Professional Soldiers ® - Swimmers are told to wear burkinis

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Swimmers are told to wear burkinis

Bye bye Britain?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...-burkinis.html

Under the rules, swimmers – including non-Muslims – are barred from entering the pool in normal swimming attire.

Instead they are told that they must comply with the "modest" code of dress required by Islamic custom, with women covered from the neck to the ankles and men, who swim separately, covered from the navel to the knees.

The phenomenon runs counter to developments in France, where last week a woman was evicted from a public pool for wearing a burkini – the headscarf, tunic and trouser outfit which allows Muslim women to preserve their modesty in the water.

The 35-year-old, named only as Carole, is threatening legal action after she was told by pool officials in Emerainville, east of Paris, that she could not wear the outfit on hygiene grounds.

But across the UK municipal pools are holding swimming sessions specifically aimed at Muslims, in some case imposing strict dress codes.

Croydon council in south London runs separate one-and-a half-hour swimming sessions for Muslim men and women every Saturday and Sunday at Thornton Heath Leisure Centre.

Swimmers were told last week on the centre's website that "during special Muslim sessions male costumes must cover the body from the navel to the knee and females must be covered from the neck to the ankles and wrists".

There are similar rules at Scunthorpe Leisure Centre, in North Lincolnshire, where "users must follow the required dress code for this session (T-shirts and shorts/leggings that cover below the knee)".

In Glasgow, a men-only swimming session is organised by a local mosque group at North Woodside Leisure Centre, at which swimmers must be covered from navel to knee.

At a women-only class organised by a Muslim teacher at Blackbird Leys Swimming Pool, Oxford, to encourage Muslim women to learn to swim, most participants wear "modest" outfits although normal costumes are permitted.

The dress codes have provoked an angry reaction among critics who say they encourage division and resentment between Muslims and non-Muslims, putting strain on social cohesion.

Ian Cawsey, the Labour MP for the North Lincolnshire constituency of Brigg and Goole, said: "Of course swimming pools have basic codes of dress but it should not go beyond that.

"I don't think that in a local authority pool I should have to wear a particular type of clothes for the benefit of someone else. That's not integration or cohesion."

Labour MP Anne Cryer, whose Keighley, West Yorkshire constituency has a large number of Muslims, said: "Unfortunately this kind of thing has a negative impact on community relations.

"It's seen as yet another demand for special treatment. I can't see why special clothing is needed for what is a single-sex session."

Muslim swimming sessions are also held at a number of state schools around the country. At Loxford School in Ilford, east London, a local Muslim group organises weekly sessions for Muslim men, with the warning that "it is compulsory for the body to be covered between the navel and the knees.

"Anyone not adhering to the dress code or rules within the pool will not be allowed to swim".

The practice of holding special Muslim swimming sessions has led to non-Muslims being turned away.

David Toube, 39 and his five year old son Harry were last year refused entry to Clissold Leisure Centre, in Hackney, east London, after being told the Sunday morning swimming session was for Muslim men only.

Council officials later said staff had made a mistake and both Mr Toube, a corporate lawyer, and his son should have been admitted.

After discovering the rules at Thornton Heath one Croydon resident, 34-year-old Alex Craig, said: "I think it is preposterous that a council should be encouraging this type of segregation over municipal facilities.

*more at link

This story is dated the 15th and the "Its overturned" story has been published.

I didn't note the second link at the time because the original story had not been posted here.

The background is that pools are establishing Muslim only time periods. If you want to swim during that time period you must comply with the "Burkini rules" and female only and male only swimming areas.

The headline leads one to believe "Everywhere, all the time."

Italian city bars Muslim 'burqini' swimsuit

A different approach to the burqini.

Source is here.

Quote:

Italian city bars Muslim 'burqini' swimsuit
Aug 19 12:27 PM US/Eastern

The anti-immigration mayor of a northern Italian city has barred Muslim women from wearing the controversial body-concealing swimsuit known as a burqini, a report said Wednesday.

Women wearing the garment made up of a veil, a tunic and loose leggings face a fine of 500 euros (700 dollars) if spotted at swimming pools or riversides in the northern Piedmont town of Varallo Sesia, the ANSA news agency reported.

"The sight of a 'masked woman' could disturb small children, not to mention problems of hygiene," mayor Gianluca Buonanno was quoted as saying.

"We don't have to be tolerant all the time," he said.

Justifying the move, Buonanno added: "Imagine a Western woman bathing in a bikini in a Muslim country. The consequences could be decapitation, prison or deportation. We are merely prohibiting the use of the burqini."

Last week a swimming pool in Paris refused entry to a burqini-clad Muslim on similar grounds, adding to tensions over Muslim dress in France.

The incident came as French lawmakers conducted hearings on whether to ban the burqa after President Nicolas Sarkozy said the head-to-toe body covering and veil was "not welcome" in France, home to Europe's biggest Muslim minority.

Buonanno belongs to Italy's Northern League, a party allied with the centre-right People of Freedom led by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

It has backed several initiatives hostile to Muslims.

But before one applauds or condemns Buonanno's decision, one might wonder about his motives. Source is here.

Quote:

August 6, 2009
Italy Is a ‘Mad House’ for Lottery
By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO

ROME — Neophytes do it. Financially pinched town councils do it. Even people who usually shun gambling as a cunning ruse for the state to raise taxes do it.

With a record €119 million jackpot at stake in Italy’s state lottery, millions have been gripped by lotto fever.

“It’s become a bit of a mad house,” said Paolo Valli, owner of the neighborhood Bar del Pino in southern Rome, where the number of wagers has tripled in the past month for the SuperEnalotto, which has not registered a winning six-number combination since January.

Although the Italian capital is emptying out, as it does every summer, draw days — Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays — have been attracting small crowds to Mr. Valli’s bar. “People complain that the jackpot is too high, and that people are spending too much, but then they come in and play,” he said with a shrug.

The economic crisis and growing unemployment seem only to have fueled dreams of instant wealth. “It’s been shown statistically that numbers of bettors increase in times of economic downturn,” said Silvana Mazzocchi, who has written two books on gambling and its addictions.

Last week, the national statistics agency for Italy, Istat, revealed that almost three million Italians — just under five percent of the population — were in absolute poverty in 2008, surviving below acceptable levels.

In an unrelated report a few days earlier, the Censis social studies institute estimated that in June, Italians were spending an average of €7.8 million a day on SuperEnalotto tickets.

“I’d ban all forms of gambling, it is just another way for the state to levy taxes,” said Lucio Orlanno, an insurer who had just bought several lottery tickets at the Bar del Pino. (He won €14 on Tuesday for guessing three numbers in the lottery and said he was feeling lucky.) “I usually don’t play, only when the prize is so high, that’s when I too get the fever.”

The betting boom has raised concerns among psychiatrists and officials of the ever-present Roman Catholic church who warn that the quick-fix hope raised by gambling can lead to long-term woe.

Father Alberto D’Urso, founder of the National Anti-Usury Consultative Board, said that gambling was one of the principal motives of debt, which in turn fueled usury. “We can’t ignore the fact that thousands of people find themselves in trouble,” he said. “When gambling becomes pathological it’s not a game anymore.”

“Gambling takes advantage of weak people,” added Rolando De Luca, a psychotherapist specialized in gambling addiction.

He strongly criticized the state, which gets a percentage of gambling profits, equating state-sponsored gambling games with “cocaine addiction centers run by the Medellín cartel.” Money made from gambling, he added, brought little to the economy. “You aren’t spreading your wealth around or boosting employment if you’re just buying lottery tickets,” he said.

According to news reports, some strapped town councils are even looking to Lady Luck. Earlier this week, the small Sicilian town of Ficarra, diverted money from council salaries to bet on numbers associated with the local patron saint, the Virgin of the Assumption, the news agency ANSA reported.

In Varallo, a town of 7,500 in Piedmont, the mayor convinced his five-person cabinet to cough up cash and buy a €100 ticket, which allows for several combinations of numbers. “We want to abolish taxes, pay off mortgages and, why not, bring a little happiness,” Gianluca Buonanno, the mayor, said during an interview by telephone. He said they would continue to play until the six-number combination was drawn, hopefully with his winning numbers. “We could buy some top soccer players,” like David Beckham and Alessandro del Piero, he mused. “That would put our town on the map.”

Ah, humanism.

This issue has been going on for a number of years and came to the forefront in the news - IIRC - in Germany several years ago when a school required its students - including a number of Muslim students - to take swimming as a part of their PE curriculum. They worked out a similar compromise and I don't recall hearing any more about it.

MOO - but I see no difference in setting specific pool use hours for Muslims to swim IAW their personal codes just as pools now typically set aside specific hours which only allow for recreational swimming, swim team swimming, various mixed or uni-sex exercise classes, seniors swimming, women only swimming, etc. :confused:

The pools around here all have such specified hours - it's wise to check and be sure you can do what you'd like before you go there and find out it's not available.

And so it goes...;)

Richard's $.02 :munchin

Been there, done that

"......Justifying the move, Buonanno added: "Imagine a Western woman bathing in a bikini in a Muslim country. The consequences could be decapitation, prison or deportation. We are merely prohibiting the use of the burqini."......."

While working in the KMOD compound in Kuwait we were staying at the Sports Center - which had a pool - right next to the buiding and the prayer room with full glass windows overlooking the pool.

The Air Force, staying out at the Airport, found out about the pool and one day without asking or telling anybody ran over a bus load of swimmers that included some females with very small swim suits. They unloaded right at prayer time.:eek:

The Company Commander drank a lot of tea the next few days.

Quote:

While working in the KMOD compound in Kuwait we were staying at the Sports Center - which had a pool - right next to the buiding and the prayer room with full glass windows overlooking the pool.

The Air Force, staying out at the Airport, found out about the pool and one day without asking or telling anybody ran over a bus load of swimmers that included some females with very small swim suits. They unloaded right at prayer time.

Sounds as if their prayers had been answered. :p :D

Richard's $.02 :munchin

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard (Post 279665)

MOO - but I see no difference in setting specific pool use hours for Muslims to swim IAW their personal codes just as pools now typically set aside specific hours which only allow for recreational swimming, swim team swimming, various mixed or uni-sex exercise classes, seniors swimming, women only swimming, etc. :confused:
Richard's $.02 :munchin

Richard Sir,

I believe that any religion punishing its members for acts as simple as "swimming" together, should be taken with a grian of salt.

These personal codes only seek to ostrasize the women, and men, IMHO.:confused:

Holly

It's all a matter of personal choice on their part - certainly not what I would choose.

And so it goes...;)

Richard's $.02 :munchin

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard (Post 279665)

Richard, I see your point. However, whereas the groups of swimmers listed above are not designed for a specific religious group, this does appear to be designed for a religious group. True, it could be argued it is for everyone wearing a long bathing suit, and therefore wouldn't be explicitly designed for a religious group, but where do you draw the line? When does it become inappropriate to only allow subsets of the population to use an organization's facilities?

A pool is open for so many hours a day, and by creating these group only times, it reduces access to the rest of members and is therefore inefficient.

Stu

Quote:

A pool is open for so many hours a day, and by creating these group only times, it reduces access to the rest of members and is inefficient.

Go check the schedule for any 'community' pool use - at the Y, on post, local community centers, public school natatoriums - they all have restricted swim and open swim hours. It is what it is.

And so it goes...;)

Richard's $.02 :munchin