Hijabs on Western Political Women

For fun, how about collecting those instances when female political leaders, especially leftist ones, don the hijab (Islamic headscarf)?

Oriana Fallaci, interviewing Ayatollah Khomeini in September 1979 in Qum, Iran. The interview lasted six hours and at one point, an indignant Fallaci removed her chador and threw it at Khomeini.

Oriana Fallaci interviewing Ayatollah Khomeini, before she threw her chador at him.

Princess Diana during a 1996 visit to a cancer hospital in Pakistan. .

Princess Diana in hijab in a Pakistan hospital.

Hilary Clinton, when she was still wife of the U.S. president in 1997, traveled to Eritrea and put on a headscarf. Interestingly, her daughter Chelsea, seen in the background, did not.

Hillary Rodham Clinton traveling in Eritrea in 1997 with a headscarf on.

But on another occasion, Chelsea joined her in wearing a headscarf.

Mother and daughter, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, wearing headscarves.

Interesting that Hilary and Clelsea should be wearing headcovers while with Yasir Arafat.

The two Clinton women cover there heads - out of respect for Yasir Arafat?

Mona Sahlin, elected just two days ago the leader of Sweden's Social Democratic Party, famously donned a head piece when visiting a mosque on September 14, 2001.

Swedish Social Democratic Party leader Mona Sahlin (right) in headscarf, speaking with Mahmoud Aldebe, chairman of the Swedish Muslim Association, on visiting a mosque in Stockholm.

Prince Charles' wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, got into complete Egyptian Muslim garb, including hijab, on a visit to Al-Azhar.

Camilla Parker Bowles with Prince Charles in Egypt.

Janet Napolitano, the governor of Arizona, put on a hijab to address Muslims in Sun Angel Stadium on the eid in February 2004, but I cannot find any pictures of her.

Antje Vollmer, Green Party member and vice-president of the German Bundestag, visiting Riyadh as part of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's delegation in March 2005.

Antje Vollmer, Green Party member and vice-president of the German Bundestag, in Hijab.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visiting a mosque in Dushanbe, Tajikistan in October 2005, wearing a black cover on her hair.

Diane Sawyer of ABC's "Good Morning America" television program interviewed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wearing a hijab in February 2007.

Diane Sawyer while interviewing Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, donned a headscarf when she visited Damascus in April 2007.

Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, in Damascus.

Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen, a former Danish minister of culture (and someone with whom I have argued), wore a hijab near the parliament in April 2007.

Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen, a former Danish minister of culture.

In June 2007, three senior Bush administration staffers wore makeshift hijabs as they listened to the president address an audience at Washington's Islamic Center.

Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Fran Townsend (far left), NSC Senior Director for European Affairs Judy Ansley (left), and Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes (right) listen to President Bush wearing makeshift hijabs.

On a trip to Saudi Arabia in October 2007, George W. Bush's wife Laura wore a particularly severe-looking hijab.

Laura Bush in Saudi Arabia.

Angelina Jolie the actress also serves as a "Goodwill Ambassador" for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; in the latter capacity, she visited a eathquake-struck village in Pakistan in August 2007.

Angelina Jolie, UNHCR goodwill ambassador, in a Pakistani village in August 2007.

Switzerland's Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey wore a full hijab in Tehran in March 2008 as she signed a natural gas deal with Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (March 19, 2008)

Switzerland's Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey meets with Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran.

Comment: And what does one make of the male practice of holding hands, as George W. Bush did with Saudi king Abdullah?

Mar. 23, 2008 update: A number of readers have responded to this blog by pointing out that the women pictured above are doing nothing different from non-Jewish men donning a kippah (yarmulke, skullcap) in a synagogue. To which, I have three replies:

1. Jews are not imposing their ways on the West. I object that the respect by Westernerns for Islamic customs is not enough reciprocated.

2. In about half the pictures above, the women are not in a mosque or other religious place. In their cases, the comparison is irrelevant.

3. When they are in a mosque, I reject the comparison of a head covering and a skullcap. Wearing a skullcap is like taking one's shoes off on entering a mosque. But wearing a hijab, especially the full hijab such as Laura Bush wore, is like a non-Jewish male putting on the tallit (prayer shawl). It is not a small symbolic step of respect but rather taking on important aspects of the ritual of a religion not one's own.

A Jewish man praying with a tallit, or prayer shawl, over his head and upper torso.

Apr. 7, 2008 update: It's a bit off-topic, but the Stony Brook Muslim Student Association is sponsoring (along with the "wo/men's gender resource center") a "Scarves for Solidarity" day today. The announcement explains:

The purpose of Scarves for Solidarity is to help save battered women while spreading awareness about Islam. The Muslim Student Association is working with sponsors who plan to donate $5 to Battered Women's Shelter for every female who volunteers to wear a head-scarf/hijab on Monday, April 7^th 2007.

Head-scarves will be available (FOR FREE) at the Union lobby between 12 pm and 3 pm throughout the week of Monday, March 31^st. All that is required from you is to wear the scarf provided for you from 10am until 7:30 pm on April 7^th. The scarves will all be the same color so that you can recognize other women volunteering to save battered women.

You are also invited to a discussion at 7:30 pm in SAC Ballroom B where you will have a chance to share your experience of wearing the hijab/scarf. (Refreshments will be served)

MSA then goes on to explain what the hijab is and how to wear it.

The "Scarves for Solidarity" poster.

Comment: Note this, non-Muslim women! You don't have to go to a majority-Muslim country or a mosque to wear a hijab. You can wear one in your normal life.

May 15, 2008 update: Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom wore a headscarf while visiting the Green Mosque in Bursa, Turkey.

Queen Elizabeth in a Turkish mosque.

Oct. 11, 2008 update: Sandra Pupatello (Liberal Party), Ontario's International Minister of International Trade and Development, wears a hijab on a visit to Riyadh.

Sandra Pupatello, a Canadian politician, seems quite at home in her hijab.

Jan. 15, 2009 update: The new Swiss ambassador to Tehran, Livia Leu Agosti, has stated she will observe Iran's Islamic dress code and wear a hijab during her mission.

Livia Leu Agosti, the new Swiss ambassador to Iran, soon to be seen under a hijab.

May 26, 2009 update: Norway's Queen Sonja wore a headscarf as she visited the mosque of the Islamic Cultural Centre Norway in Oslo.

Norway's Queen Sonja.

June 4, 2009 update: Hillary Clinton, now U.S. secretary of state, donned a hijab to tour the Sultan Hassan Mosque in Cairo along with Barack Obama. Her beatific look prompted CNN producers to post the picture and invite readers to submit captions for it, and 287 of them did so.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the Sultan Hassan Mosque in Cairo.

This official White House caption for the photograph below reads: "Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recounts a story to President Barack Obama, Senior Advisors David Axelrod and Valerie Jarrett, outside the Sultan Hassan Mosque in Cairo, Egypt.

Two top American officials, Valerie Jarrett and Hillary Clinton, wear color-coordinated hijabs in Cairo.

Aug. 8, 2009 update: By way of relief, I collect pictures of Muslim political woman who emphatically does not wear hijab at "Glamorous Muslim Political Women."

Sep. 10, 2009 update: Livia Leu Agosti, Swiss ambassador to Iran, wears a yellow hijab while negotiating with Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki (second from right)..

The Swiss ambassador with (left to right) the Russian ambassador, the French ambassador, and Iran's Foreign Minister Mottaki.

Oct. 29, 2009 update: Hillary Clinton, U.S. secretary of state, shown at the Iqbal Memorial in Lahore with Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

Hillary Clinton in Pakistan, ironically while visiting the shrine of a modernist Islamic thinker, Muhammad Iqbal.

Oct. 30, 2009 update: Another hijab'd Hillary in Pakistan; is this also at the Iqbal Memorial?

Hillary Clinton, still in Pakistan.

Mar. 22, 2010 update: Lene Espersen, the foreign minister of Denmark, donned a hijab and various scarves on paying a visit to her Afghan counterpart in Kabul, Zalmai Rassoul. That Rassoul wore a well-appointed Western suit to meet her meant that each official wore the other's clothing. The accompanying news report indicates that while President Hamid Karzai appreciates her gesture, she need not wear a hijab when she meets him, suggesting that Espersen took this initiative of her own accord.

The Danish and Afghan foreign ministers meet in Kabul, each wearing the other's clothing.

Lene Espersen may wear a hijab but her demeanor suggests she does not usually do so.

Apr. 20, 2010 update: Claudia Roth, leader of the German Green Party, looks radiant in a pink hijab on a visit to Iran.

Claudia Roth of Germany's Green Party.

Oct. 26, 2010 update: Bettina Wulff, wife of Germany's President Christian Wulff, donned the hijab during a trip to Turkey.

Bettina Wulff accompanies her husband, the German president, in Turkey.

Nov. 10, 2010 update: Michelle Obama, wife of Barack, donned a beige animal-print hijab on a visit to the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta – and looked none to pleased about having to wear it.

Michelle Obama looks unhappy touring an Indonesian mosque in hijab.

Nov. 25, 2010 update: Here's a two-fer of British women in Abu Dhabi. The lesser example is Ffion Hague, wife of Williami Hague, the foreign minister, done up in a fairly standard hijab.

Ffion Hague in hijab by her husband, British foreign minister William Hague.

And then there is Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, in head gear that makes her look like the royal beekeeper. Who came up with this preposterous thing? For more pictures of them both, see today's Daily Mail.

Queen Elizabeth II emerges shyly in her Shar'i-compliant outfit.

The royal beekeeper?

Sep. 12, 2011 update: Ann Curry, co-anchor of NBC's morning television program Today, got herself bundled up to follow Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, around for the day and pepper him with puff-ball questions.

Ann Curry, reporting from Tehran.

Sep. 21, 2011 update: Livia Leu Agosti, Swiss ambassador to Iran, helped negotiate the release of American hostages and then mugged for the cameras with them under a fetching pale blue hijab.

A Swiss diplomat in Tehran.

Jan. 8, 2012 update: Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and Crown Princess Máxima put on headscarves and long gowns during a visit to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

The Dutch queen in a mosque in Abu Dhabi.,

May 6, 2012 update: She's not a famous political woman but Cheryl Borman, a civilian, non-Muslim defense attorney (paid by the American taxpayer) representing accused 9/11 co-conspirator Walid bin Attash, not only wears a hijab at "all times" when she in the presence of her client "out of respect" for his beliefs; she also calls for other women in the legal process to wear "appropriate" clothing.

Cheryl Borman at the Guantánamo hearing. Sketch by Janet Hamlin, reviewed by the U.S. Department of Defense.

Sep. 13, 2012 update: Princess Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, donned a hijab to visit Assyakirin Mosque in Kuala, the biggest in Malaysia.

The UK's Princess Kate, 30, goes all-white for her first official mosque visit, in Malaysia.

Sep. 23, 2012 update: Tammy Duckworth, the Democratic Party candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in an Illinois district, wore a hijab while speaking at an Islamic cultural center in Villa Park.

Tammy Duckworth breaks new American ground by campaigning in a hijab.

Nov. 26, 2012 update: Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change, wore a headscarf when addressing the 18^th United Nations Convention on Climate Change in Doha, Qatar.

A United Nations bureaucrat dons a headscarf in Qatar for her official duties.

Feb. 25, 2013 update: A new blog of mine, "Islamist Media Digitally Cover Up Prominent Western Women," reports on those cases where women don't cover up enough for Islamist taste, so the censors do the job for them via Photoshop.

Apr. 22, 2013 update: She's not your typical political woman but Edwina Storie, Australian soft-porn actress turned Press TV reporter, does deserve note. Here she is in the old days:

Edwina Storie as model.

And here she is now, working for the Islamic Republic of Iran:

Edwina Storie reporting for Iranian television.

May 4, 2013 update: Western political women don't have to wear hijabs. Here's an example: Queen Sylvia of Sweden and another woman visiting the Fittja Grand Mosque in Stockholm as part of the 40^th anniversary celebrations of King Carl XVI Gustaf's accession to the throne. Neither has put on a hjiab.

The Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf (center) and Queen Sylvia (third from right) welcomed in a Stockholm mosque by the Turkish imam (third from left).

July 4, 2013 update: The singer Madonna, an honorary political woman, posted a photo from the forthcoming Harper's Bazaar magazine showing herself in a chainmail mask in niqab style. The words "The Revolution of Love is on…Inshallah" accompany the picture. Perhaps this harks back to her frustrated intent to appear in a Muslim bridal dress in a music video. Perhaps it refers in some way to the breakup with her devout Muslim boyfriend, Brahim Zaibat.

Madonna posing in a chainmail niqab.

Oct. 20, 2013 update: Rihanna is a pop star, not a political woman, but she has an impact. Here she is in her usual format, on the cover of GQ magazine:

And here she is in front of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi:

Related Topics:  Dhimmitude, Sex and gender relations receive the latest by email: subscribe to daniel pipes' free mailing list This text may be reposted or forwarded so long as it is presented as an integral whole with complete and accurate information provided about its author, date, place of publication, and original URL.