The only thing that mystifies me about “The Veil Conspiracy” is that anyone would believe that women would want to walk around in tiny little rooms draped over their heads and bodies. There is no doubt that that enforcement of such rules (by men, of course) is nothing more than another way to exert control. These muslim morons are so threatened by their women, their own lack of self-control, and their lack of faith in their fellow men, that they don’t dare allow themselves or each other the temptation of looking at a woman. That or they are all flaming homosexuals who can’t stand the sight of women. That may help explain the whole goat thing.
This basic issue is one that gets the least media attention. Where are the women’s rights advocates? Where are the brassiere burning mavens of the 60’s and 70’s? Where are the marchers, the protesters, the whiners, bitchers, moaners, complainers…?
Apparently they’re all too enthralled with the islamists’ plight to take over the world to understand that their rights would be ground underfoot in the process. Or maybe they think the acid face-wash is some new hollyweird beauty trick.
Muslim women who try to rebel are considered “whores” and treated as outcasts. Some of them want to move to areas “with no Muslims” to escape. However, that might not be a solution, as Islamists are at work all over France. The Communist newspaper L’Humanité in 2003 interviewed two Catholic-born French women who said they had converted to Islam and started wearing the niqab after systematic indoctrination by the Muslim Brotherhood.
In light of this, wearing the hijab may or may not be a manifestation of the free exercise of religion. For any individual, it may reflect the very opposite–religious coercion. In fact, millions of women are forced to wear the veil for fear of physical retribution. And the fear is well founded. According to Cheryl Benard of RAND, every year hundreds of women in Pakistan and Afghanistan alone are killed, have acid thrown in their faces, or are otherwise maimed by male fanatics.
Given the Islamists’ ferocious determination on this point, it is worth asking: Why exactly is covering the female so important to them? The obvious answer is that it is a means of social control. Not coincidentally, it is one of the only issues on which Sunni and Shia extremists agree. It’s not by chance that use of the hijab really took off after Iran’s Islamic regime came to power in 1979. Some Shiite militias in Iraq have actually started forcing women–Muslim or not–to wear the veil or face the consequences.
If this issue were not vital for Islamists, how can one explain their reaction when France banned the hijab in public schools? Al Qaeda’s number two, Ayman al Zawahiri, “strongly condemned” President Chirac’s decision and threatened actions against France. Likewise, Sheikh Fadlallah, founder and spiritual leader of Hezbollah, wrote to Chirac threatening “likely complications” for France. Mohammad Khatami, former president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, called on the French government to “cancel this unjust law.”