Veil is ‘an invitation to rape’ – BHL

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The JC interviews French philospher Bernard-Henri Levy:

“Our time is almost up, but BHL becomes the most animated I have seen him when I ask him about Jack Straw’s intervention on Muslim women and the veil. ‘Jack Straw’, he says, leaning close to me, ‘made a great point. He did not say that he was against the veil. He said it is much easier, much more comfortable, respectful, to speak with a woman with a naked face. And without knowing, he quoted Levinas, who is the philosopher of the face. Levinas says that [having seen] the naked face of your interlocutor, you cannot kill him or her, you cannot rape him, you cannot violate him. So when the Muslims say that the veil is to protect women, it is the contrary. The veil is an invitation to rape’.”

Jewish Chronicle, 12 October 2006

Marginalising the MCB – ‘certainly a step in the right direction’ says Mad Mel

Posted on by Bob Pitt

madmelMelanie Phillips welcomes Ruth Kelly’s speech implying that the Muslim Council of Britain is to be sidelined by the government:

“… a rethink has undoubtedly taken place within the government about its strategy for combating Islamic extremism in Britain. The refusal by the Muslim Council of Britain to attend the Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration ceremony shocked ministers rigid and opened their eyes to the MCB’s extremism (John Ware’s fine Panorama programme on BBC1 undoubtedly helped, too). Then the debacle over the farcical committees set up after 7/7 to advise the Prime Minister on how to tackle Islamic extremism – which the Home Office promptly stuffed with Islamic extremists – helped them realise the blindingly obvious fact that Muslim so-called representative institutions were virtually all radicalised….

“It’s welcome news that the government will henceforth be marginalising groups like the MCB. This is certainly a step in the right direction. From all that I hear and read, I think there’s undoubtedly a realisation by government that its strategy so far has failed. And indeed, it can hardly be unaware of the widespread public fury and anxiety about all this. But – as I set out in Londonistan – this strategy of appeasement goes far wider and deeper than kowtowing to extremist representative institutions. I’ll only believe something significant is happening when I see the removal of Islamist advisers from Whitehall and a ‘fundamental rebalancing’ of the brains of the Metropolitan Police.”

Melanie Phillips’s Diary, 11 October 2006

Abolish Muslim veils, says Harman

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The strongest condemnation yet of the Muslim veil from a Government minister was made today by Harriet Harman.

She called for a campaign to abolish it because it kept women down and “hid” them from society. “How can you [live an equal life] if you can’t get a driving licence or a passport,” she said. “The veil is an obstacle to women’s participation, on equal terms, in society.”

The Constitutional Affairs Minister went further than Commons Leader Jack Straw who said the veil made him feel uncomfortable. She told the New Statesman: “If you want equality, you have to be in society, not hidden away from it.”

Ms Harman – who is bidding to become Labour’s deputy leader with a strong pitch for women’s votes – said she was dismayed to see “the young women whose mothers fought against the veil, and who now see their daughters taking it up as a symbol of commitment to their religion”. She said she wished the abolition debate was being led by Muslim women – but there were none in the Commons.

Ms Harman defended Mr Straw’s intervention but said it was “depressing” that some people had accused Mr Straw of speaking out for electoral gain.

Evening Standard, 12 October 2006

Rabbi condemns Straw’s veil comments

Posted on by Bob Pitt

An Ilford rabbi yesterday condemned Jack Straw after he said he would prefer it if Muslim women did not wear the full veil.

Writing to the Chair of the Ilford Islamic Centre, Ilford Federation Synagogue’s Rabbi Alex Chapper said: “I feel his comments were totally unacceptable and display, at best, insensitivity to, and at worst, an ignorance of the laws, customs and practices of Islam. It is nonsense to suggest that, ‘women who wore veils made community relations more difficult’, rather it is remarks such as these that create divisions and intolerance in Britain.”

Rabbi Chapper told the Jewish News: “If you’re going to single out for condemnation, or even ban, one style of dress where do you draw the line? Could the kipah or sheitel be next, are they divisive in Mr Straw’s eye?”

TotallyJewish.com, 12 October 2006

Muslim politicians criticise CofE report

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Muslim politicians have condemned claims by a former Birmingham vicar that Islam is receiving preferential treatment at the expense of Christianity.

Guy Wilkinson, former vicar of Small Heath, said the Government had given “privileged attention” to Muslim communities and spent public money in an attempt to win them over. He is now interfaith advisor to the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams and made the comments in a report for the House of Bishops.

But the claims were denied by MP Khalid Mahmood (Lab Perry Barr), who said: “It’s simply not true that the Government has diverted funding to Muslim organisations.” Birmingham councillor Salma Yaqoob (Respect Sparkbrook) said: “There is attention focused on Muslims but it’s extremely negative and we’d rather not have it.”

Birmingham Post, 10 October 2006

Women with nose-bags over their faces have no place on British streets

Posted on by Bob Pitt

allison pearson“Since Jack Straw ignited a national debate by saying constituents who wear the niqab, leaving only their eyes exposed, made him uncomfortable, Muslim women’s views have got extensive and respectful coverage. They claim Mr Straw has saddened and insulted them. But what about the way the veil makes the majority of British women feel?

“A fortysomething mother in a practical Boden skirt and short-sleeved top sitting on a train opposite a woman in the full veil can suddenly be made to feel as tarty and sexually provocative as a Page 3 girl. It’s not a nice sensation – to feel judged for wearing your own clothes in your own country.

“The truth is that females who cover their faces and bodies make us uneasy. The veil is often downright intimidating. It implies a submission that is upsetting when women here fought so hard to be free. No one I know objects to a Muslim headscarf. But as for all the other restrictive clothing, I just don’t like seeing them on British streets.

“Nor do I want to see another newspaper provide, as it did this week, a cut-out-and-keep fashion guide to the different types of veil: ‘And here we see Mumtaz, or rather we don’t see Mumtaz because the poor kid is wearing a nose-bag over her face, modelling the latest line in female-inhibiting shrouds from the House of Taliban’.”

Allison Pearson in the Daily Mail, 11 October 2006

There is more joy in heaven…

Posted on by Bob Pitt

After weeks of making harsh statements about Muslims and handing out controversial cartoon booklets that depict Muslims as terrorists, a South Florida minister said that he is softening his stand.

Rev. O’Neal Dozier had openly criticized Islam, saying that it “teaches evil and hatred.” Much of his commentary on Muslims came after the Pompano Beach City Council voted to allow the Islamic Center of South Florida to erect a larger mosque on undeveloped land on Northwest 16th Avenue in a predominantly black community. Dozier took to the streets to pass out booklet that he said would “educate the public concerning the Islamic fascism.”

Tuesday, Dozier apparently had a change of heart. He released the following statement: “After much soul searching and deliberation concerning my previous statements about radical Islam being ‘a dangerous and evil cult,’ I want to applaud and thank those peace-loving Muslims who share our American values of freedom, tolerance, and human rights.”

Click10.com, 10 October 2006

Brown backs Straw over veil

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Gordon BrownGordon Brown threw his weight behind Jack Straw last night and declared that it would be better for Britain if fewer Muslim women wore veils.

The Chancellor broke ranks to become the first Cabinet minister publicly to endorse Mr Straw’s call for women to discard the veil, which he described as a symbol of separation.

Tony Blair broke his silence on the issue too, but he stressed that women must be free to choose what they wear. In contrast, Mr Brown threw his weight behind the Leader of the Commons.

Asked by the BBC if Mr Straw had been right to say it would help integration if Muslim women did not wear the veil, he said: “Yes, but I think he is not proposing new laws, he is proposing a debate about the cultural changes that might have to take place in Britain. I would emphasis the importance of what we do to integrate people into our country including the language, history and curriculum.”

Pressed to say if he thought it would be “better for Britain” if fewer Muslim women wore veils, Mr Brown replied: “That is what Jack Straw has said and I support. But I think the important thing is that we have a debate on this.”

Daily Telegraph, 11 October 2006