I'm a bit late to comment on the Jack Straw veil brouhaha, but there's been many interesting reactions to it. Earlier in October, England's Former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw wrote in a newspaper column that that he asks Muslim women to remove their veils when they come into his office. Not their head scarves, mind you, but veils which cover a woman's face.
"Mr Straw said he invites the women to take their veils off because he feels "uncomfortable" about talking with someone whose face he cannot see....He wrote how he is concerned the veil is a "visible statement of separation and difference".... (He) described how an incident a year ago made him reconsider his views on the issue. He said a veiled woman greeted him: "It's really nice to meet you face-to-face, Mr Straw." "
Amusing? Ironic? Absurd? For his statements, Straw was (predictably) criticized by assorted Muslims organizations in England. He was accused of discrimination and told that "he shouldn't be allowed to comment." But Jack hung tough and he was supported by a variety of folks, including a Muslim woman, Tony Blair, left-wing Italian Prime Minister Romani Prodi, and a UK Education minister. As a female Muslim op-ed writer stated:
"It is an extreme practice. It is never right for a woman to hide behind a veil and shut herself off from people in the community. But it is particularly wrong in Britain, where it alien to the mainstream culture for someone to walk around wearing a mask. The veil restricts women, it stops them achieving their full potential in all areas of their life and it stops them communicating. It sends out a clear message: “I do not want to be part of your society.” "
I've written before on a move by the Dutch Parliament to ban the burqha that covering your face is simply not what Westerners do. We want to see your face, and we don't trust you when we can't. While women from several faiths cover their head - Catholic nuns, Orthodox Jews, Mennonites and Amish- nobody in the West covers their faces.
What folks cover their faces? Bank robbers and Ku Klux Klan members. What sort of company is that to keep?
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