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Hijab and burka controversies in Europe revolve around the variety of headdresses worn by Muslim women, which have become prominent symbols of the presence of Islam in especially Western Europe. In several countries, the adherence to hijab (an Arabic noun meaning "to cover") has led to political controversies and proposals for a legal partial or full ban in some or all circumstances. Some countries already have laws banning the wearing of masks in public, which can be applied to veils that conceal the face. Other countries are debating similar legislation, or have more limited prohibitions. Some of them apply only to face-covering clothing such as the burqa, boushiya, or niqab; some apply to any clothing with an Islamic religious symbolism such as the khimar, a type of headscarf. The issue has different names in different countries, and "the veil" or hijab may be used as general terms for the debate, representing more than just the veil itself, or the concept of modesty embodied in Hijab. Perspectives The reasons given for prohibition vary. Legal bans on face-covering clothing are often justified on security grounds, as an anti-terrorism measure. However, the public controversy is wider, and may be indicative of polarisation between Muslims and western European societies. Some policies and proposals merely include Islamic headdresses into the entire spectrum of religious symbols, also including the crucifix, Christian head covering, the kippah, the mitpaḥat or tichel and other clothes and accessories, that some argue should be absent in certain places on the basis of secularism in order to establish religiously neutral spaces so that everyone receives the same treatment, and to prevent social conflicts. Other policies and proposals specifically target the hijab, burka, and similar Islamic headdresses based on them allegedly being oppressive to the women wearing them (a claim countered by many hijab- and burka-wearing women themselves, but supported by many liberal and former Muslim women who do not wear them), or because of their perceived "un-Europeanness" and other such territorial or nationalistic arguments. For some critics, Islamic dress is an issue of value conflicts and the clash of civilizations. These critics—prominent among them, Ayaan Hirsi Ali—see Islam as incompatible with Western values, at least in its present form. They advocate the values of Enlightenment liberalism, including secularism and equality of women. For them, the burqa or chador is both a symbol of religious obscurantism and the oppression of women. In their view, Western Enlightenment values require prohibition, regardless of whether a woman has freely chosen Islamic dress. A more extreme related view is that freely chosen Islamic dress is a declaration of allegiance to radical Islamism. Although the Balkans and Eastern Europe have Muslim populations dating back to the Ottoman occupation, most Muslims in Western Europe are members of more recent immigrant communities; the issue of Islamic dress is linked with issues of immigration and the position of Islam in western society. In November 2006, European Commissioner Franco Frattini said that he did not favor a ban on the burqa. This was said to be the first official statement on the issue of prohibition of Islamic dress from the European Commission, the executive of the European Union. In 2006, British Prime Minister Tony Blair described it as a "mark of separation". Campaigns to ban the burka has been linked to the counter-jihad movement. Proposals for a ban may be linked to other related cultural prohibitions as Dutch politician Geert Wilders proposed a ban on hijabs, in Islamic schools, in new mosques, and in non-western immigration. Jurisprudence In France and Turkey, the emphasis is on the secular nature of the state, and the symbolic nature of the Islamic dress, and bans apply at state institutions (courts, civil service) and in state-funded education (in France, while the law forbidding the veil applies to students attending publicly funded primary schools and high schools, it does not refer to universities; applicable legislation grants them freedom of expression as long as public order is preserved). These bans also cover Islamic headscarves, which in some other countries are seen as less controversial, although law court staff in the Netherlands are also forbidden to wear Islamic headscarves on grounds of state neutrality. A less politicized argument is that in specific professions (teaching), a ban on "veils" (niqab) is justified since face-to-face communication and eye contact are required. This argument has featured prominently in judgments in Britain and the Netherlands after students or teachers were banned from wearing face-covering clothing. The public and political response to such prohibition proposals is complex since by definition they mean that the government decides on individual clothing. Some non-Muslims, who would not be affected by a ban, see it as an issue of civil liberties as a slippery slope leading to further restrictions on private life. A public opinion poll in London showed that 75 percent of Londoners support "the right of all persons to dress following their religious beliefs". In a more recent poll in the United Kingdom by Pew Research Center, 62% said they would approve of a ban on full veils (covering everything but the eyes). The same poll showed support by majorities in France (82%), Germany (71%) and Spain (59%). The 2010 French law against covering the face in public, known as the "Burqa ban", was challenged and taken to the European Court of Human Rights which upheld the law on 1 July 2014, accepting the argument of the French government that the law was based on "a certain idea of living together", the ECtHR concluded the ban was not disproportionate. Employers in the EU may restrict the wearing of religious symbols if such regulations on appearance are applied consistently, according to a March 2017 ruling by the European Court of Justice in a case involving two Belgian women. On 15 July 2021, the European Court of Justice confirmed this ruling in another case involving two German women who were suspended from their jobs for wearing a headscarf. The Court stated: "A prohibition on wearing any visible form of expression of political, philosophical or religious beliefs in the workplace may be justified by the employer's need to present a neutral image towards customers or to prevent social disputes." National laws As of July 2021, the following European states have introduced full or partial ban of the burqa: Austria, France, Belgium, Denmark, Bulgaria, the Netherlands (in public schools, hospitals and on public transport), Germany (partial bans in some states), Italy (in some localities), Spain (in some localities of Catalonia), Russia (in the Stavropol Krai), Luxembourg, Switzerland, Norway (in nurseries, public schools and universities), and Kosovo (in public schools), Bosnia and .... Discover the Monika Palmberger popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Monika Palmberger books.