I’m sick of articles shared by Lebanese “activists” that tell us how neighboring countries, such as Jordan, have more “freedom” than Lebanon. You tell them it’s not true, they ask for an example outside your basic Lebanese pride.
Well, here’s one for you. A Jordanian Christian woman was fired from her work not because she was incompetent, not because she wasn’t good at what she did but because she refused to wear a veil.
The woman, named Vivianne Salameh, was asked to hear a headscarf which goes with the uniform the bank, Jordan Dubai Islamic Bank, enforced for female employees earlier this year. Five other Christian female workers had already caved in. She refused to wear the veil. The headscarf doesn’t conform with her principles, she said.
The uniform the bank imposed on female employees wasn’t even registered at the trade and industry ministry, which means their initial uniform, despite them being “Islamic,” didn’t impose a headscarf.
Following the bank’s logic, it should be allowed for other companies to fire women who wear the veil. Right? Aren’t they breaking uniform? But other companies don’t do so because there is a very simple thing that seems to have eluded this bank: the concept of freedom of religion.
Muslim women are free to wear the veil, they are also free not to. Christian women are not supposed to wear a veil, according to their religion. Forcing them to is violating their freedom.
But how would a bank that’s straight out of the dark ages know that?
It’s a sad day when refusing to wear a piece of clothes means your source of living gets cut. I praise Vivianne Salameh for standing up to her faith. She’s exactly the type of people these retarded banks need.
A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares 
Well veiled women are not allowed to work in some places as well. Not in the region, but around the world I mean.
Still, this is disgusting.
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There’s a difference between firing someone because they don’t work with your religion of choice anymore and clearly not hiring them because of that. If one’s religion interfered with work, however disgusting that is, perhaps I can fathom not hiring that person in the first place. So in this case, if the veil had been required from the get-go, I don’t think Vivianne would have applied to begin with. If the veil was clearly required and she still applied, then she has nothing to be pissed about. But she started working when the veil was not the policy.
All in all, a disturbing world.
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Yeah but like Ahmad said, ALL the banks here [minus one or two that aren’t well known at all] do NOT hire any veiled women, not because of their competence, not because of their personality, only because they were a veil, which honestly makes us no better than Jordan firing somebody based on her choice of dress. And I know this for a fact because my sister who is veiled and graduated from AUB with a 93 average was not accepted at ANY bank firm (the process would be: they would reply to her application very positively, be very impressed, have an interview with her in which they find out she’s veiled, send in an apology letter, to the extent that she put up an image of herself on her cv so that she doesn’t have to go through this horrifying cycle anymore).
I’m not underestimating the amount of disgust in the situation in your post, and it is just as enraging, I’m just saying Lebanon really isn’t any better.
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I know three women, all of them veiled, who work at very important banks in Lebanon: Audi, Byblos and the central bank.
As I said to Ahmad, I can understand not hiring someone straight away, which is still disgusting. But firing them later on because the company decided on a change of heart is more unacceptable.
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ARE YOU SERIOUS?
Are they in a position where they meet people? Or are they somewhere like in IT?
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Why are you shouting?
I said the whole situation is disgusting. But in this case:
1) The bank hired her knowing what her religion was.
2) She accepted the job knowing there was no dress code she didn’t agree with.
3) The bank decided they didn’t like uncovered hair and forced her to wear a veil.
4) She refused and got fired.
I know women in Lebanon who happen to be veiled and Muslim and who work in top banks in the country so no, I would assume it’s less of a problem in Lebanon. But if some banks, however nauseating that might be, had a problem with dress codes, then at least enforce it from the get-go, don’t change it and expect employees to change accordingly.
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