One of EU countries – France may soon ban the public wearing of traditional garments of Muslim women – hijab headscarves, niqab veils and paranja robes. The announcement came from the report prepared by the committee of the national parliament. Thirty-two deputies of the committee studied the issue of wearing traditional Muslim clothing in public places due to numerous complaints received from native citizens. The native French are concerned with the growing number of women dressed in dark overalls in the streets. (more…)

Austrian far-right parliamentarian Susanne Winter was convicted Thursday of incitement because of her anti-Muslim statements, including the claim that Islam’s prophet Mohammad was a pedophile. A court in Winter’s home town of Graz also found the 51-year-old politician guilty of humiliating a religion. She was sentenced to a fine of 24,000 euros euros and a suspended prison term of three months, Austrian news agency APA reported. The politician, who took a seat in parliament last fall for the Freedom Party (FPOe), made the anti-Islamic remarks in January 2008.

About animal brothels in Graz

She also proposed in a discussion with students that Muslim men should commit bestiality rather than making “indecent advances” on girls. When somebody may ask my own opinion about Susanne Winter case and weather I see here insult of Muslim religious feelings, I would of course support indignant outburst of conventional wisdom saying politician should really care what she is speaking about, because any chauvinistic escapades, even if they meant only to attract more attention of electorate to FPÖ, turn out to be very expensive nowadays.

Candidness of Susanne Winter

From the other side, I see Susanne Winter not as aggressor, but victim of Austrian conventionalism, who dared to pronounce publicly what other Austrians often say to one another in privacy of their home kitchens. Being born and raised up in Islamic country, and thus knowing something about realities of Islamic world, I withdraw now from further comments and only recite words of renowned author and prominent political figure defending rights of Muslim women Ayaan Hirsi Ali:
“For centuries we had been behaving as though all knowledge was in the Quran, refusing to question anything, refusing to progress. By declaring our Prophet infallible and not permitting ourselves to question him, we Muslims had set up a static tyranny. We froze the moral outlook of billions of people into the mind-set of the Arab desert in the seventh century. We were not just servants of Allah, we were slaves.”

Galina Toktalieva:  The rebellious and extravagant thoughts about Islam and prophet Muhammad, which Susanne Winter announced publicly as her own to attract more attention of electorat to herself and her ultra-right party, were originated by Somalia female Ayaan Hirsi Ali in her book “Infifel” (seen in all bookstores in Austria two-three years ago) who was brought up in Islam, emigrated to Holland, became politician and then after coming through ordeal of life threats from Muslims and faked Holland citizenship, emigrated to the USA.

Female genital cutting or female circumcision, refers to all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for cultural, religious or other non-therapeutic reasons. It is practiced throughout the world, with the practice concentrated most heavily in Africa. Amnesty International estimates that over 130 million women worldwide have been affected by some form of mutilation, with over 2 million procedures being performed every year. Whilst act is widely practiced out in the open by Africans of varied faiths, it is practiced in secrecy in some parts of the Middle East . In the Arabian peninsula, mutilation is usually performed, often referred to as Sunna circumcision especially among Afro-Arabs. The practice occurs particularly in northern Saudi Arabia, southern Jordan, and northern Iraq. In the Iraqi village of Hasira, a recent study found that 60 percent of the women and girls reported having undergone mutilation. Before the study, there had been no solid proof of the prevalence of the practice. There is also circumstantial evidence to suggest that mutilation is practiced in Syria, western Iran, and south eastern Turkey. Source: Wikipedia

I have read recently a few autobiographical books of women who came through procedure of genital cutting in their childhood, including memoirs of Mende Nazer, Waris Diri and politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali. All of them were raised up in Muslim environment. (more…)