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May 17, 2007

UK: Muslim School To Close, Issues Emotional Blackmail

The Iqra School in Littlemore, Oxford, is due to close. There are currently some very emotive articles in the local Oxfordshire press, which make little reference to the story we reported on September 7 last year.

This is our original report:

UK: Sexual Harassment Claims At Muslim School

The Iqra school is situated in Lawn Upton House, David Nicholls Close in Littlemore, Oxford. It is an independent Muslim "faith school" for about 75 girls, aged 10 to 12, and is run by an Iranian, Hojjat Ramzy. The school's Islamic Adviser is Imam Ataullah Khan. The school has made efforts to ingratiate itself with the community at large. On the anniversary of the 7/7 bombings, it held a memorial service for the victims.

When HM Queen Elizabeth II visited Oxford on 5 May this year, and was touring the renovated castle and prison, Hojjat Ramzy and some of his mini-Muslimahs pushed forward to be seen greeting her. The school employs the local Anglican priest, Bernhard Sch ünemann, to teach Christianity to the pupils.

A rather bizarre employment tribunal case is currently being heard, concerning the woman featured left, a 33-year old South African convert to Islam named Monique Buckner (pictured top left). The news is carried in the Telegraph, the Times and the Daily Mail.

Ms Buckner claims that 52-year old Hojjat Ramzy interrogated her on whether she was a virgin when she joined the school. She told the tribunal that she had been "disgusted" by Ramzy's comments. She claimed: "In the office one day after school, Mr Ramzy told me that if he were younger, he would marry me. This disgusted me as I considered Mr Ramzy to be a pious Muslim whom I trusted and respected."

Ms Buckner had converted to Islam after meeting Mr Ramzy on numerous occasions in Oxford city last year, when he ran a religious stall in Cornmarket Street. She had taken his advice and when she became a convert, she began to call herself "Hakima", which means "wisdom". She also started to dress like a tent.

She said that at the time she met Ramzy at his Islamic information stall, she was teaching English at Bicester Community College. She told him that her work permit was due to expire at the end of summer, 2005.

Mr Ramzy and his wife Maryam (who was head of administration) offered a job to Buckner, teaching English at Iqra School.

However, after teaching for a while, she was upset to find that her wage packet showed she was only being paid £20 per day ($37.5), whereas other staff at the school were being paid £10 per hour ($18.7).

Arthur James, representing the school, said that Buckner was only employed as a volunteer. Buckner claimed at the tribunal: "Iqra's school work permit application to the Home Office, which was completed by the headteacher and Mrs Ramzy and signed by Mr Ramzy, clearly states my full-time status."

When she went to Ramzy and complained, she was given a wages rise of £60 per day ($112). However, only a week after he increased her rate of pay, he drastically reduced her hours. Buckner was reduced to being employed for only five hours a week.

It is alleged that there had been complaints from pupils before her hours were cut, though no evidence of this was presented before the tribunal. Buckner said yesterday: "In this way, he forced me out of my job, as I could not survive on five hours' worth of work per week."

The claims about sexual aspects of conversation are interesting, as she also alleged that Ramzy had tried to fix an arranged marriage for her with a younger man. In this context, the story Buckner presents about intrusive questions into her sex life seems more reasonable.

Ramzy already knew that she wanted to stay in Britain, and if he was trying to arrange a marriage for her (which would have given her rights to stay in Britain) then to ask if she was a virgin or not would obviously be something that a potential suitor would want to know. He also, she claims, said that if he was younger, he would have liked to marry her himself. Is that abuse, or mere flattery, or confidence-building?

Maryam Ramzy told the tribunal that she and her husband had tried to help Buckner to stay in Britain "as a favour". She said: "We felt duty-bound to help a fellow Muslim. This is our job."

The virginity question and the marriage comment had obviously affected Buckner's attitudes. She said that after this conversation: "We were not talking because of the incident in the office. We did not see eye-to-eye on personal issues. He was interfering in my personal life."

There are conflicting accounts in this case and the chairman of the tribunal, Robin Lewis, said the tribunal panel would have to decide if Miss Buckner had the status of an employee.

Buckner is suing under three breaches of the Employment Act - unpaid wages, unpaid holiday pay and unpaid notice pay. She is also claiming that she was being discriminated against under the Race Relations Act because of her nationality.

The tribunal has been adjourned until November, when Ramzy will submit his evidence to the panel.

What is apparent is that hearing is reflecting badly both upon Ramzy and the school, and also upon Miss Buckner.

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The head of the school, Dr Hojjat Ramzy, was actually found guilty of discrimination in November. The Oxford Mail reported on November 3, 2006 that:

Yesterday, the employment tribunal panel at Reading dismissed the racial claims but ruled that 52-year-old Dr Ramzy and the school had breached the Act in terms of pay, her contract of employment and an unsatisfactory grievance procedure.

The panel awarded 33-year-old Ms Buckner a total of almost £800 compensation. However, she lodged an official appeal against the tribunal's findings.

In awarding Ms Buckner the money, tribunal chairman Robin Lewis said: "We found that Ms Buckner and Dr Ramzy formed a personal, spiritual and educational relationship."

Shortly after the tribunal ordered that Ms Buckner should be paid $1,600, it was announced in Asian Image on November 20 that the school - which then had 80 pupils - was in danger of losing its home. It rented the Lawn Upton, Littlemore, site from the Diocese of Oxford, which was planning to sell the building for £2 million ($4 million).

A spokeswomen for the Diocese of Oxford said: "The site is owned by the Lawn Upton Trust so we are bound by the Charities Act to maximise the financial gain. Mr Ramzy is welcome to put in an offer. It's been a very friendly, supportive relationship and we are sympathetic - but our hands are tied."

In 2005, the Iqra school failed to get funding from Oxfordshire County Council, but as it did not have 1,500 pupils, it could not qualify as a "state-funded faith school".

Ramzy (left) said that the school could neither raise funds to purchase the property, nor recruit 1,500 Muslim pupils.

The school was under fire in January 2004, when the Muslim Council of Britain reported that Iqra, which then housed only 22 pupils, was under threat of closure. To emphasize the case for a "need" for such a school, MCB quoted parents, such as Mrs Hussain, who had two daughters at the school.

She said: "I am very happy that they can attend an Islamic School in Oxford... Thanks to Allah the community opened this school and we are very pleased to have an Islamic school in Oxford and need to keep it running."

Mr Shirazi, another parent, was quoted as saying: "I bring my daughters over 15 miles from out of Oxford because I know the importance of my children attending an Islamic school instead of mainstream schools as I fear they will lose their identity as Muslims and will not gain sufficient knowledge of Islam.  We need to keep the school open and expand it to other year groups for all of the other children hoping to attend the Islamic school in Oxford, Insha’Allah (God Willing)."

Now, the news of the school's imminent demise is reported by This is Oxfordshire and the Witney Gazette. The school building is to be placed on the open market at the end of the month. It now has 100 girls. Fozia Tenvir, who is head teacher said: "This venture was started to safeguard the interests of girls who needed this kind of education and this is why we opened, to educate Muslim girls and get them into higher education."

"I have absolute nightmares about what's going to happen to them. A few might go to Manchester or Bedford to Islamic boarding schools and will have to leave their families, but some will be shipped back to Pakistan. "

"There are also a few who will disappear from the registers beneath the surface, who will be in homes in this country but will not be allowed to go to any other secondary schools. Only a few will move back into the state system."

If this is true, then it says more about the appalling attitudes of some of the girls' parents - who will only provide their daughters with education if it is in a sexually-segregated Islamic environment, with an Islamically-biased curriculum.

Ramzy, who has raised only £500,000 pounds a shortfall of 50% of the necessary money needed to make a pledge of purchase, said: "We would like to make an appeal to the diocese and also to Christian people in all of Oxfordshire to help us and give us more time and extend the lease."

This plea is ridiculous. A private school, which only provides education to 100 pupils - when there are plenty of state-funded schools available - has chosen to operate. Over the five years since it opened in September 2002, the pupils have been ferried from different venues to different venues - all in the name of a refusal to integrate with the wider community.

If the head teacher is right when she says that some of the girls will be denied education by their parents should Iqra School close, social workers at Oxfordshire County Council should be given the names and addresses of all the girls on the school register. It is illegal for a child under the age of 16 to be denied education.

The emotional blackmail suggested by Fozia Tenvir highlights that some Muslims in Britain do not give a damn about the laws of the land. Islamic schools have so far failed to convince the general public they believe that British law comes BEFORE Islamic law.

It seems Fozia Tenvir is not caring about British law either. If she was, she would be handing addresses and names of pupils to social workers.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at May 17, 2007 4:42 PM

Comments

Posted by: Catawhumpus at May 17, 2007 5:08 PM

Posted by: bowen at May 17, 2007 6:16 PM

Posted by: Montegang at May 18, 2007 12:24 PM

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