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“The Salafi students replaced the Tunisian flag with their own black standard bearing the Muslim profession of faith.”

Well, there you go. You can’t get a better, more graphic instance of the threat to free thought in universities than that. Tunisia’s Manouba University, where the flag switch took place, is on the front lines of the university’s defense, and its women students – threatened, as usual, most severely – seem to be leading the fight (see the photograph accompanying the article to which I’ve linked). The Salafists note that university women get to wear niqabs/burqas (both face-covering clothing) in other countries:

“We demand a prayer room and access for all students wearing the niqab to classes and exams, as is allowed in the United States, Britain and Germany,” said Mohammed Bakhti, a spokesman for the Salafi students.

He is too modest. His group also demands gender segregated classrooms. And gender segregated instruction… And it’s funny… Tunisia… strong links to France, and yet he doesn’t list France. Because burqas are illegal in France. They will probably be banned this year in Italy. Canada has begun partial bans, as has Sweden. Spain looks close to a ban.

By the way, there are plenty of schools in Britain that ban the burqa. A Norwegian professor has banned the burqa in his classrooms. The beat goes on.

Margaret Soltan, March 8, 2012 4:30PM
Posted in: democracy

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