Arab pundits this week focussed on the controversy over the wearing of the niqab, both in Europe and the Arab world. In the pan-Arab Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, Ali Ibrahim noted that according to the British press, opinion polls in Britain show that 67 per cent of British people support a law banning the wearing of the niqab in public places, along the lines of the law introduced in France and some other European states. A proposal is to be submitted to parliament to introduce legislation making it illegal to cover one's face in public. In his article "The Niqab and the Elite", Ibrahim wrote that the interesting part of the British controversy was the stance taken by members of the British political and cultural elite, who have rushed to reject the idea of bringing in legislation determining what people can and cannot wear. Even the MP who introduced the proposal, Ibrahim adds, knows that there is not even one in a hundred chance of passing such legislation. Ibrahim wrote that the political centre in Britain, including members of parliament, realise that there is a desire amongst the electorate to ban the niqab, something which is reflected in the opinion polls. "But the politicians prefer to emphasise the values of coexistence and diversity within British society, standing against intolerance instead of relying on provocation to rouse public emotion," he said. The elite in any society, Ibrahim went on, must be capable of leading and not following public sentiment. The elite "must exercise a responsible role in protecting society from emotions that are usually temporary and stress the correct opinion instead, even if it is one that is not met with by wholesale public support. When the elite does that, it exercises a real role in improving society," Ibrahim wrote. Ibrahim does not support the niqab, but believes that the principle at issue is respect for individual freedom. "On the issue of the niqab, the reaction of the British elite to the proposed bill reflects their energy and self confidence and their capacity to lead society." In the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper Jamil Elthiabi urged Islamic and Arab countries to respect Western culture in the same way that they call on Westerners to respect their culture. Elthiabi noted that when Western women arrive in Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran they are obliged to wear a scarf on their heads as a sign of respect to the country. "Why are we trying to force European countries to respect our culture, when some of us refuse their culture and break their laws when guests in their lands?" Elthiabi wrote that wearing the niqab was not an eternal religious duty. The issue was already controversial in many Arab and Muslim countries, with Egypt, Syria and Turkey banning it at universities. "Europe has not banned the hijab," he wrote. "And there is a great difference between the niqab and the hijab. A woman's face is her identity. With the increase in security threats, Europe has the right to take pre-emptive measures to ensure its security." In its editorial, the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper noted that Syria had banned 1,200 teachers who wear the niqab from teaching, reassigning them to administrative jobs. The newspaper cited sources in Saudi Arabia and the UAE to the effect that these countries had also taken measures to reform their educational systems, the editorial saying that teachers known for their hardline tendencies were banned from teaching. Saudi Arabia had also reviewed its curriculum to make changes that would remove "hardline attitudes". "This campaign against the niqab and Islamist inclinations in schools aims to place a cordon sanitaire around so-called Islamic fundamentalism and protect the younger generations from extremist ideology," the editorial read. However, was the revised curriculum promoting democracy, equality, justice and personal freedoms, and the fight against corruption? "We understand that Arab countries want to ban the niqab and isolate people with suspicious agendas. But we do not understand why educational systems need to stay as they are, such that the younger generations lack proper instruction in both religion and science." The Arab press this week dealt with the international donors conference in Afghanistan, placing the emphasis on Pakistan, In Asharq Al-Awsat, Amir Taheri wrote that schools, hospitals, jobs, security and decent housing were just some of the things that Afghanistan is unable to offer to even a fraction of its population. This sad situation comes despite the fact that almost $100 billion is supposed to have been pumped into the economy by more than 60 countries from the donors group. "Afghanistan may lack many things, but the one thing it has not lacked is international conferences to discuss how to help it emerge from 30 years of war and destruction," Taheri wrote. Taheri claimed that the problem with the war in Afghanistan may be a loss of nerve on the part of the NATO powers, rather than any military success by the Taliban. He wrote that the Taliban's resort to suicide attacks against soft civilian targets, killing innocent Afghans, was a sign of desperation on their part. Unable to attack NATO forces or win control of any parcel of territory, the Taliban was killing at random. "Like other insurgencies, the one in Afghanistan must, and in the end will, end with the defeat of the insurgents. Once that objective has been achieved, we would be among the first to urge talking to the Taliban," he concluded.
