Daniel Pipes has written an article claiming that his home town of Philadelphia has "become the capital of the Western world as regards female Islamic garb as an accessory to crime".

According to Pipes, "the Philadelphia region has witnessed 14 robberies (or attempted robberies) of financial institutions in the past six years in which the thieves relied on an Islamic full-body cover". His solution? "Ban the niqab and burqa in public places, as the national governments in France and Belgium have recently done."

Joel Mathis points out some flaws in this argument:

It's important to understand, though, that Pipes' "crisis" looks a little less disturbing when looked at closely. He justifies a ban because, by his count, at least 14 robberies have been committed in Philadelphia using Muslim garb … since 2007. That's less than three a year. If you need more perspective, consider this: The 14 robberies that Pipes counts adds up to maybe one really busy shift for the police department. In the 28-day period ending Feb. 17, there were 507 robbery reports to city police – if 14 of those robberies had been committed by burqa-wearing assailants, that wouldn't even be 3 percent of the total. Trying to calculate what those 14 cases look like compared to six or more years of robberies? You couldn't even see a number that small with the naked eye.

So one doesn't have to be politically correct to respond to Pipes by saying we don't have a "burqa crisis." All one needs, really, is math.

The Philly Post, 26 February 2013

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'Wanted!' Vlaams Belang video offering reward for shopping veiled women to policeBelgian right-wingers have offered to pay a 250 euros ($310) bounty to anyone who reports a veiled woman to police, they said on Tuesday, in the wake of face veil riots in Brussels.

Filip Dewinter, a senior figure within Vlaams Belang, a right-wing party, told Reuters the riots had made police apprehensive about enforcing the burqa ban and that the payment should put pressure on authorities to further enforce it. "It's a textile prison for the women who have to live under it," he said.

It comes after protesters hurled bins and metal barriers at a Brussels police station last week after a Muslim woman was arrested for refusing to remove her face veil, or niqab.

A Brussels police spokesman said he was unaware of the money being offered, but said any officer who sees a woman wearing a niqab would issue a penalty. "When someone is breaking the law we always have to intervene, demonstrations or no, the niqab is prohibited," he said.

Women in Belgium risk a maximum fine of 150 euros if they wear a full face veil in public. Belgium and France both banned the wearing of full veils in public last year.

Dewinter said he was not aware how many people had already responded to the offer of a bounty.

Reuters, 5 June 2012

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Outgoing interior minister Liesbeth Spies says the burqa ban she helped prepare can be scrapped along with a proposed ban on holding dual citizenship.

Now that the cabinet has fallen, she says she "wouldn't shed a tear" if parliament were to scrap the controversial Freedom Party-sponsored bill. "Now the cabinet has fallen, there's no longer any payoff," she told national daily de Volkskrant on Wednesday.

The Dutch minority coalition originally approved the ban at the end of January 2012. The proposed legislation included a ban on all face-covering clothing items such as burqas, niqabs, balaclavas and full-face crash helmets. The burqa ban was part of the governing coalition agreement.

At the time, Liesbeth Spies said, "it is important that people in an open society meet each other in an open way." A government statement released at the time said: "having to wear a burqa or niqab in public goes against the equality of men and women. With this legislation, the cabinet is removing a barrier to these women participating in society."

RNW, 2 May 2012

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"It is now a year since the French government implemented a ban on the wearing of face coverings in public spaces, aimed at women who wear the full-face veil, popularly and incorrectly referred to as the 'burqa'. Advocates of the ban argued it would protect gender equality and help maintain public order. A year later, it has done neither." Hélène Irving reports.

Open Society Blog, 12 April 2012

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