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NORWAY SCHOOL BANS STAR OF DAVID

Norway school bans Star of David; teacher may fight ban

School head bans Jewish symbol ‘for fear of provoking Muslim students’; teacher hires lawyers, vows to fight back
Ynetnews
October 8, 2005

www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3152397,00.html

A teacher working at an adult education center who has been told to stop wearing a Star of David because it “provokes the many Muslim students at the school” in 2004 is now considering legal action against the ban, the Norwegian television network NRK has reported.

School head Kjell Gislefoss, said he thought that the Star of David can be seen to represent the State of Israel and is fearful of offending the school’s Muslim students, citing immigrants from the Palestinian territories.

“The Star of David would be a symbol for one side in what is perhaps the world’s most inflamed conflict at the moment.”

“Many have a traumatic past that they have escaped and then we feel that if they are going to learn Norwegian then they can’t sit an at the same time be reminded of the things they have traveled from,” said Gislefoss.

But Telhaug has vowed to stand up for his right to wear the Star and has hired lawyers ahead of a possible legal battle.

Inge Telhaug told NRK that his right to freedom of speech was violated by the banning.

“I can’t accept this. It is a small star, 16 millimeters (0.6 inches) that I have around my neck, usually under a T-shirt. I see it as my right to wear it,” Telhaug told NRK.

Telhaug, who is not Jewish, teaches the Norwegian language and culture to new immigrants at the school.

“I see it as the oldest religious symbol we have in our culture, because without Judaism there would be no Christianity,” he said.

The decision to ban the Jewish symbol from the school was slammed as “unacceptable” by head of local Education Association, Heidi Hauge Uldal.

Norway’s education minister, Kristin Clemet, said last year that she had no intention of banning the wearing of hijabs in Norwegian public schools.

“It is typically Norwegian clothing that has caused more problems in Norwegian schools,” she said.

 

NORWEGIAN CLAIMS SHE INFILTRATED MOSSAD

Norwegian Says She Infiltrated Mossad
By Doug Mellgren
The Associated Press
October 6, 2005

In a rare public claim, a leading Norwegian pro-Palestinian activist said Thursday she infiltrated the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad as a double agent in the 1980s.

Karin Linstad was a founding member of the Norwegian Palestine Committee and is married to a high-profile Norwegian Muslim, Trond Ali Linstad, who converted to Islam in the 1980s.

“I can’t go into detail about the people and the organizations,” she told The Associated Press. “My starting point and my loyalty has always been with the Palestinian side.”

Norway, the home of the Nobel Peace Prize, has been a key player in seeking Middle East peace, especially in secretly brokering the now-tattered 1993 Oslo Agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Linstad said she decided to reveal her former role because she is being identified as an agent in the Norwegian book “War and Diplomacy” being published next week.

According to the Norwegian media, the book by state television NRK Middle East correspondent Odd Karsten Tveit identifies Linstad as a former Mossad agent but does not address any role as a double agent.

Both the Israeli prime minister’s office and the Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the matter. The prime minister’s office said Mossad does not respond to reports in the media.

Linstad’s husband of 32 years said he had been unaware of his wife’s activities, but her being an agent could explain some past incidents.

“Karin came to me once and asked if someone came to her and asked her to be part of the underground intelligence, what should she do,” he told the AP by telephone. “I said if we can serve the Palestinian cause, it’s right.”

Linstad refused to give any details of her work for Mossad or as a pro-Palestinian double agent, and she would not say how long it lasted. Nor would she confirm that she worked for the Palestinians, saying only “there are others who also sympathize with the Palestinians.”

The Oslo newspaper Aftenposten said Mossad had been skeptical of Linstad’s offer to act as an agent but was drawn in by her claims of tight contact with leading Palestinians.

The newspaper, without citing sources, said she provided information about Palestinians in Beirut, Lebanon, ahead of Israel’s 1982 invasion.

Eldbjoerg Holte, who helped found the Norwegian Palestine Committee with the Linstads, said she was shocked by the revelation.

“Giving information about Palestinians, or me and my comrades in the Palestine Committee ... is rotten regardless of the motive,” she was quoted as telling the Norwegian news agency NTB.

 

DUTCH LOOK INTO BANNING ISLAMIC NIQAB

Holland looks into Banning Islamic Niqab
Asharq Al-Awsat
October 11, 2005

Brussels, Asharq Al-Awsat- Dutch Immigration and Integration Minister Rita Verdonk is to investigate the possibility of banning the wearing of the niqab which covers the body of the Muslim woman entirely and only shows her eyes.

She made the announcement during a session of the Dutch parliament, in answer to a question from right-wing independent MP Geert Wilders, but indicated the ban would not take effect immediately. Instead, it would come to effect after a law is passed forbidding women to wear the niqab, during certain times and in specific locations, after consulting the authorities, including the security services.

According to Wilders, those who wear the niqab are difficult to identify and be seen by those around them. He demanded the veil be outlawed in public spaces and government buildings.

An estimated million strong Muslim immigrants live in the Netherlands, the majority from Morocco and Turkey.

In the past, Wilders had made a number of requests in parliament, which caused great concern with the Muslim community in the Netherlands. In the wake of the murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh by an Islamic extremist of Moroccan origin, he pleaded for a number of mosques to be shut down and imams extradited.

In neighboring Belgium, a number of local councils have started to fine women who wear the niqab in public. With the federal government not interfering with local decisions, provinces are fee to act as it they fit and respond to local concerns.