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Woman Wearing Hijab Refused Entry into French Bank
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by Alyzee | August 27, 2009 at 03:48 pm
771 views | 26 Recommendations | 16 comments
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A woman wearing a hijab was prevented from entering a Société Générale bank in France. The 24-year-old customer was told that she could not enter unless she removed the headscarf.
The hijab-wearing woman said that her face was visible and she posed no security risk to the bank. She also said that she will be suing the bank.
This is the latest in the continuing intolerance of visible Islamic practice in France. Earlier this month, a woman was not allowed into a swimming pool wearing a burqini - a full-body bathing suit - and in 2004, the French government made it illegal for Muslims to wear headscarves in schools.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (16)
at 15:58 on August 27th, 2009
It is interesting to see how France is handling their insistance on Muslims adopting a less conservative Muslim appearance. I can't say I blame them. If I moved to saudi Arabia I would not expect to be allowed to walk around wearing cut-offs and a wife-beater tank top so why should France treat Muslims any differently. No one wants immigrants that move into their country and start demanding changes to suit their customs.
at 16:32 on August 27th, 2009
They are not demanding changes. They are and are right to demand acceptance. This woman poses no threat nor did the one who wanted to swim in a public pool. They would not be treating her differently but abstaining from discimination. She has a valid lawsuit and I hope she wins.
at 16:50 on August 27th, 2009
I assume this bank is a private business? If so I also believe they are likely in thier rights to deny serving anyone they want for whatever reason they choose. Ever seen those signs "No shirt, no shoes, no service"?
at 17:18 on August 27th, 2009
Wrong there are laws agianst discrimination based on race, religion, creed, etc. in most Western counties. Yes I have at places were such is neccesary either for sanitary reasons or the formality of the establishment. It does not apply here.
at 17:25 on August 27th, 2009
It is dress. I am sure they are happy to serve non-hajib wearing Muslims.
at 11:37 on August 30th, 2009
But if it is an inherent part of the culture why serve some and not the others? Why punish the woman for respecting some of the debatable aspects of her religion? It would be like serving a moderate Christian but refusing a fundamentalist.
at 19:35 on August 31st, 2009
Salaam,
It is not a custom it is our Religion, It is in our Quran and the Sunnah of our Prophet. It is not a debatable subject. It has been debated but wrongly so as it is as clear as the nose on your face, a girl when she begins puberty must observe Hijab.
at 11:28 on September 1st, 2009
Therein lies the truth. Forgive my ignorance. All religions must be respected. They have no authority to refuse her business.
at 19:18 on September 1st, 2009
Salaam,
Do not worry, alot of people believe it to be a cultural requirement, indeed many scholars have said this. I am not sure how they have reached this conclusion, as any reader of the Quran and Hadiths can plainly see it is an order from Allah.
Interestingly many people do not realise that in the Bible it says, that a woman who does not cover her head whilst in prayer, disgraces her head, and she should have the hair shaved off. I believe this was stated by Paul.
Indeed I agree with you as all religions should be respected. This latest attack on Islam and Muslim woman is however, going to be one of many I fear.
Although I am not sure why they are attacking the Muslim woman, maybe they are hoping to make the Muslim men angry.
at 19:47 on September 1st, 2009
You are correct. The Bible says a lot of stupid things. The main difference is that most Christians are independant thinkers and are able to separate the silly stuff from that which gives them spiritual and moral guidance.
at 21:40 on August 27th, 2009
Hey when in Rome, live by their rules or leave. One more thing and East Van can attest to it, because of the rampant crime in Vangroovy, one is not allowed to enter a bank with a ball cap or any head covering, and that includes sunglasses. I say tell Ms. Oppressed to take out a loan and get the next flight to Sandland!
at 15:01 on August 29th, 2009
"and in 2004, the French government made it illegal for Muslims to wear headscarves in schools."Wow, that makes it sound a lot like France is singling out Muslims. Oh but wait, France banned ALL religious symbols in PUBLIC schools, not just headscarves. But then, when you include all relevant facts instead of only mentioning the headscarves, it sounds less nefarious, now doesn't it? That law only governs public schools, private schools can allow or disallow whatever they choose.Selective omission is dishonest.
at 15:05 on August 29th, 2009
Are turbans allowed in schools?
at 07:33 on August 30th, 2009
Are nuns allowed in schools? How about pictures of the virgin Maryum, she covered her head?
at 07:40 on September 4th, 2009
As a follow-up to this story, according to the sites Alter Info and islamenfrance, the woman refused entry, Leila Zeroual, has met representatives from Société Generale including the manager of branch.
Here's the letter (in French) she sent the sites which gives a summary of that meeting in which the bank apologised unreservedly for what had happened, that the staff at the branch involved had made their own "misinterpration" as to what constituted a "security threat" and that it wasn't company policy to refuse entry to Moslem women wearing a headscarf.
http://www.alterinfo.net/La-Societe-Generale-va-autoriser-le-port-du-voile-dans-toutes-ses-agences_a36131.html
So perhaps this was far from being, as implied in the opinion expressed in the author's ntroduction, an example of (institutionalised and general) ntolerance of visible Islamic practice in France and more a case of one over-zealous employee getting it offensively wrong.
at 19:29 on September 12th, 2009
Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} I am so tired of these complaints from these Islamic hypocrites. These Muslim people publicly and openly denounce all other cultures and religions as being inferior to their own. One of the central religious principles of their 'true' religion is that anyone not Muslim is the enemy. For centuries Islamic fundamentalists have been engaged in violence against the so called infidels. Even with our modern Islamic terrorist troubles aside, in the not too distant past U.S. history Muslim pirates were attacking western merchant ships off the Barbary Coast before the U.S. constitution was even drafted. This affected the U.S. economy by approximately 20% at the time. In modern times, Muslim people are very quickly overtaking western civilization by openly accepting the hospitality of countries like France, Britain, Canada and the United States and our generous immigration policies. Once arriving, Muslims like these will often then promptly lobby to change our laws and sue our institutions for discrimination. These same people who will openly denounce all other religions and incite riots over cartoons will sue a French swimming pool for not implementing Muslim policies. Muslims are quick to condemn all other religions while whining that we Westerners are ignoring their religious ‘rights’. They deny all rights to everyone else, yet demand that we all bow down to their ‘Muslim Superiority’. Seriously, in the face of this ridiculous nonsense, why would any Western country continue to allow Muslim immigrants into our countries? When I watch news coverage of tens of thousand of French Muslims violently protesting and chanting ‘Death to America’ or ‘Death to France’ and publicly decrying Christians I am deeply ashamed that we have been so easily duped by these pretenders. Watching savage videos of Islamic fundamentalists sawing peoples heads off on video tape, or watching the trade towers fall in New York has not taught Westerner anything to snap us out of our politically correct trance. While it is true that all Muslims are not terrorists, many typical Muslim people will not deny their belief that the 911 attacks were deserved. If I am wrong then where are the organized masses of Muslims protesting against terrorist violence and calling for peace with all of us infidels? Sheesh.