Banning the veil.

THE DANGEROUS folly of attempting to ban the public wearing of the veil has been highlighted by events in recent days in Belgium. The arrest of a young woman last week for breaching the country’s ban on the full face veil predictably provoked a riot, followed on Tuesday by an inflammatory intervention by the Flemish nationalist far right, certain to spark further violence. Vlaams Belang, a party with neo-Nazi roots, has offered a €250 reward to anyone who reports a veiled woman to the police.