Canada’s niqab ban at citizenship ceremonies ruled unlawful

In a blow to Stephen Harper’s government, the Federal Court of Appeal found a ban on wearing niqabs at citizenship ceremonies unlawful. Three justices wanted to rule now so Zunera Ishaq could take her citizenship oath and vote in the elections that will decide Canada’s next parliament on October 19. Ishaq, 29, moved to Ontario in 2008 to be with her husband. She had agreed to remove her niqab for an official before completing her citizenship test in 2013. But objected to removing it during a public ceremony, as required under a 2011 rule change. “The government of Canada will seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada in the Ishaq case,” Immigration Minister Chris Alexander said in a one-line statement. Paul Daly, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law at the Université de Montréal tweeted: Very, very little chance leave will be granted. https://t.co/US9m5EKXd1 — Paul Daly (@pauldalyesq) September 16, 2015 Judge Keith Boswell argued that citizenship judges must allow for religious freedom when administering the oath. Boswell questioned the practicalities of a policy that asks individuals to ‘violate’ or ‘renounce’ tenets of their religion. The judgement brought tears of relief to Ishaq, her family, and supporters. [...]

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Britain First – Fighting Over a Packet of Sweets

Just when you thought that this could be a very late April fools, sadly, it turns out that it was much worse than that. The group that brought you slogans like ‘Taking Britain Back‘, have managed to wage a campaign that has left many people startled and others stating that change must start at the

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This is Why We Tackle Anti-Muslim Hate. To Help the Voiceless.

This response was received today from a Muslim woman and mother and who was harassed and racially and religiously abused for over 4 years in the Midlands. The abuse and the anti-Muslim hate placed enormous pressures on the family and on the family and brought the family to the edge of desperation. Today after our

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Hillary Clinton Rebuffs ‘Ahmed’ Anti-Muslim Bigotry With Superb Tweet

Ahmed Mohamed is a curious 14-year-old who decided to show his schoolteachers a home-made clock that he made. Instead of praise, it was mistaken to be a bomb and Ahmed told US media sources after his arrest, that he had brought the clock into MacArthur High School to show his engineering teacher. The clock was

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The Casual Face of Anti-Muslim Hatred

The following report that came into Tell MAMA shows the casual face of prejudice and bigotry and consistently re-enforces how Muslim women are targeted, by mainly young men. As we have said before anti-Muslim hate at a street level is mainly male on female abuse and it needs to be viewed through this lens since

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Al Qaeda Leader, Al-Zawahiri, Urges Young Muslims to Attack Targets

Al Qaeda leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri has released a video message urging young Muslim men to attack targets in the United States and in Western nations. The video seems to have been made within the last two months and could be a way of diverting the growing rift between IS and Al Qaeda which has seen […]

Mastercard and Visa Should Not Provide Services to Extremist Far Right Groups

A few days ago an HTML mailshot from the extremist group Britain First was posted to individuals on their database. The mailshot was another way of trying to raise funds for this extremist group through the merchandising of their material. The material itself was emblazoned with a crown on the sweatshirts and t-shirts which raises

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Unmasked for the Thugs That They Are – The #EDL Fascists

People have been discussing whether the English Defence League are really a threat to the security of the United Kingdom, whilst others have taken the position that they are not so bad as ”those Jihadis across the ocean’. Senior commentators have also suggested that the English Defence League are nothing of significance in relation to

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What is the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah?

Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year and commemorates the creation of the Earth. During this two day celebration, the traditional greeting “L’shanah tovah”… “for a good New Year” rings loud among members of Jewish communities. Ancient Hebrews relied upon the Torah, which celebrated it on the “seventh month” or Nisan. Passover also begins in Nisan. Today, Rosh Hashanah falls between September and October (or Tishrei). Jews believe that God weighs a person’s good and bad deeds over the previous year, and decides what the year ahead will bring. God records this information in the Book of Life. God seals this book on the festival of Yom Kippur. Rabbi Jonathan Romain, noted that the Book of Life created a  ‘theological catastrophe’ that created false assumptions and blame upon God for human deeds. Romain pointed to Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) 3.19 to remind Jews of their free will and agency in decisions that impact the year ahead. Rabbi Naftali Brawer reflected that this time of year creates of a paradox of comfort and fear under God’s scrutiny. He wrote “It is frightening, because under God’s scrutiny there is no place to hide. Indeed, this is the major theme of the [...]

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Annulment of Marriage Made Shorter in Specific Cases by the Pope

Pope Francis has made the annulment of marriage simpler and easier with a call for bishops to be more welcoming to divorced couples. It is one of the biggest changes around guidance regarding divorce in the Catholic church for over 250 years. Yet, all is not what it seems and the Catholic Church’s position is […]