Fury at Muslim biz dress codes
By GARY BUISO and KATE BRIQUELET
Last Updated: 1:10 PM, July 22, 2012
Posted: 12:57 AM, July 22, 2012
J.C. Rice PAIN IN THE NECKLINE: Hana Dagostin (left) and Ivana Saftic balk at a dress code posted for a pharmacy on Lee Avenue in Dearborn, Michigan. Tensions have risen as the hard-line Muslim community has tried to impose religious law on the local hipsters.
Dearborn has lost its right to bare arms.
Muslim business owners are lashing out at customers at dozens of stores in downtown, trying to ban sleeveless tops and plunging necklines from their aisles. It’s only the latest example of the Muslim community trying to enforce their strict religious laws for everyone who lives near their Michigan enclave.
“No Shorts, No Barefoot, No Sleeveless, No Low Cut Neckline Allowed in the Store,” declare the English/Spanish signs that appear in stores throughout the Muslim section of the hipster haven. The retailers do not just serve Muslims — they include stores for hardware, clothes and electronics.
Arabic speakers are also put on notice: “Entry here in modest dress only,” the signs read.
When a Post reporter visited Lee Avenue in a sleeveless dress, some store owners stared at her shoulders, while others refused to look her in the face.
The policy of hard-line Muslims requiring modest dress, is rankling non-Muslim residents.
“Religious freedom is one thing, but we do not have the right to enforce our beliefs on someone else,” charged Bob Kim, 39, comfy in tight jeans and a T-shirt.
“Why should they be able to say that on their signs? It’s not OK,” added Hana Dagostin, 32, wearing a sleeveless top.
“People should be able to wear what . . . makes them comfortable,” said Fabian Vega, 34, also wearing shorts and a T-shirt.
Store owners and managers defended the dress code.
“We have our way of life, and this is the way we want everyone to respect that,” said Shalom Cooper, a manager at Glauber’s Cuisine on Division Avenue.
Devout Muslim women wear long dresses and either cover their head or face entirely.
“We’re not concerned about the way women dress in Detroit — but we are concerned with bringing Detroit to this neighborhood,” said Lachen Hamdani, who is Muslim and lives in Dearborn.
Some called the policy un-American.
“It’s further evidence of this era’s move toward Balkanization in the United States,” said Marci Hamilton, a First Amendment scholar at Cardozo School of Law. “It’s no longer sufficient that they have shared norms among themselves, they are increasingly trying to impose their norms on the rest of the culture.”
The dress code appears to be the latest effort by the Muslim community to separate itself from the greater population.
There’s an Muslim ambulance service and a private police force called the Shorta.
On the D110, a privately operated public bus line that runs through Dearborn, women are told to sit in back, also in accordance with Muslim customs.
One Dearborn neighborhood embarked on a successful 2009 crusade to remove bike lanes from a 14-block stretch of Michigan Ave — fearful of the scantily clad gals who would pedal through.
Even Hillary Clinton was caught up in the mix last year — her image in the situation room the night of Osama bin Laden’s killing was scrubbed from a Dearborn-based Muslim newspaper because readers might have been offended by a woman’s presence in a sea of men.
“There’s a movement toward insularity among religious groups. It’s dangerous for tolerance, and it’s also dangerous for peace,” Hamilton said.
City lawyer Gabriel Taussig said the signs appeared legal, provided they don’t “impermissibly discriminate based upon gender, religion or some other protected class.”
But the dress code covers up a bigger problem, according to Abdul Khan, a former Muslim who now lives in Detroit.
“It goes to the basic human value of empathizing with others that are not like you, and I think the hard-line Muslims have no awareness of such a concept,” he said.
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