By Naima Bouteldja
Tuesday November 21, 2006
The Guardian

The political hubbub that greeted Jack Straw’s comments on the veil seems to have inspired a new continental fashion. Latest to join the fray is the Dutch government, which in the run-up to tomorrow’s general election announced plans to ban the wearing of the burka and face veil in public.

By doing so, it has raised what is becoming a Europe-wide campaign to a new level of authoritarianism. Naima Azough, a Dutch Green MP, points out that the ban would apply to fewer than 100 women.

“This didn’t come from public pressure,” she says, “but was initiated by the immigration minister, Rita Verdonk, whose Liberal-Conservative party is scrambling for far-right votes.”

The result will simply reinforce the perception of Muslims that they will never be accepted in Dutch society.

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