Press backs Straw in veil row
2006-10-07 07:54
London - British newspapers have backed a government minister embroiled in a political storm that was sparked by his views on Muslim women who wear veils.
Several Saturday dailies turned their editorials to the nationwide debate - and subsequent protests - triggered by Jack Straw, a former foreign secretary, on Thursday.
Straw, now responsible for arranging government business, had said that the veil made it harder for Muslims to integrate and that he preferred talking to constituents face to face, often asking Muslim women to remove their veils.
The issue of integrating Britain's 1.65 million Muslims has been high on the political agenda since a series of bomb blasts, found to have been planned by four British Muslims, in London in July last year.
"It is perhaps understandable if Muslims feel under siege at the moment," said The Sun newspaper, Britain's biggest-selling daily.
"That is the unhappy consequence of Islamic extremists bringing terror and death to the UK and the world."
But Straw's "constructive observations about veils have sparked an absurd overreaction from some Muslims for whom even the mildest criticism of any aspect of their religion amounts to a declaration of war".
Straw 'touched a raw nerve'
Several newspapers said Straw, 60, an experienced politician representing a town with a significant Muslim minority, was just the sort of carefully-worded man who could launch such a topic.
The Times newspaper said "community relations might be improved by genuine face-to-face contact", and that the veil "precludes a basic form of human contact in a way which the Sikh turban or the Buddhist robe" does not.
The Daily Telegraph said Straw had "touched a raw nerve" by focusing on such an emblematic symbol of Muslim life but that "integration can't be achieved behind the veil".
About 10 000 readers of the Daily Express phoned or SMSed in to the newspaper's survey, which found that 97% of respondents wanted a ban on the veil to "help safeguard racial harmony".
The Daily Star tabloid ran the headline: "Get 'em off!"
Several newspapers published pictorial guides explaining to readers the different styles of Muslim veils, such as the niqab and the burqa.
Prime Minister Tony Blair has expressed support for discussion of the issue.
About 93% of people who took part in a BBC radio survey of listeners on Friday supported Straw's comments.
- AFP