Italian MPs launch headscarf clampdown (Burquas Banned)

The Star ^ | September 22, 2004

[UKCajun]

Rome - Local members of the far-right Northern League party have declared war on burqas by fining Muslim women who wear the head-covering garment in public.

The anti-burqa campaign, first launched by the mayor of the small northern town of Drezzo, a Northern League stronghold near Lake Como, has since spread to other towns and has now developed into a national issue after being backed by party members of the European Parliament.

Mario Borghezio, a member of the European Parliament (MEP) known for his xenophobic views, has issued a statement praising the initiative in Drezzo and describing the burqas as "a symbol of death".

"Burqas are a symbol of the worst form of Islamic fundamentalism as regards women," Borghezio said, adding that the garments brought to mind images of the hostage-takers who took part in the Russian school massacre.

"Our citizens are tired of having crime and terrorism on their doorstep. We must launch an offensive against the invasion of Muslims," Borghezio was quoted as saying yesterday.

Borghezio is joined by Matteo Salvini, another MEP, who wants similar measures to be introduced in Milan.

"There are too many streets of some areas of Milan that look like Kabul. We must put an end to the policy of tolerance," Salvini told Corriere della Sera.

...excerpted..

[UKCajun]

I would like to see a comparative picture of a woman's face shrouded in a burqua and a woman's face shrouded in an S&M leather mask with collar and chain. I suspect they would look relatively similar.

[CTpatriot]

They are.... both are enslavement.

[tkathy]

IMO the entire western world should ban these god-awful slave rags.

[Enduring Freedom]

AWESOME! GO ITALIA!

[eleni121]

What an absolutely beautiful area this is in the Northern Lake district...and now even more...without burkas.

[jocon307]

Try as some might like, it appears this is truly going to turn into a clash of civilizations.

[mtbopfuyn]

But, but in PC America they can wear them for driver's license pics.

[Bluedaddy]

This is the European whitewash. Instead of dealing with the real problem (invading hordes of N. African and ME muslims) they want to apply a band aid. This is the same rationale they took with not joining the war. Let them have their fate.

[FITZ]

Yes --- strange but we're one of the worst PC countries left --- not many would go along with seeing the KKK given permission to wear sheets for their drivers license photos --- but when it's about muslims --- we're super-policially correct.

[FITZ]

But look at us --- we're not exactly better --- near Detroit there's even a mosque that's being allowed to use loudspeakers at all ours of the day to broadcast their messages --- even to unwilling listeners.

[colderwater]

Why are they fining the women? They need to fine the men.

C.W.

[RightWhale]

Yes. We hope it can be avoided. When we cross the line we won't be coming back for a long time.

[freeperfromnj]

The other day I saw a woman walking through Times Square wearing a burka. Not a headscarf -- a burka. Covered from head to toe with just her eyes looking out. It was really weird seeing that in a big city. I thought to myself.....we freed the woman of Afghanistan and here we have suppressed women walking in our own cities. Unreal.

[Twinkie]

I think the Christians there need to loudly broadcast their beautiful church bells playing a hymn at the same times of the day as the Moslem calls to prayer and see how long before the PC crowd condemns it and rationalizes why the Moslem stuff has to be tolerated and the Christian stuff not.

[JasonC]

Because of fashion? Give me a break. If they want to do something real about Islamic terrorism there is plenty of actual work to do, against people who are actually engaged in criminal acts. They aren't, because this grandstanding superficial idiocy is easier.

[Publius6961]

"The long festering reaction finally began in a small town, tucked in a corner of one of the oldest and historic republics on earth. After years of inaction, years of burying their dead in stoic slavish silence, affirming their dedication to all those principles that separated them from animals, they acted.
"Their numbers had dwindled over time to a mere few dozen, from a few thousand. They had spent generations, picking up their dead; and pieces of their dead, while their leadership reminded them that humanity demanded that they not lower themselves to the level of their savage predator. "Finally, that historic day, a rebel soul, a maverick spirit found the inner strength to say it. To will it. To allow the spirit of ..."

[Publius6961]

but when it's about muslims --- we're super-policially correct.

That's because we have a national fetish about religion; a distorted grotesque fetish. A profound contradiction: we allow plain and simple killer cultures free rein, while simultaneously restricting even the most innocuous symbols of the religions that founded the freest and greatest country in history.

To pursue your comparison, if the KKK declared themselves a religion, and declared that they also had to bow to Mecca five times a day, and had their leaders spout the most hateful things from their pulpits, I truly and seriously don't know how our degenerate legal system could prevent it.

[Getsmart64]

What?!?!?....where's George Clooney when you need him????!?!?...He won't stand against this outrage...of the Italians....ya know...he has a mansion on the shores of Lake Como...

[Getsmart64]

"But, but in PC America they can wear them for driver's license pics."

What ever became of that case??

[BookaT]

Oh but that is not fair, I can hear them complain. I say move! Move to a country that understands and tolerates you. Keep it up and you will start to run out of countries that will tolerate you!