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December 9, 2006

US: Veiled Muslim Woman Destroys Bus Policy

News from Grand Rapids Press and from Associated Press via the International Herald Tribune and Seattle Post Intelligencer:

Once more, a Muslim who refuses to act like other citizens has forced another institution in America to rethink its rules. This time, the security policy of a bus company in Michigan has been scrapped because of one Muslim woman who refused to remove her veil.

On Friday, the Rapid bus system in Grand Rapids stated that it would end its policy of barring people who covered their faces from boarding public transit vehicles. The decision stems from an incident in July when a Muslim woman wearing a full face-veil, or nikab, was refused entry onto a bus, because her face was not visible.

She complained, and according to a spokesperson from the Rapid company, Jennifer Kalczuk, the company has now apologized to her, and the ban on face-coverings has now been rescinded. Originally designed as a security measure, she said that an onboard security camera system could help to identify those on buses in case of a disturbance. She said that religious dress had not been considered when the rule was introduced. The original intention of the ruling had been to prevent people who were wearing Halloween masks and ski masks.

Kalczuk said the bus company would be reviewing all of its other policies as a result of this. Drivers will still be assessing security issues when passengers board buses. The veil-wearing woman who started this situation has not been named.

One Islamic "activist", Debbie Mageed of the Interfaith Dialogue Association said she was pleased with the sincerity of the bus company's approach to the handling of the situation. She claimed: "These are extremely pious women who are trying to be the most modest that they can be."

I see these woman as either political activists who choose to flaunt their difference in front of others, or arrogant show-offs who flaunt their supposed "piety" as a tool of making themselves seem better than Muslim women who do not choose to go around like walking tents.

A slightly similar situation occurred in Manchester, Great Britain, when on November 2 it was revealed that a Muslim woman was refused permission to board a bus. The difference here was that the woman carried a bus pass, which featured a photograph of her un-veiled face. This student pass entitles a person to free travel. The driver refused to let the woman board the bus unless she verified that she had the same face as the identifying photograph on the pass. The woman was not prevented from traveling because of the veil - she was allowed to travel if she paid like other passengers. She was refused permission to travel as the holder of a pass which she refused to prove was her own.

Sultana Freeman (pictured), a now 39-year old Florida woman, attempted to have the identification photo on her driving license depicting her in full face veil, with only her eyes visible. She had been attempting to have her covered face as her identification since 2001, when the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles had initially granted her such a license but had then revoked it.

On September 7 2005, after numerous court cases, the Fifth District Court of Appeal at Daytona Beach, Florida, refused her request to have an identification photograph which did not show her identity.

In New Jersey last December, Sarah Elfayoumi who wears a >i>hijab or Muslim headscarf, complained that the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (NJMVC) subjected her to humiliation. When she was having her license photo taken, she was told to expose part of her hairline, which sent her sobbing to the bathroom. She said: "Not only was this an offense to my religion, but I was also stripped of my dignity."

In Britain, women who wear face-veils when they take their driving tests are now required to have their veils briefly removed in a private room in the presence of no men, to check their identity. The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) introduced the requirement in September this year, because of fraud. In 2006, 250 people had been investigated for sending other people to take the rigorous driving exam on their behalf. In 2005, 260 such individuals had been investigated for substituting someone else to take the test.

Keyword: Nikab, niqab

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at December 9, 2006 11:40 PM

Comments

Posted by: pigtails not veils at December 11, 2006 1:53 AM

Posted by: pigtails not veils at December 11, 2006 1:55 AM

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