According to today's news, Belgian lawmakers are set to vote on a proposed ban on wearing sunglasses in public, a day after neighbouring France proposed enacting similar legislation. The ban would also include a ban on make-up, masks, hats, caps, beards, veils and mufflers that do not allow the wearer to be fully identified. The lawmakers say they are motivated both by security and morality. "We think all people in public places must show their face," says Denis Ducarme, member of the liberal Reformist Movement Party which drafted the legislation. Xavier Baselen, another party member, said the ban is needed for reasons of public order. "In Belgium we decided [that] to be visible in the street is [a] real important law at a public order point of view".
OK, I was joking. The ban will only target the full-face niqab and burqa. The quotes, however, are authentic. And really, I think that there are many of us who should feel concerned. This guy, for instance:
Wasn't it Arendt who warned that the destruction of the rights of the minorities was often aimed at destroying the rights of everyone?
For news reports on this scandalous issue, see for example:
"Belgium considers ban on Islamic face coverings", Richard Allen Greene, CNN: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/04/21/belgium.burqa.ban/index.html
"Belgium to vote on face veil ban", Al Jazeera: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/04/20104224838700832.html
"Belgien kan bli först ut att förbjuda slöja", Linnéa Jonjons, DN:
http://www.dn.se/nyheter/varlden/belgien-kan-bli-forst-ut-att-forbjuda-sloja-1.1081690
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