One of the things that probably get lost in all the demographic projections for Europe – which by the way are subject to some credible criticisms - is the fact that they most likely do not take account of native Europeans becoming Muslim. The Washington Post yesterday had a revealing piece on one Rabi'a Frank, a Dutch woman who used to go through life as Rebecca Frank, and who following her marriage to a Moroccan immigrant became a devout Muslim. Here are some quotes from Frank which gives you a general idea of the unique transformation she went through:

"I'm a Muslim, a woman and also Dutch," she continued. "What upsets people is that I'm a Muslim first."

"I am a Muslim," she said with finality. "That's my identity."

During her pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia with her husband and mother-in-law, she covered her face in public for the first time. Far from feeling oppressed, she said, she felt liberated.

We can talk all we want about integration, but if the hallmark of being Muslim is Europe is being “Muslim first” it may be an uphill struggle although Frank could be an anomaly. More alarming is the statement that “she feels liberated” which interestingly coincides with a newspaper interview with Dutch Minister for Transportation Karla Peijs on this very issue:

Minister Peijs sees the Islamic headscarf no longer as a sign of repression. The scarf “gives women freedom” says the minister in an interview with the Telegraaf. She changed her mind after a visit to a conference of Women as world leaders in Abu Dhabi, where 1200 women from 87 countries got together.

[ … ]

“Wearing a headscarf is of course culturally determined. And that’s the way these women experience that, because that’s how they experience their religion. In addition, the headscarf offers opportunities for women is some Islamic countries, because without one they won’t be able to leave home” says the minister.

Up to that point Minister Peijs' comments could be considered to be some sort of analysis of the situation outside Europe, but she goes terribly off track when she comes with the following suggestion:

Peijs would consider a minister with a headscarf in the next cabinet a good idea. “It would enhance the recognizability of the cabinet. It should be someone however picked for her qualities”.

Now as you know there is a national election coming up in The Netherlands next year and Peijs is no doubt courting the Muslim vote, but if you scrutinize her suggestions more carefully she may actually lose a huge chunk of the female vote. And it was Hirsi Ali who made that point by arguing that wearing a headscarf might have certain benefits in Islamic nations in order to get out of the door and work, but that in Western Europe that would hardly be a requirement, on the contrary.

Peijs is not an anomaly. She represents the wave of placating and appeasing that may well precipitate a change of European values and attitudes long before the demographics have done their work.

NOTE: Val MacQueen today in TCS highlights some Muslim women who are liberated too, by western values that is.

UPDATE: And of course, there is Dr Wafa Sultan.

UPDATE II: Margaret Wente in the Globe and Mail points to the outer boundaries of her tolerance levels:

I'm all for multiculturalism -- up to a point. Head scarves, turbans and kirpans don't bother me at all. But my open-minded tolerance deserts me when I see women completely covered up. In every culture where this is the norm, women are oppressed. Do I need to learn to be more tolerant? Or am I right to think that women in chadors (and, more to the point, the men who walk four steps in front of them) should adapt to us?