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| Down Under |
| Row over washrooms |
| 2007-01-28 |
| A ROW has erupted over Muslim-only washrooms at La Trobe University that can be accessed only with a secret push-button code. Muslim students have exclusive access to male and female washrooms on campus, sparking claims of bias and discrimination. A university student, who did not want to be identified, raised the issue with the Sunday Herald Sun this week. Australian Family Council spokesman Bill Muehlenberg said concerns over the exclusive facilities were valid."Do we have a Christian washroom or an atheist washroom?" he said. "The whole thing is madness." Mr Muehlenberg said the separate facilities were divisive. "If Muslims are saying 'we are good Australians and want to integrate', why are they insisting on separate washrooms?" he said. Victorian Muslim community leader Yasser Soliman said the washrooms were necessary. He said the separate facilities were also due to concerns from non-Muslim students. "Muslims need to wash their feet before prayer and in the past there have been complaints about them washing their feet in sinks, so this is a happy medium," he said. Mr Soliman said most universities provided Muslim-only prayer and washrooms for students. A La Trobe University spokesman said the washrooms were established with the advice of senior Muslim religious leaders. He said the university also had a Christian chapel with a meeting room and four chaplains from major denominations had offices. La Trobe University Christian Union vice-president Richard Thamm backed the washrooms. "It's part of their religion, they need to wash in a special way before they pray," he said. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #5 #3 Ex - they realize it. Hell, they revel in it. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2007-01-28 19:34 |
| #4 "...so this is a happy medium." Stop the Presses! University Eggheads try to resolve an issue and end up creating a bigger problem. Fercrisesakes. Make the damn accommodations just donÂ’t officially recognize exclusivity for Muslims, or for that matter, any other group. If your not Muslim and you happen to wander in when Abu is washing lilÂ’ Mohamad chances are your next trip will be to the other rest room. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2007-01-28 19:27 |
| #3 They used to have blacks only washrooms too. In those days the "left" understood apartheid was a form of racism. Now they have given themselves over to Goebbels and do not even realize it. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-01-28 15:49 |
| #2 "Just shut up and scrub the floor dhimmi slave." It's all about power. |
| Posted by: GK 2007-01-28 14:58 |
| #1 "in the past there have been complaints about them washing their feet in sinks" So you went to the expense of building separate bathrooms for them? Why not just install some foot-washing "sinks" like I saw in youth hostels all over Germany? (And they weren't just for moslems, either - the Germans might not wash under their arms after hiking all day, but they sure do wash their feet.) Yeesh. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2007-01-28 14:36 |