[Vienna, September 22. Image via Getty]

An Austrian woman walks on an empty main road called ''Burg Ring '' shortly after it was closed for eight hours to participate in Europe's Car Free day in the heart of Vienna on September 22, 2009.The closure of the street caused traffic chaos in several parts of Vienna.AFP PHOTO/Joe KLAMAR (Photo credit should read JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)

Thirty-two-year-old Marwa al-Sherbini, a pharmacist of Egyptian descent working in Germany, had gone to court to testify against a man who called her a terrorist and tried to take off her headscarf. According to Time, the accused "ran across the courtroom and stabbed her 18 times." Complicating the case even further is the fact that a German guard shot Sherbini's husband, mistaking him for the attacker. The shocking attack has turned a harsh spotlight on anti-Islam sentiment in Europe, which some believe is also behind Sarkozy's suggestion of a burqa ban in France.

Of Sherbini's murder, a columnist for Daily News Egypt wrote,

Had the Muslim been the aggressor as the guards initially thought, the story would have made headlines ... It would have perfectly fitted into the promoted image of Muslims being aggressive, barbaric and uncivilized.

Others, however, believe that Islamists are making opportunistic use of the Sherbini case. Journalist Hossam el-Hamalawy says,

The Islamists in Egypt have already [begun] using this as a card to mobilize for the veil - not for the right of women to wear whatever they want, but in defense of the veil. [...] The government is also trying to hijack the campaign and trying to present itself as patriotic in defense of Egyptians abroad. What do they do for the Egyptians who are in the Gulf and who actually face similar treatment, if not worse?

While debate rages over whether Sherbini's murder was an isolated incident or part of a pattern of European racism, Muslim women in France face their own set of prejudices. Student Ikram Es-Salhi says, "If you wear the veil, you get insulted and attacked all the time, you get called a terrorist." Members of the French parliament have denounced the burqa and niqab as "degrading," called them "walking prisons," and said that wearing them may be "a submissive act." Sarkozy's urban policies secretary, Fadela Amara is in favor of banning the garments despite her Muslim faith. She says, "I am for the banning of this coffin which kills basic freedoms. This debate has to clear the way to a law which protects women."

But some question whether the debate over the burqa ban is really about protecting women. Es-Salhi says, "The real reason for this is Islamophobia." Perhaps bearing out her view are the words of French Member of Parliament Jean-Francois Cope, who says, "Make no mistake, the burqa is a political debate, not a religious one. Extremists are once again testing the Republic." Despite strong emotions on both sides, some take a moderate line on the burqa issue. One of the wisest voices in the debate is that of Suraya Pakzad, executive director of Voice of Women, who says,

I am against the burqa being imposed by force. But what Mr Sarkozy is saying is another type of enforcement on women. No one should be able to compel someone to dress in a certain way.

Tragic Symbol: Egypt's Headscarf Martyr [Time]
French Row Over Burqa Ban Unveils Contradictions [Reuters]

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• The White House has forced the resignation of GM CEO Rick Wagoner because they don't like his plan for the rest of the bailout money he still wants. [LA Times]
• Michigan Congressman Thaddeus McCotter wants to know when the fuck Obama is going to make a damn banker resign for fucking up his bailout money. [Huffington Post]
• New Hampshire Bag of Dicks Senator Judd Gregg wants everyone to remember that he totally snowballed the Administration into offering him a Cabinet Secretary slot so he could spend the next two years being an enormous asshole and get press coverage for it. [Washington Post]
• Illinois Congressman John Shimkus thinks the problem with reducing carbon dioxide emissions is that, by doing so, we'll kill off all the trees. Yeah, dude, I remember photosynthesis from elementary school science class, too. That's not exactly the issue here. [ThinkProgress]
• Obama thinks the Bushies kind of fucked up in Afghanistan by ignoring it in favor of pursuing a war in Iraq because there was no Really Bad Man we could execute in Afghanistan. I mean, there were two of them, at least, but they were hiding and neither tried to assasinate Dubya's pawpaw. [Washington Post]
• Obama's guys on the ground in Pakistan say that a big part of the problem is that the Pakistanis don't trust us. Wonder why that is, given all the peace and prosperity we've brought to the region? [CNN]
• Obama is heading to Europe this week, but will meet with world leaders and not Paris Hilton. [NY Times]
• He and Michelle have picked out an interior decorator to re-do the White House, but they're not taking federal funds or donations to implement his plans so they don't have to deal with the same crap that dogged the Clintons for 8 years. [NY Magazine]
• Sarah Palin selected an enormous homophobic asshole to be her state's Attorney General. [Pam's House Blend]
• Norm Coleman and Texas Senator Jon Cornyn don't care how long Minnesota goes light on its Senatorial representation as long as Al Franken is never the Senator. [Politico]
• Bush started torturing people because he was freaking out and didn't know what else to do. [Huffington Post]

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