I can foresee the day when every country in Europe imposes a ban on the face veil.
Lerida Bans Face Veil (via. Islamophobia-Watch)
The town council voted to prohibit the “use of the veil and other clothes and accessories which cover the face and prevent identification in buildings and installations of the town hall.”
The vote, by 23 to one with two abstentions, is the first of its kind in Spain, a country where Islamic veils and the body-covering burqas are little in evidence despite a large Muslim population.
The move is aimed at promoting “respect for the dignity of women and values of equality and tolerance,” the town hall said in a statement.
The Islamic veil has sparked intense debate in many European countries, with Belgian deputies last month backing a draft law banning the garment in all public places, including on the streets, in a first for Europe.
France’s cabinet has also approved a draft law to ban the full-face veil from public spaces, opening the way for the text to go before parliament in July.
The issue is a relatively new one for Spain, an overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country which has seen the number of immigrants living within its borders soar from around half a million in 1996 to 5.6 million last year, out of a total population of 46 million people.
Moroccans make up one of the largest immigrant communities.
June 1st, 2010 at 10:20 am
This is SUCH a stupid way to address real concerns-if they are worried about id’s, just take them off in front of security officers of the same gender in private.
June 1st, 2010 at 11:40 am
Mindy1 is absolutely right. “..is the first of its kind in Spain, a country where Islamic veils and the body-covering burqas are little in evidence despite a large Muslim population.” Just much ado about nothing by those who seem to be full of malice and hatred. We have far more important issues in Spain to worry about.
June 1st, 2010 at 11:51 am
Or even in public. Just turn to one side and lift it. A ban isn’t about identity, because people are generally anonymous anyway. It’s about “stopping the islamicization of europe”
June 1st, 2010 at 10:03 pm
I think veil bans are wrongheaded approach. Better way to fight extremism is education and subjecting religious extremists to the light of truth and logic.
June 2nd, 2010 at 12:44 pm
A cursory glance at western European history will reveal that the countries that make up the continents have strong, entrenched and rather fixed identities. European history is characterized; through nation states, religious homogenization, linguistic standardization etc. I loathe to sound simplistic but Europe has a real problem with minorities. Examine the condition of Ashkenazi Jews, the Roma, The linguistic minorities of France. For heaven’s sake look at Belgium! the country is barely held together and the linguistic groups have been there for centuries.
I don’t understand why people are all up in arms about the niqab ban. Of course such a thing is possible in Europe! Why would you think otherwise? Islamicization may not be a ‘real’ fear but it is a perceived fear. And really that is all that matters as far as a majority is concerned. The Niqab, though is harmless in itself, represents something frightening to the majority European subconscious. Change, the other and a crisis in their own identity. Contextualize this in the rapidly degenerating economic and social situation of the 21st century and voila you have the recipe for a reassertion of a back-to-the-basics French, Spanish, German etc. sense of self.
Oh… unless you actually buy into this bullshit dogma that we are all equals, irrespective of our religious, ethnic, cultural, gender or sexual orientation backgrounds. Why would a majority culture care about what happens to minorities when it feels it is under threat? History, especially Western European history, proves otherwise.
I’m sorry European Muslims for what you have to endure and I hope the Socio-economic situation of Europe changes for the better and therefore your lives get easier. Historically, the best alternative you have (and even that didn’t work for western European Jews) is to acculturate (different from assimilation). More so than the Japanese, Europeans have a problem with nails that stick out.
June 2nd, 2010 at 6:48 pm
Could you accept a reality where a people or culture rejects a tradition/culture/religion/ideology where women have dress up like ninjas to avoid ‘seducing’ men?
The European cultures are actually liberal, progressive, and tolerant but to a limit. Frankly Spain, France, and other European countries find Muslim customs and traditions incompatible with their way of life and culture. Why is that so wrong? Why does Europe have to conform to Muslim values?
Can a woman walk around in shorts and a T-shirt in Sudan, Iran, Saudi-Arabia?
The Europeans can’t so they don’t go/immigrate to these places. If the Muslims are unhappy with the norms in some European countries, why can’t they leave and find places (e.g. Saudi-Arabia) where such customs are the norm?
June 5th, 2010 at 4:21 pm
Could someone post an article on what Islamic scriptures actually says?
June 6th, 2010 at 4:29 pm
Aah the Quixotic spectacle of tilting at windmills makes a belated return home…
June 18th, 2010 at 3:16 am
i don’t know what i’m doing here , it seems this site is only for brainwashed muslims without any brain cells . I’m not against muslims , i’m against your religion of hate and killing , i don’t also like the deep denial that all of you have about islam . I wish you would think for yourself , you don’t need a book that’s full of hate to tell you how to live your life . you live only once i promise you that , so why not enjoy it and leave fairytales about paradise and hell behind . please even if you hate me , that’s ok just think about it please .
June 28th, 2010 at 4:54 pm
“Disclaimer: “Ahmadi Muslim,” otherwise known as “Qadiyanis” or “Mirzai,” are a heretical sect who are considered outside the fold of Islam by both Sunnis and Shias because of their belief that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was a Prophet. This negates the fundamental Islamic creed agreed upon by the majority of Islamic schools of thought and sects that Prophet Muhammad was the last and final Messenger from God. A similar parallel amongst Christians would be groups such as the Mormons or Jehovah Witnesses.”
It is only Muslims who are prejudiced against them who consider them heretics. They consider themselves to be Muslims. Other Muslims should not judge or discriminate even if you disagree. They are another branch of Islam and not heretics.
June 28th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
So patronising Peter. To lecture Muslim about what they should believe, when you have no idea what it is Muslims actually believe.