TED talk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVQ7MOBXrg8

TED talk text first draft

Hello everyone, I am Joseph. Now I'm here to give a TED talk. My topic is related to religion, a topic that most people don't want to talk about. However, this topic is important to me because not all religions are treated equally and I want to let people know about this problem. This is the twenty-first century so we should be past the time of religious prosecution. So I will directly go into our main part: How do the Western governments unfairly treat Islam as a religion and Muslims as religious group?

I bet, as the first time I speak Islam, or Muslim these two words, the first thing you are thinking about is terrorist, beards, bomb.  In everyone's mind, or imagination, the terrorist with beards, the evils who brought lots of people pain and death. And also the insane terrorist organization Islamic State. Well nowadays, even the Indians or other people with beards are doubted as terrorists. Yes, the tragedy that happened in September 1st, 2001, which is famous as 9-11. After the attack happened, there are couple of new English words were made. For example jihadist, (jihad, Arabic which means holy war, was well known for the terrorists claimed to United States). As the worldwide fear of "Islamic terrorist attack", there's also a new world which is becoming more and more famous: Islamophobia. 

Exactly. Islamophobia, a word which sounds like a form of disease, means the fear of Islam. Now it takes from a fear of a group of terrorists raised up into the fear and bias of a religion, a religion with 1.5 billion believers. As the time we heard the Islamic terrorists attacks, we focus more about" oh they are muslims" but not as the real identity, terrorists. The 9-11 is the tragedy for the people who died in that accident, but also the muslims in this world. "As American citizens, we Muslims are increasingly subjected to unprecedented scrutiny when we travel by air, our bank accounts can be probed at will, and our conversations are recorded and our telephones are tapped for the flimsiest of reasons. A Muslim name, a foreign accent, or a native dress rings alarm bells in the minds of our fellow citizens." (Followers of Islam sujected to decade of unfair treatment, from The Blade newspaper)

That's the voice of the muslims from the land of free, United States. Bias is really hurting everyone. This time, I would like to introduce more about the sanctions from the government of West European countries. Here is what I found from an amazing BBC news article. 

The first is about France. The Hijab (Islamic scarf) controversy in France. In 1989, they forbid the wearing of the hijab in French public schools. It involved the problems of the position of Muslim women, the religious freedom and human rights acting but treated into different cultural groups, the situation of Muslim and Arab in France, and discussions of the "Islamist threat" to French society and of Islamophobia. It is a strong signal or a symbol as the first country in Western Europe which acted strongly in the way of policy and law to limit the freedom of a religious group, muslims. I have to say it is kind of sad to talk about, as a country which is well known as "freedom, equality and charity" but started to act aggressively at first.

Then let's move on to Belgium.

A law about banning the full-face veil was made in Belgium in July 2011. 

This law bans any clothing that shows up the identity of the dress in places like parks and on the street. Also public working places.

In December 2012, the government of Belgium rejected request for the ban to be annulled , they announced that it did not violate human rights. (BBC News)

Spain. Well this one used to be a well known Islamic country. 

Although there are no plans for a national ban policy in Spain, the city of Barcelona announced a ban on full Islamic face-veils in the public places.

Governments' sanction is made by the officers. Yes, they are high up and not really related to normal people. But it also perfectly reflects how people think about Islam, forward to the fear of Islam, Islamophobia. They wanted to ban Islamic scarf as a well known symbol to keep themselves feel safer and live better around the whole society. 

Government, as the protector of the country, the representation of citizen's rights, should protect or at least treat any groups equally and not discriminate against any groups. That is what I, also lots of people want to see happen. Because, once the bias starts to hurt and damage the innocent Muslims, at that time, we are all terrorists too. We are bombing their innocent hearts.  

TED talk sources summary

Well, there's not that much stuff to write because my sources are not that kind of complicated. It is basically same type but includes lots of information. For example, the big topic of my TED talk is about religious freedom, then it forwards to the one which I'm interested in, Islam. For smaller and more accurate topic, it is about how European governments unfairly treated Islam. The "disease" of them are Islamophobia. Their reaction is based on control the muslims population's dress code. They banned hijab for women, which is one of the most influent symbol in Islamic dress. And my recourses are basically about the different situations of different countries in EU.

TED talk sources

Ten years ago a bunch of terrorists flew commercial airplanes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and triggered a process that continues to extract a heavy toll in the form of blood and treasure. On that fateful day, thousands of innocent people, including a few hundred Muslims, died. As the dust settled, American Muslims found themselves besieged, vulnerable, and unwanted in this country even though they had nothing to do with al-Qaeda or 9/11 atrocities.

As American citizens, we Muslims are increasingly subjected to unprecedented scrutiny when we travel by air, our bank accounts can be probed at will, and our conversations are recorded and our telephones are tapped for the flimsiest of reasons. A Muslim name, a foreign accent, or a native dress rings alarm bells in the minds of our fellow citizens.

(Followers of Islam sujected to decade of unfair treatment, from The Blade newspaper)

The Islamic scarf controversy in France, referred to there as l'affaire du voile (the veil affair), l'affaire du voile islamique (the Islamic veil affair), and l'affaire du foulard (the scarf affair) among other bynames arose in 1989, pertaining to the wearing of the hijab in French public schools. It involved issues of the place of Muslim women, differences between Islamic doctrine and Islamic tradition, the conflict between communitarianism and the French policy of minority assimilation, the frequent confusion of the terms Muslim, Arab, and Maghrebin in France, discussions of the "Islamist threat" to French society and of Islamophobia^[1][2] and of strict secularity in state institutions.   

(From Wiki, Franch law and represents the place in EU)

 Belgium:

A law banning the full-face veil came into effect in Belgium in July 2011. 

The law bans any clothing that obscures the identity of the wearer in places like parks and on the street.

In December 2012, Belgium's Constitutional Court rejected appeals for the ban to be annulled, ruling that it did not violate human rights.

Before the law was passed, the burka was already banned in several districts under old local laws originally designed to stop people masking their faces completely at carnival time.

Spain

Though there are no plans for a national ban in Spain, the city of Barcelona announced a ban on full Islamic face-veils in some public spaces such as municipal offices, public markets and libraries.

At least two smaller towns in Catalonia, the north-eastern region that includes Barcelona, have also imposed bans.

The Netherlands 

Plans to impose a ban in the Netherlands under the country's previous centre-right coalition were shelved in 2012 when the government collapsed and was replaced by its left-wing rivals.

The earlier proposed ban reflected the influence of the anti-Islamist Geert Wilders, whose Freedom party was at that time the third largest in parliament and the minority coalition government's chief ally.

(All above from BBC news)

Valérie Amiraux. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jul/26/france-denounce-islamophobia-veil-riots. the Guardian