LOGO: Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines. A Progressive Journal of News and Opinion. Editor, Robert Scheer. Publisher, Zuade Kaufman.
2010 Webby Award Winner for Best Political Blog
 
May 26, 2012
Log in / Register

 Choose a size
Text Size

Trending:     gay marriage     barack obama     ndaa     robert scheer     chris hedges
Most Read

TED: 'A Money-Soaked Orgy of Self-Congratulatory Futurism'

Truthdiggers of the Week: 400,000 Canadians Launching the ‘Maple Spring’

Russia and Exxon Mobil Sign Arctic Oil Deal

I Can't Hear Myself Think

A Rare Admission That Money Trumps Everything Else

Most Comments
Most Emailed

Reports
Why Bain Questions Matter
OSHA Struggles When Tower Climbers Die

Ear to the Ground

A/V Booth

Arts & Culture
Better Than We Found It
The Good-Natured Dictator

Digs
Financial Meltdown 101

Truthdig Bazaar

Pure Goldwater

By John W. Dean; Barry M. Goldwater, Jr.

more items

 
Ear to the Ground

Banning the Burqa

Email this item Email    Print this item Print   

Posted on Jul 2, 2010
Flickr / nomadic f-stops

Anti-Muslim sentiment in Spain is getting enshrined into law, with legislation banning the burqa being passed in villages across northeast Spain, legitimizing xenophobic views in the Catalan region where most communities have few if any Muslim inhabitants. —JCL

The Guardian:

There are no burqas on the streets of Tarrés. In fact, there are no Muslims at all in this village of 108 inhabitants in north-east Spain. But that will not stop the parish council debating whether to ban burqas and face-covering niqabs from parts of the village next week.

“It is true that there are no Muslims living in the village now, but this would be a preventive measure in case they come,” said parish councillor Daniel Rivera, from the tiny and openly xenophobic Partit per Catalunya. Rivera’s motion to ban burqas has outraged many – and other councillors say they will vote against it. But whatever the result, the motion is symptomatic of wider moves in the Catalonia region to ban Islamic veils from public buildings.

Today the nearby provincial capital, Lleida, formally passed a ban that was first announced in May. Women found wearing burqas in public buildings will first be given a warning but any repeat will lead to a fine of between €300 and €600 (£250-£500).

Read more

More Below the Ad

Advertisement


New and Improved Comments

We are launching a major overhaul of our comments section.

In addition to more robust spam filtering and moderation, new features include the ability to rate other comments, sort how they are displayed and respond directly via e-mail or in a thread.

Unfortunately, commenters will lose their existing Truthdig identities. It's a pain, we know, but on the plus side you will now be able to log in with a plethora of options, including Google, Twitter, Facebook and Disqus accounts.

Before launching this system we spent months in discussion with our top commenters. We listened to the feedback and we hope you like what we've come up with.

Please direct any problems or concerns to us via our contact page.

By Percy Dovetonsil, July 2, 2010 at 7:05 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

No burqua!  Guess I depart from the party line on this one subject.

Foot binding is free expression too.  But a society that permits it treats its women
barbarically.  If the veil were Christian—and in some places it •is•—I’d still be for the
ban on principle.

Report this
Peter Knopfler's avatar

By Peter Knopfler, July 2, 2010 at 6:53 pm Link to this comment

When you start wearing a Burqa at 3 years old its not by choice you spinless goofs. Brainwash starts at 3, ignore and you too need to do the Burqa sun experiment Women of Islam have no choice, get that, Spinless jelly fish sitting on the fence of mindlessness. Free the women and free the world. Men just don`t have the stomach for free women, spinless men keep women from being free or they give a blind eye to their lack of choice from birth, “I thought I was lost, now I`m just blind” spinless Men, the viagra generation of Muslim men.

Report this
PatrickHenry's avatar

By PatrickHenry, July 2, 2010 at 4:50 pm Link to this comment

Its a matter of choice issue for me.

I didn’t think Spain had a dress code.

Report this

By gerard, July 2, 2010 at 4:28 pm Link to this comment

Banning the burqua is truly a thorny issue.  If it is okay for women to disguise their entire physical entity, is it okay for men, too?  And kids?  And is it okay for everyone in the world?  And if they did ...?

I have this nightmare vision of a permanent, universal grotesque Carnival where everyone wears a mask and a complete costume because a mysterious Leader told them to do so way back in 1492 or thereabouts.  They have been doing this ever since, nobody can recognize anybody, and no one knows who anyone is—except your family members and a few choice friends.
If anyone approaches another person, claiming to recognize him or her without written permission from a legal agency to do so (birth certificate, current drivers’ license, dog tag, up-to-date income tax receipt) he/she will be forced to strip nude in the public square and repeat the Pledge of Allegiance until they drop dead.

Once a year, on a date specified by the International Social Justice Council, everyone who chooses to do so is entitled to take off his/her mask for two hours and speak with whomever he/she wishes.  People will get together to dance in the streets and huge cakes will be served in the public square, each one containing a hidden COIN. The lucky person who happens to get the piece of cake containing the prize is entitled to commit assisted suicide.

How my mind does run on!  Anyway, it’s a thorny issue—telling people what they can or cannot wear.
I think we had better drop the entire question right now, in the interests of sanity, and simply hope for the best.  There are times when doing nothing is way better than doing almost anything else.

Report this
Peter Knopfler's avatar

By Peter Knopfler, July 2, 2010 at 2:35 pm Link to this comment

NO BURQAS FOR NO ONE! Try this experiment
Put on a full length Burqa and go sit in the hot Sun
for two hours,
then take it off look into the mirror and ask
yourself Can I do this,
wear the Burqa the rest of my life!
ANYONE supporting no sunlight no vitamin D, no
natural exposure to natures elements, all this cover
up is unhealthy, for body/mind and spirit. Let
Freedom Reign, Muslim MEN free your women and you
will free yourself and the world. Women are HUMANS
TOO, let my people go, free women of the world! OK
MOM!

Report this
Newsletter

Get Truthdig in your inbox


 
 
 
Join the Liberal Blog Advertising Network
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A Progressive Journal of News and Opinion. Editor, Robert Scheer. Publisher, Zuade Kaufman.
Copyright © 2012 Truthdig, L.L.C. All rights reserved.