Hearts of stone
15/5/10; A mud-walled village in Iran. Soraya, a 35-year-old mother of seven, is falsely accused of adultery by her violent husband, who wants to be rid of her to marry a 4-year-old girl. He blackmails the local mullah, who sentences Soraya to death by stoning under Sharia law. The crowd cries “Allahu akbar [God is […] read more…Love brings critic of Islam Ayaan Hirsi Ali back for more
Tony Allen-Mills; 15/5/10 What are these? Why did you choose this place?” asks Ayaan Hirsi Ali, eyebrows arched in feigned alarm. We are in New York’s Algonquin hotel, just a few hundred metres from Times Square, where a Muslim would-be bomber parked a car full of explosives a couple of days earlier. Radical Islamists have […] read more…French assembly moves to ban burqa
Carole Landry, 13/5/10 The French parliament has unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the full-face Islamic veil as an affront to the nation’s values, setting the stage for a law banning it. The vote in the National Assembly put France on course to become the second European country after Belgium to declare the wearing of the […] read more…Scientists document painted portals to a vanished past
Victoria Laurie; 12/5/10 Last year, archeologist Mike Morwood and rock art specialist June Ross took the ride of their lifetime across the northwest Kimberley. They hired a helicopter and flew across largely trackless territory, their pilot landing periodically in spots where he felt he could get his helicopter down safely and where they believed a […] read more…Images of the ancients
Victoria Laurie; 11/5/10 Shimmering heat and a dazzling purple-blue sky hang over Burrup Peninsula’s vast rocky landscape, and intense light makes it hard to pick out details in the stony rubble. But once they adjust, the eyes can make out lively images of humans, animals and symbols. In this remote northwest corner, about 1500km north […] read more…Going berko about the burqa
Dick Gross;10/5/10, (3 Items) There is a financial contagion threatening to sweep Europe but another contagion, just as destructive, is going pan European – Islamophobia. The French started it with the prohibition of the veil in schools. It has now extended to prohibitions on Islamic practices in Switzerland and Belgium. Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi in […] read more…What women wear is their business
Samah Hadid & Rayann Bekdache; 8/5/10 A woman gets arrested for wearing a controversial item of clothing that the state deems out of line and is convicted of public indecency. We are not talking about Belgium, Italy or France but, rather, Sudan. However, these days it’s easy to get the countries mixed up. It’s hard […] read more…Burka ban bid slammed
Sid Maher; 8/5/10; http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/burka-ban-bid-slammed/story-e6frg6n6-1225863826866 Kevin Rudd accused the opposition of cynical politics over Liberal senator Cory Bernardi’s call for a ban on wearing the burka in public. As the Islamic community and lawyers attacked the call, the Prime Minister accused Tony Abbott of “walking both sides of the street” on the issue after the Opposition […] read more…Burqa theft prompts Abbott to echo Howard’s concerns
Katherine Murphy; 7/5/10 Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has fuelled the political debate over the burqas worn by Muslim women by saying there is ”understandable community concern” about the attire. Mr Abbott made the remarks in response to a call by one of his MPs for burqas to be banned in Australia in the wake of […] read more…Italian woman fined over burqa
6/5/10; http://www.theage.com.au/world/italian-woman-fined-over-burqa-20100505-uajg.html; (2 Items) A Muslim in Italy has been fined €500 for wearing a burqa. Tunisian immigrant Amel Marmouri, 26, was stopped by police in the city of Novara, in the north-east. A 1975 regulation invoking an anti-terrorism law prohibits people from wearing anything that impedes identification. Mrs Marmouri’s husband said his wife would […] read more…Burka ban ‘ludicrous’
3/5/10; (2 Items) European attacks on the right of Muslim women to wear veils were discriminatory, declared the US daily. “The anti-burka cause is sweeping Europe. In addition to Belgium and France, Italy and The Netherlands are considering bans. Yet the targets of these measures are virtually nonexistent.” Only a couple of hundred women in […] read more…Burka ban a headache for a liberal society
Tim Soutphommasane; 1/5/10 Is it illiberal for governments to ban practices judged to be illiberal, as the French government is doing with its intended ban on the burka? Those familiar with France will be aware its civic culture isn’t one of vive la difference. The French republic has, since its birth through revolution, stood for […] read more…Do parents make children religious? Heaven wonders
Jacqueline Maley, 1/5/10 Finally, some good news for Catholic spin doctors: hopeful children with warm but firm parents are more likely to develop religious values, according to a study by Wollongong University psychologists. The study examines the nexus between parenting styles, child development and religiosity and shows that the better the parenting, the more positive […] read more…Belgian MPs vote to ban burqa in public
30/4/10; (2 Items) Belgian legislators voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to ban the wearing of the Islamic burqa in public, paving the way for the first clampdown of its kind in Europe. In the lower house of federal parliament, 136 deputies voted to ban nationwide clothes or veils that do not allow the wearer to be […] read more…Muslims unwelcome as Hanson’s home buyers
28/4/10 Former One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s Queensland home remains on the market, but not for everyone. Muslim buyers, for example, aren’t welcome. Ms Hanson, who has put up for sale her million-dollar property in Coleyville, south-west of Brisbane, announced she was moving to Britain earlier this year. Her hardline views on race sparked a […] read more…Polygamy the same as having a mistress, Muslim butcher Hebbadj tells France
Charles Bremner; 27/4/10 President Sarkozy’s campaign against full Islamic veils took a comic turn yesterday when a Muslim butcher claimed that his wives were no different from the mistresses that Frenchmen traditionally enjoyed. Lies Hebbadj, 35, was defending himself after the Government made him a national example by citing his supposed polygamy as an illustration […] read more…