[The Local] A Muslim woman has stopped teaching at a school in Sweden after she was told that she must greet her colleagues with a handshake if she wanted to continue there.Fardous El-Sakka had been doing shift work at Kunskapsskolan in Helsingborg, southern Sweden, since August. She chose not to shake hands with her male colleagues for religious reasons, instead choosing to put her hand on her heart and bow.
When one of the male staff members took offense over her not shaking hands with him, El-Sakka was sent to a meeting with the school's principal. She was told that staff members are required to conform to the school's values if they want to work there, which include gender equality. Principal Lidija Münchmeyer said, "The man felt tremendously discriminated against by her. The school doesn’t differentiate between people or treat them differently. That’s what we advocate from our students, so the staff also have to do that."
El-Sakka stopped working there as a result and also reported the event to Sweden's Equality Ombudsman. Because she is a member of Swedish trade union Unionen, the case has been referred to the union instead.
El-Sakka explained that this was the first time anyone had been offended when she chose not to shake their hand. She added that as things stand it is difficult to see how she could return to the school in the future. She said, "It's a special school for me because I was a student there. But I don’t think I can see a way back there now."
There have been a number of similar incidents over handshaking in Sweden recently. In July, a man lost his job at a local council for refusing to shake hands with his female colleagues. The most high-profile case meanwhile was that of former Green Party politician Yasri Khan who resigned in April due to the controversy caused by his refusal to shake a television reporter's hand in an interview.