Everybody into the pool!
A UK leisure center is under fire for setting aside Muslims-only swim time. And it is ironic indeed in a country that consistently treats Islam as a race; imagine the outcry over a whites-only swim time.
By Jaya Narain in the Daily Mail, with thanks to all who sent this in:
A council has sparked a row after it shut a swimming pool to hold Muslim-only sessions on a Sunday afternoon.
The swimming sessions – which are for men only – are held for two hours every week at a leisure centre in London.
Non-Muslims may swim during this time but only if they follow the strict dress code of swimming shorts that hide the navel and extend below the knee.
Women are completely banned from attending but have their own special swimming sessions outside opening hours.
During their sessions bathers must be covered from head to foot with their swimming costume covering their body from the neck down to the ankle.
Last night furious members vowed they would hand in their membership at Thornley Heath leisure centre in Croydon, London.
Daniel Foley, 44, said: “I turned up and saw a sign saying it was closing early for Muslim afternoon – I couldn’t believe it.”
Alex Craig, 34, said: “I think it is preposterous that a council should be encouraging this type of segregation over municipal facilities.
“It seems the issue here is over modesty. Surely if Muslims want to swim then they should just turn up with their modest swimwear at the same time as everyone else.
“To make a special provision for them is just ridiculous and strikes me as imposing an ‘Us and them’ mentality which is wrong.”
of course.