20 December 2008
Muslim-American files suit against Mich. Wal-Mart Ex-employee says civil rights were violated
DEARBORN - An Arab- and Muslim-American man filed a $12 million lawsuit Thursday against a Wal-Mart store that caters to his community - saying employees discriminated against him and fired him because of his background.
Louay Kezy, 43, of Dearborn filed the suit in Wayne County Circuit Court. He accuses Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart and three employees at its Dearborn store of violating his civil rights through threats, harassment and dismissal after complaining about the employees' conduct.
Wal-Mart spokesman Greg Rossiter said he had not seen the lawsuit and could only confirm that Kezy had been terminated. But Rossiter stressed Wal-Mart has a strict policy prohibiting discrimination in any form.
"The Dearborn store has gone to great lengths to serve the community there," he said.
The store opened in March with the area's large Arab and Muslim population in mind. It opened with 35 Arabic-speaking employees - noted in Arabic script on their badges - and hired a local Arab-American educator to teach the staff cultural sensitivity.
Kezy, who worked at the store from March to August, said he was the only Arab or Muslim to work in the stock room, where he said he endured jokes about terrorists and was threatened by another employee. The lawsuit says his hours were reduced and he was denied mandated break time.
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07:17 Posted in UNITED STATES | Permalink | Comments (1) | 
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The debate over the trajectory of the western sociopolitical system and its strained relations with Islam is the most pivotal of our time. Muslims are in one of the most difficult phases of their history when malicious attacks including allegation of terrorism are being made on Islam and Muslims all over the world. The malicious campaign against Muslims is politically motivated. The world is obsessed by Islam. Anti-terror measures are ruining lives of Muslim youths. If you go around arresting young Muslims, you are going to find that you are going to ostracise this community. Young Muslims don’t need to be ostracized, they need to be engaged. According to the Arch Bishop, Rowan Williams, acceptance of some facets of Sharia not only “seems unavoidable”, but could actually improve social cohesion. Muslims should be able to choose to have marital or financial matters dealt with in a Sharia Court. Such courts should therefore be incorporated into the British legal system as a constructive accommodation with Islam. Schools are being asked to help “win hearts and minds” in the battle against violent extremists on both sides. British born Imams should go into schools to supplement the teaching of RE, PSHE and Citizenship so that all pupils can learn about the Holy Quran and Islam in the context of a multicultural society. OFSTED must make sure that their services should be fully utilised by the schools, otherwise, it will be waste of public money.
The British Establishment is wrong to assert that Imams and Masajid have been radicalising Muslim youths. The roots of extremism are in the British society and schools where institutional racism is at its peak. The racism within schools has got little media coverage. The school attended by 7/7 bombers in a part of Leeds known for its history of racial tension between British Asians and native Brits. Leeds council was so worried about the violence that it had to call in Foundation for Peace, a government funded peacekeepers who were used to keep Catholics and Protestants from killing one another in Northern Ireland. True message of Islam should be promoted because British media and society have always portrayed Islam in a negative way since Crusades and the siege of Vienna in 1683. School Curriculum should be used to convey a deeper understanding of Islamic faith, history and culture. Prison is not the answer of those who are vulnerable to, or are being drawn into violent extremism unless they have clearly committed an offence.
The greatest challenge to humanity is learning to live in a crowded and interconnected world that is creating unprecedented pressures on human society. The rector of Oxford’s largest Anglican Churches has called a Muslim call to prayers from the main Masjid “un-English”. This is a clear case of intolerance. Gibraltar is a British colony. Five Pound currency note has a queen image on one side and on the other side there is an image of the Muslim Conqueror with a sword in his hand. There is more hatred of Muslims seduced by the Western media, education system and church leaders like Bishop Nazir Ali. Catholic nuns have worn veils for centuries, with no public controversies arising. There is no reason why any girl’s school uniform can not now be modified to include a veil. Wearing a veil to school or to work must be a matter of choice for all.
Iftikhar Ahmad
www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk
Posted by: Iftikhar | 22 December 2008
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