This is the by far most competent and well-thought out comment on the problem that I have read in German since many years. The author, Birgit Kelle, is a controversial figure here in Germany - especially feminists and political correctness Nazis hate her like the plague, but I have learned to carefully listen when she takes the word or writes about an issue. This women is really smart, and fearless, and minds no numerical superiority of her enemies. I have learned to have quite some respect for her. Her thinking is logical and her reason is straight.
To my surprise I learned she is against a Burkha ban, a ban that before I had supported and demanded, but since it is Birgit Kelle, I read it nevertheless - and she convinced me in the first run. Her arguments are correct, and strong. Shame on me that it did not come to my mind all by myself - I was a lazy, uncaring thinker there.
Basically she argues that this debate is just about the tip of the iceberg of problems only, allowing easy distraction from the huge ocean of suppression of and violence against women in Muslim households that nobody cares to mention, to address, and to tackle.
http://www.focus.de/politik/experten...d_5834191.html
As I told you,
it is in German.
P.S. Personally I dislike the view of burkhas in public, and the sight makes me aggressive. I ignore them and treat them as empty air, and reject any social interaction even if they would address me directly, which has happened once. In official and state institutions, burkhas however must be banned, they are a sign for refusing integration and of religious discrimination of women, and a state labelling itself as "secular" cannot tolerate being represented by such - hm, persons? Neuters? Whatever it is under a burkha. But politicians act quite cowardly here, even the law now has been dramatically watered down. The debate gets also abused by Islamophobe lobbies using it as a weapon to test Western socieity once again ion how far they can be opushed back to bow to Muslims special demands.
The books to read on this matter, the role of women in Islam, are both by
Hans-Peter Raddatz: Allahs Schleier. Die Frau im Kampf der Kulturen, and
Allahs Frauen. Djihad zwischen Schariah und Demokratie. - Islamophiles will not like it one bit. I know them both, of course. They drowned in the flood we had two year ago, however...