Jack Straw’s (the former UK Home and Foreign Secretary) comments on the ‘veil’ opened a debate that many in the mainstream thought was overdue. [note from December 2023]The Muslim woman’s dress, most noticeably the face veil (nikab) is seen by many as a symbol of oppression and separateness. Straw fomented these ideas
Dominic Casciani of the BBC interviewed Arzu Merali about the findings published in the first two reports of the British Muslims’ Expectations of the government project. Researchers say they have found a sharp rise in discrimination against Muslims in the UK. A report, backed by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, recorded increased levels
Funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, the British Muslims’ Expectations of the Government (BMEG) project saw IHRC deliver sophisticated research based on quantitative and qualitative research on the expectations that Muslims in the UK had of the government. The six reports published looked at: citizenship, discrimination, education and schools, hijab, law
“It must be terrible having to wear all that,” a friend of mine was told last December as she attended a meeting to discuss the future of Afghanistan, particularly its women – “all that” being some baggy clothing and a headscarf. “Not particularly,” she retorted, putting an abrupt end both to the
Arzu Merali argues that the current human rights discourse discriminates against Muslim women and ‘other’ women. Download the report, published by IHRC, here. The report uses Iran and Turkey as examples in some points as well as referring to the case of Gul Aslan. Arzu cites Katerina Dalacoura’s studies of ‘Islamic Iran’
Erasure of Muslims in Bulgaria – their role in its history and culture as well as their indigeneity – is slow process of genocide overlooked by the rest of world. Arzu Merali reports from the Bulgarian capital Sofia*. Mt. Vitusha gazed magnificently back at me, as I looked at Sofia from