Last week, the Journal asked the candidate of QS in Sherbrooke, Christine Labrie, if the Islamic veil constituted an oppression. “Oppression is telling women how to dress,” replied the one whose party calls itself feminist. Telling women how to dress, however, is what the Islamists do. For them, the veil is an ostentatious symbol of conquest. To wear it is to adhere to their anti-Western values.
Murdered
When I hear QS refuse to condemn the veil for what it is, an instrument of enslavement, I think of Aqsa Parvez. In 2008, this Muslim from Toronto was murdered by her father and brother. His crime? She took off her veil at school.
The casualness of Christine Labrie also reminds me of Yasmine Mohammed. This Canadian of Egyptian origin grew up in British Columbia. Raised in an Islamist family, she is launching her memoirs in French this fall. The title says it all: Lifting the veil or how Western progressives promote radical Islam1.
From her childhood, Yasmine was forced to wear the veil. Older, she is obliged to wear the niqab. At school, in life, almost no one tries to help him. She is abandoned by the system because she is a Muslim. His community takes control of his life and puts him through hell. It’s the same abandonment for many Muslims she frequents. Why? Because Muslim women should not be told how to live and how to dress, even if this choice is often non-existent for them.
Mrs. Mohamed also explains that Muslim women participate in the oppression of their sisters. For some, it makes them forget their own subjection. For others, it makes them feel more virtuous and important.
Niqab et burqa
Reading this, I thought of Eve Torres, an ex-QS contestant in 2018, who wears the veil. She was previously spokesperson for the National Council of Canadian Muslims. Among other things, this group had within it an imam who declared that a man has the right to beat his wife and the organization campaigned for the establishment of Koranic law in family law (which includes polygamy) .
Just prior to his arrival at QS, Torres had attacked the state religious neutrality law of the former Couillard government. The only important measure of this legislation was the obligation to uncover the face to give or receive a public service. The Council of Muslims challenged the matter in court. Such a measure, which limited the wearing of the niqab or the burqa, stigmatized Muslim women according to Torres. The burqa, let us remember, is imposed on Afghan women by the Taliban following their military victory over us, the Westerners.
That’s Québec solidaire. This party claims to defend women, but sacrifices them when it allows it to win the vote of Muslim fundamentalists.
1. To order this book, write to the editor: [email protected]
