Muslim Issues

Well it's an odd title but encapsulates the subject pretty well. Over the last fortnight, two Islam-related news items have caught my eye. Here is the first:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1887967,00.html
"Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan police commissioner, last night ordered an urgent review of a policy that allows officers to refuse certain duties on moral grounds after a decision to excuse a Muslim policeman from guarding the Israeli embassy.
PC Alexander Omar Basha, who is attached to the force's Diplomatic Protection Group, objected to being posted to protect Israel's embassy in central London from possible terrorist attack because he disagreed with the country's bombing of Lebanon." (article continues)

If you are a police officer, firefighter, medical professional or other 'public servant', you MUST be a police officer etc first, and anything else second. To allow a public servant to discriminate who he will protect or aid based on his political, religious or racial affiliations is so incredibly wrong I can't even do the subject justice.

Imagine where we would be if doctors decided who to treat based on the patient's nationality. 'Sorry, you're Zimbabwean and your country has a terrible record on human rights - no antibiotics for you!'

I wonder how it will all pan out.

And the second Islamic story du jour is here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5410472.stm

"Jack Straw, the ex-foreign secretary, has angered Muslim groups by suggesting women who wear veils over their face can make community relations harder.
The Blackburn MP says the veil is a "visible statement of separation and of difference" and he asks women visiting his surgery to consider removing it. "

Apparently this came to the media's attention because a particular woman who had come into the minister's surgery wearing a veil which showed only her eyes reported being asked to open her veil so her whole face was visible.

I had a very energetic debate with virtually my entire family about this one. I think Mr Straw was out of order to ask that the veil be removed. My family argued that if a person is in this country they should follow our rules, which I completely agree with. But here's the thing - there is no explicit rule in the UK that covering one's face is impolite. It's not like refusing to shake hands or ignoring a greeting. There is no rule, implicit or expressed, that says covering your face is rude. Therefore the lady was not contravening a rule, therefore Mr Straw had no right to insist that she drop her veil.

One argument made is that it's more difficult to communicate when you can't see someone's face. I suppose that the people making that argument have great difficulty speaking on the telephone then? No. Thought not.

Mr Straw may have felt uncomfortable speaking to a veiled woman, but in the context of his surgery he is in the position of being the host and the Muslim lady was his guest. As such, it is his responsibility to ensure that SHE is comfortable, even if that results in some discomfort for him.