The head scarf is threating to Howard-esque aussies because they haven't yet left the 19th century, still think it is 'their' (white anglo) country, and live extremely bland and insular lives (i can remember when vegetarianism was a subversive communist plot, lol).

With News Corp hacks and Liberal party brownshirts daily pumping more hate and ignorance directly into the minds of gormless ockers its no surprise that symptoms emerge on the street. The Iranians i used to work with (at a major university) WERE dangerous, because they demonstrated how pig ignorant and lacking in skills and learning 99% of aussies (including this 5th gen. anglo aussie) are. The mob hates to be reminded of its baseness. I'd love to say Australia is coming around, becoming less racist, but actually i think we are on a prefascist path and pogroms may not be that far away (over to you, Alan Jones)

I don't find a scarf or a Hijab "threatening" in itself (one can argue the same for the cloth worn by the KKK). But the “threat” lays in what the veil represents.

As a Christian, I feel deeply moved with compassion for the lost souls that wear them. These women sincerely and innocently believe that they are representing a true religion and a true belief in The True God (found only in the Bible). Most of them don’t really understand the symbolism behind the veil. They just follow blindly all the masochistic precepts of the self-proclaimed prophet of Islam. The most perfect man that ever lived (?).

A piece of cloth would have been quite innocent and acceptable if Islam was not such a political threat to Australia – (similar let's say to what Communism once was - except Islam is much more aggressive in its approach and inherently violent of course).

Any symbolic representation of a political movement that is so contrary to our way of life is a threat to our national safety and to our liberal democracy. Hiding behind a religion does not make it less of a threat but all the more harder to combat.

I would not say the same for any other religious symbolism or any other national attire. Most do not pose a direct threat to Australia. But Islam does. (Just see what is happening in Europe).

I’m sure the Muslim headscarf is worn by different women for different reasons, even within the relatively small Australian Muslim community. Perhaps older women wear it mainly for traditional or modesty reasons, but some young women in their teens and early adulthood no doubt use it as a group identifier. Other groups also use clothing to state their allegiance to a certain group and ideology; Goths are a non-religious example of this.

I have noticed some young women wearing the headscarf, and then wearing figure-hugging pants and tops that cannot by any stretch be called “modest”. In these cases the scarf cannot be anything other than a symbol, a statement of difference, like a curtain of separation drawn between themselves and others.

Internationally, I have heard that Islamic dress is undergoing a resurgence (among both sexes), even in countries like Turkey and Indonesia where it was not so common in the past. I believe this is because of the increase in hostile attention which has been focused on Islam in the last few years; as a group feels itself threatened, it begins to define itself more strongly.

And of course non-Muslims’ attitudes to Islam will determine their attitude towards the visible symbols of that religion.

Unfortunately, I think it sometimes happens that when groups feel threatened by each other, they start to act in ways that reinforce each others’ suspicions.

PS - I wrote the above before reading coach’s post; now that I have, it seems like supporting evidence for my last couple of statements!

There's nothing like a refreshing post like Liam's to remind us who society's most dangerous enemies really are.

Not Muslims in general, but rather that particular breed of university leftist who genuinely believes that "99 per cent" of his fellow white Australians are scum. This sort of genocidal racism trumps anything ever visited upon dark-skinned minorities in this country.

I imagine it's hard for many to believe that some people really think like this, especially since a casual observer would note that this sort of person doesn't get out much amongst the general Australian population anyway. But it's that sort of isolation that breeds such contempt.

These people hate democracy, because the majority decides, and in their sick world view, the majority is always wrong.

I believe the "scarf" was developed to keep the hair from blowing in the desert wind and to keep the sand out of ones eyes.
There is nothing nicer in this world (for a man) then to look at some woman's hair,mouth and eyes, for (saint)pete'sake women were created to be looked at.Just because one is married to a jealous man and when you are looked at by other men, does't mean that the husband shouldn't feel pleased with his choice of woman? Or am I being old-fashioned?
Muslim women miss out on a very important and natural feeling,I reckon.
If you move out of the desert,you should change your habits,whether searching for food,clothing,men,women or housing.

BTW TurnRightThenLeft:

VanKleef is talking about a dutch folkdress,which in many different parts of holland is worn on special occasions and festivities.Like fishermen/women used to wear a different dress compared to farmers etc.like in hungary russia poland etc.Folk dress- No Religious dress!
Christians were burned on the stake whilst wearing crosses around their neck, ongoing wars about religions have been with us for donkey's ages as is expansionism. Why do muslims come to australia? Religious freedom,probably, like the "hugenoots" and jews were cleansed out of their territory and like the palestinians now. Dress different and you will be noticed! If policies change you'll be the first to be stopped,look at history! Religion is not worth losing your precious life for,I'd say.