Sunday, March 20, 2016

FALSE: U.S. Troops Forced to Observe Ramadan

Snopes   "Claim:   U.S. troops stationed in Muslim countries are being ordered to fast and practice Sharia law during Ramadan." 


. . . "Such claims were based on a single article from the military publication Stars and Stripes which has been greatly exaggerated in the telling. What that article actually reported is that some U.S. military personnel in Bahrain have been briefed about the significance of Ramadan, Navy personnel there have been ordered to dress more conservatively while off-base during that month, and troops have been reminded that activities such as eating, drinking, and smoking in public in the daytime during the month of Ramadan is a violation of local law (and as with other local laws, they can be detained by authorities for breaking them): " . . .
"As a number of servicemen who have been stationed in Muslim countries have observed to us, the restriction against eating and drinking in public during Ramadan didn't affect them much since most businesses, shops, and restaurants in such areas are closed in the daytime throughout that month."

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