SPANISH CITY REACTS TO MUSLIM INVASION-BANS BURQA
NIX TO THE NIQAB
BARCELONA BANS THE BURQA
by
Paul L. Williams, Ph.D.
The city’s municipal government announced the prohibition which will take effect in September.
“Barcelona will forbid the use of the burqa, niqab and any other item which hinders personal identification in any of the city’s public installations,” the government statement said.
Alberto Fernandez Diaz, a city councilman and member of the conservative Popular Party, proclaimed on his website that “the use of the burqa and niqab undermines the dignity and freedom of women”.
“The mayoral decree is only a half-measure,” he complained, “because as well as forbidding the burqa and niqab in public installations, it is necessary to forbid it on the street,” he added.
Last year, Mr. Fernandez-Diaz was responsible for halting the construction of a massive mosque in the midst of Barcelona.
Face veils are banned in all public spaces in the relatively small towns of Lerida and El Vendrell, which like Barcelona are in the northeastern region of Catalonia in Spain.
Jordi Hereu, Barcelona’s mayor, has resisted calls to impose a ban on full face veils in all public spaces in Spain’s second-largest city. He said such a measure would be beyond the jurisdiction of a municipal government.
Barcelona is presently home for 300,000 Muslims. The city’s Islamic community dates back to 1967, when Barcelona became the first stop for the North African migrant population on their way to Western Europe.
Spain was partly ruled by Islamic Moors from the 8th to the 15th centuries and had around 1.4 million Muslims in 2009 — about 3 per cent of the population — according to the Islamic Commission of Spain.
In a recent controversy, a young woman in Madrid changed schools after refusing to remove her Islamic headscarf when the institute where she was studying enforced its rule banning the wearing of headcoverings.
The ban on face veils is not new in Europe.
France approved a bill last month to outlaw the wearing of veils in public and Belgium’s lower house has also voted in favor of prohibiting the full veil, provoking strong reaction and stoking debate across the continent.
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Spain: National Alarm Over Rise in Latin Gangs
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, JUNE 15 — They are between 13 and 20 years old, they mark their territory and impose their dominion through violence and intolerance. Mara 18 and Mara 13 are the names of two new Latin gangs, at war with each other. They are responsible for bloody brawls and score-settlings, which are increasing rapidly in some municipalities of Catalonia, from Hospitalet to Cornell via Barcelona and Girona. But the alarm issued by the police about the worrying increase of the phenomenon of Latin gangs concerns all Spain. It is described in a report drafted by the national police, quoted today by the media. The report denounces a “significant increase in quantity and quality”. At least six gangs have their roots in 11 Provinces, from north to south: Madrid, Balearic Islands, Barcelona, Alicante, Asturias, Burgos, Jaen, Logrono, Murcia, Valladolid and Seville. They guarantee their members respect, imposed by violence, access to parties and sex, after a blood oath which cannot be cancelled. According to the report, the phenomenon has been on the rise since the year 2000. In that year the first organised juvenile gangs were seen in Spain, and the leader of the Sagrada Tribù, Ataualpa Spain, of the Latin Kings, was arrested. The report, drafted on request of the Organisation of American States, reveals mostly “thefts with violence or intimidation; attacks on police agents; drugs trafficking; breach of the peace; aggression and bodily harm; possession of cold steel and fire arms and murder attempts”. The most notorious gangs are the Latin Kings and their main opponents, the Netas, and the Dominican Dont Play, of which the police arrested 40 members of 5 nationalities in a large-scale operation in November. Less well-known but not less dangerous are the Trinitarios, the Black Panthers and the Stin Kings. The State Secretary for Security of the Interior Ministry launched a 5-year plan on January 6 2006 to coordinate police action in an attempt to stem the violence of these groups. The plan will expire in December 2011. In a report, ordered by State Secretary for Security Antonio Camacho, a far-reaching prevention programme is proposed. The sharp growths of the new gangs Mara 18 and Mara 13 in Catalonia in the past two years was noticed thanks to the exchange of information between the South American countries of origin and the Regions. According to the report, Mara 18 is divided in groups, called “clicas”, which control the territory. Each member has to pay 3 euros per week to maintain the organisation. Members who break the rules are punished, a decision taken by the leader, called “el mero”. This punishment consists of a beating by part of the gang members. Mara 13 has its roots in the Raval district in Barcelona. According to the report, its members include several different ethnic groups: Moroccans, Rumanians and even adolescents from Bangladesh. (ANSAmed).
http://www.ansamed.info/en/news/ME03.XAM17144.html
UK: Woman Fined for Erratic Driving Caused by Niqab Headscarf Impairing Her Vision
A motorist has been fined for erratic driving caused by her Islamic headscarf, just weeks after a similar incident sparked a major political row.
Police in Vaucluse in southern France stopped the woman after she was spotted driving her vehicle carelessly on the road.
It was then officers noticed the driver was wearing a niqab, a veil that leaves only the eyes exposed, and that her sight was impaired, according to commanding officer Charles Bourillon.
‘[The headscarf] was bothering the driver in her manoeuvres … It was obvious she could not see a thing,’ he said.
Police gave the driver a ticket for 22 euros (£18) for driving with a reduced field of vision.
Officers then suggested that the woman remove her niqab to improve her sight, which she did.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1286485/Woman-fined-erratic-driving-niqab-headscarf-impairs-vision.html
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