Posted on 11/18/2006 10:05:12 AM PST by Dark Skies
Dutch Muslims have hit out at a proposed government ban of face veils, saying it was over the top, ill-conceived and infringed religious rights.
On Friday the Dutch cabinet said it was proposing a bill banning clothing that covers the face in public, targeting in particular Muslim woman wearing the burqa or niqab.
The burqa is an Islamic veil covering the entire face and body and a mesh screen to see through, while the niqab is a veil covering the face but leaving the eye area clear. The garments are worn by a few dozen women in the Netherlands.
Rita Verdonk, minister of immigration and integration, said the bill proposed a ban on the basis that covering the face constituted a risk to public order and safety.
The ban would be imposed in public and "semi-public" places such as schools, courts, ministries and trains, her spokesman Martin Bruinsma told AFP.
"In this country, we want to be able to see each other. The ban is a question of security," daily De Telegraaf quoted on Saturday the minister as saying.
But representatives of the country's Muslim population were unimpressed.
"They are going to have to find a better argument than security. It is an infringement on the freedom of religion," said Ahmed Markouch, a Moroccan mosques representative.
He predicted that the bill would go down badly with the country's sizeable Muslim population, "because it comes from Verdonk, not because they are in favour of the burqa."
Green Party lawmaker Mustapha Laboui, who is of Moroccan origin, said that although he believed the wearing of the burqa in Dutch society was "not logical", he was sceptical as to the bill's legality.
And Ayhan Tonca from the CMO, a group representing Muslims, said that such a law would be "useless".
"The existing laws are sufficient for dealing with the problems. It's over the top, a law for a dozen people!," Tonca told AFP.
As in many European countries, the integration of immigrants is a hot topic in the Netherlands, and the bill comes just days before legislative elections.
"Iron Rita", as Verdonk has been dubbed, has made a name for herself with hard-hitting immigration policies and measures meant to foster integration into Dutch society.
Since March, for example, would-be immigrants have to pass a test showing they have a basic understanding of the Dutch language and society, and the government has also tabled a bill that would force certain immigrants holding a Dutch passport to take courses on integration.
For Dutch newspapers, news of the bill came as little surprise and coverage was light.
For daily De Telegraaf, "The veil is coming down on the burqa."
"In the past, the minister (Verdonk) has already made it known that she saw the burqa as a 'symbol of division and of separate worlds'," Volkskrant said.
Newspapers said that the immigration ministry had been working for the past year to make the bill legally watertight.
"There are some (legal) tensions, but it is possible to formulate it in such as way as to ensure it is not contentious," a spokesman for the immigration ministry told Volkskrant.
Kinda looks like the K.K.K. outfit....
Ping for later first 100 posts.
She's ravishing.
Don't like it? Then move to Saudi.
lol...problem is, it might be a "he."
I find it real interesting that the Mussies want everyone else to be tolerant of THEIR religion, but they just want to kill everyone else, and thats ok....
Meadow Muffin
I think the title is wrong; should be "Muslims in Holland"...
"Dutch Muslims" implies a degree of assimilation that does not appear to exist.
We had a lot of high wind here in the Austin area a couple of days ago, ,and as I was returning to my car, there was a man in a ski mask standing close to my car. (Ski masks in Austin are extremely rare!). Anyway, I stood way back and watched him until he opened his car, took off his mask, and drove away.
Am I a bit paranoid---LOL!
"Dutch Muslims have hit out at a proposed government ban of face veils, saying it was over the top, ill-conceived and infringed religious rights."
Oh goody, goody, goody. Virgin sacrifice is back!!!!!!!!!!!
So what? The term "CHRISTMAS" has all but disappeared from America's Public arena/square/schools with far less justification.
(read: if it 'offends' someone, it must stop...)
Since when does religion count...oh, I almost forgot; this is not about CHRISTIANITY, this pertains to ISLAM...
Soooorrreeee...move along...other rules apply in this case.
Muslims know the burka is an insult to everybody else. Its a way of saying, "This is the future and we're here to claim it." Sadly, the Dutch and every other Western nation will simply live in insult and insult will soon be replaced by fear.
Get ready for tis crapola here unless some step up. Na, not here. It's football & six packs & rotten movies & CNN.
It's not required by the Koran. It's just a symbol of their invasion of our culture.
This is too little, too late for the Dutch. And frankly, I for one will not feel sorry for them when the Islamofascists take over and enslave them.
Despite the reputation put out by the liberal media about the Dutch being tolerant, they are among the most racist, anti-Semitic people on earth. There was widespread cooperation by the Dutch in rounding up Jews for the Nazis -- 80% of Dutch Jews were sent to the gas chambers. Compare that to Belgium, where the figure was about 40%, Today, the Dutch are among the most anti-Israel, pro-Islamonazi people on earth.
So forget what you've heard about the Dutch being tolerant. They are mostly anti-Semitic (and anti-American) bigots who deserve the hell that the Islamofascists are going to inflict on them.
There was once a guy who said "do not judge".
Sadly, I suspect you hate him as well.
Too much hate for a saturday afternoon.
I wish you well though, and hope you fing healing.
Cheers,
Euro.
Right on the mark!
What happened to: "when you're in Rome, do as the Romans do"
In their countries, they force wrapping-up heads and whatever else on visiting Western women when they appear in public.
Why do they have a problem when we "enforce" a Western dress code on them in our countries? Our free societies should make it clear: what's good for the goose is good for the gander.
PC or not, them crybabies WILL NOT take over, that's for sure.
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