Europe diary: Banning the veil
19 January 2006
In his diary this week, BBC Europe editor Mark Mardell discusses moves to ban the burqa in Belgium and the Netherlands, offers a new definition of journalistic objectivity, and pays tribute to a British MEP.
The diary is published every Thursday.
WOMEN IN BLACK
Should the state dictate what you wear?
I've been looking at proposals to ban the Islamic veil. It's already a reality in some towns in Belgium. The mayor of Maaseik tells me that he decided on the ban because,
when women appeared in the town covered from head to foot in black, with not even their eyes visible, it frightened old people and children burst into tears.
Rather flippantly, I told him my little son cried when he saw Father Christmas but I hoped they weren't going to ban St Nick. He told me, quite seriously, that his council has made an exception for Santa Claus: he can cover his face so only his eyes are visible. I'm not sure Black Peter is allowed such leeway.
Despite this, there are reports of 200 Moroccan Muslims moving from the Netherlands to Belgium last year because the atmosphere is better here.
POLITICAL STATEMENT
In the Netherlands, there are plans to impose a niqab and burqa ban all over the country. We meet a very thoughtful Muslim lawyer, who argues it is not necessary in Islam to cover up but defends the right of women to do so. As we leave her office in The Hague, she
makes a throwaway remark.
"When I came here I was called the little Turkish girl, now I'm seen as a Muslim woman." Devout herself, she feels the West's hostility towards Islam is pushing some to become more religious, and predicts that if a ban is imposed some women will wear the niqab or burqa as a political statement.
THE SATURDAY MORNING TEST
Whenever people talk about journalistic objectivity, they nearly always mean whether or not we allow personal political beliefs to sway editorial judgements.
| HAVE YOUR SAY No government or man should be allowed to dictate what a woman can and cannot wear Bev, Dubai At least the Muslim women in Europe are free to practise thieir religion - I am not Moira Johnstone, Hail, Saudi Arabia I'm upset that our current government seems to be willing to jump on this populist bandwagon Saskia, Leiden, Netherlands For those who pretend that people wearing the veil frighten children and old people, I say: your tanks and missiles frighten animals and humans Mohammed, USA If people want to live in a European country they should respect the way of life of that country Sally, Bristol Sadly many people have the jaundiced 'gravy train' view of MEPs and don't see the good work of people such as Phillip Whitehead Stuart, Brussels |
I think a better test of real objectivity is that Saturday morning phone call: is your judgement of the worth of a story different when you are in the office eager to get on the bulletins from when you are at home looking forward to a day with the family?
In this case there wasn't much doubt. There was a case of suspected bird flu in Belgium: it could be the big one. I hurriedly multi-tasked, filing a radio piece on the highly functional bit of kit that looks like it's from a wartime film about secret agents sending wireless messages, while scrambling into a suit and tie and persuading the children to get out of their pyjamas so I could get a lift to the metro.
The Belgian officials sounded sombre. We all went off to a news conference at the hospital, where seats were laid out for half a dozen specialists and politicians. The announcement came: "This is not a case of
avian flu."
"What drama!" shouted out one journalist. But the Belgians were keen to show that their emergency procedure had swung smoothly into action and top marks to them for planning a news conference whatever the result. And I got my Saturday back.
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{Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.}
(Holy Quran-16:125)
{And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33)
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim]
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all."
[Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah]
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PUBLIC DUTY
Tributes will be paid in the European Parliament to Phillip Whitehead, the Labour MEP who died over the holidays. I wish I had known him better; in a time when politicians are often denigrated as self-serving and self-obsessed, he seemed to me the very model of a representative who saw himself fulfilling a public duty by his service.
He was modest too, not wanting to make a big announcement when a he was presented with a Solidarity medal by Lech Walesa in November. According to his colleagues, he was much more interested in discussing issues like bird flu than his own achievements.
Yahoo! Photos Showcase holiday pictures in hardcover
Photo Books. You design it and well bind it!
***************************************************************************
{Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.}
(Holy Quran-16:125)
{And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33)
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim]
The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all."
[Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah]
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All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not in any way reflect the official views of IslamCity unless sanctioned or approved otherwise.
If your mailbox clogged with mails from IslamCity, you may wish to get a daily digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to change your mail delivery settings or email the moderators at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the title "change to daily digest".
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