BRUSSELS,
December 30 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – In a show of
solidarity, Belgium's King Albert II will welcome on January 12 a
pro-hijab manager and his hijab-clad employee who have recently made
headlines after death threats from a fundamentalist group.
Remmery,
who runs a successful worldwide famous seafood firm based in western
Belgium, received a death threat letter after defending staff member
Naima Amzil’s write to wear hijab to work, reported Agence
France-Presse (AFP).
Albert
II “is following the case closely and is very impressed by the
manager's decision not to give in to pressure,” said the royal
palace said.
At
the end of November, a group calling itself “New Free Flanders,”
demanded that Remmery sack 31-year-old Amzil if she insists on wearing
hijab, accusing him of being “a bad Belgian who collaborates with
Muslims.”
The
group threatened Remmery and his family in case of noncompliance.
Amzil
offered to take off her hijab during working hours or resign, but a
brave Remmery shrugged off both options.
Remmery
has been backed by a growing wave of support in Belgium's northern
Flanders region, where the anti-immigrant Vlaams Belang group has
backing from about a quarter of voters, said AFP.
One
employers' group has collected 17,000 signatures in support of
Remmery.
“May
your calm resolve become symbols of tolerance in Flanders,” said the
Unizo bosses' association.
Many
emails suggested that Remmery (rik@remmery.be) be named “Manager of
the Year 2004”, reported La Libre Belgique newspaper on
Tuesday, December 28.
 |
|
Remmery
refused to sack Amzil or make her takes off hijab
|
In
2002, Remmery was awarded the top prize in the second annual Seafood
Prix d'élite new products competition at the recent European Seafood
Exposition (ESE).
The
number of Muslims in Belgium amounts to 400,000 of the country’s 10
millions, represented before the state bodies by the Islamic Executive
Council, which is officially recognized by the king and government.
There
are hundreds of mosques as well as cultural and social societies in
major Belgian cities.
Several
political activists, of Muslim origin, have managed to sit in the
Federal Parliament and provincial parliaments as well as
municipalities.
The
recent government has included the first Muslim minister, Anisa
Timsmani, of Moroccan origin, who had to resign under the pressures of
Belgian press and media.
The
issue of hijab has recently taken a central stage in several European
countries.
France
triggered a controversy by adopting a bill banning hijab and religious
insignia in public schools, a decision dismissed by the US-based Human
Rights Watch (HRW) as “discriminatory.”
Last
year, Belgium 's ministers locked
horns over following the French example by passing a
law banning hijab in state schools.
In
an effort to contain
the French hijab-ban law from extending to more European states, human
rights activists and EU parliament members championed a campaign aimed
at issuing a declaration demanding EU countries to respect the freedom
of faith and dressing, including the right to wear hijab and other
religious symbols.
Islam
sees hijab as an
obligatory code of dress, not a religious symbol
displaying one’s affiliations – unlike the symbolic Christian
crucifixes or Jewish Kappas.
