Muslim educator says more public education needed after assault
Posted Sep 17, 2012 09:43:57 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The principal of a Halifax Islamic school says the Muslim community needs to do more to teach the public about its faith in an effort to curb violence and distrust.
The head of the Maritime Muslim Academy says there is less violence against Muslims in urban centres where an education process has taken place.
“In metro areas, like Toronto and big cities, people got used to seeing the hijab and the turbans and all of these religious outfits. And they are okay with them because they got the information,” Dr. Hadi Salah told News 95.7.
The comments come as a Pictou County woman is being jailed for 60 days after pleading guilty to criminal harassment and assault after an attack on a Muslim woman in a Walmart. Justice Ted Scanlan’s Aug. 24 decision was published Sept. 11.
“It looks like we haven’t been doing enough explaining to people that the hijab dress is part of a religious duty for a woman,” said Salah. “It’s like a Christian when they have a cross over their chest.”
New Glasgow Crown prosecutor Bill Gorman explains Alizah Khan had been buying diapers and a baby seat on May 29, 2011, and was presenting her receipts to the store greeter when she was approached by Katherine Feltmate, 51. Khan was wearing a hijab, covering her head, at the time.
“Comments were made about ‘why are you wearing that, because it’s so hot,’ and so on. Mrs. Khan very calmly said, ‘well I don’t comment on how you’re dressed,'” Gorman told News 95.7.
Gorman said Feltmate pushed her shopping cart in Khan’s direction and used her body to back the woman against the wall. Feltmate apparently starting poking Khan in the chest with her finger while continuing to make verbally aggressive comments.
Walmart greeter Tony Jarvis was also assaulted. He was slapped in the face several times, poked in the chest and verbally assaulted. Feltmate accused Jarvis of being racist because he was assisting Khan, said Gorman.
Both women left the store and later Feltmate was charged with two counts of criminal harassment and two counts of assault against Khan and Jarvis. Gorman said there was no indication of Feltmate’s motives for the incident.
Unfortunately, Salah said this is not an isolated incident, pointing to the 2009 case of a Metro Transit bus driver who refused to let a woman ride the bus because she was wearing a scarf over her face. He said he knows of other incidents which did not draw media attention.
“We as Muslims, living in the area, we should basically reach out to brothers and sisters of other faith communities,” said Salah. “We should do more sensitivity training, interfaith dialogue and passing information in the school system, in the work place.”
Feltmate pleaded guilty to one count of criminal harassment in relation to the incident involving Khan and one count of assault in relation to the incident involving Jarvis.
