Hijab and Politics. The Veil, between Truth and Romanticization

The recent events on the political landscape in Sweden related to hijab, gave me the final push to make a video on the subject. On how people in the West are totally oblivious to the what and why of hijab, how they glorify and romanticize it, and perversely embraced a symbol of the modesty culture and an instrument for subjugation of women as a symbol of feminism.

The Veil Erases the Woman and Her Mind

Jordanian Author Zulaikha Aburisha: The Veil Effaces (Erases) the Woman and Her Mind.

In a TV interview, Jordanian author Zulaikha Aburisha said that there is no consensus about the woman's hijab among jurisprudents and that the niqab "effaces the woman and her mind."

Speaking on the A1 Jordan TV channel on March 10, she said that "the writing off of women, their effacement, the insistence upon covering women with veils, and the focus on the details of their body... are all manifestations of the sexual inhibitions experienced by our Arab societies."

Downturn Draws a Veil Over Islam
THE NEW YORK TIMES: LONDON — Europe’s economic crisis has subordinated its other epochal problem — shaping a future life with Muslim immigrants and Islam — into a place where there’s a temptation to pretend it’s vanished.

There are no headlines around Europe these days like the front-page one in New York last weekend, reporting that minorities are hardest hit by real estate foreclosures in the city.

Here, instead, it’s low-level, reflexively standard stuff: a story or two, depending on a newspaper’s basic political take, pointing to encroachments on traditional national habit by Muslim immigrants, or suggesting the state may be over-responding (giving in, according to what you read) to demands for what’s often cast as their separate but equal status parallel to the mainstream.

One story last week was about a Muslim cook who said wearing plastic gloves and using tongs was not enough to protect him from the possibility of being splattered while preparing pork sausages for breakfast. Feeling discriminated against, he sued. Another reported Christians’ concern about the appointment of a Muslim, described as a “controversial” producer who commissioned documentaries with a pro-Islam bias, as chief of religious broadcasting at the BBC.

There are two facts below the surface here.

The first says that Europe is not paying much attention and certainly not talking about how its Great Recession is affecting the stability of the communities of vulnerable, largely unskilled Muslim immigrants who make up an increasing proportion of Europe’s cities.

Among Europe’s existential concerns, immigration does not come under the common policy control of the European Union. That frequently leaves individual countries hiding from neighbors’ problems concerning issues they can’t resolve themselves.

And it underpins a flight from solidarity, effective action, and often, Europe’s shared reality. Not ideal.

The second fact is that on the level of daily experience, an increasing number of white Europeans believe Muslim immigrants want integration with an asterisk — the asterisk providing an all-access pass to the welfare state, but with a mark-the-box list of opt-outs or variances from many of its obligations.

The predicament now is that as economic realities harshen, implying more stress and tension for (and emanating from) its newcomers, Europe seems no better prepared or certain about what needs to be done. >>> By John Vinocur | Monday, May 18, 2009

Women in Somali City Must Cover Up or Go to Jail
CNN: Women in Somalia's third-largest city, Baidoa, have been ordered to wear Islamic dress starting this week or face jail time, according to a resident and Somali media reports.

The order -- issued last week by Al-Shabaab, the radical Islamist militia that controls the city -- also warns business owners to close their shops during daily prayers, or they will be temporarily shut down, a local journalist said.

The militia has ordered women to cover their bodies and heads from view, according to a resident of Baidoa who did not want to be identified for security reasons. The clothing must be black, red or white, and women in the impoverished city are concerned that they will not be able to purchase clothing that conforms to the order, the resident said.

He said women would be jailed if they violated the order after it goes into effect Tuesday. Somalia's Shabelle Media, quoting an Al-Shabaab spokesman, said they would spend 12 hours in jail. >>> CNN's Ben Brumfield and journalist Mohamed Amiin Adow contributed to this report | Monday, April 20, 2009

Swiss Foreign Minister Visiting Iran Goes A-Kissing
Photo of Micheline Calmy-Rey, the Swiss Foreign Minister, courtesy of the BBC
BBC: Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey has been widely criticised for donning a white headscarf to meet Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Well-known for her stand on women's rights, she has provoked headlines such as "Just like a submissive woman".

Socialist MP Maria Roth-Bernasconi said it was irritating that she had angered feminists in Iran.

Ms Calmy-Rey said she was observing protocol. "When you are a guest you respect local customs," she said.

Social Democrat MP Liliane Maury Pasquier accepted that customs had to be observed.

But she was quoted by one newspaper complaining that the minister should have shown solidarity with "the women who fight against wearing the headscarf". Micheline Calmy-Rey Sparks Veil Outcry >>>

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE:
Micheline Calmy-Rey aurait mis le voile sous la pression des Iraniens

NZZ Online:
Calmy-Rey verteidigt Besuch in Iran: Gasliefervertrag verstösst nicht gegen Richtlinien

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

The Veil Was Brought Here by Muslim Invaders
TIMESONLINE: The woman nominated by India’s ruling Congress party to become the country’s first female president was at the centre of a national furore yesterday after she urged Muslims to throw away their veils.

Pratabha Patil appeared relatively uncontroversial when she was put forward by Congress last week for the largely ceremonial but symbolically important post. Seen as a moderate Hindu, the only criticism levelled at the 72-year-old governor of Rajasthan was that she lacked national stature.

By yesterday, however, Mrs Patil’s name was on the lips of Muslim leaders, who accused her of insulting Islam. Outraged by her comment that the veil has been imported to India by Muslim invaders, they are calling on Congress to ditch her and choose a more secular presidential candidate. Fury as presidential hopeful urges women to throw off ‘veil of invader’ (more) By Jeremy Page in Delhi

Mark Alexander

Video: “Am I a racist?”


Mark Alexander