MCB RESPONSE TO BORIS JOHNSON’S COMMENTS ON THE NIQAB
Boris Johnson rightly opposes the Danish ban on the niqab but denigrates the minority of women who choose to wear it, a statement of Muslim Council of Britain said on August 6. He described them as looking like “letter boxes” or “bank robbers” – in language that would not be used about other faiths. His comments are particularly regrettable in this current climate, where Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred is becoming worryingly pervasive with disappointingly little action from this current government. Muslim women bear the brunt of hate on the streets. Just this week, two people were jailed for torturing a Muslim convert and a bookshop was attacked by Islamophobes.
Mr Johnson’s comments come at a time when he reportedly met Donald Trump’s former right-hand man Steve Bannon. We need responsibility and action from our politicians, not pandering to the far-right. Mr Johnson’s comments also underscore the Muslim Council of Britain’s call for an inquiry into Islamophobia in the Conservative Party. Such crass commentary should have no place in our political discourse.
GAP CREATES STIR WITH AD FEATURING HIJAB
U.S. clothing retailer Gap’s advertising campaign for its back to school fashion line has drawn widespread criticism for including a girl wearing hijab, a report said on August 11. The advertisement promotes its children’s line of clothing and has been spread through posters as well as social media.
On YouTube, the company released a 15-second video that received more than 1 million views. But the ad garnered a mixed response from viewers, with some saying the girl is too young to wear hijab or that hijabs should be banned. “Dear @Gap @GapKids your attempts to “inclusiveness” by normalizing “Child Hijab” is disgusting. You’re literally supporting an act of child abuse,” said a post by Hanouf Mohammad on Twitter.
GOVT MUST TACKLE ISLAMOPHOBIC CRIME: BRITISH IMAM
The government must take more action in tackling Islamophobia within the Conservative party and across Britain as a whole, the imam of Finsbury Park Mosque has said. Writing in the Evening Standard on August 6, Mohammed Mahmoud said that the response by the government has been minimal, with a meaningful engagement from its leadership still lacking.
“Any community hit by terrorism should see meaningful engagement from the Government. But we’re still waiting for that to happen – which is not lost on a community that still feels vulnerable,” wrote Mahmoud, who serves as imam of the Muslim Welfare House at Finsbury Park Mosque, and is famous for having shielded an Islamophobic would-be murderer from possible mob violence. “Despite the rising scale and severity of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred, the response from the Government has been lacklustre, or worse, in denial,” he added.
US TARIFFS DECISION AGAINST TURKEY ‘SHAMEFUL’: IRAN
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on August 11 criticised U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to impose additional tariffs on Turkey. “Trump’s jubilation in inflicting economic hardship on its NATO ally Turkey is shameful. The U.S. has to rehabilitate its addiction to sanctions and bullying or entire world will unite – beyond verbal condemnations – to force it to.
“We’ve stood with neighbours before, and will again now,” Zarif wrote on his official Twitter account. Zarif’s remarks came a day Trump ramped up his attack on Turkey by doubling U.S. tariffs on Turkish aluminium and steel imports to 20 percent and 50 per cent, respectively. Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy on August 10 said in a statement that Trump’s decision, which disregards World Trade Organisation rules, “cannot be associated with seriousness expected from a state”. “All the steps taken against Turkey will be given a befitting response as they have been given before,” Aksoy added.
OVER 9,400 NIGERIANS REPATRIATED FROM LIBYA
Nigeria has repatriated at least 9,438 of its nationals trapped in Libya while efforts are ongoing to bring back everyone willing to return to their country, according to an official involved in the repatriation process. “So far, about 9,438 migrants have been repatriated from Libya in collaboration and support of the International Migration Organisation (IOM),” Abike Dabiri-Erewa, a presidential aide on foreign relations and diaspora, said in a statement on August 5.
“Those that were brought back are being profiled and enrolled in various technical and vocational training centres with relevant agencies and nongovernmental organizations,” she added. The official said the repatriation, ordered by the president, began shortly after footages emerged on the Internet of some of the migrants narrating their ordeals in the war-torn North African country and urging the Nigerian government to bring them home.
COLOMBIA RECOGNISES PALESTINE AS SOVEREIGN STATE
Colombia recognised Palestine as a sovereign state in the days before new President Ivan Duque took office, according to a letter from the foreign ministry made public on August 8. “I would like to inform you that in the name of the government of Colombia, President Juan Manuel Santos has decided to recognise Palestine as a free, independent and sovereign state,” said the letter dated August 3.
New Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes said he would review the “implications” of the previous government’s decision, in accordance with international law and good diplomatic practice. “It is a priority for this government to maintain cooperative relations with its allies and friends, and to contribute to international peace and security,” Holmes said.
HUI MUSLIMS TRY TO BLOCK CHINA MOSQUE DEMOLITION
The stand-off in the town of Weizhou in Tongxin County, in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, is the latest, and possibly largest, conflict in a recent campaign to rid the region of what Beijing regards as a worrying trend of Islamisation and Arabisation, as the ruling Communist Party doubles down to “Sinicise religion”. According to a notice said to have been issued by the Weizhou government on August 3 and shared online, the mosque’s management committee had been given a deadline of Friday to demolish the building on the grounds it had not been granted the necessary planning and construction permits.
If the management committee failed to comply, the government would “forcefully demolish it according to the law”, the notice said. But it had been agreed earlier on August 9 that the government would not demolish the mosque, but remove eight of its domes.
DUTERTE PRESENTS BANGSAMORO LAW TO MUSLIM LEADERS
In a significant milestone in the peace process between the Philippine government and the “Bangsamoro” – a collective term for Filipino Muslims – President Rodrigo Duterte on August 6 oversaw the ceremonial signing of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) at the Malacañang Palace in the capital Manila. Expressing optimism that the law would end decades of conflict that is rooted in the Bangsamoro’s pride for self-determination, Duterte presented the law to Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim.
The BOL is the fulfilment of a 2014 peace deal between the national government and the MILF. The Philippine Identification System Act aims to cut red tape by integrating different government IDs in one card, which shall contain a person’s Philippine Identification System number, full name, gender, blood type, date of birth, place of birth, marital status, address, and a front facing photo. Congress ratified the national ID bill in May, even as some critics warned that it was a threat to privacy.
TUNISIAN PREZ APPOINTS EX-PM AS POLITICAL ADVISER
Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi on August 6 appointed Habib Essid, a former prime minister, as his special political adviser. The appointment was announced in an official statement released by Essebsi’s office following a meeting between the president and Essid at the government palace in Carthage. “President Essebsi has decided to appoint Essid as his special adviser for political affairs,” the statement read with elaborating.
Essid served as Tunisia’s prime minister from February 2015 to August 2016 before being sacked by Essebsi, who replaced him with Yusuf al-Shahid, the current premier.