Members of the Dutch Parliament voted on Tuesday to ban burqas, niqabs, and other face coverings in schools, health care facilities, government buildings, and on public transportation. The House of Representatives passed the measure by a wide margin, with 132 of the 150 members voting in favor of the partial ban. The Senate must still approve the bill before it’s signed into law.
According to some estimates, fewer than 500 women in the Netherlands wear burqas, and many of them only wear the garments on certain occasions. The Associated Press reports that if the proposed ban becomes law, a violation would run one of these women 400 euros, around $424.
Burqas, which fully cover the face and body, and niqabs, which leave the eyes uncovered, are worn by some conservative Muslim women as part of their religious practice. The Netherlands’ right-wing Freedom Party, a minority party that advocates anti-Islamic policies and rhetoric, has backed burqa bans for years. Government entities in the Netherlands passed partial burqa bans in 2012 and 2015, but they didn’t stick. Supporters of these bans say people must be able to see one another’s faces in hospitals and on government property for safety reasons.
But issuing a blanket condemnation of certain religious garments is not a good-faith response to a general security threat. There is no inherent danger in wearing a burqa or any other face covering; laws that stigmatize Muslim women only encourage harassment and violence, as the rash of French burkini bans this summer showed. Advocates of the ban note that the proposed law also prohibits ski masks and motorcycle helmets. In an interview with Politico about the 2015 ban, Muslim artist and activist Ayesha Akhtar dismissed that as a transparent attempt to head off accusations of discrimination against Muslim women. “I’m curious to know,” she said, “Is there an issue with people wearing helmets and ski masks in Dutch hospitals, schools, and government buildings?”
Geert Wilders, the head of the Freedom Party, doesn’t even bother with that pretense. On Twitter on Tuesday, the man who looks and acts like the three-way child of Martin Shkreli, Milo Yiannopoulos, and Draco Malfoy, wrote that a ban that doesn’t outlaw burqas in every public space doesn’t go far enough. When Wilders’ party wins the Dutch election in March, he tweeted, “I will implement a full burka ban. #deislamize.”
Wilders is currently facing charges of discrimination and “inciting racial hatred” for threatening the Netherlands’ Moroccan communities at a 2014 rally. He asked attendees if they wanted fewer Moroccan people in their country, leading them in a chant of “Fewer! Fewer! Fewer!” (Catchy, eh?) “We’ll take care of that,” Wilders assured them.
It will surprise no one to learn that Wilders is an avid Donald Trump fanboy. “The people are taking their country back,” he tweeted on election night. “So will we.” (Also: “Lots of respect for Sean Hannity.”) The guy has even stolen Trump’s slogan! Get your own Islamophobic Twitter-obsessed fascist, Netherlands!
