Old story, but something that made me go "What the...!"

OK. This story broke a while ago, but only just came on my radar. I wanted to comment on it since the story just sounded so idiotic.

Now, the London Olympics are coming up. July 27th to August 12th. Right in the middle of the British summer vacation period, when plenty of workers are on vacation, and the schools are out. It is also the time when the Olympic organisers can hope for the best weather. We are talking about Britain, here. The nation famed for its rain! We need to avoid the rain as much as possible, and the window to do so is quite small!

However, the controversy came about because according to the Lunar calendar, Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, runs from July 21 to August 20. The Olympic games are smack in the middle. Many Islamic priests and scholars, including Massoud Shadjareh from the Islamic Human Rights Commission have waded in to criticise the London Olympics for its scheduling.

The issue behind all this is that during Ramadan, Muslims are meant to fast from sunrise, to sundown. This means that during the Olympics, the Muslim athletes who will make about a quarter of the number, will be unable to eat at appropriate times for their events. 

Indeed, Massoud Shadjareh came out and said:

"They would not have organised this at Christmas. It is equally stupid to organise it at Ramadan.

"It shows a complete lack of awareness and sensitivity.

"This is going to disadvantage the athletes and alienate the Asian communities by saying they don't matter.

"It's not only going to affect the participants it's going to affect all the people who want to watch the Games.

"They won't want to travel during Ramadan and they won't want to watch sport. It's a spiritual time."

Now, do I really have to point out the crass ignorance in his comments? I am sorry, but in here, he shows how little he thinks of Britains multicultural mix, by demanding things to revolve round HIS religion. The IOC gave London a window of time. Wider than the dates used by the Olympics, but even so, they would have caused the Olympics to clash with Ramadan at some point.

First of all, by claiming that the Olympics would never be scheduled against Christmas. Well, he has that right. However, Christmas is a lot different to Ramadan. For one, Christmas is one day, Ramadan is a whole month. Christmas is a fixed date in the calendar, whilst Ramadan is a fixed date in the Lunar calendar. The Lunar calendar unfortunately is NOT fixed. It means that Ramadan changes every year. At some point, it is going to come into conflict with something. 

Next up, unless the Olympics are held in Australia (which they have been, so not going back any time soon!) , then hosting them to coincide with Christmas would place the Olympics well in the depths of winter. And winter in England really is not a fun time to be hosting an Olympics! Rain, wind, snow, freezing cold...

He complains about people not wanting to watch. Well, I am sorry, but they will. There are plenty of people who will go to see the Olympics anyway, and the Muslims will watch on TV. Also, Muslims do not make the largest TV market. 

Finally, the fasting. Well, it is part of the rules of Ramadan that those who are travelling can delay their fast. And by definition, a  Saudi Arabian athlete who is in London for the Olympics is a "traveller." 

I know it is going to be difficult for Muslims, but athletes train 4 years for this, the rules are there in Islam to allow Muslim athletes wiggle room out of this. And it is not just Islamic athletes that train. It is athletes of other faiths and none. London has a responsibility as host city to afford the athletes the best possible surrounds to compete. Part of which is avoiding Britains notoriously crappy weather. And unfortunately for the devoutly blinkered, this does give them a very limited window of time.

Overall, the problem is being raised by the ultra-prickly who are not looking at the wider picture. They do not  appear to have paid any attention to ALL influences in the decision making process, other than those which make this decision "anti-Islamic."

Sorry for going off on one over this, but it is just another example of things that get up my nose. Here in Japan, they would politely listen to Muslims complaints, and then politely carry on regardless. Only in Britain does something which is supposed to include ALL faiths, can we let 1 faith shout and place a cloud over it!

Luckily, there has been nothing since then, but still, some of the Islamic faith see something that looks like "an attack on Islam" and spout off way before thinking the thing through!