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Weak arguments, lost battle, wrong strategy

Reader comment on item: The Case for Banning Burqas and Niqabs
in response to reader comment: Agree Totally with Cohen-Almagor's Logic, Pipes' Conclusion Except It Isn't Enough

Submitted by David (Israel), Apr 26, 2022 at 03:54

Let's face it: the opposition to burkas and niqabs is driven by the Western peoples' cutlural and civilizational disgust for this awful and repulsive (for us) garment. NOT by anything else. Everybody knows it, even if they do not say so for flawed PC reasons. Therefore Dr. Pipes' arguments are not only weak and inefficient, they play into the hands of the Islamists and useful idiots such as Prof. Cohen-Almagor.

Actually, Dr. Pipes' piece is no more than a self-defeating description of how his own arguments were efficiently used in a trivial jiu-jitsu counter-maneuver in SUPPORT of niqab wearing.

Seriously, Dr. Pipes? Do you really think that it is possible to prevent citizens of a *democratic Western* country to wear whatever ugly rags they choose to wear, with arguments such as vitamin D deficiency? The legal case for the right of women who legally reside in the West to wear whatever they please, is simply unbeatable.

The awful myopia of the Western countries lies in fighting this losing battle INSTEAD of not letting niqab wearing women and their families into the Western countries in the first place. At the borders, there is practically no law. The border officials' power is unlimited. They can put whoever they want on an airplane and kick them back to where they came from. This stems from the fundamental sovereignty of nations. Barring crimes against humanity, which are irrelevant here, nations can legally do pretty much as they please at their borders.

To summarize: do not let them in, on the grounds of cultural incompatibility and lack of respect for local custome and values, and kick them out BEFORE they reach the airport gates. They want to prove their bona fide respect for the customs and values of the country they want to enter and live in? Let them sign a commitment BEFORE THEY CROSS THE BORDER not to wear burka, not to force their women to wear it, and not to abuse local customs, Western style womens' rights, order in the public space etc. And if they break this commitment, kick them out very well just like America knows to *completely legally* kick out people who lied about their Nazi past, their intent to work in the US, or for that matter lied about ANYTHING, in a declaration they signed to get an entry visa, even if this lie is discovered decades after the fact.

Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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Reader comments (17) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
3Iran's Women's Fashion Revolution? [267 words]RobertOct 4, 2022 13:26287121
2Burqa clad women tend to become obese or over-weight [236 words]PrashantOct 5, 2022 00:45287121
2The tale of two Muslim women in India [360 words]PrashantOct 12, 2022 13:32287121
2India & Pakistan - Hindu & Islam [303 words]RobertOct 12, 2022 22:14287121
3Evidence behind my conjecture and more [264 words]PrashantOct 16, 2022 00:20287121
2Banning the burqa and niqab - how to get it done [281 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
NicholasMay 13, 2022 20:49281163
more dangerous aspects of Islamism in the USA [148 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
DavidMay 13, 2022 19:28281158
2Head Covers and body tent like covers [106 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
joan ribiApr 28, 2022 15:51280269
1Pallywood: This is how the Palestinian method of fraud works [63 words]EmirApr 25, 2022 03:46280072
1How to know that a video is real? [117 words]PrashantApr 25, 2022 18:11280072
1Agree Totally with Cohen-Almagor's Logic, Pipes' Conclusion Except It Isn't Enough [591 words]David RyanApr 24, 2022 05:57280043
2Weak arguments, lost battle, wrong strategy [401 words]DavidApr 26, 2022 03:54280043
4Screening for "Radical" Muslims [343 words]David RyanApr 26, 2022 13:20280043
2Obfuscation of Intents and Purposes - Implementing Dress Codes Does Not Deal with Heart of the Matter [153 words]M ToveyApr 26, 2022 18:00280043
4Saluting David Horowitz [145 words]PrashantApr 27, 2022 01:29280043
2Re. your column on "The Case For Banning Burqas and Niqas [299 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Bryan TaplitsApr 23, 2022 18:44280026
3Why increase the risks to public health and safety? [78 words]DaveApr 23, 2022 16:55280024

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