Thursday, April 05, 2007

If She's In a Mosque, Lay Off Pelosi For Wearing The Headscarf (UPDATED)

I enjoy whacking around Nancy Pelosi as much as the next guy, but as far as I can tell, the photos of her in a headscarf are all of her while visiting a mosque. (If she wore a headscarf during other public appearances, let me know.) There are a million and one reasons to object to Pelosi, but wearing the headscarf while in the mosque isn't one of them. It's akin to dressing appropriately while visiting a church, or a man wearing a yarmulke in a synagogue. It's something you do when you're a guest. It's not submission, it's respect.

If she wore the headscarf outside the mosque, then it's a different story - through her behavior she's contending that Americans have to comport to Islamic standards of dress, even in public spaces in an officially secular country. (You notice Condi Rice doesn't wear a veil or headscarf when meeting Saudis.) Pelosi wasn't wearing a headscarf at the airport, at least according to one photo. She's not wearing a headscarf in her meeting with Assad. One photo of her in the market shows her without a headscarf.

I'm not even going to rip Pelosi for visiting Syria; if she went to Damascus and held a hard line against Assad and his various nefarious efforts — letting insurgents across the border into Iraq, funnelling guns to Hamas and Hezbollah, assassinations in Lebanon, an atrocious human rights record, etc. — I'd be applauding. But we don't really expect her to talk tough with Assad, do we?

According to the New York Times, Pelosi has no additional planned public appearances or statements during her visit in Syria.

UPDATE: Courtesy a reader, over at Little Green Footballs they have a letter from a member of the Syrian Reform Party:

Had Speaker Pelosi worn the Hijab inside a Mosque, this would have indicated respect but for Pelosi to wear it on the streets of Damascus all the while she is sitting with the self-imposed Baschar al-Assad who has come to symbolize oppression and one of the reasons why women are forced to wear the Hijab as they turn to religion to express their freedom is a statement of submittal not only to oppression but also to lack of women’s rights in the Middle East. Pelosi just reversed the work of the Syrian civil society and those who aspire for women’s freedom in the Muslim countries many years back with her visual statement. Her lack of experience of the Middle East is showing.

There's more, read it all.

I'm pleased that this guy is more or less in line with my experience in the Middle East - headscarves are appropriate in the mosque, but not in public spaces in general. (Keep in mind that 90some percent of my experience is from Turkey, where the headscarf is public controversy number one.)

Two MENSA applicant lefties took me to task yesterday, asking, "what about Rice and Laura Bush"? Well, what about 'em? If they're in a mosque (or about to enter one, or just leaving one, obviously) then a headscarf is fine; if you're wearing one in a secular society, then you're being more deferential than custom, protocol, and tradition demand, and, I would contend, inappropriate.

By the way - I still have not yet seen photos of Pelosi wearing a headscarf on the streets of Damascus, or in her meeting with Assad; I am presuming that this member of the Syrian Reform Party has seen photos or television coverage that I have not.

04/05 11:32 AMShare