Says author Salman Rushdie about the ruckus being raised by Islamists over the words of British MP Jack Straw. The whole issue blew up when Straw said that he requested Muslim women remove their veils before speaking to him.
The comment by Jack Straw, a former foreign secretary who now is leader of the House of Commons, has plunged Britain into a debate over Islamic integration.
"It's important these issues are raised and discussed, and I think it's perfectly sensible if you raise it in a measured and considered way, which he did," Blair said of Straw during an interview with British Broadcasting Corp. television outside his office. "I think we can have these discussions without people becoming hysterical either way about it."
Rushdie, whose book "The Satanic Verses," once led to death threats against him by Islamic clerics, told BBC radio that Straw "was expressing an important opinion, which is that veils suck, which they do. I think the veil is a way of taking power away from women."
Straw said in a newspaper column published Thursday that he believes the veils favored by some Muslim women inhibit communication and are a sign of division in society. At his constituency office, Straw said he asks that veiled women reveal their faces, adding that the women have always complied, and a female assistant is always present.
On Friday, British media quoted Straw as going further, saying that he would prefer that Muslim women not wear veils at all. "I just find it uncomfortable if I'm trying to have a conversation with someone whose face I can't see," Straw told the BBC.
Many Muslims in Straw's parliamentary district of Blackburn, in northwestern England, reacted with outrage.
The uproar also left many questioning whether Britain's multicultural ideals can withstand the strains of a cultural divide that is increasingly tormenting much of Europe.
The difficulty of the issue was obvious during the Blair interview when he was asked if he would prefer a Muslim woman he met took off her veil.
"I think in the end, it's a matter of them choosing what they want to do," Blair said.
"But I think the reason why Jack raised this is because these are issues that people do feel quite strongly about and they are trying to say how do we make sense of a different type of society in which we live, how do we make sure people integrate more, how do we make sure that people aren't sort of wanting to separate themselves out from the mainstream of society."
Blair said, "It's a difficult and tricky debate to enter into, as we can see over the past few days," but he praised the way Straw had handled it.
The veil is a political tool, not a religious requirement. It is, in fact, being used as an offensive weapon in the cultural war that is gripping Britain and Europe in general. You really have to admire Rushdie's outspokenness given his history with the Iranian extremists.
