Veil of Suspicion

Alternately portrayed as a sign of docility or defiance, the Muslim face veil has come to represent much of what divides Islam from the West. Britain’s foreign minister touched off a flurry of controversy last year when he asked one of his constituents to remove her veil in his presence. Prime Minister Tony Blair later called the garment “a symbol of separation.” Now, new legislation being debated in Britain might ban Muslim girls from wearing it in public schools. Although only a tiny minority of British Muslim women wear the veil, our data demonstrate that the Muslim community and the public disagree strongly over whether removing the veil is a necessary step toward being a part of British society, or a demand that imposes unjustly on a person’s freedom of religion.

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