Daniel Pipes: Ten Percent of Muslims Call for Niqabs or Burqas

The following by Daniel Pipes is reposted here with permission:

Ten Percent of Muslims Call for Niqabs or Burqas

by http://www.nationalreview.com/node/368203/print
January 11, 2014
Cross-posted from National Review Online, The Corner

http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2014/01/ten-percent-of-muslims-call-for-niqabs-or-burqas

A survey conducted in seven Muslim-majority countries (Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Pakistan) finds that a median of 10 percent of the respondents prefer women to wear either a niqab or burqa when in public. The specific country figures range enormously, from 74 percent approval of these two garments in Saudi Arabia and 35 percent in Pakistan to 3 percent in Lebanon and Tunisia and just 2 percent in Turkey.

After Boston Marathon Bombing, Should Niqabs and Burqas Be Banned?

The following by Daniel Pipes is reposted here with permission:

Boston Bombing Lesson: Ban Niqabs and Burqas

by Daniel Pipes
April 21, 2013
Cross-posted from National Review Online, The Corner

http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2013/04/boston-bombing-lesson-ban-niqabs-and-burqas

The Tsarnaev brothers pulled off their terrorist attack with great skill but made a fatal mistake in letting their faces and bodies be seen at a heavily photographed international sporting event. This meant that multiple images of them were available for a massive law enforcement squad to comb over and, after three days, identify them by name and appearance.

This rapid identification was not unprecedented – the London police had done likewise in the July 2005 suicide bombings but because none of the four perpetrators survived that attack, that was more a theoretical achievement than a practical one. To the best of my knowledge, the Tsarnaevs were the first terrorists to be tracked down via still and video pictures.

In retrospect, the brothers should not have exposed their appearances. But how to avoid doing so? Hoodies leave the face exposed. Ski masks arouse suspicion in temperate weather, as do Halloween masks all but one night a year, and stocking masks at any time.

Burqas Being Used To Commit Crimes In Philadelphia

The following by Daniel Pipes is reposted here with permission:

Philadelphia's Burqa Crisis

by Daniel Pipes
The Washington Times
February 21, 2013

http://www.danielpipes.org/12553/philadelphia-burqa

N.B.: The Washington Times title is "When burqas become accessories to crime: Criminals can hide behind Islamic garb" and it contains small differences from this version

Philadelphia, the city where I live, has quietly and unassumedly become the capital of the Western world as regards female Islamic garb as an accessory to crime.

A BBC graphic shows the difference between the niqab and burqa.

First, a tutorial on Islamic coverings, all of which tend to be calledveils in English but fall into three main categories. Some (theabaya, hijab, chador, jilbab, or khimar) cover parts of the body, especially the hair, neck, and shoulders, but reveal the face and identity of the woman; some cover the face (the yashmak) but show the body shape; and some hide the whole body, including the identity and gender of the wearer. The latter – our topic here – is better described as a full-body cover than a veil: it in turn has two types, those that cover the person entirely (the chadari or burqa) or those with a slit for the eyes (the haik or niqab).

By my count, the Philadelphia region has witnessed 14 robberies (or attempted robberies) of financial institutions in the past six years in which the thieves relied on an Islamic full-body cover.