Cempaka Belanda: Dutch design challenges Fifa's football hijab ban

"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

"The Timing of the Great Shift" – Mar 21, 2009 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“ … Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013.
They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader ..."

"Update on Current Events" – Jul 23, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: The Humanization of God, Gaia, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Benevolent Design, Financial Institutes (Recession, System to Change ...), Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Nuclear Power Revealed, Geothermal Power, Hydro Power, Drinking Water from Seawater, No need for Oil as Much, Middle East in Peace, Persia/Iran Uprising, Muhammad, Israel, DNA, Two Dictators to fall soon, Africa, China, (Old) Souls, Species to go, Whales to Humans, Global Unity,..... etc.)

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Dutch design challenges Fifa's football hijab ban

BBC News, By Anna Holligan, The Netherlands, 30 March 2012

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A Dutch designer has created a hijab aimed at convincing the world football governing body Fifa to overturn its ban on women wearing headscarves on the pitch.

Players were prevented from wearing the hijab at top levels of the game for safety reasons, and because of rules stating that religious symbols were not allowed.

Critics say the ban promotes inequality at the highest level of the world's most popular game.

A Facebook page called "Let Us Play", which supports players' rights to wear a headscarf has already generated more than 60,000 likes.

And speculation is growing that the ban could be lifted this summer if the Dutch-designed hijab is given Fifa's seal of approval.

Out on the outskirts of Utrecht, 14 breathless girls are careering up and down the pitch.

VV Hoograven are playing DVSU. The girls are aged between eight and twelve.

The visiting team is made up of tall fair-haired light-skinned girls. All the girls in the home side are Muslims of Moroccan descent.

'Low participation'

If the hijab ban stays, some of these players will not be able to take their talents far beyond their home ground - a concern to former Jordanian women's team coach Hesterine de Reus:

Dutch designer Cindy van den Bremen
says the hijab's design makes it safe
and comfortable

"I struggled a lot to get girls involved in the game in Jordan. We have to encourage Muslim girls to start playing.

"Their participation in sport is low anyway, and I think in football we make it worse with the existence of these rules."

Hesterine de Reus was in charge of Jordan in a game against Iran in the 2012 Olympic qualifiers. But moments before kick-off, the Iranian team was disqualified for refusing to remove their headscarves.

The decision caused outrage in Iran, with President Ahmadinejad accusing Fifa of acting like dictators and colonialists.

According to Fifa, more than 29 million women and girls around the world play the game - a figure they say is "rising rapidly all the time".

But there are fears that its potential in Muslim communities is being inhibited by the ban.

Last year, a group led by Fifa's Vice President, Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein of Jordan, successfully convinced world football's rule-making body, Ifab, that the hijab was a cultural rather than a religious symbol.

This means only the safety concerns now stand between women wearing hijabs and their being allowed to compete at international level.

Dutch design

On the ground floor of a modern artists studio in the southern Dutch city of Eindhoven, surrounded by hijab-wearing mannequins, Dutch designer Cindy van den Bremen shows off the headscarf that Ifab is eyeing up as a possible model to overcome those last remaining concerns.

VV Hoograven coach Yousra Slaoui
thinks the new design is safer for
football than the traditional hijab

"What makes Capsters unique is the ready-made design, so you don't need knots or pins to tie it around your head. And it's made in stretchable materials so it's a very comfortable hijab," she says.

Ms Van den Bremen demonstrates how the new style works: "I put it over your head, make sure all your hair is underneath and then just fasten with the Velcro closing."

The fastening means that if an opponent grabs a hijab from behind it will easily come off, therefore minimising the risk of choking or strangulation.

But it must meet the players' standards too. VV Hoograven coach Yousra Slaoui has been trying it out: "I like it. It's safer than the old traditional design, which had lots of needles and pins that could slip off and go into your ear. I think the girls will be excited about this one."

Sport v culture

Football is still a male-dominated sport, and for some Muslim men, the idea of their wives or daughters kicking a ball around in public is unacceptable.

But Naima Loukili, who has come to see her daughter play for VV Hoograven, says it is a social rather than a religious barrier:

Amal Loukili (L, pictured with her mother
Naima) has high hopes of playing
at the top level of football

"It's not something Islam says. It's just our culture. Islam supports women to go out and do sport or do whatever they want. I'm happy my daughter has the opportunity to do this."

And 10-year-old Amal Loukili is not letting any cultural considerations interfere with her ambitions. "I want to play for Barca one day or maybe even Holland," she says.

The idea of a possible amendment to international football's rulebook that would allow headscarves on the pitch has reignited a religious debate in right-wing politics too:

"I'm very happy that women in Islamic countries are allowed to play football. That's a step forward," acknowledges Geert Tomlow, a former member of the anti-immigration Dutch Freedom Party.

"But by pushing or ordering or by blackmailing your woman to wear a scarf then it's a problem, then it's a symbol of oppression."

Back in the studio, designer Cindy van den Bremen insists her hijab is designed to empower women and give them the freedom to choose.

"Most of the women and girls I spoke to were very keen to wear a hijab on the pitch, contradicting the image I had.

"We think it's a woman's choice whether they want to cover themselves and not anyone else's - including Fifa."

Related Article:

Dutch headscarf design convinces FIFA