4/11/2009

VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH
Volume 74, April 12, 2009
St. Louis, Missouri

Editors: Mohamed & Rashida Ziauddin

In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent and the Most Merciful

Muslim Girl Gets 400 Thousand Dollars From Nevada School District in Head Scarf Bully Case


FOX NEWS, April 08, 2009


A Nevada school district agreed to pay $400,000 to a Muslim girl and her friend over allegations that other students threatened to kill her in the stairwell for wearing a religious head scarf and the staff did nothing to stop it.

The Washoe County School District in the Reno area will give Egyptian former student Jana Elhifny $350,000 and her non-Muslim friend and supporter Stephanie Hart $50,000 as part of the civil settlement.

Elhifny and her family came to Reno from Egypt in 2003, and the girl enrolled as a freshman at North Valleys High School.

She didn't finish the year after she told teachers and administrators that someone had threatened to kill her in the stairwell because of her Muslim hijab or head scarf, the district's independent attorney in the case, Robert Cox, told FOXNews.com.

Shortly afterwards, Cox said, Elhifny filed the lawsuit and returned to Egypt, where she married her fiancé.

The lawsuit, handled by U.S. District Court in Reno, alleges that Elhifny faced death threats and harassment and school administrators did nothing to stop the abuse.

...Cox said school officials couldn't confirm the stairwell death threat story.

He said the settlement was agreed upon to end lengthy and "expensive litigation." The case has been fought in the courts for the past four years, according to Cox.

Lawyers for the girls praised them for their bravery in bringing the suit in a joint press released issued by counsel for both sides.

"Ms. Elhifny and Ms. Hart had the courage to stand up for themselves and defend their right to a safe education," said Peter Obstler, a San Francisco attorney who handled the young women's lawsuits with the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada.


Hart, a non-Muslim who says she was ostracized when she befriended Elhifny at North Valleys High School and also dropped out, will receive $50,000. Cox said she was a supporter of Elhifny's rather than a victim and never complained to school officials before getting involved in the lawsuit.

The settlement was announced early Wednesday. The monetary award will be paid by the district's insurance carrier.

The district also agreed to work with lawyers on harassment and discrimination policies.

Attempts to reach Elhifny in Egypt and Hart, who now has a child and resides in California, weren't immediately successful.

Shariah court approves SMS divorce
Arab News, April 9, 2009

JEDDAH: "A Shariah court here has approved the divorce of a young Saudi woman in her 20s whose husband sent her an SMS text from Iraq saying he had divorced her.

The husband, who is in Iraq to participate in what he described as “jihad,” also telephoned two of his friends who witnessed his marriage and told them that he had divorced his wife.

The woman had approached the court and asked for an official document proving she was divorced.

A judge summoned the two witnesses who confirmed that their friend called them from Iraq and told them that he had divorced his wife. Another two relatives of the absent husband also confirmed that he had told them on telephone that he had divorced his wife.

The judge approved the divorce and told the woman that she did not have to go through the iddah (the post-divorce waiting period stipulated by the Shariah) as the marriage was not consummated".

Uncle kills eloping niece over ‘honour’
www.dailytimes.com
April 09, 2009

LAHORE: "A man allegedly killed his teenage niece on Wednesday morning over ‘honour’ in the Shahdara Police precincts. According to the locals of the area, victim Noreen of Haji Kot area was eloping with her paramour Kamran when Karamat Ali, girl’s uncle, intercepted the couple. They said Kamran fled in his rented car after seeing Karamat, who took the girl to his house and gunned her down.

They said the girl’s family tried to hide the fact to avoid legal complications and save the accused, but some neighbour called the police. However, Shahdara Police said Noreen’s father Asghar Ali had lodged a first information report (FIR) against his brother for killing his daughter. The FIR said some unidentified accused were trying to kidnap the girl, but Karamat – a drug addict – followed them, after which they left the girl. The complainant said his brother accused Noreen of going with the accused with her consent, over which he killed her. The accused is still at large. staff report

Jazakullah Khair

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