School bans Muslim mother from parents´ evening for wearing veil
A mother was barred from a parents´ evening at her son´s school as she was wearing a veil. The 34-year-old was turned away on security and safety grounds after arriving in clothes which covered every part of her body except her eyes. The incident in Blackburn follows a furore over comments by the area´s MP Jack Straw about women who cover their faces. Mr Straw, now Justice Secretary, said in 2006 that veils could make community relations harder as they were a ´visible statement of separation and difference´. In the latest controversy last week, the mother of one was furious after being told that visitors´ faces should be visible at all times. 

More: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1167037/School-bans-Muslim-mother-parents-evening-wearing-veil.html

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Rightly or not? Can a school barr parents because of safety reasons?

I guess the answer isn´t simple, as usual.

I am a teacher in Blackburn, where this incident happened.  I saw the headline on the billboard outside a shop.  My first reaction was that the ban wasn´t necessary.  The reason I thought this was because I work in a primary school and as such, staff have daily contact with parents as they collect them from school.  In such a situation, I would say a ban would not be necessary because we would be very familiar with all parents and thus we would recognise her, even fully covered. 

In most primary schools, parents´ evening is conducted within the classroom, whereas in High Schools (which is what the school in question is) parents´ evening is generally conducted in the main hall.  All staff are seated around the edge of the hall, at a table, and chairs for waiting parents are in the centre.  It is a very crowded situation.  Also, high school staff do not come into contact with parents very often.  I remember going to my daughter´s parents evenings and some of the staff had trouble recalling who my daughter was, never mind who I was!!! (And this was at a relatively small school of 600 . . . many high schools are double that size). 

So in such a high school situation I would say the staff are in the same position as Jack Straw believed he was, vulnerable if they can´t even see whether the person is male or female.  A while ago a suspected terrorist escaped the country by posing as a fully covered Muslim woman . . . I don´t remember the exact details, but the incident has caused people to be cautious perhaps. 

What I would say to Jack Straw and this school is . . . you  don´t know really anyone who walks through your door, covered or not . . . anyone could be a danger.  Look at recent news articles where people, even students, have returned to their schools and killed. 

Maybe Members of Parliament, when they are conducting their constituency clinics, andhigh  schools, when they are conducting their parents´ evenings, should have general security measures in place, for all parents.  Rather like airports?  (tongue in cheek)

I think there is a degree of compromise needed here.  If a woman chooses to fully cover herself, then she must expect to meet some difficult situations with regard to security.  So, is it acceptable for schools to ensure there is a room, staffed by women, who can check out the face of the covered Muslimas?  To do this they would have to have the photo of every parent on record and, as far as I know this is not procedure.  Or perhaps the child could have accompanied his/her parent?

It is one of those situations that does not have a clear cut answer, but it definitely does divide opinion, especially when reported by the Daily Mail .

If the decision has been made for security reasons, then I think a whole battery of security measures would need to be implemented because danger comes from all walks of life these days.

No veil? ok she can enter . . . What about the stock of ammunition she may have under her clothing? What about the knife any parent may have secreted about his person?  What about the parent who had a very bad experience of school and harbours a grudge?  In high schools, the ist of reasons for security would be endless.  High school teachers do not know the parents so well and may have never even met them. 

The sad thing is, I have heard that the government is planning to close down some high schools across the country and create new, even larger institutions.  Logistical nightmares.

Without knowing the full details, I wou;d say the school hasn´t done enough to accommodate the needs of the parent or the child.  Nowadays, schools have policies for everything and there should be a policy in place in this instance, but not just to state who they will ban, but how they can best accommodate the needs of all parents/children.  The buzz word of  Blackburn with Darwen Education Authority is ´inclusion´, as it is throughout the country.  I don´t see how this incident illustrates inclusion.  I wouldn´t say that certain sectors of society need special treatment.  If security is of such importance then perhaps measures should be all inclusive, with all parents subjected to some form of security measure at the entrance (for reasons I have already stated). 

We are living in different times I guess.

On a lighter note, the mention of Jack Straw reminded me of a funny incident, which the staff at my school were actually laughing about yesterday.

Some years ago, Jack Straw was due to visit our school and the head was quite excited (can´t think why personally).  She is retired now.  Our Headteacher was a lady who always got people´s names incorrect.  In Jack Straws case she referred to him as Jock Strap (http://images.google.co.uk/images?q=Jock%20strap&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi  for those who aren´t familiar with a jock strap). 

How I wish she had saved her error for the day she met the man himself  .

Warning: content may offend 

Great answer PT and once again the Daily Mail doing a splendid job stirring up a bit more racial hatred!  I am sure that paper is backed by the BNP  

I am going off topic now but regarding the BNP.. IN my opinion they have dreadful views.  Whilst I understand all people should have a voice, what annoys me about the BNP is this .  They are allowed to use a National flag as their party´s emblem.  I think there should be a law to ensure no party can do this.  It´s no wonder that the St George flag doesn´t get flown as often as it might.  I think it is now mostly associated with a bunch of racists.

Didim starts war on tourist hustlers
 
DÝDÝM - Didim Local Governor Ali Katýrcý warned shop owners in the Aegean resort town that they would be punished or even have their shops closed for disturbing or hustling tourists in their shops.

Upon Katýrcý’s order, a team was formed last year to fight hustling in the town, which is visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists each year. The team included undercover policemen equipped with cameras. The officers continuously monitored and investigated the bazaars and photographed shop personnel hustling tourists.

Punishments

Following the team’s report, the local governorship fined the offending shop owners and temporarily closed down the shops. Last year more than 20 shops and restaurants were closed for 15 days.

Pointing out that they would not tolerate hustling this year too, Katýrcý called on shop owners not to disturb tourists, otherwise their shops would be closed. "We were successful in fighting hustling last year. With fines and closure punishments, hustling cases decreased. Our aim is to stop hustling from negatively affecting tourism. We are not glad about sealing off shops, but we have to carry out the law. I strongly suggest shop and restaurant owners not get into these kinds things to disturb tourists," said Katýrcý.

Source: http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/domestic/11402338.asp?gid=243

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Great idea. They may start that in every city frequently visited by tourists - in & outside Turkey.

Muslim worshippers at about 200 old mosques in Mecca have been praying in the wrong direction for decades because the mosques were not built correctly, a Saudi newspaper reported Sunday. Muslims around the world are bound to orient their daily prayers towards the Kaaba, and mosques everywhere were supposed to be built facing the black-shrouded cubic building, or have indicators of its direction. But the Saudi Gazette reported that 200 mosques were not built precisely based on the qibla, the official alignment with the holy Kaaba shrine at the center of Mecca´s al-Haram mosque. The discrepancy was only realized after looking at the old mosques, some built more than 50 years ago, from atop the new skyscrapers under construction in Islam´s holiest city in western Saudi Arabia, the report said. Mecca residents and experts suggested that these mosques put up a correct indicator of the qibla, or orient their prayer rugs exactly in the direction of the Kaaba. Another suggestion was installing laser beams in the tall minarets of the al-Haram mosque built around the Kaaba to help mosques and worshippers establish the correct qibla direction. Deputy secretary of the Islamic Affairs Ministry, Tawfik al-Sudairy, downplayed the problem. "There are no major errors, but corrections have been made for some old mosques, thanks to modern techniques. In any case, it does not affect the prayers," the newspaper quoted Sudairy as saying.

Source: http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2009/04/05/69984.html

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Oops!!!

Turkey says 11 die from alcohol poisoning 
Eleven people have died in Turkey in the last three weeks from poisoning caused by bootleg alcohol, the Agriculture Ministry said on Saturday.  Three German students holidaying in the southeastern Mediterranean resort of Kemer are among the dead, media reports said. The ministry said in a statement that the 11 had died as a result of methyl alcohol poisoning and that it was stepping up inspections to prevent further cases. It called on consumers to be careful when purchasing alcohol to make sure that it is genuine. Among the dead were seven people who died in the northwestern province of Bursa. Most of the deaths were caused by fake raki, Turkey´s popular aniseed spirit.

Source: http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=172225

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A raký anyone?

Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray both fall further behind in the championship after drawing 0-0 tonight.

’Daughters of Allah’ nets bad review from officials
 
ANKARA - A Religious Affairs Directorate high committee has severely criticized the book "Daughters of Allah" written by Nedim Gürsel and published by the Doðan publishing house. The committee was responding to a inquiry from a reader and drafted a one-page report to express its views regarding the book’s content. The committee concluded that the book was sarcastic and said it overstepped the boundaries of criticism, reported daily Milliyet yesterday. The reader, Ali Emre Bukaðýlý, sent two faxes to the committee in February, seeking its opinion about "Daughters of Allah." The report, signed by the committee’s Vice chairman Professor Hamza Aktan, was sent to the reader. "It has been found that the book was insulting and sarcastic, humiliating Allah, its prophets, divine religions, worshipping, holy books and religious principles. This cannot be explained in the scope of freedom of thought or criticism," the report read. Here are excerpts from the book that were found inapt:

Page 22: About Prophet Ýbrahim Ð "that little Ýbrahim was crossing the line."

Pages 164, 165: As if Ebu Sufyan was talking about Prophet Mohammed Ð "that ignorant child later married to Hatice, daughter of Hüveylid, then he became rich, however he could not become a man."

Page 240: Menat, a non-living thing, a totem, talking about Aisha (Mohammed’s wife) Ð "Oh Aisha, dear Aisha! You little hog Aisha!"

Page 29: About Prophet Ýbrahim Ð "He could not have illegitimate children from both of them."

Page 71: About the Koran Ð "The crooked letters of the holy book."

Page 120: "Allah’s darlings lying naked."

Source

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Hmmm, freedom of speech?

Yes of course a school can, and should, ban a parent if they pose a potential safety or  security threat to staff or pupils in the school.    Take the situation of a parent entering the school blind drunk - not only is it not pleasant, not a good example to pupils but there is a real danger of the parent falling over and breaking something......a child´s back perhaps!

Whether wearing a veil poses a potential threat to safety or security is, of course, a different matter!!!