Australian universities are doing it too – allowing Islamist groups to tell women to sit at the back of the room.
THE University of Melbourne has declined to condemn gender segregation at public events held by Islamic organisations at its Parkville campus…
On April 13, a lecture entitled “Islamic rulings on Jihad in Syria & why great scholars’ silence” (sic) was held in the university’s Copland Theatre by Islamic education organisation Hikmah Way.
At the entrance to the lecture, attended by The Australian, signs directed “sisters” to the back of the theatre, and “brothers” to the front. Asked whether seating was segregated, a male attendee said: “It usually is here, yeah.”…
Gender segregation was also encouraged at an information session for prospective Australian Islamic Peace Conference volunteers held by the Islamic Research and Educational Academy at the university’s Public Lecture Theatre on March 10.
Dr Jennifer Oriel does not waffle.
Monotheism and sending women to the back of the room are not the stuff of which enlightenment is made. It is a sad day indeed when Australia’s university leaders allow the democractic values of liberty and equality to fall victim to archaic religious mores.
Drip drip drip…
Sensible words. I wonder how soon it will be before someone takes a stand against Jennifer Oriel’s admonitions and starts a demonstration in favor of their right to sit at the back of the room.
Tony Abbott totally surprised me by condemning the gender segregation happening on UniMelb grounds – I wouldn’t have expected him to take that line to stand up for women against religious impositions. I’m looking for a better source to hear what he actually said, because coming from a twit like him, it’s rather gobsmacking for him to be thoroughly on the right side of this argument.
Congrats, according to prevailing opinion you’re now all islamophobes.
@Xanthe: Many twits are great at finding the right side of an argument, provided that right side is an excuse to go after Muslims with something more coherent than “BROWN N FURRINERS EWW”. Stopped clocks are right twice a day…
‘… Australian Islamic Peace Conference volunteers held by the Islamic Research and Educational Academy…’
What is ‘Islamic peace’ and what is ‘Islamic research’?! Is it like ‘Christian Science’, i.e. not any kind of science at all?
“respect” is a two-way street. You can’t insist on other people “respecting” your culture in its home, if you refuse to respect the culture of the place you are visiting. It is no part of UK or Australian culture for gender segregation in universities. If the Islamic speakers want to participate, they just have to accept that there will be NO gender segregation in UK or Australian venues.
This is bad. Melbourne is considered Australia’s leading uni. Imagine if Harvard did this.
As to Abbott, I’m guessing his racism, Islamaphobia and anti-intellectualism trumped his mysogyny on this occassion.
That’s Andrew Bolt’s blog, I wouldn’t believe a word of it until you have a reputable source.
Unimelb is where I work and study. So despite the fact that I am moving house this weekend, I was seriously considering going along to the lecture and sitting at the front of the room.
But it seems that this is a pay for attendance all day event, and is fully booked. So another time perhaps.
But on the fact that both Tony Abbott (our Catholic former federal health minister) and Andrew Bolt (Australia’s Rush Limbaugh) are making a big deal of this, I’d just like to see if Mr Bolt has any record of Abbott decrying the gender segregation going on in the Catholic Church….?