Sivan 1

Vignesh Sivan
Ms. Castle
English Language and Composition
6 December 2013
The veil needs to fly away
Depending on its location and size, airports can accommodate from several
hundred people to several thousand people per day (BBC) .People who visit airports
often belong to many different cultures. In order to be racially sensitive, most airports
currently offer special services to accommodate diversity. For example, many airports
now have prayer rooms for the religious. For veiled women, or those who wear
burqas, private screening is offered so that the women dont have to reveal their faces
in public during security checks (airliners.net). Yet, many feel that the burka should
be banned at airports; Nick Clegg, the deputy Prime Minister of England, has publicly
expressed his belief that the burqa should be banned at airports, as it can cause
security to be compromised (dailystar). Furthermore, many passengers have expressed
their outrage at the leniency that is sometimes offered by security officers at airports
to veiled women, to racism (frontpage mag). Burqas, therefore, should be banned
from airports, in order to address security problems and the complaints made by the
passengers.

The burqa, or the niqab as it is sometimes called, is mostly worn by women from
Islamic countries; only a small fraction of Muslim women living outside these
countries actually wear the burqa. In France, where there is the largest Muslim
population in Europe, only 0.3% of the population wears the burqa (the guardian).
Although the Quran does not explicitly state that the burqa should be worn by women,

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many scholars argue that it is implied, as the Quran states that women should not
attract attention towards themselves (quran-islam). At airports, however, women who
cover their faces attract attention towards themselves. In India, a plane had to make
an emergency landing after a woman wearing a burqa refused to show her face to
suspicious flight attendants. The flight crew had suspected that the passenger
underneath the veil was actually a man, due to the muscular physique that the
passenger possessed (tribune). After the airplane landed, the women were searched
and detained. This event highlights the fact that women wearing the burqa can put
themselves under scrutiny. After all, the woman wouldnt have attracted as much
attention from the flight crew, had she not worn the burqa as her gender would have
been evident to those around her. By covering her face, the passenger, in effect, had
hidden this information from everyone else. The burqa which is, in principle,
supposed to stop women from getting attention can actually cause women to attract
attention, especially at airports.
There have been many reports where women wearing burqas have been allowed to
pass through security checks without having to reveal their faces. In Canada, two
veiled women were allowed to proceed to boarding without having to lift their veils
and confirm their identities, in violation of international security protocol (the globe
and mail). An angry passenger filmed the two veiled women proceeding to boarding
without having to show their faces. While the security officer at the scene is at fault,
he cannot be blamed entirely for the situation. Asking a Muslim woman to lift her
veil, after all, is a faux pass. There are many unspoken rules about what is right and
these can contradict with the rules of the airport. The Canadian transport minister had
commented that the event was deeply disturbing and was a matter that everyone
should look into. He emphasized the fact that the law applies equally to all and,

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therefore, the veiled women have to show their faces before boarding (the globe and
mail). But should airports have to incur the costs of hiring more female officers to
patrol boarding gates in the case of these events? Furthermore, making every veiled
passenger reveal their can make boarding much longer than it needs to be. While
banning the burqa can seem like an extreme response to such events, the absence of
burqas will make boarding faster, smoother and, most importantly, legal.

Many would argue that a ban on the burqa can result in inequality, as Arabs and other
women from Middle-Eastern countries are denied the right to wear their cultural attire
at airports. This belief, however, is not necessarily true. Airport security has
intensified in recent years, in response to terrorism (business week). Passengers are
now subjected to more rigorous screening; in order to catch their flight, passengers
now have to go through multiple screenings and might even have to take off their
shoes. Although these new rules are meant to apply to all passengers equally, many
have complained that women dressed in burqas are not subjected to screenings of
similar intensity. David James, an author, is one of these passengers (Dailymail). In
the process of being screened, James made a racist remark regarding an Arab
woman who had passed security checks without showing her face. His remark was If
I was wearing this scarf over my face, I wonder what would happen? His comment,
much to his surprise, prompted the security officer to detain him, until he apologized
for his comment. Ultimately, James did apologize for his comment, in order to catch
his flight. After the event, however, James publicly announced that he had done
nothing wrong. Many passengers would agree with David James. Airport security
rules should apply to everyone; women wearing veils are required by the law to show
their faces during security checks. The fact that rules arent applied to everyone

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equally indicates inequality. In addition, burqas are potentially better at hiding

dangerous items than shoes. Like shoes, hats and belts they can be stuffed with
objects that need to be concealed. Security checks, therefore, should occur at equal, if
not greater intensity for women wearing burqas. The feeble security checks for
covered women not only violate protocol but also compromise the safety of
passengers. Therefore, a ban on the burqa in international airports, as opposed to the
beliefs of many, can actually establish equality as well as improve security.
Criminals, on many instances, have disguised themselves in burqas. The burqa is an
ideal disguise for criminals because it covers their faces, while making them look
innocuous. In 2006, Mustaf Jama, who was the most wanted criminal in the UK at the
time, fled the country dressed in a burqa (telegraph). Three years later, the British
intelligence extradited him from Somalia, his home country. It is believed that Jama
used his sisters passport to flee the country. His success in doing so exposes the fact
that security officers do not confirm the identity of veiled women; it also suggests that
the recent security measures that were meant to combat terrorism are ultimately
ineffective. In order to promote safety at airports, it is crucial that everyone is
identified before they board their plane. Passengers can be at risk if everyone isnt
identified.
The burqa should be banned from airports, in order to ensure the safety and equality
of all passengers. While rules are in place to ensure that all passengers are screened
effectively, security officers are often reluctant to enforce these rules. This results in
the unequal treatment of passengers and greater security risks. The burqa, therefore,
should be banned in airports. While this can offend some women, the safety and
equality of passengers should be of foremost priority.

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Works Cited

Brown Andrew Who Really Wears The Burka? The Guardian Web 10 March 2010
Dolan Andy, 'What would happen if I had a scarf over my face?': Nightmare of
Fireman Sam creator branded a racist over quip to airport security, Dailymail,
Web 27 Feb 2012
Indian plane scare caused by burqa tribune Web 6 May 2010
Kenny Charles, Airport Security Is Killing Us, Business Week, Bloomberg, 18 Nov
2012
Suemeda Sood Why Is Atlanta The Worlds Busiest Airport? BBC Travel, BBC,
Web 8 Feb 2013
Menzies David, Airport Security Double Standards, Frontpage Mag, Web
11 Sept 2013
Moore Chris The Burqa- Islamic or Cultural? quran-islam Web n.d.
Stokes Paul, Murder suspect fled under Muslim veil, Telegraph, Web, 20 Dec 2006
Taber Jane, No exceptions for veils at airports, Baird says, The Globe and Mail,
Web 3 Aug 2012
Wells Andy, Minister Calls for Muslim Burqa Ban, Dailystar, Web, 16 Dec 2013
Woman in burqa pass security, Canada fumes IBN Web 2 Aug 2009