Stealth Jihad and JROTC

[SF-TX]

CAIR states they won't file a lawsuit as long as the DOD uniform policy is changed and Ms. Zawity is allowed to wear a hijab (head scarf) with the uniform.

Muslim Jr. ROTC Student Wants to Wear Head Cover With Uniform

By Perry Chiaramonte

Published October 20, 2011 | FoxNews.com

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You can wear a Muslim head scarf, and you can wear the uniform of the Junior ROTC. Just not at the same time.

That’s the word from the U.S. Army, which is supporting an officer’s ruling last month that a 14-year-old Tennessee girl could not wear her traditional head covering while in uniform at a parade.

The student, Demin Zawity, of Brentwood, Tenn., quit the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Ravenwood High School and returned to regular gym classes when commanding officers said she had to take off her hijab if she wanted to march in the homecoming parade.

"It was during Spirit Week. We were getting ready for the homecoming parade and the head officer said that I wouldn't be able to wear the head scarf while I had the uniform on," Demin said.

"I said that it was a religious thing and that I really couldn't take it off.”

Demin said she asked the officer if an exception could be made, and “ he told me that he would see what he can do."

But school officials and district lawyers determined that if Demin wanted to participate; she would have to comply with the rules.

"We as a school system are bound to the regulations of the Army. We cannot conduct the program unless we follow the regulations," said Jason Golden, Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel for the school district.

"We were practicing all week and the day before the parade he pulled me over to the side and said that I couldn't march," Demin recalled, speaking of her senior officer. "I wanted to break down and cry right there, but I held it in and went into stoic mode."

But Demin’s family feels she is being discriminated against, and has reached out to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which is calling on the school district and the Department of Defense to change a policy that it says "effectively bars a Muslim student from participating in the class."

"It's an unwise policy,” CAIR staff attorney Gadeir Abbas said. “It's acceptable for a Jewish student to wear his yarmulke under his uniform hat. The regulations already reflect that there are religious obligations among members."

"A yarmulke can be covered by military headgear," said Lt. Col. Matthew Hackathorn, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Cadet Command who further stated that regulations don't issue a ban on religious garb unless it is exposed or covers the uniform.

Demin’s mother, Perishan Hussein, said her daughter “felt that they were dismissive toward her beliefs. It was very upsetting to her.”

"It shouldn't have been a shock to them. She wears the headscarf every day. She has been wearing it ever since they approached her to join the program."

"We think that it's un-American that anyone is not allowed to participate over religious beliefs, the mother continued. "The government has previously made rules that over time, they had to change because they didn't make sense. This rule makes no sense."

She said her daughter has been "stressed" by the whole incident and now has no intention of returning to JROTC --even if she is allowed to wear the hijab.

Demin's family and CAIR say they do not intend to sue unless they deem it necessary. CAIR sent a letter last week to the superintendent of Williamson County Schools asking that a formal apology be issued to Demin and that she be allowed to participate in the JROTC program wearing her hijab as part of her uniform.

It also mailed a letter to the Department of Defense asking for a change to the policy.

"We are reviewing the program's current policies, regulations and procedures to ensure consistent application and enforcement of uniform standards," said Lt. Col. Hackathorn. He said the senior officer in charge of Demin's class acted according to the regulations.

"The JROTC tries to instill good values in the students who participate," Hackathorn said. "Wearing the uniform demonstrates personal responsibility, attention to detail, and being part of a team."

"We're not discriminatory. She's invited to come back anytime, but it has to be in accordance with the regulations," he said.

Link

[rdret1]

http://articles.cnn.com/2009-10-28/u...urban?_s=PM:US

I think the DOD would have problems with this as the precedent has been set by allowing Sikhs to wear their turbans and beards in uniform on religious grounds. They can't use the "covered by the uniform hat" defense there.

[PRB]

Originally Posted by rdret1

http://articles.cnn.com/2009-10-28/u...urban?_s=PM:US

I think the DOD would have problems with this as the precedent has been set by allowing Sikhs to wear their turbans and beards in uniform on religious grounds. They can't use the "covered by the uniform hat" defense there.

So that is policy now for the Sikhs...I remember the discussion on the thread here, once you start this crap it never ends....maybe if I was a Wican I'd want to wear a viking helmet with horns

[BrokenSwitch]

If she needs to make a fit about wearing the headgear for modesty, does that mean she's going to need a below-knees skirt for her ACUs, ASUs and APFUs? I wonder how that would impact her run time... nevermind the hazard it would be, with all the opportunities to get snagged on things.

Originally Posted by PRB

...I'd want to wear a viking helmet with horns

FWIW, I have a friend in the infantry who expressed similar sentiments for unrelated reasons.

[69harley]

Maybe instead of asking the military to change its policy, they could ask the powers to be in their religion to change their policy. Why is everyone expected to bend to islam?

[frostfire]

Originally Posted by 69harley

Why is everyone expected to bend to islam?

this bs pisses me off to no end I might be naive but while the 14-yo girl does not seem to be a jihadi, this is dhimmitude. Got to draw the line somewhere, especially in military!

FWIW, I went through officer course with a Sikhs emergency med doc. Competent, humble guy. He did the land nav at 107 degrees, gas chamber, PT, etc. in his mandatory head gear (ACU pattern). He was never a heat cat, never complained either. Maybe he knew all eyes were on him. That's it, let the girl wear the hear scarf in ACU

[1stindoor]

Originally Posted by BrokenSwitch

FWIW, I have a friend in the infantry who expressed similar sentiments for unrelated reasons.

I have pictures of an unnamed 18B wearing one while rolling through the dust in Afghanistan.

[Richard]

Pretty good FAQ RE: Sikhs, Muslims, et al...begins on p.40

AR 600-20 para. 5–6. Accommodating religious practices

http://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/pdf/r600_20.pdf

Richard

[WholeManin2010]

I'm a Rastafarian; can I get an exception to AR 670-1 so that I can let my dreadlocks grow? I am "effectively barred" from practicing my religion while wearing the uniform, and it just isn't fair. This is all about me, after all, right?

[Badger52]

Originally Posted by WholeManin2010

I'm a Rastafarian; can I get an exception to AR 670-1 so that I can let my dreadlocks grow? I am "effectively barred" from practicing my religion while wearing the uniform, and it just isn't fair. This is all about me, after all, right?

I don't think para g(4)(d) bodes well for you.

Excuse me...
I don't think para g(4)(d) bodes well for you, Mon'.

[BrokenSwitch]

Huh... I just passed the answer to my question today: Muslim chick wearing hijab and tight jeans. I need to check the Quran's stated reason for the hijab.

Originally Posted by 1stindoor

I have pictures of an unnamed 18B wearing one while rolling through the dust in Afghanistan.

That is awesome!

[DevilSide]

Originally Posted by BrokenSwitch

Huh... I just passed the answer to my question today: Muslim chick wearing hijab and tight jeans. I need to check the Quran's stated reason for the hijab.

That is awesome!

I've seen some like that, totally normal teenagers, just happened to be muslim's and wear hijabs. I'm sure you could not wear one and still be religious, or wear one when out of uniform, some people are more religious than others. That video with the Australian muslim girl was cool, she assimilated very well and wasn't blowing sh*t up, almost no difference than any other Australian female.

[RndTblKnght]

In my opinion, they should just let her wear it, and in ACU pattern like someone else in the thread mentioned. I understand following regulations and where could it go from there but she is in high school JROTC, not college ROTC getting a commission or in the Army. If they are going to enforce standards because of regulations at this level, then why not kick all of the obese kids out of the class or all of the kids whose hair isn't to Army regulations? Half of the kids in JROTC that are not planning on military and not really into the class look horrible in uniform on uniform day anyway. Plus it's in Brentwood, that's where most of Nashville's money and people worried about "image" are !! (I am from Nashville).

[Richard]

I think it's all based on the perceived 'needs' of the Army.

For example, SF often wear beards when deployed for a variety of reasons, most often in recent decades for cultural acceptance among those they're 'advising' where such practices are the norm.

Female soldiers assigned to a CST, especially when deployed to regions where it's the cultural norm to do so, can be seen wearing head scarves when performing their duties.

There were a group of Quaker-like guys drafted when I was drafted in 1970. They refused, on religious grounds, to wear any sort of uniform and insignia, or participate in any sort of combat training (bayonet, hand-to-hand, weapons). They wore their Amish looking clothing with a plain OD baseball cap and the grey-green Army raincoat over their clothing while going through the eight weeks of BCT. Whenever we did any combat-oriented training, they sat it out. At the end of BCT, they were transferred to the IRR and sent back home. There were also a couple of guys from another such group who refused to undertake any combat-oriented training but had no problems with serving and remained in the Army as medics.

I guess it's complicated - always has been.

And so it goes...

Richard

[Jefe]

"So that is policy now for the Sikhs...I remember the discussion on the thread here, once you start this crap it never ends....maybe if I was a Wican I'd want to wear a viking helmet with horns "

LOL, been there, done that! One of our call outs in Panama to basically mount up and ride around to piss off the PDF and for some reason my room mate had gotten some bull horns. I hundred mile an hour taped them to my helment and as I ran out to formation; armed to the teeth I had them on. Everyone was dyring laughing and the 1SG looked at me and I knew he was either going to kill me or laugh; or some type of combination.

He put me on the M60 in the lead vehicle (with the bullhorns!).