The freedom of religion and expression for European Muslims are under vigorous attack these days – and this is most evident in the attack on the headscarf. There is hope that cooler and more rational heads are prevailing in at least in Germany.
Thomas de Maiziere, Germany’s interior minister, has rightfully pointed out that attacks on the religious symbol of the headscarf could be used to attack Christian symbols. Maiziere stated that he would have no problem with a female worker wearing such a headscarf and that individual judgments need to be made as to the appropriateness of the dress “as they would be with Hawaiian shirts and flip-flops.”
German minister says headscarf ban could fire back – DW
Also – Human Rights Watch has condemned the ban of headscarves for German teachers as discriminatory and a violation of human rights. These laws and rules against headscarves are aimed exclusively at Muslim women and are popping up across Europe should be taken as violating the freedom of expression, freedom of choice, and discriminates against gender. They also violate Europe’s basic values that emphasize a multicultural and tolerant society that are based on human dignity and human rights. According to HRW’s study of the German headscarf ban from last year:
Policies of forced veiling and other obligations on women’s attire violate international human rights standards, and have repeatedly been criticized by Human Rights Watch.[194] But policies of excluding women who wear the headscarf from employment also run foul of these international norms, such as article 11 of the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. A ban on the headscarf in employment undercuts individual autonomy and choice, a fundamental aspect of women’s rights that is also violated in countries where women are forced to wear the headscarf. Muslim women concerned risk not being employed in the first place, and when they do have jobs, risk reprimands, suspension, and dismissal directly connected to the wearing of the headscarf. In fact, a blanket exclusion of women with headscarves from public schools amounts to a life-time employment ban in this specific career.
The feminists claim that they are “protecting women from oppression,” but HRW’s study reveals that Muslim women chose to wear the headscarf and had made a free choice to wear the headscarf. The ban had a profound effect on their lives – even forcing them out of teaching and making them feel out of place in their own country – and even forcing them out of their own country althgether:
The German minister is right to be concerned for the targeting and exclusion of Muslim headscarves. These measure to restrict the freedom of Muslims can foster a backlash against Christians’ symbols in public. HRW also tells us that these restrictions do not apply to Christian dress. The attacks on the freedom of expression and religion for European Muslims are also justified by as “preventing radicalization,” but these measures, according to HRW, alienate and exclude, which can actually lead radicalization! It is time to end these attacks of the religious freedoms of Muslims and end the religious bigotry and intolerance and return to REAL European values!
HRW’s – Discrimination in the Name of Neutrality February 26, 2009
Prohibition of the burqa and the niqab would not liberate oppressed women, but might instead lead to their further alienation in European societies. A general ban on such attires would constitute an ill-advised invasion of individual privacy. Depending on its precise terms, a prohibition also raises serious questions about whether such legislation would be compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.
