Bulgaria To Ban The Burqa

Bulgaria has joined several other European countries in banning the burqa or any other full face covering for anyone out in public. If women don't comply they face a hefty fine and loss of their benefits.

The Bulgarian parliament approved the law, backed by the nationalist Patriotic Front coalition. The party’s co-leader Krasimir Karakachanov said the law would improve security, saying: “the burqa is more a uniform than a religious symbol”.

Women who break the law will face fines of up to €770 or £665, as well as a suspension of social security benefits.

The law, however, has its many detractors.

[snip] the Movement for Rights and Freedoms party, which opposed the bill, walked out of the chamber in protest.

In a statement, Amnesty International UK condemned the ban. John Dalhuisen, Europe Director of the human rights organisation, said: “Women in Bulgaria should be free to dress as they please and to wear the burqa or the niqab as an expression of their identity or beliefs. This ban violates their rights to freedom of expression and religion.

“This law is part of a disturbing trend of intolerance, xenophobia and racism in Bulgaria.

“Legitimate security concerns can be met with targeted restrictions on the complete covering of the face in well-defined high-risk locations and not through a blanket discriminatory ban such as this.”

Interesting to note, most of the other countries that have imposed a similar ban- Belgium, France and the Netherlands- have a large Muslim population, many of whom refuse to integrate. Of the 7.1 million people who live in Bulgaria, 10 percent are Muslim. No doubt, that percentage will increase.

They have their reasons for banning:

Earlier this year, head of the Bulgarian city Pazardjik Rumen Kozhuharov said: “The main thing that motivated and catalysed this [discussions about banning face veils] were the terrorist attacks that happened in European countries and the increasing flow of migrants who entered the country in the past few years.”

Banning a symbol of political Islam, is not xenophobic, racist or intolerant. It's survival. It's not like they're banning the hijab. Full face coverings have no place in modern Western civilization.

French Journalist Castigated For Claiming Muslims Don't Assimilate

No stranger to controversy, Eric Zemmour, a French journalist, has been blasted for simply stating a truth: that the "Muslims kept to themselves in the suburbs" and as a result the "French were forced to move out." This has been happening everywhere in Europe where Muslim immigrants congregate. They make it virtually impossible for non-Muslims to live there. This is not racism, this is not Islamophobia, this their choice, it's something they've brought upon themselves by choosing not to integrate and assimilate.

As a result of his comments during an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, he has become persona non grata.

The iTELE channel said late Friday that Zemmour would not be invited back to a chat show he has been appearing in since 2003 following an outcry over his latest remarks.
Zemmour, who recently published a best-seller titled “The French Suicide,” is no stranger to polemics and has been convicted of inciting racial hatred.

[snip]

Zemmour is a well-known media commentator and columnist for Le Figaro newspaper who prides himself on his outspoken defiance of what he deems politically correct, woolly liberals.

Zemmour’s parents are Jewish Berbers who emigrated from Algeria in the 1950s.

France is home to five million Muslims, the largest population in Europe. It also has the largest Jewish diaspora on the continent.

The SNJ journalists union hailed the “strong decision” taken by the television channel, a position taken by SOS Racisme, an anti-racism watchdog.

Source: Al Arabiya

Muslims Rally In Norway Against ISIS

Thousands of Muslims rallied in Oslo, Norway, against Islamic State extremists.

Norway’s prime minister and other politicians have joined Muslim leaders and thousands of other people for a demonstration in Oslo against radical Islamists.

Monday’s rally was an initiative by young Norwegian Muslims who wanted to show a united front against Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq and their sympathizers in Norway.

Mehtab Afshar, head of the Islamic Council in Norway, told the crowd: “They stand for terrorism, they stand for terror ... and we condemn that in the strongest terms.”

The Muslims were joined by Norway's Prime Minister.

It's a start. But more Muslims in other countries need to be doing this.