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Council of Europe condemns burqa bans

A nice case of doublethink:

Yesterday’s resolution was approved by MPs [representing 47 countries, who voted unanimously in support of the resolution]. The human rights group acknowledged that the veiling of women was seen as "a symbol of subjugation of women by men”.

However, the council ruled a general ban would impede the rights of women. "There should be no general prohibition on wearing the burkha and the niqab or other religious clothing,” the council said.

http://europenews.dk/en/node/33225

Tags: Europe, ban, burkha, burqa, human_rights, islam, muslim, women's_rights

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Meddlesome on June 25, 2010 at 4:29am

Regardless of religious issues, Does anyone else think its just plain rude not to show your face in public ?

M.

Permalink Reply by Sandy on June 25, 2010 at 4:41am

Yes. I find it really disconcerting not being able to see somebody's face. I recently bumped supermarket trolleys with a woman wearing the whole niqab thing (you couldn't even see her eyes). I smiled and apologised, but I got no response. It might have been because she didn't speak English, but because we couldn't even make eye contact there was no basis for communication of any kind. Weird.

Permalink Reply by Meddlesome on June 25, 2010 at 4:57am

Especially as a lot of communication is non-verbal, not being able to infer anything about their body language & facial expressions makes for a difficult & disconcerting time.

M.

Permalink Reply by Jaume on June 25, 2010 at 4:57am

People who keep their sunglasses on at every moment are annoying too. This guy even claims they're his own burqa. Sheesh.

Permalink Reply by Sandy on June 25, 2010 at 5:39am

Dong! I never realised before that's the reason I so dislike people wearing sunglasses at night and indoors. They usually have a superior "I can see you, but you can't see me" air about them. I'm always hoping they'll trip over something in the dark or tread in some dog shit.

Permalink Reply by Jaume on June 25, 2010 at 6:46am

When eye contact is a one-way affair, and nothing is at stake, I do my best to never talk to these people face-to-face. Usually I talk to their belly ;-)

Permalink Reply by Jaume on June 26, 2010 at 5:41am

Unless they have a pot belly :P If the person has allopecy, it might be a good idea to focus your attention on their (lack of) hair instead.

There are actually two ways to not look at people. 'Intimidated' and 'contemptuous'. Try to practice the latter.

Permalink Reply by Prog Rock Girl on June 25, 2010 at 6:50am

Usually, though, people who are wearing sunglasses, or hats, or scarves, or Halloween masks, take them off when it's appropriate to take them off. That's why the "why don't we just ban [x thing that's not as severe as a burqa and taken off when asked]" is a crock of shit. The reason they haven't been banned is b/c they haven't been a problem. And if someone in a bank or photo ID did refuse to remove them, that would be suspicious behavior.

Permalink Reply by Jaume on June 25, 2010 at 7:33am

Agreed, but that's not the point I was trying to make. One of the reasons for the full veil ban in France (and one that's important to me) is that hiding your face severs ties with people you meet in the public place; and that's a form of sectarianism, in the etymological sense. Even if you choose to live a secluded life, when you have to interact with other people, you'd better do it on an equal footing. That's a thing many 'sunglassists' should be aware of as well.

Permalink Reply by Prog Rock Girl on June 25, 2010 at 8:01am

Yeah...my rant was just kind of a rant, not necessarily directed at you.

Permalink Reply by Prog Rock Girl on June 25, 2010 at 6:46am

Proponents of female genital mutilation have also accused opponents of being racist. Same exact thing.

The only appearance-related thing I can think of that's racist would be banning something that only one race can do or requiring something that a race can't do. So the requirement that beards be a certain length in some Islamic countries is racist...not all races can grow beards!

What's really racist is having different standards of justice for people based on race/ethnicity/culture. Like Sharia law.

Permalink Reply by Prog Rock Girl on June 25, 2010 at 12:39pm

If she really thinks that, then she shouldn't be too outraged at the suggestion of having it done to her. Otherwise she's a hypocrite, and has the racist attitude that it's OK for some brown people somewhere but not acceptable for European women.