Last updated at 6:38 PM on 4th November 2010
Courtesy Of "The Daily Mail Online"
Cherie Blair today launched a strident defence of Muslim women saying it was wrong to see those who cover their hair or their body as a threat.
Speaking just two weeks after her sister Lauren Booth converted to Islam, the former Prime Minister's wife stressed that it was essential to respect people's right to dress how they choose.
'We use the appearance of women as a metaphor of our fear of a supposed Islamic threat,' she told Spain's El Pais newspaper.
Counsel for the defence: Cherie Blair (left) said it was wrong to stereotype Muslim women. Her sister Lauren Booth (right) has recently converted to Islam
'There are thousands of Muslims in Europe who participate in our way of life and intend continuing to do so and if they want to dress in a certain way because of their beliefs, we shouldn't feel threatened.'
Asked about her sister's recent conversion to Islam, she said simply: 'It’s her choice.'
Mrs Blair's comments were made in an interview ahead of the European Muslim Women of Influence Conference in Madrid.
She stressed it was important to fight against stereotypes that 'above all affect Muslim women'.
'We tend to believe they're oppressed, insecure and incapable of thinking for themselves and that is not true,' she said.
Controversy: The veil has been banned in France and provoked anger in many countries around the world
'One of the things I try to do is help to explain that Islam is an open religion in which women have influence, whether they hide their hair or not.
'I was educated by nuns who were completely covered up to their necks.'
Mrs Blair has previously attacked full face veils for women which she said failed to acknowledge 'the woman's right to be a person'.
She told Radio 4’s Today programme three years ago: 'I think we can get very hung up about women’s clothes.
'The question is whether we honour people’s religious beliefs or not.
'I am happy to honour people’s religious beliefs, provided they are freely undertaken.
'Women covering their heads, women dressing modestly, I have no problem with at all.
'I think, however, that if you get to a stage where a woman is not able to express her personality because you can’t see her face, then you do have to ask whether this is something that is actually acknowledging the woman’s right to be a person in her own right.'
Mrs Blair who has just returned from a speaking engagement in Brazil with her husband, also backed his controversial decision to invade Iraq.
She insisted former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar and his wife Ana Botella - staunch allies of Britain and the U.S. in their controversial war on terror - remained close friends.
She said: 'I think my husband took the correct decision on Iraq. And he had the support of Aznar.
'He and his wife Ana are very good friends of ours. Supporting people out of goodwill is one thing.
'Another thing is defending yourself if your way of life is under threat. Then you have to stay firm and show you will not tolerate it.
'At times, so that it’s made clear, you have to show it.'
A grab taken from a video shows a photo of Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden and a blurred picture of what appears to be policemen pulling off a woman's veil to reveal her hair, in a new audio message from Bin Laden. He has threatened to launch terrorist attacks in France over a move to ban burkas
No comments:
Post a Comment