Hijabs in private schools supported: Rights commission to issue legal opinion Posted on: Wednesday, June 15th 2005
The Gazette (Montreal)
Wed 15 Jun 2005
ALLISON LAMPERT
A majority of private schools have a duty to reasonably accommodate their students' religious beliefs, says a legal opinion to be made public today by the Quebec Human Rights Commission.
The opinion, The Gazette has learned, supports the right of Muslim girls to wear hijabs at non-profit private schools - a demand that's sparked controversy in the past.
In fall 2003, a Muslim student at College Charlemagne in Pierrefonds left the private high school after administrators wouldn't let her wear her religious headscarf to class.
The case of Grade 11 student Irene Waseem became a cause celebre for Muslim activists when her family filed a complaint with the commission.
When the family dropped the complaint a year later, the commission backed away from publicly taking a stance on religious accommodation in private schools - until now.
The opinion, titled "Reflections on the scope and limits of the duty of reasonable accommodation in the field of religion," comes a decade after a similar legal analysis was prepared by the commission for public schools.
In 1995, the commission said public schools must "reasonably accommodate" their students' religious practices, for example by letting them wear hijabs or Jewish skullcaps.
But the question remained: did private schools have an equal obligation?
The question has become especially pertinent in recent years with private schools taking in more and more students from different cultural backgrounds.
Yet some private schools still forbid religious headgear as a violation of their dress code.
A commission spokesperson wouldn't discuss the opinion until it is made public today.
Still, the spirit of the opinion is consistent with an internal report by the commission in 2004. In that report, the commission said not-for-profit private schools weren't exempt from the legal notion of "reasonable accommodation" of religious practices.
Salam Elmenyawi, chairperson of the Muslim Council of Montreal, said he expected the commission to uphold the conclusion in its 2004 report. But Elmenyawi questioned why the review took almost two years.
He said he knows of a handful of cases in Montreal in which girls are being denied permission to wear the hijab to class.
"Many of our daughters have been suffering, waiting for a decision from the human rights commission," he said. "This decision will affect many girls."
alampert@thegazette.canwest.com
Solution eludes parties in Kazemi photo impasse Posted on: Wednesday, June 15th 2005
Son wants apology from Montreal officials after exhibit dismantled at city library
By INGRID PERITZ
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050615/KAZEMI15/TPNational/?query=kazemi
MONTREAL -- Zahra Kazemi's name has become known around the globe, her photography celebrated in world capitals. But it has become increasingly unlikely that the work of the slain Canadian photojournalist will be shown any time soon on civic property in Montreal, the city she adopted as her own.
The impasse has grown from a dispute over an exhibit by the Iranian-born photographer that inflamed sensibilities in the community of Côte-St-Luc.
A show at the municipal library of Ms. Kazemi's work to mark the second anniversary of her death was dismantled after five photos focusing on Israel drew complaints from some residents.
Robert Libman, mayor of the borough, said the photos individually were not problematic; they depicted Palestinians at an Israeli checkpoint, among other themes, he said. But the accompanying text drew parallels between the Israeli government and repressive regimes depicted in the show, he said.
The text said the photos depicted women "whose lives are taken hostage by despicable, unscrupulous men who claim the right, in the name of the State or God, to destroy them because they do not share their ideology of domination."
"The political subtext was that the government of Israel is as repressive as the Taliban in Afghanistan or the mullahs in Iran," Mr. Libman said yesterday. "There was a political agenda and that's not what we bargained for when we put up the exhibition."
The decision to take down the offending photos has drawn criticism from groups including PEN Canada, and was denounced as small-minded censorship. Many have noted that Ms. Kazemi's life and death have become synonymous with the struggle for human rights.
But Mr. Libman, a former member of the Quebec National Assembly, said Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms allows "reasonable limits" on freedom of speech.
"Ernst Zundel is considered to be a champion of free speech by a certain number of people, too."
The west-end Montreal borough of Côte-St-Luc, whose population of 32,000 includes a large Jewish community, had initially removed five of the show's 23 photos. However, Ms. Kazemi's son, Stephan Hashemi, insisted that the exhibit be shown in its entirety or not at all.
That brought an attempt at compromise. Montreal's elected official responsible for culture, Francine Senécal, offered last week to mount the exhibit somewhere else. But yesterday, Mr. Hashemi said he won't consider it unless civic authorities apologize to him.
"My mother was a woman who died because she wasn't ready to compromise her rights," he said. "Her spirit was violated by the borough of Côte-St-Luc."
Ms. Kazemi was killed in Iranian custody after taking photos outside a Tehran-area prison.
Mr. Hashemi, who said he co-operated in the writing of the text, noted that the exhibit was shown during a 2003 documentary film festival in Montreal and was in Paris's City Hall last year for International Women's Day.
He has filed a complaint about Côte-St-Luc's actions with the Quebec Human Rights Commission.
Jewish group wants Kazemi exhibit restored Posted on: Sunday, June 12th 2005
CBC News
http://montreal.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=qc-kazemi20050610
MONTREAL – A Jewish group in Montreal is accusing city authorities of censorship over its decision to remove a library exhibit showcasing the work of murdered photojournalist Zahra Kazemi.
On Friday, members of the Canada Jewish Alliance Against the Occupation held a mock book-banishing ceremony in front of the Côte-St-Luc library where Kazemi's photos had been on display.
A member of the group, Lillian Robinson, used metal tongs to drop a book into a bright orange biohazard bag. It was one of several books about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that she and the Jewish Alliance borrowed from the library to make a point about freedom of expression. "A library, of all places, is a place where all opinions, different opinions, are aired," Robinson says.
She says Zahra Kazemi's photos of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories belong in the library. She says it's absurd that a complaint about those pictures convinced borough officials to take them down. "What are they afraid of? They're afraid of a woman who died for free expression, for freedom of the press," Robinson says.
Others linked to the Alliance say exhibiting the photos could help foster more debate within Montreal's Jewish community about the conflict in the Occupied Territories. Daniel Thau-Leff says the photos are powerful because they are provocative.
"They [city officials] should be offended, but not by the fact that the photos were taken, or [are] being shown. They should be offended by what's being shown, which is a brutal military occupation," Thau-Leff says.
The Jewish Alliance wants the Borough of Côte St. Luc-Hampstead-Montreal-West to restore Kazemi's photo exhibit. It is also demanding an apology for the photojournalist's family.
MAS: US Military Explanation of Quran Desecration Unacceptable Posted on: Friday, June 10th 2005
MAS Freedom Meets with Chairman of Senate Armed Services Committee
(Washington, D.C.) - Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation (MAS Freedom) Executive Director Mahdi Bray met earlier this week with Senator John Warner (R-VA), Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, to demand a full Senate investigation into reported incidents of desecration of the Holy Quran, and to ask him to support the position of Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE) with regard to shutting down the U.S. military detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, completely. Biden's suggestion is that the time has come to consider a gradual closure of the facility.
The Department of Defense's manifest denial of a May 9 Newsweek report concerning a detainee's recollection of an incident alleging the desecration of the Quran at Guantanamo, contrasts significantly with the chronicle of statements issued by the Department.
The initial denial was followed by an ambiguous "it could have happened", and then to repeated denials that it ever occurred - "the inquiry found no credible evidence that a member of the Joint Task Force [JTF] at Guantanamo Bay ever flushed a Quran down a toilet", culminating in the most recent "it happened; but only on an isolated scale," reiterated with, "we have confirmed that five of these alleged mishandling incidents took place", "four other incidents were examined but could not be confirmed", "we identified seven incidents [four confirmed] where the guards' conduct may have been inappropriate", with the added conclusion that "further investigation[s] [were] not warranted".
These statements were further bolstered by the White House, which attested to a "few isolated incidents" committed by a "few individuals", e.g., a soldier deliberately kicking a copy of the Quran, an interrogator stepping on a Quran, a Quran that was soaked in water, and in one instance, splashed with a guard's urine.
"None of the above actions are acceptable within the Muslim American community and neither have they been found to be acceptable throughout the Muslim world," stated MAS Freedom Executive Director Mahdi Bray. “Much needs to be done to ameliorate what has been an American image disaster within the Muslim world.”
To that end, MAS Freedom has demanded that Sen. Warner and other members of the Armed Forces Services Committee conduct investigative hearings with the goal of bringing those who perpetrated acts of desecration with regard to the Holy Quran to accountability and punishment. MAS Freedom further demands the creation and/or implementation or enforcement of whatever legislation is necessary and/or currently available, with the ultimate goal of insuring that future acts of desecration of the Quran, or any other Holy Scripture (The Bible, The Torah, etc.), does not occur.
Here's what YOU can do:
ACTION ITEM: Phone Blitz
FIRST ACTION: Set aside a small amount of time each day this week and next to call, fax or e-mail Sen. John Warner's office. Phone: (202) 224-2023 – Fax: (202) 224-6295 – Web: http://warner.senate.gov/contact/contactme.htm
Tell whomever answers that (1) you want an immediate, full investigation and/or hearing concerning the desecration of the Quran; (2) that you are not satisfied with the explanations given by the Department of Defense; and, (3) further emphasize your belief this matter shames us as a nation throughout the Muslim world. Be firm, but respectful.
SECOND ACTION: Contact MAS Freedom to inquire about the July Quran Awareness Program at (202) 496-1288, or by email: quran@masfreedomfoundation.org.
Silenced at home Posted on: Friday, June 10th 2005
Silenced at home
Removing Zahra Kazemi's photographs from the Cote St. Luc Library makes Montrealers look to the world like a parochial and narrow people
JANET BAGNALL
The Gazette
Zahra Kazemi knew how dangerous her photographs were. She knew how dangerous taking them was for her personally. But to her, the reward was worth the risk. Through her photographs, she could give back to women made invisible by their burqas and to children made mute with horror the right to be alive, the freedom to express themselves.
Now, nearly two years after she died an agonizing death in one of Iran's most notorious prisons for daring to take photos outside it, it is the photographer who is being silenced. Right here in Montreal, the city that the Iranian-born Kazemi adopted, that more than any other should celebrate this champion of human rights.
Instead, this week the Montreal borough of Cote St. Luc/Hampstead/Montreal West decided Kazemi's work is too offensive to be shown in a public library. In a move that makes Montrealers look to the world like we are a parochial and narrow people, the borough removed a 23-photograph exhibit of her work.
Borough mayor Robert Libman has a long list of reasons why he "had no choice" but to remove the photographs from the Cote St. Luc public library.
He said he was "ambushed" by Kazemi's son, Stephan Hachemi, into mounting an exhibit that was anti-Israel. He said Cote St. Luc's majority Jewish population would be "potentially" offended by seeing a photograph of Israeli soldiers sitting in a military vehicle at a checkpoint.
In his opinion, the purpose of a community library is not to provoke controversy. By the end of his explanation, Libman had turned himself into the victim of the piece. It was a disgraceful performance, made worse by his insistence the borough's motives were of the highest order because it wanted to mount the exhibit to help Hachemi in his quest for justice.
Hachemi could not have possibly ambushed the borough. This same exhibit has been shown in a number of places, including Paris city hall in 2004. It has always included photographs that Kazemi took in Palestinian camps. If borough councillors were unaware of the content of the exhibit, it was their own fault.
Paris put on the exhibit starting March 8, International Women's Day, and it ran until April 30. The black and white photos showed women and children in Iran, Afghanistan and Palestinian camps.
A photograph from a Palestinian camp shows a young boy on his way to school, walking through clouds of dust through which flames are visible. From the same group of photos, titled Palestine, 2000-2001, a photograph shows the headlights of a military vehicle glowing at the end of a street.
For the past two years, Hachemi, 27, has devoted himself to seeking justice for the death of his mother. Last fall, he told Hour magazine, "My mom always stood up for human rights and I am standing up for my mother's rights."
Why would Libman have supposed for a minute that Hachemi would agree to alter his mother's vision? Hachemi was reportedly furious with the borough's decision to remove the five photos of the Palestinian camps without his permission, calling the act "scandalous, a discriminatory act, racist, an attack on freedom of the press which violated the spirit and the work of my mother."
Libman insists the 23-photo exhibit created a "narrative" in which equivalence was established of three oppressive regimes: the Taliban in Afghanistan, the mullahs of Iran and the government of Israel. Is Libman right? How would anyone else know? The exhibit is gone.
By removing this exhibit, the borough has assumed Montrealers are incapable of deciding, for themselves, whether there is ever a point at which politics should trump artistic _expression and freedom of speech.
It has treated Kazemi, a woman who died defending freedom of speech and political association, as though her work did not deserve serious, moral analysis.
The borough removed, along with the exhibition, other people's freedom to make up their own minds about photographs that a woman died for the right to take.
That is a profoundly undemocratic act.
jbagnall@thegazette.canwest.com
© The Gazette (Montreal) 2005
|
