Why the Niqab is Wrong in the West

Human beings have evolved as social creatures. We come into the world and if lucky are nurtured and cared for by loving protecting families. We are socialized to understand that there are those that want us and protect us and those that mean us harm. A child learns quickly. Watch the human face of a normal person that picks up a child. We say the face "beams". We have different faces for every type of emotion from love and lust, to happiness and contentment. We have malicious faces, evil faces, faces of barbarians, faces of liars, faces of fools. The human face is a face of all of mankind. A smile is a universal signal to every human face, male or female, on the planet. When I see a Niqab, I think of other hidden faces, with only their eyes exposed, standing behind other faces, with only their eyes hidden. When I see a Niqab, I see a medieval remnant of the repression of woman and everything incompatible with western culture. The Niqab has no place in the West.


From this mornings Telegraph, that great English treasure:

Integration can't be achieved behind the veil
(Filed: 07/10/2006)

"The sight of a Muslim woman wearing a niqab has become commonplace in Britain's towns and cities. Many non-Muslims find these veils a little unsettling. This is not because they are an exotic import to these shores – this country has happily assimilated the exotic for centuries – but because they conceal the face. As Jack Straw pointed out on Thursday, we relate to people we do not know by reading their faces, and if you cannot see the face, there is a degree of "separation" that is not conducive to healthy community relations.

The Leader of the Commons is better qualified than most to wander into this particular minefield. His anti-racism credentials are impeccable and his stock is high with Muslim leaders, both in his Blackburn constituency and nationally. Mr Straw stressed he was not being prescriptive – no one is talking about bans (unlike the French government, which has banned Muslim headscarves from schools). He was simply seeking to start a reasoned debate about an issue of public concern.

It is part of a choreographed sequence, as the Government beats a long overdue retreat from the creed of multiculturalism which encourages separateness – what Mr Straw calls "parallel communities" – and towards assimilation and integration. The Communities Secretary, Ruth Kelly, and the Home Secretary, John Reid, have already spoken out on the issue. So, too, have prominent voices such as Trevor Phillips of the Commission for Racial Equality, Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, and the BBC's George Alegiah."