According to the Associated Press, about 100 "Sikhs in the San Francisco Bay area protested the French government's ban on the wearing of turbans and other religious symbols in public schools as French Ambassador Jean-David Levitte visited the city."

The law against the wearing of conspicuous articles of faith in public schools, which was meant to address Muslim fundamentalism, is fairly broad: its reach extends not only to hijabs, the traditional Muslim headscarf, and Sikh turbans, but also to crucifixes and yarmulkes.

Indeed, the law has been enforced against Sikhs: "Three turban-wearing teenagers were expelled from a high school in the Paris suburb of Bobigny last year...."

One of the protesters, Kulwant Singh, noted: "I'm here to protect my right to wear a turban not only in France, but everywhere in the world.... It's not only cultural, it's religious: part of our body."

Another argued, "Sikhs fought for the freedom of France.... We did not wear helmets. We wore turbans. They did not have a problem then."

Balpreet Singh, a Sikh law student, claims his religious rights were violated when he was ejected from a train in Toronto, Canada. Singh alleges that he was removed from the train because he was wearing a kirpan, or ceremonial daggar worn by Sikhs.

The case may be brought before the Ontario Human Rights Commission, and Navdeep Bains, a member of Parliament who is also a Sikh, "said he is looking into the incident."

Shabana Ahmed, a former teacher, reached a settlement with School & Pre-School Supply Center Inc., the owner of Learning How. Ahmed argued that she was fired on Oct. 25, 2001, on the basis of her religion; she wore a traditional Muslim headscarf and prayed at work.

According to the charging documents, the owner of Learning How said, around the time of her firing, "Are you crazy? ... I can't have her working here." Ahmed became suspicious of this decision as it came on the heels of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and she was not given, in her estimation, a valid reason for her dismissal. She then contacted the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which aided Ahmed in reaching a settlement.

The defendants dispute the discrimination charge, noting that "it was simply a matter of miscommunication.... Ms. Ahmed was let go for budgetary reasons."

On October 20, 2005, The Times reported, "A presentation about Muslim culture last month to students at Porter Lakes Elementary School upset parents and sparked an argument about the role of religion in public schools. On Sept. 30, a second-grade class and the entire third grade listened to a cultural presentation by the family of some Muslim students who are new to the school. In addition to talking about Muslim traditions, the children were read the book 'Ramadan' by Carol Gnojewski. 'The presentation was intended to share information, hopefully to answer some of the questions children had,' Porter Township School Corp. Superintendent Nick Brown said. The presentation involved a lot of religious content because religion is heavily intertwined with the Muslim culture, Brown said. The religious aspect of the assembly angered parents, who say that religion has no role in the public school setting. Several parents intend to discuss the issue at tonight's School Board meeting. Brown said the assembly was never meant to offend anyone. The school teaches its students about a variety of cultures with the hope of widening their world views, he said. 'We have Chanukah presentations, we do Christmas,' Brown said. 'It falls just within enlightening people'... Having the new Muslim students in the small, rural community has gotten the rumor churning, including gossip about a possible terrorist search inside the school. None of those threats, including the spotting of a suspicious van, have been substantiated."

This article cross-posted at the Pluralism Project's Religious Diversity News.

On October 22, 2005 The Local reported, "The mosque in Malmö was the target of a new arson attack just before midnight on Friday. Several minor fires were started in the main building, but these were put out quickly by the emergency services after passers-by had spotted smoke coming out of the building. One man was taken to hospital suffering from mild smoke injuries. The man was staying in the mosque temporarily for the Ramadan period and was sleeping in the building when the fire began. Someone had broken into the building after smashing a window at the back. 'There were a small number of fires which we put out in the premises,' said Swen Krook, the duty fire officer. The indications are that the fires were not accidental. Swen Krook said that there was some small-scale damage."

This article cross-posted at the Pluralism Project's International Religious Diversity News.

On October 21, 2005 The Muslim News reported, "Women wearing headscarfs have been spat on, sworn at and assaulted while hate graffiti such as 'Kill Muslims' and 'Muslims Out' has appeared in Melbourne's northern suburbs. In the past two weeks, two Muslim women have been attacked in daylight. In one, a milkshake was hurled at a Muslim woman as she waited at a Sydney Rd tram stop with her three children. In the other a man swerved at a Muslim woman and shouted: 'F--- off terrorist' while she was crossing the road carrying her baby. There are also reports of Muslim girls being spat at and abused by drivers. The Islamic Council of Victoria is alarmed at the rise of religious abuse. Coburg resident Omar Merhi was stunned when he saw the car swerve at the woman with her baby. Mr Merhi said Muslim victims often had poor English and felt powerless to take action. Sgt Mick Ehmer, from Brunswick police, encouraged victims to come forward to help stamp out the bigoted behaviour."

This article cross-posted at the Pluralism Project's International Religious Diversity News. Read more there about Hate Crimes and Violence.

On October 24, 2005 The Montreal Gazette reported, "Hani Ezzadeen isn't sure what he'll do in the winter when snow covers the campus that he and dozens of other Muslim McGill University students use to say their daily prayers... Until June, the students were allowed to pray in a room on a temporary basis. Since June, they have been praying in stairwells, empty classrooms or outside. Debate over the right to prayer space is raging at McGill, along with engineering faculties at Ecole polytechnique and the Ecole de technologie superieure. Administrators at all three schools say opening a multi-faith room on campus - as requested by Muslim students - goes against their institutions' secular character. In December, the Quebec Human Rights Commission is expected to come out with an opinion on the right to prayer space, following a 2003 complaint by ETS students. With questions over the hijab, or Muslim head scarf, largely resolved in a June opinion by the commission - women can cover their heads, even in private schools - prayer space has emerged as a new issue in the debate over religious tolerance in Quebec schools."

This article cross-posted at the Pluralism Project's International Religious Diversity News.

I am pleased to introduce Sakhiba Khairullah, DNSI's legal intern. Ms. Khairullah is currently a law student at The George Washington University. She received her undergraduate degree from The George Washington University summa cum laude in 2002. She was selected as a Presidential Scholar, a member of the Honors Program, a member of the Roots of Western Civilization Living and Learning Program as well as a Student Association peer advisor. She spent a summer abroad studying British and Irish history at Oxford University. Ms. Khairullah also interned at C-SPAN where she was fortunate to meet several prominent scholars and political figures.

Following graduation, Ms. Khairullah worked for the The George Washington University Honors Program as a teaching assistant and for Legal Services. Throughout her academic career, Ms. Khairullah has actively participated in community service. She has volunteered for Americorps Neighbor’s Project, the Indian Embassy, and Street Law.

She is a valuable addition to our team.

The questions of whether Muslims should be integrated into British society to some acceptable degree, and how such integration should be acheived, have been the subject of various scholarly articles, press reports, and other commentary [see previous posts here].

Kate Holton of Reuters offers this interesting piece, which suggests that athletics is "play[ing] a major role in [a London housing] project's transformation into a positive example of integration in Britain's increasingly multicultural society."

One of the organizers of weekly soccer training sessions in London notes, "We don't look at color or what culture you are. You come here under the umbrella of sport. The main aim wasn't the level of football, but it was to get kids off the street."

After the bombings of 7/7, the head of the Commission for Racial Equality, warned that Britain was "'sleepwalking our way to segregation.' He singled out sports as one way of halting this."

She will always have a special place in American history, and our nation thinks of Rosa Parks and her loved ones today.... Fifty years ago in Montgomery, Ala., this humble seamstress stood up to injustice by refusing a bus driver's order that she give up her seat for a white man. Her show of defiance was an act of personal courage that moved millions, including a young preacher named Martin Luther King. — President George W. Bush

[Selected from Yahoo!]

Rosa Parks was a woman of great courage, grace and dignity. Her refusal to be treated as a second class citizen on a Montgomery bus in 1955 struck a blow to racial segregation and sparked a movement that broke the back of Jim Crow. ... She was an inspiration to me and to all who work for the day when we will be one America. May God bless her soul and may she rest in peace. — William Jefferson Clinton

I truly believe that there's a little bit of Rosa Parks in all Americans who have the courage to say enough is enough and stand up for what they believe in. She did such a small thing, but it was so courageous for her as a humble person to do. — Rep. Charles Rangel

The nation lost a courageous woman and a true American hero. A half century ago, Rosa Parks stood up not only for herself, but for generations upon generations of Americans. Her quiet fight for equality sounded the bells of freedom for millions. — Sen. Edward Kennedy

Rosa Parks has shown the awesome power of right over might in history's long journey for peace and freedom. — Rev. Jesse Jackson

I remember her as an almost saint-like person. And I use that term with care. She was very humble, she was soft-spoken, but inside she had a determination that was quite fierce. — Rep. John Conyers

[Selected from the Associated Press]

Rosa Parks was a genuine American hero. Through her courage and by her example, she helped lay the foundation for a country that could begin to live up to its creed. Just as important, she reminded each and every one of us of our personal responsibilities to stand up for what is right and the central truth of the American experience that our greatness as a nation derives from seemingly ordinary people doing extraordinary things. We will all miss her cherished spirit but know that her legacy lives on in the heart of the nation. — Rep. Barack Obama

[Selected from WBBM-TV]

In August, we reported on a group of Sikh truck drivers in Canada who were challenging the Canadian National Railway's policy that all drivers wear hard hats, a policy which would obviously mean that the turbaned Sikh drivers would be unable to wear turbans as prescribed by their faith [see previous post].

Today's Trucking Online is now stating that the "group of about 500 Sikh truck drivers hauling in and out of CP's intermodal yards are still wearing their turbans as they negotiate a settlement."

Apparently, as part of the negotiation, the railway-employer "suggest[ed] that the truckers could remove only part of their turban, which comes in two sections. A hardhat could therefore sit properly on the 'underturban' by removing the five metre-long 'overturban.'

"The drivers, however, refused that offer."

According to lawyers specializing in employment law, if the matter is formally brought before a human rights commission or trial court, it will be a close call as to who prevails: "You would think based on history they would lean to accommodation. But the flip side of that is no commission wants to see one of these guys get hurt three months later. So they've got a very sensitive political issue to deal with."

UPDATE: In related news, a group of Canadian Sikhs, led by Avtar Singh Dhillon and Amarjit Singh Sidhu, along with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, are "fighting the government's decision to make wearing of hard hats mandatory" for longshoremen.

The Wing Luke Asian Museum in Seattle Washington opened an exhibit entitled, "Sikh Community: Over 100 Years in the Pacific Northwest," which explores the presence and contribution of Sikhs to the region, and also provides information on the fundamental basics of the religion itself.

The idea for the exhibit developed after Sikhs in the area began experiencing harassment after 9/11. According to the Seattle Times:

In the days following Sept. 11, 2001, Parminder Singh remembers how somebody yelled "Go home!" to him at a gas station, and that security guards at an airport asked him to remove his turban — something deeply offensive to his Sikh faith.

A Sikh motel owner in SeaTac was beaten with a metal cane. There were reports of Sikh cabdrivers being attacked and yelled at, of Sikh schoolchildren harassed for wearing turbans.

In response, Sikhs and others partnered to create this exhibit. The article notes the exhibit it important "not only to prevent discrimination and harassment, but also because the number of Sikhs here is growing rapidly."

For more information on the exhibit, including location and times, please click here.

Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard argument in a case brought by two Christian families who are challenging

a public school's effort to acquaint students with Islam... by having the students don Islamic dress, recite phrases from the Koran, and mimic the fasting associated with the Muslim observance of Ramadan.

According to the parents, these efforts violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. During argument, the lawyer for the families partially described what he thought was offensive of the Constitution:

during the eight-week unit on Islam, religious teachings were described as "facts" and students were instructed to wear name tags that included the religion's star-and-crescent imagery.

He also suggested that this would be an easier case had the dispute involved Christian teachings and imagery instead: "If this case dealt with the teaching of Catholicism... of course people would say you're endorsing religion...."

A federal district court threw out the suit; the families appealed. Apparently the circuit judges hearing the appeal were also skeptical of the plaintiffs' arguments. Indeed, one judge asked, "Are you saying our children should not be taught the history of all the religions of the world?"

Also, the lawyer for the school noted that none of the school officials involved in the case is Muslim: "It would just be bizarre for the school to have a secret agenda to indoctrinate students in a religion to which they did not subscribe," she said.

[Hat tip: "How Appealing."]

According to Bloomberg, "Philadelphia police officer Kenneth Wallace... is serving his second month-long suspension for refusing to shave. Wallace, a 31-year-old Muslim, has asked for an arbitration hearing to challenge the department's 1/4-inch limit on the length of beards."

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson told the Philadelphia Inquirer, "You don't wear religion on your face...You wear it in your heart and mind.''

As for Muslim women on the force, they are "still barred from wearing the scarf known as khimar or hijab." Apparently the Department "said the scarf posed a safety risk because it could be grabbed by a suspect."

THE PRESIDENT: Please be seated. Thank you. Welcome to the White House. This is the fifth year in a row that it's been my honor to host an Iftaar in the State Dining Room.

Our distinguished guests represent the millions of Muslims that we're proud to call Americans, and many Islamic nations are represented here that America is proud to call friend. We welcome the representatives from many countries with large Muslim populations. I want to thank you all for coming to celebrate an honored tradition of the Muslim faith, and wish you a, "Ramadan Mubarak."

I want to thank those in my administration who have joined us. I want to thank the Imam for joining us today, and thank you for leading us in prayer after these short remarks. I want to thank all the ambassadors from the Organization of the Islamic Conference. I welcome other members of the Diplomatic Corps. And I want to thank the Muslim -- American Muslim leaders who are with us today. Thanks for taking time out to celebrate this important dinner.

Ramadan is the holiest time of the Muslim year. According to Islamic teaching, this month commemorates the revelation of God's word to the Prophet Muhammad in the form of the Koran. For more than a billion Muslims, Ramadan is a time of heartfelt prayer and togetherness. It is a time of fasting and personal sacrifice. It's a time to give thanks for God's blessings through works of charity.

One Muslim leader said: "It's a national and Islamic obligation to assist one's neighbors when they are in need." The American people saw that spirit as we recovered from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The world sees that spirit, that compassion of Islam, through the countless acts of kindness following the recent earthquake in southeast -- in South Asia.

America is fortunate to count such good-hearted men and women among our fellow citizens. We have great respect for the commitment that all Muslims make to faith, family, and education. And Americans of many backgrounds seek to learn more about the rich tradition of Islam. To promote greater understanding between our cultures, I have encouraged American families to travel abroad, to visit with Muslim families. And I have encouraged American families to host exchange students from the Muslim world. I have asked young Americans to study the language and customs of the broader Middle East. And for the first time in our nation's history, we have added a Koran to the White House Library. (Applause.)

All of us gathered tonight share a conviction that America must remain a welcoming and tolerant land, in which our people are free to practice any faith they choose. We reject every form of ethnic and religious discrimination. As I said in my second Inaugural Address, we cannot carry the message of freedom and the baggage of bigotry at the same time.

We also share a common hope for the future -- that our children and grandchildren will grow up in a safer and more peaceful world. Delivering on that promise to future generations requires action from our generation. We must stand confidently in the cause of freedom -- including the freedom of people everywhere to practice their faith in peace. We must also firmly oppose all who commit evil in God's name. I am grateful to the Muslim nations that have joined our coalition in the war on terror -- including many nations that have been victims of terror themselves.

As we work together to defeat the terrorists, we must be very clear about the enemies we face. The killers who take the lives of innocent men, women, and children are followers of a violent ideology very different from the religion of Islam. These extremists distort the idea of jihad into a call for terrorist murder against anyone who does not share their radical vision, including Muslims from other traditions, who they regard as heretics.

Their strategy will fail. Many Muslim scholars have already publicly condemned terrorism, often citing chapter 5, verse 32 of the Koran, which states that killing an innocent human being is like killing all of humanity, and saving the life of one person is like saving all of humanity. I appreciate those of you here who have joined these scholars in rejecting violent extremists. And I believe the time has come for all responsible Islamic leaders to denounce an ideology that exploits Islam for political ends, and defiles your noble faith.

I have great confidence in the future of this nation, and in the future of the Muslim world. I have been inspired by the courage of people in Afghanistan and Iraq, where Muslims are celebrating Ramadan in two of the world's newest democracies. I believe that people of every religious and ethnic background have the right and the desire to be free. And I believe that the spread of freedom and justice and tolerance in the broader Middle East will lead to the peace that we all seek.

As we celebrate this special Iftaar, we renew the ties of friendship that bind all those who trace their faith back to God's call on Abraham. We recognize the many hopeful works we have achieved together. We look forward to learning more from each other in the years ahead.
I'm so grateful that you joined us today. I wish you a blessed Ramadan, and may God bless you all. (Applause.)

[Text of the speech is available here. Emphasis is my own.]

In April, I wrote in these pages that reliance on racial profiling as a means to identify and capture terrorists would have the unintended and counterproductive effect of compelling the terrorists to recruit those who defied the profile, thus the terrorist organizations could maintain their plans to exact horror on the United States and others despite the use of this particular security strategy.

Unsurprisingly, Reuters is now reporting on successful efforts by Al-Qaeda to recruit those who may not fit the "terrorist profile," some well-known, others not:

• Richard Reid, the convicted British "shoe bomber" who tried to set off explosives in his footwear on a 2001 transatlantic flight, was a petty criminal who first turned to Islam during a spell in prison.
  
• Christian Ganczarski, a German suspected of involvement in a 2002 bombing in Tunisia, converted at 20 before embarking on a jihadist career in which, investigators believe, he became a close associate of bin Laden's.
  
• Jamaican-born Germaine Lindsay, one of four suicide bombers who killed 52 people in London in July
  
• Briton Andrew Rowe, jailed for 15 years last month for possessing terrorist materials.
  
• Frenchman Lionel Dumont, a suspected Rowe associate and another convert, will go on trial in December accused of a series of attacks in the 1990s, including an attempt to bomb a Group of Seven summit in Lille.
  
• John Walker Lindh, dubbed "the American Taliban," was convicted and jailed in 2002 for fighting alongside the Afghan militia
  
• In Australia, British-born Muslim convert Jack Roche was jailed for nine years in 2004 for conspiring to bomb the Israeli embassy in Canberra.
  
• U.S. citizen Jose Padilla has been held for more than three years as a suspected enemy combatant in connection with an alleged "dirty bomb" plot.

The article notes:

The advantage for militant groups -- and the problem for security agencies -- is that converts can often move more freely and attract less suspicion than people of obviously Middle Eastern appearance.

"Thanks to their physical appearance they can penetrate targets in Europe much more easily without being spotted," said Roland Jacquard, head of the International Terrorism Observatory in Paris.

"Now, when you take Muslim converts whose mother and father are French, English, Spanish or Italian and who live in society normally, with society's habits, they are absolutely undetectable."

Christopher Halleron offers this candid and entertaining article on why he thinks racial profiling should be abandoned in favor of random acts of kindness towards Muslims.

Halleron admits that before 9/11, he used to look for women on the train that he would consider becoming intimate with; a shallow exercise that simply passed the time. After 9/11, he notes, this game was replaced with "Who is going to blow me up?" in which he would attempt to identify those individuals who may be dangerous: "You look at the color of their skin, the length of their beard, the bulge in their backpack and you begin to evaluate whether or not they're going to blow you up today."

Realizing the unreliability of a profile, Halleron argues, "Instead of scowling and sneering at people who I think might be considering blowing me up, I should try to be nice to them. I'll throw them a smile, offer up my seat, talk to them about the weather, treat them like human beings."

Why? "if a random act of kindness and humanity could possibly dissuade some bitter fanatic from blowing me up... then I say, give it a shot. What's the worst that could happen?"

He continues, "perhaps if we become a kinder, gentler New York Metro area... we can avoid what everyone considers to be the inevitable."

Sure, the article was part of a humor column. But, perhaps there is something to be said for demonstrating kindness and compassion rather than perpetuating the alienation and stigmatization of anyone who looks like they may blow you up.

The FBI issued its 2004 hate crimes report, which noted in part that "the hate crime program tallied 7,649 bias-motivated incidents involving 9,035 offenses directed at 9,528 victims. The offenses were committed by 7,145 known offenders."

The Anti-Defamation League's analysis of the report concludes that the FBI statistics "document[] a slight decrease in overall crime reports in 2004, but an increase in the number of reported hate crimes." Further, "the number of reported religion-based crimes increased slightly from 2003...."

Yasmin Assemi, writing for the Stockton Record (CA), notes that "Vandals this week sprayed several swastikas and racial epithets on property that includes a Sikh temple" in Lodi, California.

"The vandalism included remarks such as 'killers' and 'white power' along with other racial epithets directed at Muslims of Middle Eastern origin."

The owner of the land, Nirmal Samra, remarked that he "has never before experienced prejudice in his 30 years living in Lodi." Samra explained what has become painfully clear to many Sikhs -- that Sikhs have been mistaken for Muslims "because they wear turbans."

Assemi continued:

The fear of such misdirected hate inspired the Sikh community in 2001 to increase its participation in many community events in hopes of educating the public about the two different religions.

Hate crimes targeting American Sikhs spiked shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to a report released in July by state Attorney General Bill Lockyer.

But reported crimes against people of Middle Eastern descent dropped 35 percent in California from 2003 to 2004, according to the report, "Hate Crime in California 2004."

H.D.S. Greenway discusses Britain's experiment with multiculturalism, compared to the American experience with racial problems, and viewed in light of the terrorist bombings of July 7, 2005.

Greenway notes that Britons "used to shake their heads at America's racial problems" and ridiculed America's ''obsessive saluting of the flag and other ostentatious demonstrations of national unity." However, racial difficulties in Britain have forced Britons to reconsider the value of muticulturalism and the need to encourage a national identity.

A study, unsurprisingly, found that "that racial disturbances are more likely to happen 'in those areas where diversity really hadn't been valued and seen as a positive force. It had been allowed to degenerate into segregation and polarization.'" The chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality said children of different races are ''[s]leepwalking into segregation." Such division, the chairmain stated, provided a ''fertile breeding ground for extremists."

Accordingly, while some are still arguing that ''multiculturalism is crucial to establishing a national bargain" between the racial majority and racial minorities, others are calling for the overt patriotism that Britons once chided.

Indeed, Greenway concludes by highlighting this ironic, if not hypocritical, situation; the conservative Telegraph (UK) publication ran the following headline: ''Teach our children what it means to be British."

The Los Angeles Times contains this excellent piece on the use of educational instruction by Muslims as a means of defeating the isolation of Muslims in Europe and any unfamiliarity with Islam. The article profiles Muslim teachers who are interested in educating students not only about academic subjects, but about becoming comfortable with Muslims and Islam.

The article notes that a new breed of Muslim teachers are responding to the need for "Muslim instructors to teach Islam in public schools while being sensitive to Western culture" and the more general, if not pressing, need to "better integrate a Muslim community that has doubled since the 1980s but remains in a largely parallel [read: isolated or segregated?] universe."

Interestingly, the Muslim teachers mentioned in the article

personify the intersection of the Islamic creed and European life. They carry iPods and hang out at dance clubs. Many are more attuned to reality TV than the bloody politics of Iraq. But they also pray five times a day, wanting to be devout without being stereotyped as fanatical. Most believe they can keep their faith despite the increasingly secular atmosphere around them.

The teachers have also been forced to debate the compatibility of Islamic prinicples and Western social mores. For example,

They debate issues such as arranged marriages, permitted by Islamic custom but deplored by German society, and the merits of separate gym classes for boys and girls in elementary schools to preserve the Muslim sense of modesty.

Of course, the article also notes the problems that Muslims have been facing in Europe because of the global climate of terrorism: One man noted, "People today are too suspicious of Islam.... I came here to study. I have a beard, and they think I'm part of a sleeper terrorist cell."

Mike German, a former FBI agent, offers these thoughts on racial profiling as a means to identify terrorists in the United States:

otherwise intelligent people suggest that it's perfectly reasonable to racially profile all Asian, black and Arab Americans who might be Muslim in the hope of catching the very tiny percentage of Muslim extremists who might actually be a problem. They suggest that Muslim Americans should endure this inconvenience with the realization that the police are just trying to ensure everyone's safety. But it's not just the public humiliation that makes racial profiling wrong; it's the reinforcement of the false impression that all Muslims are potential terrorists.

Racial profiling is not just unreasonable, it's racism. And it's not just ineffective, it's counterproductive. Osama bin Laden has spent the last 15 years telling Muslims that Islam is under attack by the West: "They compromise our honor and our dignity," he said in a 1998 interview, "and dare we utter a word of protest against the injustice, we are called terrorists." Overstated to say the least, but effective nonetheless, because extremism is fueled by the perception of injustice. Racial profiling doesn't add to our arsenal -- it adds to his.

The entire article is worth reading.

The right of students to wear conspicious articles of faith in schools and of the State to regulate such clothing has been the subject of considerable discussion and controversy, particularly in France. The controversy continues -- this time in Canada.

Sara Asfour, 17, a student in Quebec, Canada, "was told to remove her hijab [a head scarf worn by Muslim women] at College Jean-Eudes...." In response, the Quebec Human Rights Commission ruled that "religious schools admitting students from more than one faith must make reasonable efforts to accommodate all their pupils' beliefs" -- irrespective of whether they are public or private institutions.

The Quebec government, however, came to the opposite conclusion, stating that it "will not force private schools to accept the hijab." Instead, according to the province's Education Department, "it's up to each institution to apply the rule as it sees fit...."

Last month, two elderly Sikhs, Mewa Singh Bains, 84, and Shingara Thandi, 76, "were beaten with baseball bats in separate attacks" in a park in Surrey, Canada. [Surrey is a suburb of Vancouver.] "Thandi, who was attacked on July 19, died in hospital on Aug. 6. Bains was beaten on July 18 and died Sept. 3."

Thandi's son "said the beating obliterated his father's face" and that "he could not recognize his dad in hospital". Thandi noted, "I had to look at the rest of his body to tell that was my dad."

The perpetrators of these crimes are two teenage boys, aged 13 and 15. To the outrage of the Sikh- and Indo-Canadian communities, they were initially charged with assault and aggravated assault -- not murder. However, the charges were later upgraded to aggravated assault and murder [see previous report here].

In a separate incident that followed the beating deaths of Bains and Thandi, "A group of Sikh-Canadian senior citizens were sprayed with fire extinguisher foam from a slow-moving minivan as they sat at a picnic table" in the same exact park [see previous report here].

The Constable has said the attacks have been "targeted" and purposeful," but has stopped short of calling them racially motivated.

An earthquake measuring 7.6 in magnitude struck South Asia, with the epicenter in Pakistan, Saturday morning, leaving at least 20,000 dead and millions homeless. [For extensive coverage of the earthquake, please visit this BBC's web page.]

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, we placed a link to the Red Cross's web site on this blog, enabling readers to donate to associated relief efforts.

We offer this post with a similar intention in mind, to urge readers to learn more about this tragedy and contribute financially to credible recovery and relief efforts. Thanks.

After the London bombings of July 7, 2005, politicians, commentators, and others have discussed the appropriate balance between multiculturalism and integration, and the propriety of immigration generally [see e.g., here, here, here, and here]. Indeed, some have argued that immigrant communities -- particularly South Asians, Muslims, and Arabs -- should further assimilate into British society (thereby sacrificing part of their ethnic identity). They argue specifically that a Muslim youth who is integrated to some acceptable degree will be less likely to become a homegrown terrorist and exact violence comparable to 9/11 or 7/7 on his British brothers and sisters.

A report released by Migration Watch UK now suggests that arranged marriages are a contributing factor to the problem of homegrown terrorism in Britain. (Yes, arranged marriages.) According to the Times of London's review of the report:

The number of British Asians bringing in spouses from the Indian subcontinent has doubled over five years.... Instead of integrating over successive generations by marrying in the UK, some Asian communities are fuelling segregation through arranged marriages to overseas partners....

To those advocating increased integration by South Asians, Muslims, and Arabs, these ghettos represent the problem: they are fertile ground for fundamentalist teachings, are where ethnic identity is reinforced, and are indications of explicit resistance to the call to adopt British culture, nationalism, and traditions.

The solution proposed by the report:

an immigration policy that discourages international arranged marriages. It suggests the introduction of a “family connection test”, similar to the system in Denmark. The test would apply where a British resident wished to marry a person from the country in which he or she (or either parent) was born. Permission to enter the UK would not be granted until the bride and groom were 24 years old, rather than the present 18.

[This entry is cross-posted on "IntentBlog"].

On September 30, 2005 ABC News/Reuters reported, "Boeing Co. apologized on Friday for a mistakenly published advertisement for its V-22 Osprey aircraft showing troops dropping onto the roof of a mosque in what appears to be a simulated battle scene. The ad, coming amid rising concern among Muslims over U.S. military action in Iraq and Afghanistan, prompted immediate complaints from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which demanded the withdrawal of the campaign. But Boeing, which created the ad with partner Bell Helicopter, said publication was a 'clerical error' by the National Journal, which ran the ad on September 24. 'We consider the ad offensive, regret its publication and apologize to those who like us are dismayed with its contents,' said Mary Foerster, vice president at Boeing's defense unit, in a statement. The ad 'did not proceed through normal channels,' Boeing said, and despite asking for it to be withdrawn and destroyed, was published in error... A spokesman for CAIR said on Friday the group welcomed the companies' swift response, but would press the issue of how such an ad came to be created."

This article cross-posted at the Pluralism Project's International Religious Diversity News.

On October 1, 2005 The Globe and Mail reported, "A group of Sikh-Canadian senior citizens were sprayed with fire extinguisher foam from a slow-moving minivan as they sat at a picnic table yesterday morning in Surrey's Bear Creek Park. It was in that same park that two elderly Sikh men were attacked with baseball bats in the summer and later died. This time, no one was seriously injured, said Surrey RCMP Constable Ali Mirza. But to a community on edge after the slayings, the spraying of a group who regularly use the park for recreation is upsetting, he said. 'People were very fearful that this had happened,' Constable Mirza said."

This article cross-posted at the Pluralism Project's International Religious Diversity News. Read more there about Hate Crimes and Violence.

On September 30, 2005 BBC News reported, "Paving slabs with swastikas scratched on them were thrown through the windows of a hall while a Hindu religious meeting was in progress. No-one was injured in the racist attack, which happened late on Wednesday evening at Carnival Hall in Council Road in Basingstoke, Hampshire. Hampshire Police has sent the two slabs for forensic analysis. Ch Insp Chris Brown said: 'Any racial or religious attacks on members of our community are treated very seriously.' He appealed for any witnesses to contact police. 'We have recently had several successful prosecutions for these kind of incidents and this shows that we will not tolerate such behaviour in the Basingstoke Area,' he added. The Swastika is an ancient Hindu symbol appropriated by the Nazis and the far right."

This article cross-posted at the Pluralism Project's International Religious Diversity News. Read more there about Hate Crimes and Violence.

Professor Jasbir Puar of Rutgers University gave an interesting lecture yesterday at Cornell University, in which she discussed her forthcoming book, Queer Biopolitics: Terror and the Ascendancy of Whiteness. Puar -- whose academic interests include ethnic studies, feminism, and sexuality -- addressed some very unique topics worthy of further examination and debate. Indeed, Puar described her book as an exploration into the “intersections of sexuality and the war on terror, specifically how some [lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgendered and questioning individuals] are complicit with nationalist, racist, and orientalist politics of the U.S.”

From the description of her lecture, I was most fascinated by her discussion of perceived racial identity and homosexual identity in the context of the post-9/11 backlash. According to the article, Puar, "said that if a guy wearing a turban is the victim of a hate crime and it also turns out he’s gay, one must analyze what identity his attackers intended to target.... [H]is Arab identity is associated with terrorists and 9/11, while harems and a mystique of hypersexuality are associated with his sexual identity." This question is important not only for identity purposes, but also for the prosecution of hate crimes.

Puar became interested in this subject matter after "notic[ing] a big vacuum around sexuality and the war on terror and around gender and the war on terror." I look forward to reading more from Puar and hope she continues to advance scholarship in this novel area.

According to one world leader, "the UK government and its people had adopted a saner view towards the Muslims in the aftermath of the 7/7 London bombings, as compared to the treatment meted out to the community in the US after the 9/11 attacks." Click here for his reasoning.