Dutch blogger Zacht Ei reports on a meeting that Rita Verdonk, the Dutch immigration secretary, had with some imams. One of them refused to shake her hand, citing a religious taboo. Here’s a picture. A triviality perhaps, but somehow an iconic moment.
Theodore Dalrymple – cited by Roger Simon – argues that the oppression of women is central to Islam’s appeal, at least for young Muslim men in the West. Can we just shrug and accept such attitudes as religious requirements, or as a matter of differing cultural perspectives, and leave it at that? Surely for someone living in a liberal society such as Holland to display such a lack of respect for women is to forfeit all respect themselves.
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