Woman in niqab claims bus driver ignored her
A woman who wears full niqab says an STM bus driver didn’t stop for her, and she later identified the driver and discovered her xenophobic postings. So far, the union has defended the driver but it’s unclear where the complainant wants this to go.
david100 18:15 on 2019-06-11 Permalink
Probably, the first plan was to try to suck some money out of it, but the driver wisely held to the “didn’t see you” defense, so there’s no real legal issue. Dumb for her to have contacted the fundamentalist woman though.
dwgs 18:53 on 2019-06-11 Permalink
That’s a helluva leap david100, do you have some special insight into the matter?
david100 18:55 on 2019-06-11 Permalink
None. But the actions seem way out of proportion to the purported harm – traveling to a metro station to confront and videotape the person, researching them, etc. Sure, it could just be another muslim activist, but that sounds like evidence collection to me.
dwgs 18:59 on 2019-06-11 Permalink
Or it’s just someone who is pissed about being mistreated and wants to make a point to stick up for herself. There’s nothing in the story that says she’s making a financial claim. Also, “just another muslim activist”? One could almost make assumptions about your biases as you have about hers.
Dan 19:16 on 2019-06-11 Permalink
Good on her for tracking the driver down and good luck to what will surely be an ugly fight, as evidenced already by those ridiculous comments by @david100.
david100 19:24 on 2019-06-11 Permalink
Getting the bus number, come on. That’s not the sort of thing someone does to stick up for herself, it’s the sort of thing you do when you file a Tribunal claim.
My biases are there in my analysis. Probably the bus driver did deliberately pass her by, probably this woman is trying to put together a Tribunal complaint, it’s a nice encapsulation of the problem: the native right wing is stoking dislike of these types for their own purposes, and some of the muslims are trying to convince left wing people that their hardcore right wing religion is progressive because the native right wing don’t like it.
Kate 20:57 on 2019-06-11 Permalink
I can understand why the woman might be angry enough to investigate and figure out who slighted her. By doing it, she’s also proving that a woman in niqab isn’t necessarily the sad passive powerless creature one storyline would make her. I think, david100, you’re folding this whole thing around too many times there.
Kevin 22:09 on 2019-06-11 Permalink
Anyone who writes “muslims are trying to convince left wing people that their hardcore right wing religion is progressive because the native right wing don’t like it” doesn’t know anything about the history of Western Civilization.
All the Abrahamic religions are full of hardcore hate.
The difference is that we have learned that Judaism and Christianity have many different strains that completely ignore what is in their holy book, and Islamophobes have yet to learn that Muslims have exactly the same tendencies.
david100 22:21 on 2019-06-11 Permalink
^ Fascinating take. You should expound your theory to my transgendered neighbor.
Kevin 09:02 on 2019-06-12 Permalink
^ only if I can bring my Muslim buddy who vacations at the Guinness factory.
Chris 09:23 on 2019-06-12 Permalink
Kevin, careful, saying Islam is “full of hardcore hate” will get you called an Islamophobe! 🙂
But of course it’s true: all the Abrahamic religions are full of hardcore hate (and some good). And yes there are strains of Judaism and Christianity that ignore what’s in their holy book. But the problem with Islamists is *not* that, it’s that they *don’t* ignore what’s in their holy book. They take seriously things like killing apostates, cutting off hands, etc. Now of course Islamists are a minority of Muslims, but not a vanishingly small minority I’m afraid. (And I’m not saying this women is one.) Islam claims that the Quran is the *literal* word of god as recited to the *final* prophet. Contrast with Judaism and Christianity which acknowledge their books were written by man (but inspired by god) and expect a prophet to return. So there’s less room for (re)interpretation in Islam vs the other Abrahamic religions.
Anyway, I bet the bus driver wishes he had a niqab, that way she wouldn’t have been able to track him down so easily. 🙂
And good for her for sticking up for herself!
nau 10:20 on 2019-06-12 Permalink
I wonder exactly how right-wing you have to be to think that any significant number of left-wingers can be convinced that Islam is progressive.
The relevant issue here is that it’s not the business of bus drivers to pick and choose who they stop for. One is prejudiced against Muslims, another against transgendered people…
Kevin 12:05 on 2019-06-12 Permalink
@Chris
I’d tell anyone complaining or commenting on my comments to read them in context.
Chris 19:20 on 2019-06-12 Permalink
Kevin: obviously. 🙂 You did see my smiley, right? 🙂