Executive Director: Alia Hogben

CCMW - November 2013
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November 2013
CCMW has had another busy month: tackling the Quebec Charter of Values,
supporting campaigns to end violence against women, providing events for its
members through the local chapters, organizing Train the Trainer Violence
Against Women toolkit training sessions for 2014, completing projects such as
Muslim and the Niqab.
Hope our members enjoy the November newsletter and to read more about
the articles here, please click on the links or visit our website: www.ccmw.com.
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Executive Director: Alia Hogben
November 9 2013
CCMW IN THE
NEWS
My column last month was on the projects
CCMW is doing on violence against women
and girls, to improve our lives as Canadian
Muslims.
However, the news from other parts of the world
regarding the treatment of Muslim women and girls
leaves us broken-hearted. On what grounds are girl
Opinion: Bus ads
children considered marriageable at the age of 11
years? Why is it alright to trade your daughters to
another tribe as part of war negotiations?
target and isolate
Muslims
Many, including Muslims, question whether it is
religion, including Islam, or is it culture, which
condones violence against women. We believe that
Islam does NOT permit violence, then why is there
acceptance of it and why is the religion itself used to
justify it?
We write this letter to
provide some context
and background
surrounding the
“honour killing” ad
campaign on
Edmonton Transit
buses sponsored by
the America Freedom
Defense Initiative
(AFDI).
Read more.
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CCMW CHAPTERS
Authors: Amarjeet
Sohi and Erum Afsar
These ads ran on
buses in late October
and had the slogan
“Muslim Girls Honor
Killed by Their
Families” and included
the text: “Is your family
threatening you? Is
there a fatwa on your
head?”
Read more.
Feminists pen open
letter against charter
Montreal Chapter
Last Will and Mandate
On November 16, 2013, Notary Dalia Chalati spoke
to the Montreal chapter about wills and mandates.
It is important that Muslim women educate and
Author: Peggy Curan
A delegation of 70
feminists — priests
and rabbis, people of
faith and nonbelievers — sent an
open letter to Premier
Pauline Marois
Thursday,
support each other and continue to build a
resourceful community.
Montreal Chapter
Concerned as Eid-al-Adha approaches
Author: Samaa Elibyari (Member)
In the coming days, Quebec Muslims will
celebrate Eid- al-Adha, a joyous occasion for
gathering with family and friends around a great
feast, the main dish being traditionally meat,
naturally halal. However in the context of the
debate about the Charter of Quebec values, a
palpable uneasiness has spread among the
community.
Eid-al-Adha is among the rituals of the annual
Islamic pilgrimage (Hajj) to Mecca, where the
Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim in Arabic). lived with
his family.. For this reason, other names for
Eid refer to this period such as Hajji Peru Nal in
Tamil. The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam.
Last year the Saudi authorities have estimated
the number of pilgrims to nearly 2.5 million of
189 nationalities. Read more.
condemning the
proposed charter of
Quebec values as an
attack on rights
women so fought hard
to get.
Shaheen Ashraf of the
Canadian Council of
Muslim Women, rabbi
Lisa Grushcow and
ministers Ros
MacGregor and Rev.
Gwenda Wells worked
with her to refine the
letter together, with
translation by
Geneviève Demers.
Read more.
Canadian
News
Saadia Ashraf brings
about football
renaissance to
hockey-mad haven
of Montreal
Author: Fourth and
Feminine
Born in 1975, Ashraf
began competing on
the gridiron at 18
years of age. With
more than half of her
life devoted to the
game of football, her
rise to the Blitz was a
gradual one. Like
many other players,
the beginning was
defined by stints in
touch and flag football.
The Montreal
Warriors, another
team she founded, still
exists today. In
addition, Ashraf is also
dedicated to provide
quality coaching to
girls at the high school
level. Employed as a
school teacher, her
patience and
leadership skills make
her an ideal coach.
Ottawa Chapter
Read more about
Saadia Ashraf.
Ganga Jamuni SIlver and Gold - A Forgotten
Culture
This book by Naz Ikramullah, Ottawa member, is
a beautiful showpiece of the revival of this
forgotten Ganga-Jamuni 'tehzeeb'.
The book portrays a vivid, lively and elaborate
picture of how the two cultures, Muslim and
Hindu, everything that defined them - their
religious beliefs, thought, literature,music, art,
architecture, traditions, costumes and
ornaments, food preference, common courtesies
- almost every aspect of life, dissolved to create
a new face.
Making their voices
heard loud and clear
Author: Anthony
Abbondanza
Chants of “charter of
oppression” were
heard loud and clear
as nearly 250 people
of various ethnicities
and backgrounds
braved rain and windy
conditions to march
through the streets of
Montreal last Sunday
in protest of Bill 60,
also known as the
Charter of Quebec
Values. Read more.
Edmonton police set
to unveil official
hijab that Muslim
officers can wear on
duty
Author: Joseph Brean
Toronto Chapter
New Website
The Toronto chapter has launched its new
website: ccmwtoronto.weebly.com. The website
is now online and available to the general public.
The Edmonton Police
Service is to reveal a
prototype official hijab
for its officers this
week, following testing
to ensure its safety. It
is understood the
Muslim headscarf
would be black, and
designed to be worn
underneath the
standard police cap.
Quebec’s latest niqab
panic disturbing, and
politicians are fuelling
it. Read more.
Winnipeg’s Muslim
community donates
meat to Attawapiskat
Toronto Chapter
Wrapped in Courage Campaign
November 25th 2013 marked the International
Elimination of Violence against Women. The
Toronto Chapter attended this event at Queen's
Park to support to Wrapped in Courage
Campaign. There were several speeches given
by elected representatives and members from
Author: CBC News
Over 1,800 kilograms
of meat will soon be
on its way to an
impoverished Ontario
reserve, after
Winnipeg’s Muslim
community donated a
massive amount of
food and boxes of
supplies
toAttawapiskat First
different shelters across Ontario. These
speeches were inspiring and really spoke to the
meaning and importance of the International
Day of Elimination of Violence Against Women.
Nation as part of their
annual Eid-alAdha celebration.
“Each year, I try to
raise the bar a little
bit,” said Hussain
Guisti of the Zubaidah
Tallab Foundation.
Guisti gathers food
and goods from the
local Muslim
community and sends
them off to those in
need. Read more.
Toronto Chapter
Muslims for White Ribbon Campaign
Muslims for White Ribbon Campaign is a part of
the White Ribbon Campaign, which is the
world's largest movement to end violence
against women and girls, promote healthy
relationships and support gender equality.
The CCMW National supported Muslims for
White Ribbon Campaign. The Toronto chapter
created a cover photo "Why White?" to be
shared amongst all of CCMW members to
change their cover photos to champaign against
violence towards women.
COMMUNITY NEWS
The new Islam
comes with a
reluctance to label
orthodoxy
Author: Dakshana
Bascaramurty
Aisha Raja is rarely
hassled on the
University of Toronto’s
downtown campus or
at home in diverse
Markham, Ont. It’s the
space in-between –
she takes a subway,
light rail, and bus to
and from school – that
is troublesome. When
she commutes, she’s
not a political science
student, a campus
activist or a tea store
employee. She is
reduced to a young
woman in a hijab.
“I’ve had random
people yell really rude
things sometimes, like,
‘Oh, you bloody
Muslims!’ and you
obviously can’t
engage with those
kind of people in that
time,” said Ms. Raja,
the 20-year-old
daughter of Pakistani
immigrants.
Read more.
Call for Bosnian Speakers in London,
Ontario
MCIS s a non-profit organization that helps
provide interpreters to various government and
community service offices. They are looking for
individuals in London, ON who can provide
interpretation in the following language:
Bosnian/English.
The following is a summary of the requirements
to work with MCIS as a freelance interpreter:
Proof of linguistic proficiency for
interpreters:
A recognized bilingual assessment
showing you meet the minimum
performance standards while completing
aConsecutive Interpretation Task & a
Facebook
Twitter
Website
Email
Instagram
LinkedIn
Google Plus
Sight Translation Task.
Proof of technical competence:
Successful completion of interpreter
training from a recognized Canadian
institution.
If you meet the above criteria, please make sure
to attach any supporting documentation when
you reply to this message (accreditations,
certifications or diplomas in language
interpretation).
If you have not been trained or tested, or if you
cannot provide the required documentation,
MCIS can offer you training and testing so you
can become an accredited interpreter. If
interested, please contact
Rana Alumari in Toronto on 416 426 7014 ext.
731 or email rana@mcis.on.ca
Donation Appeal from Hoshyar Foundation
Hoshyar Foundation is a secular, non-profit,
U.S.-based organization whose purpose is to
raise and distribute funds in support of human
empowerment through female education.
Hoshyar’s principal mandate is to increase girls'
and women's access to education at all levels,
especially the secondary school level. We work
primarily in Pakistan but anticipate working in
other underserved areas of South Asia as well.
Please watch their video to learn more about
how to contribute to the cause.
Copyright © 2013 Canadian Council of Muslim Women, All rights reserved.
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