Thursday 5 October: Jack Straw writes column attacking the veil.

Jack Straw writes column attacking the veil. Friday 6 October: Muslim woman had her hijab pulled off and thrown on the floor by a white man in east London. Muslim woman had her veil snatched from her face in Liverpool. Muslim girl wearing a veil in Straw's Blackburn constituency was verbally abused by three youth s.

Muslim woman had her hijab pulled off and thrown on the floor by a white man in east London. Muslim woman had her veil snatched from her face in Liverpool. s. Saturday 7 October: Two Asian men were attacked by racists in Leicester, one critically injured.

Two Asian men were attacked by racists in Leicester, one critically injured. Sunday 8 October: Racist graffiti was daubed on a house on Teesside.

Racist graffiti was daubed on a house on Teesside. Monday 9 October: A 21 year old Turkish woman wearing a hijab was verbally abused by a white woman in Canterbury, Kent. A black Muslim woman wearing a veil was verbally abused in Hackney, east London.



Also racist e-mails were sent to Muslim groups:

"All Muslim women should be forced to cover their face - they are the ugliest bastards in the world".

"I think ugly Muslims should wear the veil and the good ones should not".

They changed the story

She is a TA ,so she doesn't actually teach (I've been one). She'll help pupils one to one when the kids are working.



There have been zero comments from the kids themselves about this. According to Ms. Azmi the pupils never complained. Although the (ignorant) parents did



"She is able to do this effectively while wearing the veil. She has demonstrated in a number of interviews that she can communicate effectively while wearing the veil." Nick Whittingham of Kirklees Law Centre

And since when did kids in class listen ;) (just joking!)

extremism

division

demonises

I've been trying to imagine what it must be like to be a Muslim in Britain. I guess there's a sense of dread about switching on the radio or television, even about walking into a newsagents. What will they be saying about us today? Will we be under assault for the way we dress?



Oh I know why.....if you've read and disgested this...so should you!

I was hoping the hysteria of the UK press would die down about the Muslim veil issue. But it hasn't, it has escalated.This whole issue was started by Jack Straw - Leader of the House of Commons and MP for Blackburn. He wrote an article in the Lancashire Telegraph . He basically said the veil was a "visible statement of separation and of difference". IMO it was a political move as the actual incident that Straw was referring to was over a year ago.Then all of a sudden he starts to think about it! (Remember Blair is resigning soon - maybe he wants a promotion.) This led to a mixed response - disapproval from some and support from others. The media took hold of this article and was hyped beyond all proportion (thinking of mountains and molehills). Suddenly everybody had an opinion (usually negative )! According to one political aide of Straw's - wearing the veil was a selfish act !! Suddenly the veil became a political tool. Tony Blair and his cronies initially distanced themselves from this issue . Prescott even came out and said Straw was wrong ! Livingstone said he "amazed at the insensitivity" , although he did later support Straws' views.racist attacks just after Straw's article was published. These 'people' that commit such race crimes just need any old reason to do so. See timetable below (Came from the full Independent article page 14 - Sat 14th October.)Charming. This is not the first time this pattern has transpired. When John Reid declared that extremist Muslim "bullies" must be faced down; Mosques in Preston and Falkirk were attacked and a Muslim dairy farm in Windsor was "under siege".The politicians must surely realise that these kind of comments fuels racism (step forward BNP - see here ). According to the Independent the BNP had also sent out anti-Muslim leaflets featuring a photograph of a veiled women.Of course none of the big newspapers have mentioned this article have they . Oh look somebody has been storing " the largest amount of chemical explosives of its type ever found in the country." Oh look he is ex BNP! Imagine the field day the press would have if this person was.......Muslim.What is more scary a Muslim women in a veil or 10-15 yobs attacking property??? or an ex BNP member storing large amounts of explosives??? Why haven' t these attacks/potential "non-muslim" bomber been condemned by the politicians?? Why hasn't Mr Chemical Bomb been arrested under the Terrorism act. This smacks of hyprocrisyThis "War on the Veil" was further fuelled last weekend, by the suspension (later sacked ,thanks to pressure from some ministers) of a Muslim teaching assistant called Aishah Azmi. Initial press reports stated that she was sacked because she REFUSED to take the veil off in the classroom or in front of male colleagues. According to Azmi herself she never REFUSED to take it off ( see here too ). So the story changed to " the kids couldn't understand her". I smell a proverbial rat here.Unfortunately for Ms Azmi she lost her job because she became a political tool ( latest news - no discrimination case). Suddenly Tony Blair had an opinion - the veil was a " mark of separation " and " made some feel uncomfortable ". Well Blair - don't you think wars YOU and Bush started in the Middle East is a "mark of separation". Even that Stalinist Reid thinks so ! 650,000 + dead plus many many more injured and many many affected by the Gulf wars makes me feel uncomfortable.These stories aid and encourageandthe Muslim community. Everyday there seems to be a story targetted towards the Muslim community in the press. Lord Ahmed expresses similar views here. But for every respected Lord , there is the trash talk. This time it comes from the Sun (who else??) At the end of the day the Government have played, as the Socialist Worker puts it, the racecard . What has developed in this country's psyche because of these stories and others is Islamophobia . Though none of the politicians seemto want to talk about this, except one - George Galloway of the RESPECT party.You can see a video of his opinions here Also I also believe that this recent veil story is a smokescreen for what is happening in Iraq and the Army Generals' comments My main gripe is that they UK is supposed to represent freedom and democracy (yeah right!), yet there is a major uproar because some people want to wear a veil over their head. . So what is they want to wear veils over their heads. It is their choice, it doesn't hurt anyone. I don't personally care if they wear pants on their head!!Maybe it'll become fashionable in a few years time, if shell suits were , then head veils surely stand a chance! IMO the ONLY reason is because it is a Muslim issue. And remember Muslims are becoming the new Jews- read this article here An excerpt:Say the veil gets outlawed, where does it stop? It is a personal choice and freedom to wear a veil, therefore this will set a dangerous precedent.I get the argument that people might not be able to understand what a veiled person is saying. So I'll give you the solution:Cut a little hole where the mouth goes in the veil. Can see mouth and can communicate freely. SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE. END OF ARGUMENT!Why hasn't this been suggested??