European [Dis]Union

Admittedly, Norway is not part of the European Union, so the title of this posting may be forgiven slightly. A part of Europe it is, however, and right now, this Scandinavian country of 4.3 million dominates the news. Not a happy event, sadly, for when a mass murder occurs inspired by racial hatred and right-wing politics, we are obliged to sit up and take notice. 

Our thoughts of course, are always with the victims and their families and no doubt the laws in Norway will follow their due course. But what I feel that Europe is forced to confront, is their sleeping discontent towards it's Muslim population. Not helped, by the actions of certain Muslims, of course, what is even more disturbing is that Europe has not truly escaped the prejudices of their historic past and so it shouldn't be surprising that sympathisers of radical Hitleresque ideologies exist amongst their midst. 

Call it the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the Third Reich or the  Bosnia War, historically speaking, Europe has been there before - several times in fact, with the Jews and the Muslims. It starts with fear, propaganda, hate crimes and then state institutions that pass ridiculous laws. All of these steps pave the way to graver acts against humanity. When Belgium moves to ban the veil by drawing alarmist attention to something that I've often felt is rather more individual, can they truly claim that they are doing society a favour? I mean, where is the thin line drawn between outright Islamaphobia and liberal good intent? And if that line is blurred, where is the difference between Islamaphobia and divisive/hateful right-wing intent? In fact, where is the difference between the liberal good and the fascist bad?

Unveiled

For the first time in 150 years, the French President was able to address Parliament. Nicolas Sarkozy, French President used the occasion to speak about the veil.

"We must not fight the wrong battle. In the republic, the Muslim faith must be respected as much as other religions."

"[The burkah] will not be welcome on French soil."

"We cannot accept, in our country, women imprisoned behind a mesh, cut off from society, deprived of all identity. That is not the French republic's idea of women's dignity."

What's in a piece of cloth? This continues to be an issue because of the on-going Western-centric vilification of Muslims and Islam. This is nothing short of a mammoth culture clash which leads to so many global conflicts. The veil, therefore, is neither here, nor there.

Masked Identity 1: Beyond the Mask

Jack, So Simple

Jack Straw once created a ripple of controversy when he kicked up a fuss about not being able to see the people he was talking to. This is a familiar frustration when people are speaking on the phone, but Jack Straw was not talking about that. He wasn't talking about the quality of his eye-glasses or even about the lighting in his office. He was, as we all know now, speaking about trying to get behind the what he felt was a communication barrier that stood between him and a particular group of female constituents - that is, behind the veil of his Muslim audience. To get behind the mask - so to speak.

Straw had no time for mystery. His solution? Drop the veil to make it easier for him to see who he was speaking to.

He would probably have a difficult time here in the Khaleej where in the heart of the Muslim world, black veils are aplenty and face coverings are fairly normal. How would he read the signals? Yes - no - excuse me - sorry, ahem - a mixture of awkwardness, embarassment and irritation.

A Mask of Mystery

The debate around the extent to which the veil should be applied continues though what I will say is that, overall, these things don't really bother me, in the way they do Mr Straw. One is either conditioned or they get used to it, so no surprises. I was recently working at a senior level in a school with an all-female staff here in the UAE. All wore the customary Abaya and I was concious that the face-veil was observed by some because of my presence. Often, when I had a meeting with the staff, they would adjust their sheilas when they heard me approaching. My duty was to stand back, knock and then wait to be invited in to their offices or classrooms.

It isn't necessarily easy for somebody in my shoes, but I accept that essentially, we are talking about real people in real situations - my emergent Arabic, the cultural norms (that included the socially accepted gender divide here in the Muslim world) and face veils have never really gotten in way - if you want to be understood, if you try to understand, if there is the will - you can often find a way.