Slow News Day

Here is a surprise:

Women the world over find veil limits job choice

Aysha Obeid couldn't get a job as a shop assistant in Dubai because of the veil that covered her face, exposing only her eyes to the outside world. So to improve her employment prospects, Obeid stopped wearing the veil.

"No one takes women with niqab in the retail sector," said Obeid, 22.

While women who cover up for their faith may expect problems getting some kinds of work outside the Muslim world, those in the region also say they have trouble getting jobs -- particularly ones requiring them to interact with the public.

How about "Archaic Practice Limits Career Choices".

Back in America, a concerned columnist for CNN covers Rehan Seyam, a New Jersey Muslim who made a soul searching decision to wear a hijab and now complains about her treatment in general, and in particular last Christmas at Wal-Mart:

Seeing her distinctive traditional Muslim head covering called a "hijab," a man in the store, addressing her directly, sang "The 12 Days of Christmas" using insulting lyrics about terrorism and Osama bin Laden.

She was stunned.

"Do I look like a terrorist to you?" Seyam said she asked the man.

According to Seyam, the man replied, "What else does a terrorist look like?"

Such stories are not altogether uncommon for Muslim Americans. According to a recent poll by the Pew Research Center, 53 percent of Muslims living in America said it has become more difficult to be a Muslim in the United States since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Fifty-one percent said they are "very worried" or "somewhat worried" that women wearing the hijab are treated poorly, according to the poll.

The gentleman's behavior was mean-spirited and in poor taste; however, the columnist's premise that after 9/11, "it has become more difficult to be a Muslim in the United States" begs the question: And . . .

Muslim terrorists killed 3000 people and the Muslim population in America was largely silent. Their leadership wasn't: it immediately began precondemning acts of aggression toward Muslims that never happened (outside of a small handful of cases). Americans looked for a sign after the attacks that the American Muslim population stood with them against the perpetrators. In most cases it never came.