Tim Blair

You failed to mention your BROTHERS darling, whose job is to ride shotgun, and all their habibs.....

She wears it because she's ugly. End of story.

Along Lewis' line, maybe paper bags aren't available.

A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

I've always considered women who wear the burqa and all that other garb are like German Baptist or Mennonite or Amish women who wear prayer caps and ugly dresses. It's a matter of choice in keeping with one's religious beliefs. The difference with Muslims is that not only do some of them want to wear that stuff, they think (and sometimes demand) that all other women wear it too.

Le Monde ran a great cartoon the other day. The woman in the veil was saying:

"I wear the veil by choice - to deprive my father of the pleasure of forcing me to."

A single choice world.

So the beatings and rape, they're all optional?

Tim hates Arabs, lefties, greenies; loves Jews, Israel, guns, cars, America.

Yawn, yawn, yawn.

The best Islamic solution i heard was that "suseptable" I-Slamic males should wear blinkers like horses do rather than force women to cover up; suggest that to one of the followers of the fifth columnists of islam and see the response...

A teacher wouldn't get far wearing a burqa at a school for the deaf.

The sad thing is, burqas may actually encourage crimes against women. By reducing the women who wear them to shapeless, faceless, anonymous blobs of cloth, it allows criminals to commit crimes against them without feeling any empathy for them at all. They do not look at the victims of their crimes, and see their mothers, or sisters, or daughters; they just see an object, to be used and discarded.

Of course, there is the fact that many Muslims are completely without conscience in the first place...

Glue - What about the Lunch, and expensive wine, and the oil - it's all about the oooooooiilll.

If you are going to troll, at least be consistent and get it right. You numpty.

This commentary is all about me, me, me -- my rights, my rights, my rights!

What about the poor children, especially little girls, who are exposed to this bizarre, cultish behavior? Most children are terrified by their teachers anyway -- imagine how they would feel about confronting a shapeless black bag that looks like the bogey man every single day of their lives? Never to see their teacher smile when they perform well or frown when they misbehave?

And imagine being a parent trying to teach her young daughter to be proud of her femaleness and then have her being confronted by this bizarre attempt to erase all traces of femaleness from public view?

I would rather die than have my young daughter taught by a freak in a black bag, thank you very much. Those Muslim women who wish to avial themselves of the privilege are free to get teaching jobs in Riyadh or Kabul. No need to contaminate Western children with your sick, neurotic view of womanhood.

No,donnyc, they are obligatory.

Susan, the Sisters of Charity taught me in all black head to foot, except they showed their faces which was unfortunate in Sister Eugenie's case.

As a die-hard Tory I have to admit that I find two good things about Fatima Shah's article; and they are her disdain for feminism and her support of tradition. However, tradition she supports is a silly one that is not part of Australian culture. These people have to learn that when they come here they have to adapt to our ways, we don't have to pander to their whacky ideas on how to dress.

As Susan pointed out above, children need to see the faces of their teachers. In court it is right that a jusdge and the barristers wear wigs and gowns so as not look quite human, but in the classroom the idea is ridiculous. Our children deserve better than Fatimah Shah.

I can understand why she's not married yet.

And unless she gives up her freedom to choose, she won't ever, will she?

As Shah points out, it is not as if there are teachers actually wearing it anyway, so isn’t a pointless thing to discuss. Which, I guess, is why you idiots are discussing it. What’s next on Blair’s list of inane and pointless discussion topics? Publicly-funded clinics carrying out FGM in suburban Sydney? The proliferation of burqa-clad policewomen in South West Sydney?

If anyone needs a burqua, Margo does.
The sooner she gets bagged up, the sooner my mental scars begin healing.....

I'd like to put a bag over Tim Blair's head. Really tight.

What’s next on Blair’s list of inane and pointless discussion topics? Publicly-funded clinics carrying out FGM in suburban Sydney?

Yeah, nothing is more inane and pointless than trying to put a stop to the use of your tax money to mutilate young girls.

What a great example of the intolerance that exists.

Oh and I don't mean Fatimas article.

If any of youse want to debate go to www.islamicsydney.com/forums.

We'll take youse all on!