(JTA) A leader of Dutch Jewry protested a Muslim activist’s claim that authorities’ partial ban on wearing face-covering veils is a repetition of Holocaust-era persecution.
The activist made the claim in a speech on Aug. 9 while wearing a niqab at a demonstration against the ban on face-covering garment[s], which goes into effect this month.
The ban forbids wearing face coverings, including burqas and niqabs, in public transportation vehicles, schools, hospitals and other government buildings. Transgressors are subjected to a fine of about 160 dollars. Wearing them on the street remains permissible.
“We are here to declare that we will not be thrown back in time,” said the demonstrator, whose identity is not known. “Have we not learned anything [from] 75 years ago?”
