Fight Erupts Over Head Scarves at Playland Park in Rye

[NoGOPZone]

Source: New York Times

A scuffle broke out at an amusement park in Westchester County on Tuesday when a group of Muslims there to celebrate the end of Ramadan were told that women could not wear their head coverings on certain rides, park officials and witnesses said. Fifteen people were arrested.

The Muslim American Society of New York had arranged the trip to Playland Park in Rye, which was expected to bring some 3,000 people to the site from New York City, as well as surrounding suburbs like Yonkers and parts of Long Island.

About 2:30 p.m., the day took a sour turn when some of the female Muslim visitors, most of whom arrived in head scarves, were told they could not get on certain rides — including the Catch-a-Wave ride, the Crazy Mouse roller coaster and the Dragon Coaster — because their heads were covered by the Muslim hijab.

Ola Salem, 17, of Coney Island, Brooklyn, was visiting with the group to celebrate the Muslim holiday of Id al-Fitr, or the end of the holy month of Ramadan, and wearing a pink and gray head scarf. She said she asked a park employee if she could join her 8-year-old sister on a ride.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/31/nyregion/fight-erupts-over-head-scarves-at-playland-park-in-rye.html?src=mv&ref=nyregion

[ProgressiveProfessor]

1. From mulitple sources on some rides any headgear is banned

regardless of gender or religion for safety.

Some people think that the sharia trumps physics

[aquart]

16. How about wigs on orthodox Jewish women?

[leftynyc]

20. Do you consider

wigs to be "headgear"? How would the workers even know it was a wig? Tug all women's hair and see if it comes off?

[JDPriestly]

22. Could they get caught in equipment? Could they strangle someone?

[emilyg]

27. Thank you. This is

not what DU wants to hear.

[Botany]

2. This has nothing to do w/ Islam but safety .....

.... a scarf could get caught in some part of a ride and hurt and or kill somebody. I have a friend who used to go to
factories all the time for his job and he only wore clip on ties because of the safety factor.

[auntAgonist]

3. from the article

"County officials say that the ban on headgear for some rides is a longstanding safety policy and that the organizers had been warned about it. “We told them several times we have what we call a headgear policy, meaning there are certain rides where you can’t wear headgear of any sorts,” Mr. Tartaglia said. He said he was not aware of specific instances where headscarves had caused injuries.

“Something flying off your head could land on the track” and require a ride to be stopped, he said. He added, “If you have a scarf on, you could be choked.”

Sharif Aly, vice president of the Muslim American Society of New York, said that the organization planned to investigate what happened before drawing any conclusions."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/31/nyregion/fight-erupts-over-head-scarves-at-playland-park-in-rye.html?src=mv&ref=nyregion


This doesn't sound unreasonable at all.

aA

[bigworld]

4. This doesn;t appear to be an anti-Muslim policy

But the park visitors sound like they want to make it into one. And what's up with the group fighting and the 15 arrests? Guess teenagers of all backgrounds can be idiots sometimes.

[Chimichurri]

5. If those are the rules, they could have simply not gotten on the rides. I hope

this doesn't turn into a religious persecution story because I'm not buying it in this instance.

[No Elephants]

21. Are you buying that the Muslims started fighting among themselves when told

women with scarves could not board the rides and that's the only reason the Park rangers got physically involved?

[elleng]

6. Sad communications failed,

'County officials say that the ban on headgear for some rides is a longstanding safety policy and that the organizers had been warned about it. “We told them several times we have what we call a headgear policy, meaning there are certain rides where you can’t wear headgear of any sorts,” Mr. Tartaglia said. He said he was not aware of specific instances where headscarves had caused injuries.'

[izquierdista]

7. Isadora Duncan

From the Wikipedia entry

Isadora Duncan (May 27, 1877 — September 14, 1927) was a dancer, considered by many to be the creator of modern dance. Born in the United States, she lived in Western Europe and the Soviet Union from the age of 22 until her death at age 50. In the United States she was popular only in New York, and only later in her life. She performed to acclaim throughout Europe.

Duncan's fondness for flowing scarves was the cause of her death in an automobile accident in Nice, France when she was passenger in a Bugatti, and her silk scarf, draped around her neck, became entangled around the open-spoked wheels and rear axle, breaking her neck.

Which is why rules are made.

[FSogol]

11. You beat me to it. n/t

[Hassin Bin Sober]

25. I still, to this day, shudder when I think what ALMOST happened to my sister when we were kids...

We were ridding in my dad's car with my sister in the front passenger seat. My sister had one of those extra long knit scarves kids/teens used to wear in the 80s. (Dr. Who influenced?)

Anyway, we were crossing over a railroad track when all of the sudden we all heard a loud "ZIIIIPPPP" - instantly, my sister's scarf was gone. My dad pulled over and got out to find the scarf stretched out about 20 feet across the railroad crossing. It was a 5 or 6 foot scarf to begin with. The scarf had hooked a spike and was pulled through the bottom of the door. Apparently she had closed the door and left a length of scarf hanging out of the car.

Had that scarf been rapped around my sister's neck, rather than loosely draped over her shoulders, she would be dead.


Also, I remember reading of a girl with long hair getting her scalp ripped off on a Farris Wheel ride.

[slackmaster]

8. I thought whiners were not allowed into Playland

Am I wrong?

[SnakeEyes]

9. Reports say

they were told of this rule prior to the gathering at the park but apparently not all were informed. It's for safety.

[kestrel91316]

10. Safety trumps religion. Deal with it, fundies.

[rocktivity]

12. I've seen signs on rides warning away people with certain medical conditions!

Are they kidding???

:crazy:
rocktivity

[KamaAina]

23. And people below a certain height

remember, there are adults of short staure, too.

[alp227]

17. +1, not everything comes with religious exemptions n/t

[backscatter712]

13. The cops certainly could have handled it better.

Sounds to me like they were looking for an excuse to beat down brown people.

[ChandlerJr]

15. Of course, nail meet head

More cops acting stupidly. I'll bet a bunch of Swedish nuns wouldn't have been subjected to this harassment. It's a cultural preference, deal with it.

[MellowDem]

30. Sounds to me like a baseless accusation...

Why think when you can cry racism?

[totodeinhere]

32. There is no basis whatsoever for your saying that. And how do you know it was brown people?

Many Muslims are white.

[SoapBox]

14. Safety...period.

Clear and simple.

[saras]

18. Scarves are not required by the religion.

There is other clothing that performs that function just as well, and if they're going to join in events of other cultures, they can make this small adaptation, much as natives of Vanautu might have to give up wearing nambas if they come to America.

Of course, in other (security) contexts, it is precisely the modesty/hide yourself aspect of the scarf that is in question and there is no way to avoid the conflict.

Participants in the modern world, of whatever religion (or lack of one) may have to adapt to modern definitions of a lot of things. From Robert Silverberg's lovely story "The Skills of Xanadu", a good definition of modesty as applied to clothing.

"... We wear these because they are warm when we need warmth, and because they conceal some defects some of the time - surely all one can ask of any human affectation."

"They are certainly not modest," said Bril stiffly.

"They express modesty just to the extent that they make us more pleasant to look at with then without them. What more public expression of humility could you want than that?"

[No Elephants]

26. The religion is not a monolith. There are 1.4 billion Muslims.

There is no equivalent to the Pope or the Vatican. All 1.4 billion Muslims don't believe the exact same things, anymore than a Pentecostal believes the exact same thing as a Catholic.

Point is, the scarf may be dangerous in certain situations and the owner of a ride has a right to forbid it.

The fighting is a separate issue.

[guitar man]

19. ...

:popcorn:

[Downwinder]

24. Have to get these people to argue against motorcycle headgear.

[treestar]

28. If it's a safety issue

Then I'd say that being a Muslim female who wears the scarf means you can't do certain things, like ride these rides.

OTOH, we can't be sure. Maybe it's some right wing asshole who is looking for an excuse to give Muslims a hard time.

[Downwinder]

29. Would long hair flying around be safer than a scarf?

[treestar]

31. Possibly.

Would long hair have killed Isadora Duncan? The hair might tear.

But yeah, I've never seen long hair as a reason, yet if someone got hurt by it, it would become one.