[MD] What is the intellectual argument about Islamic veil wearing?

[MarshaV]

If I might add something.  In 2004, I clipped 
from a magazine a photo of what the caption said 
was three Iraqi women.  They were wearing 
full-body burqas .  They were sitting in the open 
trunk of a car, holding guns.  All exposed hands were _extremely_ masculine.



At 08:21 AM 11/18/2006, you wrote:
>Hi All:
>
>Noted in today's NYTimes:
>
>  NIJMEGEN, the Netherlands, Nov. 17 — Five days 
> before a national election here, the
>center-right government announced Friday that it 
>planned to introduce legislation to
>ban burqas and similar garments in public 
>places, saying the full-body garb worn by a
>small number of Muslim women in the Netherlands posed a grave security threat.
>
>The Netherlands has been considering such a move 
>for months, in reaction to the burqa
>and other articles of clothing that hide the 
>wearer’s face. The government has raised
>the fear that a terrorist might wear such a 
>garment to move beyond security checks
>and carry out an attack.
>
>The Dutch discussion is part of a European 
>debate about how far governments can go in
>legislating what people — specifically Muslim 
>women and girls — can and cannot wear.
>
>Last month, Britain’s former foreign secretary, 
>Jack Straw, raised a commotion when
>he urged Muslim women to remove full facial 
>veils when talking to him, saying the
>veil was “such a visible statement of separation and of difference” that it
>jeopardized British social harmony. Prime 
>Minister Tony Blair subsequently backed Mr.
>Straw.
>
>Best,
>Platt
>
>
>-------------------------------------------------
>This mail sent through IMP: http://horde.org/imp/
>moq_discuss mailing list
>Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc.
>http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org
>Archives:
>http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/
>http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/