Iran ban on ‘Western’ hairstyles

Iranian police have warned barbers not to give men western hair styles or use make up on them.

The move is part of an unusually fierce crackdown on what is known locally as bad hijab, or un-Islamic clothing, that this year is also targeting men. Hair stylists have been warned that they could lose their licenses if they do not comply. However, police have denied a report that they have ordered barbers not to serve customers wearing ties.

Police say that as well as avoiding western hairstyles and make up, barbers should not pluck customers’ eyebrows. Some young boys in Iran sport very wild hair styles , using gel to make their long hair stand on end in a fashion not seen in other countries. Meanwhile newspapers in Iran have quoted the police as saying that 16,000 women and 500 men have been cautioned in the last week over their improper clothing. It is not clear if these figures are nationwide or only apply to the capital, Tehran.

Iranian television has said the crackdown on un-Islamic clothing has entered its second phase now where mobile police units will patrol Tehran to look for those who are not observing Islamic dress properly. According to the local media, Tehran’s public prosecutor has suggested women who violate dress rules should be exiled from the capital to remote areas of the country. A member of the parliament’s legal committee has said there is no legal impediment to doing this.

What the fuck is going on? some people will have to live with unibrows and if they don’t pluck theirs, they’ll look stupid. and what’s wrong with hairstyles? later on they’d ban jeans and trousers and force dishdashas…

+ BBC
+ Sash

**Original Photo [link]

Kuwait’s MOI shutsdown Virgin Megastore Kuwait UPDATED

According to Maze, they closed it because virgin was selling books and dvds that were banned or not supposed to be sold.

+ Kuwait Times (Official Newspaper)
+ Arab Times

HOW STUPID CAN MOI OF KUWAIT GET?

copying from Kuwait times:

The store was ordered shut on Friday and it was not immediately clear as how long it will remain closed. Asked to comment on the closure of the store, a manager at Virgin, who refused to be identified, said: “All I can say at the moment is that we never ever sold any pirated stuff at our store.” He refused to be drawn into a question when asked to express his views on some of his customers’ allegations that indecent pictures in some magazines and in music albums were blackened out by the ministry.

A notice put up on the entrance of the store cited reasons for closure, one of which said the store was selling forbidden items but failed to spell out what these items were.

The notice, administrative decision 5261/2007 issued by the Assistant Undersecretary for Journalism Publishing Sector at the Information Ministry, states “according to a decree issued by the Ministry of Information on Jan 7, 1979 and law 32/1969 on regulating the licenses of commercial shops and law 3/2006 on Press and Publication, and based on ministerial decision 6/2007, which authorizes the Assistant Undersecretary for Journalism Publishing Sector to issue decisions to close shops which come under the purview of ministerial decision 53/2006, Virgin Megastore for visual media owned by Najeeb Hammed Al-Saleh and partners located at Marina Mall, Salem Al-Mubarak Street, Salmiya has violated law 3/2006 by selling and distributing banned art material without necessary license from the Information Ministry.”
When contacted, the Intellectual Property Rights Office denied any knowledge about the closure of the store and said the matter falls under purview of the information ministry. This comes after numerous shops indulging in video piracy and selling obscene movies across Kuwait were recently ordered shut by the ministry of information.

A salesman at a video shop in the Souk Al-Muthaida, Kuwait City, told the Arab Times that inspectors from the ministry were mostly confiscating English films and leave other films such as Bengali and Hindi untouched.
According to S. Henry, a regular at the Virgin store, two weeks ago music CDs featuring skimpily-clad Beyonce on the cover were taken off the shelves — only to reappear after the indecent segments were blackened out.
Similarly, Hed Kandi, music albums, which normally feature skimpily-clad stars on the cover, were removed from the shelves a few months ago and have not be reintroduced at the store since then, added Henry. Hed Kandi is widely recognized for its series of eclectic compilation albums delivering serious music with a sense of humour. “This genre of music is no big deal. There is nothing erotic about this form of music, and hence this decision is uncalled for. They could have darkened the indecent portions. The authorities are talking about transforming Kuwait into a touristic spot but with this sort of rules in place it seems to be a far cry.”

Virgin has one of the biggest collections of music, film and games and products sold are not just Virgin branded items. Virging stores have a wide selection of CDs , games, books, DVDs , vinyl records, MP3 players, magazines, accessories, and additional products such as calendars and board games.

Another regular shopper at the store, a Kuwaiti, Mohammad Gallaf said he had been informed by the staff at the store that the ministry officials were regularly going through the magazines and CD covers to ensure that the store was not violating any laws. “I saw inspectors checking books, music CDs on more than one occasion at the store. I feel like a fish out of water as this was my favorite store. I cannot think beyond Virgin … I hope better counsel will prevail and they will lift the closure order soon.”

A large number of customers were caught unawares about the store’s closure and arrived at the outlet only to be greeted with the downed shutter and red-colour stickers plastered all over the outlet. Some inquisitive customers even were seen making inquiries with neighboring stores as to what led to the closure of the store.
“They should first take action against stores which are selling vulgar films all over Kuwait. How can they close down a store which caters to all segments of the society,” thundered, Nasser Majed.He went on to add: “These are double standards, I know of many stores in Hawally which sell vulgar movies but no action is being taken against such people. If this is not double standards, what is? There are many outlets in the Marina mall itself selling clothes which do not fit into our culture. Why are they not taking action against them? They should clearly define the parameters as to what is fair and what is not.”

Rima M., however, said the closure of the store was a move in the right direction and that the store was allegedly selling many ‘obscene’ items. “They should have done this much before. Nevertheless, I am happy they have done it finally. This store should respect the sensibilities of the people and also respect the laws of our country. I hope the store will learn from its mistake and will not indulge in such acts again.”

 All I can say is.. Allah Ydeem 3alaina Ne3mat El 3a2el.. so shutting down the store will stop? why don’t you close shops selling inappropriate clothes, and why not monitoring all satellite channels and block them? why not force women to wear vail? and men to wear dishdashas only? fuck you.. and your believes and whoever the fuck you are! get a life, pathetic bastards at the MOI keep the “unwanted” items for themselves.. poor bitches! you’re too pathetic that you visit syria to hook up with cheap ass hockers from russia to enjoy! you started the war, you enjoy the results!

• UPDATE: check mark’s post for other photos (1 and 2)
• UPDATE 2: According to Al-Qabas Newspaper
  محلات ‘فيرجن’ رغم انها مشروع تجاري بحت فإنها تحولت إلى ظاهرة اجتماعية ومعلم من معالم البلد. وزارة الإعلام أو بالأحرى قوى الظلام قررت إغلاق هذه المحلات بالشمع الأحمر وحرمان زبائنها من خدماتها الاجتماعية المميزة. لا لشيء إلا لأنها تبيع رواية شيكاغو للروائي المصري علاء الاسواني.

GET A FUCKIN” LIFE!

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For more info [source]