Celebrations In Raqqa By Women Who Feel Liberated That They No Longer Have To Wear The Burqa

WNU Editor: The above video is quite a sight to see .... and it has been repeated many times when a region has been liberated from ISIS .... celebrations by women that the burka and all that it symbolizes is no more. In Canada where I live .... the opposite .... protests against those who want to ban the burka and all that it symbolizes when it comes to using public services .... Montreal protesters don surgical masks, scarves over new face-covering law (CBC). Two different places .... two different reactions .... and all happening at the same time. As to what is my take .... this issue is not a priority in my life, probably because I grew up in the Soviet Union where many girls and women have worn (and are still wearing) head-scarfs like this one. I have also given these scarfs as gifts (which can also be used as a neck scarf). Bottom line .... from my experience it has always been a personal choice, influenced by culture, and worn by women not because they are forced to do so, but because they want to. But what I find interesting about the debate in Canada is that the burka and niqab has long been associated with groups like the Taliban and the Islamic State to subjugate women. For these women, it was never a choice .... it was an obligation. And for those who have escaped that type of treatment (two of my friends are women who left Iran 25 years ago) .... I have found these women to be the most vociferous opponents on permitting this type of clothing in public. As one put it to me rather bluntly on Friday when I asked her about the debate that was happening in Canada .... she sees the burka/niqab in the same way that Blacks see people dress up as the Klan .... symbols of oppression and hate, and definitely not as a religious issue. But that is not how the debate is being framed in Canada .... which is unfortunate .... the women who have lived in that type of society do need to be heard, but for the moment their voices are being ignored.

WNU Editor: 2 minutes after posting this story, a reader of this blog (and a well know female reporter to boot) just emailed me on how do you put on a Russian scarf. Paula, the answer is here .... How To Style Russian Scarves. :)

Here Comes Even More Muslim Riots

French Mag to Publish Cartoons of Prophet Mohammed -- ABC News

A French satirical magazine is set to publish several cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed on Wednesday, a move that is likely to inflame the Islamic faithful and militants who have already rioted in more than 20 countries over a movie mocking the prophet.

Depictions of the prophet are strictly prohibited and considered blasphemous by Muslims. Cartoons of Muhammad published in Denmark in 2005 and then reproduced in newspapers across Europe triggered riots throughout the Mideast and Africa. Churches and embassies were torched and at least 100 people died in the outbreaks and police crackdowns.

Read more ....

My Comment: Talk about adding gas to the fire.

Understanding Muslims. The Good, The Bad, The Ugly!

Hat Tip: Rantburg

Europe's Concerns About Islam On The Continent Increasing

'Islamization' Of Paris A Warning To The West -- CBN.com

PARIS - Friday in Paris. A hidden camera shows streets blocked by huge crowds of Muslim worshippers and enforced by a private security force.

This is all illegal in France: the public worship, the blocked streets, and the private security. But the police have been ordered not to intervene.

It shows that even though some in the French government want to get tough with Muslims and ban the burqa, other parts of the French government continue to give Islam a privileged status.

Read more ....

More News On European Fears Of Islam

Islamist threat to Germany is growing say police -- Swiss Info
Why 'Islamophobia' is less thinly veiled in Europe -- Christian Science Monitor
The Scandal Behind the Sarrazin Scandal -- Newsweek
Comment: Why are Germans upset over critic of Islam? -- Jerusalem Post
"The Muslims Are Coming!" -- Counter Punch
Vatican criticises Kadhafi's Islamic Europe call -- AFP
Ground Zero and the mosque: Do you really know Abraham's children? -- Christian Science Monitor

My Comment: On a side note .... American Muslims Ask, Will We Ever Belong?

Muslims Pray Daily At The Pentagon's 9/11 Crash Site

Pentagon Chapel

Muslim Prayers Welcome At Pentagon Chapel -- CNN

Less than 100 feet from where a hijacked airplane slammed into the Pentagon, Muslim military personnel bring prayer rugs on weekday afternoons for group worship.

On Fridays, a local imam conducts a service in the Pentagon Memorial Chapel built after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks by al Qaeda that killed 184 people at the U.S. military headquarters.

The chapel, with stained-glass windows, burgundy carpeting and a wooden alter, provides a place of prayer and religious observation for anyone regardless of faith or culture.

Read more ....

Update #1: Muslims Worship Near Pentagon Attack Site -- FOX News
Update #2: Muslims pray daily at Pentagon's 9/11 crash site -- AP

My Comment: The Pentagon Memorial Chapel is private, discrete, and invites everyone to worship. The proposed mosque for New York City is for Muslims only, operated by individuals who support Hamas. If the proposed mosque for New York City will run by the same rules as the Pentagons .... I am all for it .... but everyone knows that it will not.

Update: Ground Zero imam's Mideast tour bill: $16,000 for US taxpayer -- The Telegraph

Madrassas Seek To Shed Terror Label

ON MESSAGE: Students read Islamic law texts at Jamia Dar-ul-Uloom madrassa in Lahore, Pakistan. Islamic clerics say a small minority has given a bad name to Islam and publicly condemned suicide bombing as "un-Islamic." (Jason Motlagh/The Washington Times)

From The Washington Times:

LAHORE, Pakistan | Javed Khan wanted to talk to Americans. So when school ended last summer, he applied to work at a call center.

The lanky 21-year-old has never owned a TV or traveled outside Pakistan. But his English was good enough to get the job, thanks to language courses offered by the madrassa, or Islamic religious seminary, where he has lived and studied for the past 10 years.

Three months after starting the job, though, the same question was on his mind: "Is it really true," he said, hesitating, "that people in America don't like us?"

Read more ....

My Comment: This is a classic example of a few rotten apples ruining the entire barrel. I am sure that many madrassas promote civility and tolerance .... unfortunately .... many do not.

Ultraconservative Islam Gains In Unlikely Places -- Washington Times

CAIRO | The Muslim call to prayer fills the halls of a Cairo computer shopping center, followed immediately by the click of locking doors as the young, bearded tech salesmen close shop and line up in rows to pray.

Business grinding to a halt for daily prayers is not unusual in conservative Saudi Arabia, but until recently, it was rare in the Egyptian capital, especially in affluent commercial districts like Mohandiseen, where the mall is located.

However, almost the entire three-story mall is made up of computer stores run by Salafis, members of an ultraconservative Islamic movement that has grown dramatically across the Middle East in recent years.

"We all pray together," said Yasser Mandi, a salesman at the Nour el-Hoda computer store. "When we know someone who is good and prays, we invite them to open a shop here in this mall." Even the name of Mr. Mandi's store is religious, meaning "Light of Guidance."

Read more ....

My Comment: A sign of the times .... people looking for faith.