Islamic Masks In The Public Sphere

The photo at left is from Mark Steyn`s latest piece, in which he bravely comes out for intolerance. (It is bravely–nothing, no matter how intolerable, is hated as much as “intolerance.”)

His piece is called I`m with the `intolerant` Quebecers | MARK STEYN: The niqab deserves no more respect than a Vader mask, [Macleans, March 25, 2010].

The photo at right is from a blog item of mine: Deconstructing Islamophobia–Who Is That Masked Woman? in which I make the same point–Islamic fundamentalists are demanding the right to appear in public wearing a mask. The Islamic face-covering costume has frequently been used by armed robbers and wanted criminals in whatever country it`s been allowed in.

And if it seems unchivalrous to make a nice Arab lady who`s been conditioned against showing her face in public appear without her mask, remember that as long as she`s wearing the mask, you don`t know if she`s nice, Arab, or a lady.

One of the commonest uses of the of the burqa by terrorists is to disguise a wanted man. Maulana Mohammad Abdul Aziz Ghazi, 46, a Pakistani imam wanted for leading an insurrection, and Yassin Omar, 26, one of the London bombers, both used a burqa as a disguise. (Maulana, etc etc, was one of those people you see in old comedies who really has no business disguising himself as a woman–Daniel Pipes says “his height, demeanor, and pot belly gave him away,”)Daniel Pipes writes

Burqas and niqabs also facilitate non-political criminal behavior. Unsurprisingly, favorite targets of robberies include jewelry stores (examples come from Canada, Great Britain, and India) and banks (Great Britain, Bosnia, and two 2007 attacks in Philadelphia).