A row has broken out in Italy over the wearing of the burka after the prefect of a city in the north-east announced he was permitting it, despite legislation outlawing any clothing that stops the wearer being recognised.

In a front-page article in yesterday’s Corriere della Sera, the paper’s Egyptian-born deputy editor, Magdi Allam, attacked Mr Capocelli’s counter-initiative as symptomatic of an attitude that was “leading us straight to the suicide of our civilisation”. Were it endorsed at national level, he argued, Islamic women “could soon be going to school, taking jobs and going around freely, completely veiled”.

I am not sure about the suicide of civilization, hoping it still has a few months to go. Nor am I worried very much about women being completely veiled. I am more concerned about Islamic men using burka for their own nefarious purposes. Including going to school.

Cross-posted on SimplyJews.