The anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) said on Sunday Islam is not compatible with the German constitution and vowed to press for bans on minarets and burqas at its party congress in two weeks’ time.

The AfD punished Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats in three regional elections last month, profiting from popular angst about how Germany can cope with an influx of migrants, over a million of whom arrived last year.

“Islam is in itself a political ideology that is not compatible with the constitution,” AfD deputy leader Beatrix von Storch told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

“We are in favour of a ban on minarets, on muezzins and a ban on full veils,” added Storch, who is a member of the European Parliament.

Merkel’s conservatives have also called for an effective ban on the burqa, saying the full body covering worn by some Muslim women should not be worn in public. But they have not said Islam is incompatible with Germany’s constitution.

The AfD’s rise, which has coincided with strong gains by other European anti-immigrant parties including the National Front in France, has punctured the centrist consensus around which the mainstream parties have formed alliances in Germany.

Last month, the party grabbed 24 percent of the vote in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, surpassing even the Social Democrats (SPD), Merkel’s coalition partner in Berlin. The AfD, founded in 2013, also performed strongly in two other states.

The party’s rise has been controversial. Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, a Social Democrat, has said Germany’s far-right, led by the AfD party, is using language similar to that of Hitler’s Nazis.

Such accusations have not swayed the party from its anti-immigration course.

“Islam is not a religion like Catholic or Protestant Christianity, but rather intellectually always associated with the takeover of the state,” said Alexander Gauland, who leads the AfD in Brandenburg.

“That is why the Islamisation of Germany is a danger,” he told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

The post Islam not compatible with German constitution, says AfD party appeared first on TELL MAMA.

A Daily Express article which suggested that burqa sales are on the rise in Blackburn contains some basic errors.

The headline “Burka sales BOOM” can serve to reinforce the imagery of religiosity and violence. Imagery that has featured in counter-jihad circles since 2006.

The Other Islamic Bomb => pic.twitter.com/RlcqQwal2i

— Scott M (@EVdeals1) April 27, 2013

Describing a ‘sales boom’ is a journalistic cliche and not instrincially offensive. In this context, however, it lacks sensitivity.

The central claim of the article weakens under scrutiny. Paul Baldwin, the Express journalist, only interviewed a single store owner. And Baldwin acknowledges that ‘exact figures are hard to establish because many burkas are sold door-to-door’.

Nadeem Siddiqui has seen a rise in sales. His Hijab Centre in Blackburn went from selling ‘one or two burkas a month’ to ‘one or two in a week’. It’s a rise but it hardly meets the inflated claims of the headline.

The Express also carried out a ‘snap survey’ in the town and ‘found around 30 per cent of muslim women completely covered their faces’. That figure sounds daunting when the journalist had just informed readers that Muslims make up 11 per cent of the local population.

It turns out that the journalist spoke to just twenty women who wear the niqab or burqa. And given their campaign to publicly ban this veil is it any wonder they declined to be named or photographed?Nor is the campaign anything new.

The Express ran a front page in favour of a ban on October 21, 2006. It also claimed in 2006 that “An astounding 97% of Daily Express readers agreed a ban would help to safeguard racial harmony.” Much of the 2006 debate was influenced by former Labour MP Jack Straw’s public opposition to the face veil.  Straw reaffirmed his position to the Express a decade later.

Last month the newspaper claimed that 12,000 readers want a ban the burqa. The language of the survey demonstrates how to ask a leading question. Understanding polling methodologies is important.

Ukip deputy leader Paul Nuttall MEP has also called for a ban in a party where members deploy Islamophobic rhetoric when politically expedient.

Debates on the burqa are nothing new and have stretched as far as Australia. Some European countries have issued public bans despite a minority of women wearing face veils. Cameroon and Chad issued bans following acts of domestic terrorism.

The article claims that the popularity of the niqab and burqa grows in other northern towns and London. In the absence of evidence, however, comes insinuation.

Some individuals direct their anxieties and rage towards Islam and Muslims at individuals they perceive as Muslim. Some white converts experience religious slurs dressed in the language of race. Racialisation means that non-white Muslims, especially Sikhs, face violence and racist abuse.

A decision to wear (or remove) Islamic veils clothing is more nuanced. In one example, a London youth worker started wearing the hijab after suffering Islamophobic abuse. This trend, some argue, continued in a post-9/11 climate. A point raised by Nadeem Siddiqui, who runs the Hijab Centre in Blackburn.

Others removed their headscarf or hid it after experiencing abuse. Violence and verbal abuse against Muslim women who wear Islamic veils continues to cause concern. Comments posted below the Express article or in far-right channels contain many dehumanising slurs.

These views overlook the varieties and experiences of the religious life. And ignores the fact that some just pick and choose the verses that speaks to their own cultural specificities.

The popularity of the Express’s campaign reflects how anxieties and prejudices towards Islam and Muslim evolve and grow. And how misleading stories appeal to the echo-chambers of those prepared to believe the worst about Muslims in Britain.

The post Are sales of the burqa and niqab on the rise? appeared first on Religious Reader.

A campaign to re-instate a dinner lady sacked for gross misconduct is growing online.

Nita O’Dell, 54, had worked at the Billesley Primary School in Birmingham for almost 21 years. On her Facebook, she had shared a meme that read “Guide dog for a Muslim woman. It’s called a Barka.” Variations of this meme have appeared in different forms since 2010.

The school fired O’Dell for gross misconduct in September. An anonymous source had sent the school a screenshot of the shared meme. She lost the appeal last Thursday.

Yet to suggest this sacking came from this one incident is untrue. A spokesperson for the school confirmed that this was not an isolated incident. All staff had been warned about public Facebook posts. O’Dell had been on a final warning prior to the sharing of this meme.

Newspaper headlines, however, distort this fact:

“Give her back her job”: Mail readers support dinner lady sacked over burka joke on Facebook

Community calls for dinner lady sacked for ‘liking’ Facebook burka joke to be given job back

RACIST? School dinner lady SACKED after 21 years for ‘liking’ burka dog joke on Facebook

School dinner lady sacked after 20 years for ‘liking’ burka joke picture on Facebook

This story remains a cautionary tale about public posts on Facebook. And of the need to read beyond headlines.

The post No, a dinner lady was not sacked for sharing burqa joke on Facebook appeared first on TELL MAMA.

This is a case that came into Tell MAMA a few days go. Nazleen (the identity has been altered), wears a Niqab and an Abaya, (the black body over-garment) worn by more socially conservative Muslim women. Nazleen is 22 years old and she was travelling on a bus when a white female, aged around 40 plus years of age, started to look at Nazleen in an aggressive manner. She then started to say something to Nazleen, who took off her headphones, and the female perpetrator stated, “you wearing that Niqab is going back to the traditions of the Victorian era. We women fought hard for women’s rights, so why would you do this?” The perpetrator also went onto state, “you could be hiding a gun under your garment.” The abuse continued with the perpetrator stating that she felt scared by Nazleen and that she felt intimidated by her. She also stated that Nazleen looked like she was a ‘ghost’.

The intimidation and abuse of young Nazleen continued as the female perpetrator then said that Nazleen probably could not read or write and that she was being manipulated by men.

As Nazleen went to get off her stop, in a moment of empathy a passenger asked her if she was ok and Nazleen alighted from the bus.

In contacting Tell MAMA Nazleen stated, “I’m not hurt or upset by this incident. I’m used to it to be honest but with the rise in Islamophobic attacks I thought to report it so more awareness is created of incidents like this.”

The post “You Wearing That Niqab is Going Back to Traditions of the Victorian Era,” Says Perpetrator appeared first on TELL MAMA.

You would think that mocking the clothing of people based on their religious beliefs is offensive and stereotypical, particularly if it plays to tropes that develop a sense of fear of the other, or when it seeks to dehumanize the wearer.

However, who would have thought that E-Bay would decide to sell the following?

The pictures show women wearing the burqa and with niqabs, underneath the title, ‘Burqa costume Burqua (sic) Halloween Fancy Dress Idea Sharia Burka.’ The idea that the burqa or abaya and niqab (the face veil), are somehow linked to Halloween is dehumanizing and has impacts on those women who choose to wear the over-garments for religious reasons.

Commenting on the E-Bay sale, the Director of Tell MAMA, Fiyaz Mughal OBE stated: “The ‘costumes’ are an affront to women who choose to wear the burqa to meet what they believe, are religious requirements. May Muslim women do not wear the burqa though to associate the burqa with Halloween, further stigmatises women who wear it and dehumanises them. Time after time, Muslim women who wear the burqa and the niqab suffer anti-Muslim prejudice and people who would not dare to attack or harm a woman, think that they can do so with those who cover up, as if the victim is dehumanized. We ask that E-Bay remove these so-called ‘costumes’ and understand the impact that it has on women, perceptions within wider communities and to the safety of some Muslim women.”

The post E-Bay Hosts ‘Halloween Burqa’ Costumes For Sale appeared first on TELL MAMA.