ITALY

Burqa mother agrees to compromise

ITALY

Burqa mother agrees to compromise

Sep 21st, 2010 - Words by Pat Eggleton

A Moroccan woman who reportedly frightened her children’s school friends by wearing full Islamic dress has agreed to unveil her face when she enters the nursery school building, reports ANSA.

Children at the school, in Sonnino, a town of 7,000 inhabitants in the Province of Latina [Lazio] called the woman the “black teacher” and their mothers requested the removal of her veil so that they could see who she was and get to know her.

Finally a meeting between the parents, the Head of the school, the Mayor of Sonnino and the Moroccan woman and her husband, the local Imam, was called and a compromise was reached: the woman will remove her face covering once inside the school. The Imam was careful to point out that his wife does not wear the burqa, as has been reported, but the niqab, which leaves the eyes uncovered.

Whilst there is relief in Sonnino that a solution to the situation has been found, the “burqa debate” in Italy continues: a group of young Italian women in Sonnino demonstrated in favour of the woman’s right to wear traditional dress whereas elsewhere the case is being cited as a reason to ban it.

The politician Isabella Bertolini, of Silvio Berlusconi’s Pdl Party, says that the burqa must be banned everywhere by law and that the concessions which Italian institutions are making to political correctness are damaging Italian society.

Carolina Lussana of the anti-immigration Northern League has said that the fact that the woman will continue to cover her face in the street proves that a law banning this type of clothing in public places is necessary. She added that anyone who forces a woman to wear the burqa or similar clothing should also be punished.

Do you think the burqa and similar forms of dress should be banned in Italy?

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3 comments

Gillian (not verified) wrote 1 year 33 weeks ago

burqa ban

I agree with the burqa ban. Italy is a Catholic country and Italian religion should be respected. Foreigners in any country must earn the respect of their hosts and not demand special treatment. They have chosen to move to Italy, knowing its beliefs and customs and should behave accordingly.

Anonymous (not verified) wrote 1 year 34 weeks ago

Whilst I agree with the burqa

Whilst I agree with the burqa ban in Italy, In my experience of living in Italy I have not found them kind and tolerant to foreigners. Far from it. I live in a very rural area and for the past 4 years have been shocked by the racism I have witnessed. Both my children attend the local village school and my eldest has been on the receiving end of racists taunts for years. My youngest, age 5, has now come home from school with a racist attitude ! We have had to make a formal complaint to the president of the school for this to stop. She has been assigned to my area recently and is all to aware of the racist feeling here. Last year a local workman ( foreign) was punched in the face by his Italian boss for being 5 mins late for work. He was sacked immediately, his children subjected to vile racist taunts on the school bus for months and in case he decided to claim unfair dismissal, all the locals signed declarations that at one time or another they had seen him behave aggressively. Whilst the last person who commented states that she does not ram her opinions down other peoples throats, that is exactly what my Italian neighbours have done to me. I am chastised constantly for speaking to my children in English, and I am told it would be better if my whole family spoke Italian at home.None of us are Italian and because we dont do this both my children are fluent in both languages. We constantly have to listen to Italians moaning that there are too many immigrants in their country and the only thing that any of them do is steal and sell drugs. They will make sweeping generalisations about whole countries e.g everyone in serbia is a thief....and if you argue with their opinions the response is the same "well if you dont like it f**k off back to england"
Italians seem to forget that they have also been a country of migrants !

X Pat (not verified) wrote 1 year 34 weeks ago

burqa ban

I agree with Berlusconi that the burqa, and niqab should be banned. It is not necessary, even according to the Koran, to cover up so completely in order to dress modestly. One of the great joys of living in Italy is integrating into Italian society. In a culture which is so expressive, it is impossible for a woman to integrate if she is wearing what amounts to a disguise.
Italians have a strong sense of identity and national pride which I admire and am old enough to remember when Brits had it too. The Italian flag is used proudly on multiple occasions whereas in the UK the Union Jack is the preserve of exremists and skinheads.
Italian people I have found to be kind and tolerant but I am always mindful that I am a guest in their country and behave accordingly. It is a privilege to live here for people from any country and we should all respect the customs, beleifs and traditions of our hosts and not abuse their hospitality. My beliefs are very different from the vast majority of Italains but I don't parade them, ram them down my Italian friends throats or ask for special treatment because of them.
In today's climate of terrorist attacks, clothing which doubles up as a disguise is rightly something of which to be wary . Most people would understand this.