The Last Straw

As has been much reported in the press, something of a row erupted recently in Britain regarding Muslim women’s fashion. Jack Straw, the leader of the House of Commons, earned UK Muslims’ wrath by asserting that Muslim females should not wear full-face veils. Such regalia, he argued, rendered communication more difficult.

Suddenly, the folks in the Labor Party, who previously preferred displays of “multiculturalism” to free sex with supermodels, have recognized that the creation of separatist cultural-religious enclaves may not be so peachy keen for a society’s health. Maybe there’s something to that “assimilation” thing after all. Gee, who would have seen that one coming?

Perhaps, dear reader, you find it surprising that our Islamic pals became enraged at Mr. Straw’s criticism. After all, if there’s anything Europe’s burgeoning Muslim population is known for, it’s heartwarming displays of tolerance. (That, and hatred of Jews, of course.) Naturally, the great majority of our Muslim friends simply savor public criticism. Just ask the Danish newspaper industry.

All the same, a number of Muslims took to the streets to protest Mr. Straw’s remarks. Although the London bombings didn’t seem to trouble them much, they’ve finally hit upon something that got their dander up.

We, the crack young staff of “The Hatemonger’s Quarterly,” read about this recent brouhaha in the October 18 number of The New York Times. There one can find Alan Cowell’s piece “Blair Criticizes Full Islamic Veils as ‘Mark of Separation,’” which, as its name implies, details the Prime Minister’s half-hearted defense of Mr. Straw’s original criticisms.

It wasn’t the article that we found particularly interesting, however. Rather, the piece was accompanied by a photograph of a Muslim anti-Straw protest.

This picture contained a sign whose message particularly hit home. “Jack Straw: Enemy of Civilisation,” reads the placard.

Let that sink in a minute, dear reader: Jack Straw, an enemy of civilization. Man, the fellow holding that sign really has some nerve, doesn’t he?

We mean, come on: It’s a bit of an overstatement to liken criticism of a full-face veil to the denunciation of Islamic civilization, isn’t it? One would probably think so.

But this is not what so enrages. If Jack Straw is really an “enemy of civilisation,” it’s a civilization currently so troubled that it fosters a full panoply of deeply odious political regimes. And don’t just take our word for it: Sqillions of Muslim immigrants have agreed with us by voting with their feet. You don’t see scores of Brits heading to, say, Saudi Arabia or Pakistan in hopes of a better life under more satisfactory political authorities.

If this “civilization” is so wondrous, why did these thin-skinned protestors hightail it away from it at the first available opportunity?