Hiding behind a veil? - of prejudice?

The debate is heating up. Should Muslim women be allowed to "hide" behind their veils in what is perceived as an "act" of separation?

The topic has all the hallmarks of scape-goating. It is also the slippery-slope to a whole range of triggering prejudices and bigotry of all sorts and against people and issues not presently on the radar.

As the NY Times reports:

"Prime Minister Tony Blair today joined a passionate and increasingly corrosive debate over the use of the Islamic full-face veil by some British Muslim women, calling it a “mark of separation.”

His remarks reflected a sense that British society is heading toward ever deeper fissures between its Muslim minority and non-Muslim majority, evoking questions about the nation’s readiness to embrace its Muslim minority and the minority’s own willingness to adapt.

The discussion mirrors earlier public disputes in France, Turkey and elsewhere about Muslim headgear — though, in Britain, the debate is largely limited to the use of the full-face veil known as the niqab."

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