Ardern’s choice of headwear was a political statement. So was broadcasting the call to prayer over state television and radio. So was the unfounded claim from Gamal Fouda, imam of the Al Noor mosque, that the massacre was ‘the result of the anti-Islamic and anti-Muslim rhetoric by some political leaders, some media agencies, and others’. So was the foolishly repressive banning of the shooter’s ‘manifesto’ by the New Zealand censor, presumably under pressure from Ardern’s Labour party. So was the downright ridiculous response of Whitcoull’s, a New Zealand bookstore chain, to ban Jordan Peterson’s self-help manuals. These are not the reactions of thoughtful leaders. They are panic reactions, seeking political gain or shelter from as-yet hypothetical consequences.
It is good that Ardern has ‘stood with’ New Zealand’s Muslims in a display of simple decency. But the message sent by her hijab, and those of the other non-Muslim women, is politically confused — and an admission of unconscious bigotry.
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‘In my simple worldview, if you believe in equality, you should be a feminist,’ Ardern wrote in 2015. On Friday, Gamal Fouda thanked Ardern and the non-Muslim women for ‘honoring us with a simple scarf’. But there is nothing simple about a scarf in this context.
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A female Muslim New Zealander, writing anonymously, called the #HeadscarfForHarmony fad ‘cheap tokenism… ‘a gimmick and pretty distasteful’: ‘Most people will remove their scarves when Friday ends whilst my mother and sisters continue to be abused — as it’s their religious outfit and not a costume.’ The fact that she had to write anonymously confirms her case.
