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The price of faith
By Ayman Khatib-Yassin

The affection with which the "hijab" - the veil - is regarded in Muslim societies around the world, including the Muslim Arab sector in Israel, arouses amazement. It is often a bone of contention between its fans and its detractors, and each side has a broad range of rationales and justifications. Its supporters cite the need to preserve Muslim Arab culture and tradition, as well as legal and religious reasons. Beyond the detractors' argument that the hijab does not mesh with progress, there is the familiar assertion that the veil has no religious or legal foundation.

Muslim women have exposed the problems inherent in societies that wave the banner of individual freedom, including the freedom to shape one's identity and values according to one's faith and conscience. Such societies claim to adhere to the values of enlightenment and liberalism but fail to come to terms with veiled women, and this has created unprecedented conflicts.

In Israel, veiled women suffer no less distress than in other countries. In fact, Israel's uniqueness as a place with a wide variety of contradictions only intensifies the waves the phenomenon can create: religious, national, security-related, cultural and gender-related. A veiled Muslim woman who is required to pass through a security check at the entrance to a shopping mall is a foreign creature in the cultural landscape, the very embodiment of the threatening "other." And she pays a heavy cost because she chooses to act according to her faith.
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It is well-known that Arab women have difficulty finding employment in government offices. That difficulty is infinitely greater when the woman is a Muslim who wears a veil. If she is hired, she will have to overcome additional obstacles because of her superiors' distaste for the hijab - obstacles that stem from ignorance, unfamiliarity with the other, and unwillingness to accept and not judge by external appearances. If it is not enough that this individual faces discrimination as a woman, and as an Arab in a Jewish state, the hijab adds fuel to the flames, placing her in an even worse starting point.

As a religious Muslim woman, I say that a person's freedom of religion and conscience, like the right to respect, are sacrosanct, and should never be harmed. With equal resolve, I say there is no contradiction whatsoever between the ability to subscribe to those values and the right to wear the veil. Since those who subscribe to the values of individual freedom and liberalism are in power, they must prove they can accommodate the other.

The attitude toward veiled women stems from ignorance or unfamiliarity with the other in the best case; hypocrisy and inconsistency in applying liberal values in most cases; and a simple, safe cover for hatred in the worst case. This combination aggravates the systematic discrimination against the Arab woman, who pays for whatever option she chooses - whether she rebels against those who try to compel her to wear the veil against her will, or whether she needs to confront those who ostracize her due to their suspicion, hatred or revulsion over the veil. Wearing a veil is not a matter of aesthetics; it is a matter of individual freedom.

The writer is an MA candidate at the Tel Aviv University School of Social Work.
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  1.   The veil 09:52  |  sWeis Melbourne 07/01/07
  2.   moslem women got to choose between religious freedom and jobs. 10:10  |  ali 07/01/07
  3.   Wear what you want, just stop killing people 10:14  |  RA 07/01/07
  4.   Nothing To Do With Religious Freedom 10:22  |  Terry 07/01/07
  5.   Veiled women 10:49  |  Brigitte Meier 07/01/07
  6.   Now the veil, next the burqa 10:51  |  Sara 07/01/07
  7.   I`m sick of this wining 11:38  |  Judith in Haifa 07/01/07
  8.   Paris muslims in WW11 11:50  |  Marilyn 07/01/07
  9.   how about veiled Jewish women 12:23  |  Moshe 07/01/07
  10.   In Israel 12:27  |  sh 07/01/07
  11.   Quid pro quo 12:38  |  Shirah 07/01/07
  12.   Learn before you comment 13:14  |  TheEducator 07/01/07
  13.   The eternal Arab strategy- Always accuse Israel 13:17  |  Shalom Freedman 07/01/07
  14.   Two Hijabed well known mothers ... 13:25  |  Muslim 07/01/07
  15.   The author knocks to the open door 13:31  |  Shlomo from Tel Aviv 07/01/07
  16.   where are the feminists? 13:36  |  A.M. 07/01/07
  17.   What the real ignorance is here 14:37  |  Marlene 07/01/07
  18.   when was Hajib invented? 14:42  |  Jeff 07/01/07
  19.   when was Hajib invented? 14:42  |  Jeff 07/01/07
  20.   How about applying the same standards No. 16 14:48  |  Marlene 07/01/07
  21.   For Jeff#19 15:28  |  Jerrym 07/01/07
  22.   The right to be chained 15:33  |  Osnat 07/01/07
  23.   Marilyn?? 15:37  |  Ehud 07/01/07
  24.   Judith is sick of this "whining" No. 7 15:51  |  Marlene 07/01/07
  25.   This article is sheer DRIVEL 15:54  |  Psalm 07/01/07
  26.   To Sara on the veil in Holland 15:56  |  Mark B. 07/01/07
  27.   Hijab is a violation of the Quran 15:58  |  American Muslim 07/01/07
  28.   #17 Marlene you`ve missed the point 15:59  |  Psalm 07/01/07
  29.   The problem is under the veil 16:00  |  KUTW 07/01/07
  30.   Veiled women at work 16:05  |  KUTW 07/01/07
  31.   Veiling 16:08  |  Lynn 07/01/07
  32.   20. Marlene: the same standards 16:11  |  KUTW 07/01/07
  33.   Liberalism and Traditionalism 16:16  |  Ehud 07/01/07
  34.   #13 16:17  |  Lynn 07/01/07
  35.   14. Muslim: Two Hijabed well known mothers ... 16:17  |  KUTW 07/01/07
  36.   the Price of Faith 16:20  |  Rachelle 07/01/07
  37.   #16 16:21  |  Lynn 07/01/07
  38.   #1 16:25  |  Lynn 07/01/07
  39.   The Mutating Left 16:28  |  FOX 07/01/07
  40.   IF ATTATURK COULD SWEEP IT AWAY SO CAN WE 16:28  |  paul harris 07/01/07
  41.   Marlene`s astonishing ignorance 16:48  |  FOX 07/01/07
  42.   Ehud in Tel Aviv 16:51  |  Marilyn 07/01/07
  43.   Marilyn is absolutely correct No. 21 16:51  |  Marlene 07/01/07
  44.   Marilyn @ 8 did you get the story right? 17:00  |  Zelkha 07/01/07
  45.   To American Muslim 17:19  |  AmericanMuslimToo 07/01/07
  46.   Beautiful article with good arguments about expression 17:21  |  Smadar 07/01/07
  47.   Muslim Terrorists Have a Fatal Attraction For Women`s Clothes 17:44  |  Klaudia 07/01/07
  48.   # 11 Thank you Shirah. An Excellent Point. 17:47  |  Tony Anthony 07/01/07
  49.   Like sex, being different is an idividual 17:52  |  BenAbuzaglo 07/01/07
  50.   To veil or not to veil? 17:53  |  Sherlock Holmes 07/01/07
  51.   Where Muslims Worry About Losing Their Religious Rights in... 17:55  |  Klaudia 07/01/07
  52.   #17 Marlene 17:56  |  Lynn 07/01/07
  53.   Modesty and the Veil 17:58  |  Joseph 07/01/07
  54.   Marlene is right-Ayman is a mans name 18:04  |  Herbert Kaine 07/01/07
  55.   Secular Education - Ataturk 18:06  |  BP EDU 07/01/07
  56.   To Shalom Freedman - Hijab or niqab? 18:07  |  krystal 07/01/07
  57.   Smadar, I enjoyed your interpretation 18:10  |  BenAbuzaglo 07/01/07
  58.   27 KUTW: Hypocrite 18:13  |  Tupac 07/01/07
  59.   marlene 18:28  |  A.M. 07/01/07
  60.   Paris Imam 18:47  |  habro 07/01/07
  61.   article 19:03  |  CML 07/01/07
  62.   Virgin Mary Hat 19:41  |  Pablo B 07/01/07
  63.   Veils are a security risk 19:47  |  Paul Henzen 07/01/07
  64.   Marlene-yn,two for one 20:22  |  BenAbuzaglo 07/01/07
  65.   To Mark on the veil in Holland 20:34  |  Esther 07/01/07
  66.   BenAbuzaglo, now you`ve enlightened me 20:36  |  Smadar 07/01/07
  67.   Freedom to choose? 20:37  |  Albert Seligman 07/01/07
  68.   When in Rome, do as the Romans do 20:43  |  Esther 07/01/07
  69.   Veil 20:45  |  Abitbol 07/01/07
  70.   48. Tupac. Hypocrite 20:48  |  KUTW 07/01/07
  71.   The Cultural End 20:59  |  Bandar Michael 07/01/07
  72.   Thank you Esther #64 21:39  |  Sara 07/01/07
  73.   Shlomo from telaviv 21:40  |  Tareq 07/01/07
  74.   When I can become a citizen of Saudi Arabia, then we`ll talk 21:42  |  Matt Hoffman 07/01/07
  75.   To the writer: Ayman Khatib-Yassin 21:55  |  David James Vickery 07/01/07
  76.   Taliban Rule 19, Should We Tolerate Rape Too? 22:01  |  GARY 07/01/07
  77.   The veil and the faith 22:22  |  Jel 07/01/07
  78.   To Psalm: colour of Niqab 22:26  |  David James Vickery 07/01/07
  79.   Re Matt hoffman 22:30  |  Billy Jack 07/01/07
  80.   the price of faith 22:41  |  heraclite 07/01/07
  81.   Marilyn 22:43  |  Lynn 07/01/07
  82.   Islamic tolerance. 22:45  |  Joe 07/01/07
  83.   Paul #40 22:53  |  Jerrym 07/01/07
  84.