise of fundamental rights to freedom of expression, association and
peaceful assembly".
They have even kindly asked President Ben Ali's government to "end the
harassment and attempted intimidation of human rights defenders".
I would like to be more forthright with Mr Ben Ali and remind him of his Islamic
obligations as a Muslim.
I doubt if Zine Alabidin Ben Ali would take much notice. The man is clearly an
arrogant fool and somewhere in Tunisia there is a village which is missing its
idiot (Hamman-Sousse in the Sahel, actually).
This is the man who once said the hijab was something foreign and not part of
Tunisian culture. Hmm, he obviously has not seen pictures taken before he came
to power, clearly show Tunisian women going about their business fully covered.
He has a history of despising the French colonialists who occupied his country,
but at least under the French, the Tunisian people had more freedom than they do
now.
And since I have no family, friends or connections in Tunisia I write this
without fear or favour.
Also, there is no rank in Islam so I care nothing for his title nor do I have
any respect for him as a man. I would certainly never doff my cap to this
particular President of Tunisia and would happily spit in his face if he told me
to remove my hijab.
Perhaps those Muslim women in Tehran might like to consider the plight of their
sisters in Tunisia before trying to balance their hijabs on the backs of their
heads. And I would ask them to read the harrowing report below before
bellyaching to more journalists about their rights to parade around like
Diana-look-a-likes.
It was written by an imam from Tunisia who had it smuggled out and given to me
because he wants the world to know exactly what is happening to the women in his
country.
Here is a snippet: "The police will randomly make their way into markets and rip
the hijabs from women's heads as well as take away any fabrics being sold to
make hijabs.
"They will also go into factories where women are working and rip the hijabs off
women's heads. This
is the least of what they have done.
"I will give you just one example of what these dogs with Arab faces but the
hearts of devils, have done to
our sisters. They have, at one time ordered a public bus to halt in the middle
of the road while two plain clothes detectives went inside. The buses are
similar to the ones in the west except they will usually have three times more
people inside it.
"They grabbed one women wearing hijab and
took her outside of the bus. This was a sister who they had warned before. They
brought her into the side of the street and began slapping her across her face
and cursing at her with the worst language you could think of.
"They took her hijab off and the main policeman
said, "When are you going to stop wearing this ****. She said she would never
stop and she was crying. The men took her around the corner by a
public bathroom.
"They ripped her clothes off. They grabbed a soda bottle, these bottles are made
of glass, and they raped her with it. They were laughing and they were many
people around but no one did anything. When they were done they made her wear a
short skirt and a sleeveless shirt and made her walk home to her husband like
this. I swear by Allah that this is true".
The time is fast approaching when sisters across the world have to unite and
come together in defence of the hijab and in defence of the Muslim sisterhood.
My appeal goes out to feminists of all faiths and no faith but please don't
think Muslim women are weak because the reality is that Islamic feminism can be
just as radical as western feminism.
Our parameters and values are slightly different as Muslims but that does not
make us any better or lesser human beings than western feminists. There is
certainly no room for sectarianism in the Muslim sisterhood and we have no time
for petty squabbles, divisions, cultural or tribal affiliations.
The bottom line is that we need to show solidarity with our sisters in Tunisia …
it is a very small country which makes it easy for the army to control the
people and brutally squash any signs of resistance.
Even those Tunisians living abroad have a fear in their eyes because while they
may be safe, members of their families left behind are often held to account for
any actions overseas regarded as subversive.
The brutality of the regime, combined with the happy clappy clerics and their
narcotic-style preachings in praise of the Sufi-style government have also
collectively subdued parts of the Tunisian population.
No wonder the Muslim youth no longer clamour to get into masjids on Fridays to
listen to these khateebs who spend half the khutbah praising the President and
his followers.
Which is why I salute the bravery of those sisters in Tunisia who are fighting
for the right to fulfill their religious obligation as Muslim women, to wear the
hijab.
If you want to help, then copy and paste this article and send it to the nearest
Tunisian Embassy demanding that Muslim womens' rights to wear the hijab are
respected.
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1. Written by
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, on 13-07-2008 23:38
I agree wholeheartedly with your opinion on the Tunisia situation. But your description on Iranian women wearing bad/half hijab is (in my opinion) unfair.
Most women do not want to wear law-enforced hijab. This law dishonours the true meaning of hijab. The women who wear half-hijab aim to communicate this.
Devout Muslims such as my Iranian mother-in-law chose to wear hijab properly in Iran. They don't want or need hijab to be mandatory, this is offensive to a women's sensibilities to chose what she wants to wear for God. My mother-in-law is offended that her beautiful faith is made into a cheap political symbol.
I really hope you publish my comment, thanks sister, salaam |
2. Written by
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, on 03-07-2008 12:07
Ask Allah to honour you Mrs/yvonne .
Jazak Allah khier.
May Allah give you paradise.
Ameeeen. |
3. Written by
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, on 26-06-2008 17:56
the biggest problem [fitnah] of moslem ummah is, we dont have any power, real power to protect the ummah. We must have one ameer, caliph, The Imam of the Ummah which is a shield where he protects the Ummah and where the Ummah fights behind him.
May Allah make you strong, my sister who pledge her life in Islam no matter how hard it is. InshaAllah the power of Islam will rise once again, and there will be no such evil things happen to you, my sisters in Islam.
Yansarillah umurakum.. |
4. Written by
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, on 18-05-2008 20:28
Asslama-o-Allaikum
Dear sister u r doing the best job as u r using ur profession for the truth.
I need ur help i require to get ur book which was published after u were released by taliban. first of all i want to know the title then how can i get it in pakistan n if there any of ur company send it to me n what will be the charges with its delivery.
May Allah help u always here n hereafter |
5. Written by
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, on 16-05-2008 11:04
salamualikum
this all is horrible.. down wid this called Mr ben Ali.. May sum one do in justice with his daughter and yes he has forgotten his GRAVE ..WHO WILL SAVE HIM THERE .. NO1 excepy ALMIGHTY and AL JUSTICE ALLAH SUBHANA HU WATAILLA.. May ALlah guide him to straight path Ameen.!!
really depressing article :(
Allah HAfiz |
6. Written by
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, on 10-05-2008 19:41
Tunisia should be removed from the OIC. |
7. Written by
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, on 01-05-2008 09:24
The Tunisian government HAD banned the Hijab for government workers working in a government building and discouraged its use in universities. This WAS a law that had been enacted since the 1980's but was rarely acted upon. This law WAS done so that everyone, no matter their faith, would be on equal footing and so there could be no discrimination against someone based on their religion. Tunisia came up with this ruling a very long time ago to avoid such discrimination. Even when the ban WAS in place, few were ever disciplined for it. I knew many people who wore it freely to university, government jobs, public jobs, on the street, etc.
The ban on the hijab was RESCINDED on 11 October 2007 after being deemed unconstitutional by the Administrative Court of Tunis.
It is sad that the ban on the hijab, that was in place for so many years, only came to light recently and with it brought about so many strong feelings. YET, no one dared to mention or update their blogs or websites when the ban was overturned. Instead of acknowledging that Tunisia did something positive and corrected it's mistake, they prefer to let the public think of Tunisia in a bad light. Shame on everyone that does this because it is not responsible.
-I am an American convert to Islam, who wears the hijab and have been living in Tunisia almost 7 years.null |
8. Written by
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, on 26-04-2008 18:43
Yvonne,
I just read your letter published in the guardian today, thought I ought to be worried about you. Turns out you are simply insane! Comparing Tunisia's activites to Iran's is the rankest form of moral hypocrisy, how you can write as a woman knowing of the punishment meeted out to women who trangress political islam's toxic codes defeats me. You should be ashamed of yourself. By all accounts you are truly a revolting human being. Never mind Islamic standards what about basic humanity? |
9. Written by
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, on 24-04-2008 14:36
I cannot stand it .My sisters please stand strong.I will make dua for the community. I would love to come and join the sister\'s. We wii make with the help of ALLAH (swt). Stay stead fast this world is not it.[/LIST] |
10. Written by
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, on 17-04-2008 18:06
Turkey n Tunisia are basicly kaffir countries like Denmark & USA |
11. Written by
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, on 07-04-2008 21:40
a very imformative article....i had not even a clue regarding this.this is pure terrorism by the tunisian regime!!!!!!! |
12. Written by Fahad, on 26-03-2008 14:39
Thank you for bringing this issue to light. Will try to spread it as much as possible. I have one reservation though, you wrote the term \'Sufi-style government\', where \'Sufi\' is being taken as a negative attribute. The Tunisian govt. has nothing to do with Sufis. Sufism is nothing more than an integral part of Islam focusing on spiritual cleansing. The sub continent is an example where the efforts of great sufis helped revert millions of people to Islam. |
13. Written by
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, on 14-03-2008 17:52
Why can't the state stop telling women what to wear? If a woman chooses to wear a bikini, a burkah or anything in between - let it be her choice! Religious leaders, family, and popular culture can advise/pressure... but let no state force her. So shame on Tunisia, France, UK, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and every place where women are forced to put on or take off clothing and head covering. |
14. Written by
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, on 13-03-2008 09:26
It is a part of human right to choose deferent kind of dress style. We can find in the western country that women are wearing bikini dress and they are felling into the trap of rapers. A big amount of rapes happening in USA and other western countries. But in Islamic countries it is happening very rarely than those countries. Because women are much secure with their dress. I mean the veil (Burqa) really giving protection from stars of strangers. |
15. Written by
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, on 23-02-2008 01:41
How horrific! Just thinking about the state it Tunisia makes me want to cry. But, masha'Allah sister, you have an amazing talent for writing!I just read about your story on wikipedia. May Allah (SWT) grant you Jannat-ul-firdaws.
=) |
16. Written by
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, on 18-02-2008 08:34
at the first of all, i would like to thank you, and i ask Allah to reward you cuse this best Articles , i think u have to do a large task, it is "a definition of Islam" to let the Western world know the True Islam....
i saw that Article Translated to arabic at that website www.shareah.com |
17. Written by
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, on 16-02-2008 04:42
though i entirely endorse the sentiment of spitting in the face of the tunisian president
i have detected something of a panchant by our dear sister yvonne for this form of protest.
looking at the example of Khlid ibn al-Wal+d, he was a mighty general when fighting the muslims prior to his revrsion to islam and a mighty general for the muslims after coming to islam.
for our sister in islam yvonne , she was spitting in protest prior to islam and spitting in protest after
may Allah grant her health, mental prowess and powerful salivary glands logn into her golden years. |
18. Written by
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, on 16-02-2008 17:21
hi
i just wanted to say that this is an very sad story
and i do know that women who wear hijab are not weak null |
19. Written by
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, on 20-01-2008 19:46
Salaam,
This is very depressing to put it mildly. And we should all take responsibility for the part we have played (or failed to play) to get the muslim ummah to the state it is today. Shame on us all for the abuse on the sister, I do not want to imagine the kind of pain the family would have felt. What a state we are for "commanding the good and forbidden the evil" in our world today. It's about time we all woke up. And it's should start with reflecting on and improving ourselves as individuals that make up the ummah. Let us all remember the day of accountability. |
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