Spain Moves Toward Restricting Burqa

MADRID — Spain's government on Tuesday said it favors barring the use of burqas in government buildings, joining other European countries considering similar moves on the grounds that such garments are degrading to women.

Total body-covering Islamic veils demean women and the restriction will be included in an upcoming bill on religious issues, Justice Minister Francisco Caamano said.

The minister said garments like the burqa are "hardly compatible with human dignity" or with identifying a person in public spaces such as town halls or public schools.

"In my judgment it is extravagant for a woman to wear a burqa as it in no way reflects a religious mandate, but if a woman wants to wear one, then why shouldn't she?" said Mansur Escudero, spokesman for Spain's Islamic Commission.

Escudero said wearing the burqa did not attack moral standards and should not be offensive, but most of all it was a personal choice – and to legislate against its use undermined civil liberties.

The so-called religious freedom bill would also prohibit religious symbols like crucifixes or statues in state-owned buildings including hospitals.

Authorities in several European countries have been debating regulating the use of body-covering burqas or face-covering niqabs.

Belgium's lower house has approved a ban on face-covering veils, though it must be ratified by its upper chamber.

The Netherlands debated banning burqas four years ago and may yet outlaw attire that is considered as demeaning to women.

Even Britain and France, home to millions of migrants from former colonies, are questioning their strong multicultural traditions, with the French government currently considering legislation.

Some countries have broadened the debate to cover other Islamic traditions. Switzerland recently banned the construction of minarets that broadcast Muslim calls to prayer following a national referendum.

Spain has a million Muslims in a total population of 47 million, but burqas are rarely seen.

Barcelona, the country's second-largest city, said Monday it will ban the use of burqas and niqabs in municipal buildings, joining a handful of Catalan towns that have taken similar steps.

Comments

[amber15]

02:11 AM on 06/24/2010

well, looks like they did it!
In a significant escalation of Spain’s debate over how to handle radical Islam, the Senate on Wednesday narrowly and unexpectedly approved a motion to ban Muslim women from wearing in public the burqa or other garments that cover the whole body.

[HotChocolateParty]

02:45 AM on 06/24/2010

Good!

[JacksonD]

01:50 PM on 06/23/2010

What Europe is finding out and what America will soon find out that in communities where the burqa is prevalent, there is a more fundamentalist agenda going on and activities that are contrary to the health of their societies.

Case in point: A woman was recently pulled over and ticketed in France for driving while her face was covered. Her husband makes a big stink about her "rights" and then it turns out he has 3 other wives (illegal) and 12 children with two more on the way. All the Wives are on state benefits... all on welfare and draining their social system. Last I read, he had his passport revoked.

[JacksonD]

02:12 PM on 06/23/2010

In addition, does the West deal with this now or do they wait until the numbers become such that there is a push towards Sharia law?

[HotChocolateParty]

02:47 AM on 06/24/2010

Exactly, we need to deal with it now. Other posters here have been extremely naive about this issue

[pjt2352]

04:56 PM on 06/23/2010

We will deal with it in the same way we deal with illegal immigration, not at all. Our leaders are not very principled. All they want to do is get reelected.

[separatingwheatfromchaff]

08:13 AM on 06/23/2010

Wearing a burqa would be of no consequence to anyone if,and that's a big if,if we had no terrorists or crime.But then we'd have no use for a burqa,would we?
It seems stupid to think we have to jettison common sense to even ponder outlawing the wearing of burqas,but jettison it we do daily.
Anyone can hide behind a burqa and commit evil deeds.Even a person wearing a burqa (or their husband) should be able to understand simple logic.Why would anyone think it was okay to endanger the general public because of an old superstitious misogynist religious custom?

[pjt2352]

11:55 AM on 06/23/2010

So true. If I am in a building and someone masked walks in I am looking for the nearest exit. It doesn't matter if it is a halloween mask or a burqa.

[niceguysneverfinish]

10:27 AM on 06/21/2010

I don't know why they'd want to. What are they afraid of? The burqa is very attractive every woman should be wearing one and finally showing men that they are people too. I don't believe we can 'return' to those ugly days regardless of whose religion is going belly up!

[holyheretic]

07:30 AM on 06/23/2010

Dear niceguysneverfinish.

You might be a nice guy, but your comment is unclear.

[savroD]

10:59 PM on 06/20/2010

Good for Spain! Religion should not trump the commons!

[uwhusky253]

04:38 AM on 06/20/2010

If burqas are so rare, then why is this new law needed? Why can't those who wear them have a private screening room if needed. Why does the world need all these stupid laws????

[Mwenda Kobia]

05:10 AM on 06/23/2010

They are only banned from municipal and government buildings, so they can fairly say its for security reasons. But you are right- burqas are rare...

Its more of a symbol than actual concern for the civil society... To show that they are not hopeless against the changing cultural environments that the past few years of immigration, globalization and religious clashing (thanks to recent foreign policy) has bestowed upon us. To show that they are still in control of things, so to speak.

For example, the minaret ban in Switzerland. Minarets are architectural features with no real religious value- (they were seen as focal points for prayer around 7th century AD- when people were late to prayer, or not allowed to pray in the mosque.. In other areas they were light houses) almost like Gargoyles on a Cathedral.

The right-wing somehow managed to convince the majority of the conservative population, that Minarets are symbols of domination that will ultimately lead to Sharia law. In all 26 cantons in Suisse, there are only 4!

[holyheretic]

07:54 AM on 06/23/2010

Dear Mwenda Kobia

I agree with your first two paragraphs.

However, minarets are still used in many places to call for prayer, and today they blast the calls with powerful loudspeakers - a serious noise pollution. Europe is now largely post-Christian and in Europe they naturally want to avoid the spread of an addiction to another sacred voodoo.

Interestingly, Jewish Rabbis supported the Muslims in Switzerland because business is business and they realize that all organized ignorance must stand together to preserve their power and privileges.

Why are those sectarian symbols like the burqa so desirable?

From Wikipedia:
Gangs often establish distinctive, characteristic identifiers including graffiti tags colors, hand-signals, clothing, jewelry, hair styles, fingernails, slogans[16], signs such as the swastika, the noose, the cross, five-pointed and six-pointed stars, crowns and tridents, flags for example the Confederate flag, secret greetings, slurs, or code words and other group-specific symbols associated with the gang's common beliefs, rituals, and mythologies to define and differentiate themselves from rival groups and gangs...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang

[Devala]

08:54 PM on 06/19/2010

The commentary from the Justice Minister and the Islamic spokesman don't seem to have anything to do with Spain saying it favored banning the burqa in state buildings.

What I get from this article is that they just want to see the faces of the people who walk into a government building (smile for the camera!). They have not banned it in public. Even if they get to that point, it is because they are taking steps toward banning Islam, not for women's rights. If the reason behind this suggestion is to liberate women, and they are being forced to wear them by their Muslim husbands, why are the women being fined $$ and not the men who make them wear the things? ("Italian police have fined a woman 500 euros ($A712) for wearing a full Islamic veil") Why are they justifying this under the guise of protecting civil liberties?

[holyheretic]

09:21 AM on 06/23/2010

Dear Devala

Do you like Sharia law? Would you like God's laws established in this country and in Europe?
Why not?

[pjt2352]

12:14 PM on 06/23/2010

They are taking steps to protect the public in public buildings. This is a good thing. If a person wearing a burqa were to enter a building I am in I would leave by the first exist.

As for the liberation of women, some woman seem to be fine with their second class status in the home. This is just as true for Christian woman as for Islamic woman. Why? I have no idea. But unless their men commit some state crime against them there is nothing the state can do. It pains me to admit it, but woman can be just as stupid as anyone else.

[JacksonD]

02:08 PM on 06/23/2010

About the second class status, when one is raised completely immersed in this thought process, it is logical that they would subscribe to it. That being said, not all women who are covered want to be but are forced either by law or social/family pressure to do so.

[pmagellan]

12:02 AM on 06/19/2010

Of interest to note: while the headline and content refers to burqas, the image above shows a head scarf and apparently not the full body/face garment mentioned in legislation.

Misleading or educational? Up to awareness, your mind decides...

[holyheretic]

09:22 AM on 06/23/2010

Dear pmagellan

I agree with your comment. Marked as favorite.

Fanned.

[JacksonD]

02:01 PM on 06/23/2010

I believe it was to make this misleading.

[FabulousAt52]

06:11 PM on 06/18/2010

I believe the way the Mormon men force their wives and daughters to dress is demeaning also. Why can't they show a calf? Or their shoulders? Or even bare arms? They force their women to cover up everything from the neck down. Religious fanaticism!
Disgraceful! It should be banned!

[blutigeroo]

10:54 PM on 06/20/2010

No, because Mormons are not Muslims.

(I get your point, I am playing along)

[FabulousAt52]

04:24 PM on 06/21/2010

gotcha. ;-)

[GinnyW]

01:49 AM on 06/24/2010

Right, Fab, even the Constitution gives citizens the right to bear arms! We finally got nuns to quit their full body cover-up, and eventually we'll get everyone to quit following old testament commandments.

[LiberalMormon]

04:43 PM on 06/18/2010

Would the same rationale apply to nuns' habits? If not, why not?

[FabulousAt52]

07:28 PM on 06/18/2010

Gee Liberal... why are we only hearing the sound of crickets?
Funny how close-to-home comparisons can make a clear point.

(by the way, I was being satirical regarding the Mormons.
Personally, I don't care how they choose to dress)

[separatingwheatfromchaff]

08:19 AM on 06/23/2010

Nuns' habits don't cover the face.If they do,they will probably be included in the ban.

[GinnyW]

01:51 AM on 06/24/2010

Yet the wedding veil was to serve that purpose. Women have been losing face for centuries.

[DrSnuggles]

10:59 AM on 06/18/2010

"Even Britain and France, home to millions of migrants from former colonies, are questioning their strong multicultural traditions..."

Ummm, it may just be me but I'm prettys sure France has been virulently anti-muslim for decades.

[Jefferson78]

12:31 AM on 06/19/2010

Centuries.

[FabulousAt52]

08:43 AM on 06/22/2010

Yes, didn't France just recently "ban" Muslim women from their beaches, because they (Muslim women) insist on covering up from the knee to the neck? Obviously they don't swim in "burqahs" but instead wear very modest 1920's style swim wear with a swim cap (their faces are NOT covered) And they are banned. Why? Gee, I wonder.....

[FabulousAt52]

12:27 PM on 06/22/2010

correction:
I believe they banned Muslim swim wear at their "public" pools.... not the beaches, although maybe I'm remembering wrong?

[jacksparrow34]

10:47 PM on 06/17/2010

It is funny to see that 99% of Muslim women don't even wear Burqa, yet so much fuss about this piece of clothing. Infact, I read it somewhere that there are only very few women who actually wears Burqa in Europe.

[BOBinPS]

09:01 PM on 06/17/2010

The anti-burqa movement is simple xenophobia. I understand that people are sympathetic to the rights of women in many cultures, but I find it hard to believe that this is more inspired by human rights than by anti-immigrant sentiments. But, Spain of all places, has reaped the benefits of Islamic civilization throughout the last millennium. Seems odd......?

[JacksonD]

01:55 PM on 06/23/2010

What you say may be true of many people but my perspective is very different. I am an immigrant from a Muslim country and I was FORCED to wear hijab (not burqa). It is degrading to me as a Woman and I can tell you with 100% certainty that in the West when you have communities where the burqa is being worn, those communities subscribe to ideas and political aspirations that are anything but democratic and woman-friendly.

[BlackSnake333]

07:55 PM on 06/17/2010

Why would anyone think that the women that are forced to wear a burka have access to a computer to voice thier discontent with the veil???

[GinnyW]

01:58 AM on 06/24/2010

Many, many do. My 3 Moslem grand-daughters in Kansas are required to wear burqua in public, but they cut loose on Facebook for hours each day. My daughter and her husband are fundamentalist Sunni and aren't really computer literate, so they have no idea what the girls are up to when in their rooms. I stay out of it, because I have 3 children: one is Moslem, the second is Christian (Church of the Brethern), and the youngest is a secular Jew. I'm an agnostic, but realize that peace in the family is best kept through silence.

[Tulka2]

07:40 PM on 06/17/2010

The woman wearing the lavender dress in the picture above, is not wearing a burqua. Why would Huff Post pair this picture with this story? As a woman, i hate the burqua, but then i hate body piercing too. I think the lavender dress in this picture the least chic thing ever seen, but it's not a burqa either.

The only way to democratically (little "d") ban the burqa is to ban any person, male or female from wearing masks in public. That seems reasonable to me. Does any merchant want a masked person in their place of business?

[Tywon Rogers]

09:52 PM on 06/21/2010

That is a law in America. For anyone over 16 it is illegal to where a mask in public. Just the same with hats and hoods in banks.

[Tulka2]

01:54 AM on 06/22/2010

I think you are a big city boy. In our little university town last Halloween, i looked up to see twelve "V" ("For Vendetta) masks and costumes striding down main street. I wonder if that would get you busted in NYC?

[JacksonD]

01:41 PM on 06/23/2010

You're right, the picture is misleading because that is not a burqa. Rather than positioning this to be about the wearing of face coverings, there seems to be an attempt to make it be about all women who wear the hijab and that is not the issue.