The Dutch have just banned face coverings, including burquas, in public places. They claim that it's a public safety measure, saying that garments covering the face may make others feel threatened and that burquas in particular could be used by suicide bombers. Others say that face coverings make communication and integration into a new culture more difficult, hampering Dutch efforts to integrate immigrants into society. According to Reuters this shouldn't present much of a problem, since only about 50 women in Holland actually wear a burqua; they're are already illegal in schools and on public transportation in the Netherlands. However, this law doesn't seem as strict as the French law prohibiting religious attire of any kind (crosses or head scarves) in public schools.

How does this fit into the supposedly tolerant Dutch society? Tolerance for immigrants, particularly Muslims (even native-born Muslims, at that) has dramatically decreased in the past 4 years since the murders of Pym Fortuyn (gay right-wing anti-Muslim politician) and Theo VanGogh (great-grandson of Vincent and controversial filmmaker who made a film with ex-Muslim politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali who, oddly enough, now works for the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute in DC).

I don't particularly agree with this new law. People should be able to do what they want, wear what they want, worship however they want, love whomever they want. Most developed countries allow their residents these freedoms (and some developing countries, too, as is evidenced by South Africa's recent passage of a bill allowing civil unions). Not that I agree with the idea that a woman's body, including her face, should be completely covered at all times, but I do believe that people should have the choice to wear it if they want. It's understandable that the government would want to ban this type of clothing, citing safety reasons, but there haven't been any suicide bombings in Holland (none in Western Europe come to mind, either, but correct me if I'm wrong) and facial coverings are already banned on public transport. So will banning burquas really make the Netherlands a safer place? What this does is show how the Dutch government's tolerance for non-Westerners is reaching a new low. It's likely that this ban will cause more problems than it's attempting to alleviate. (Kind of like that whole marriage ban thing here in WI...take away people's rights in order to prevent some huge unidentifiable catastrophe from happening...)