Don’t be a berk: Leave my burqa alone

Ingenious or incredibly naïve? The message that got lost in the mural

By Liz Cush

Sergio Redegalli, a Newtown artist who jumped from obscurity last week for his flash in the pan 15 minutes of fame, is adamant that his “Say no to burqas” mural was not an attack on Islam.

Egyptian-born Muslim feminist writer Mona Eltahawy argues that the burqa should not be welcome anywhere because it erases women from society, depriving the wearer of an identity. A piece of black cloth that shrouds women harks back to a time, place and culture when they could have been useful to protect from the harsh sun and blowing sands of the desert. The majority of Muslim women worldwide do not wear a burqa, and on the streets of Newtown, where it is said, anything goes, a sighting of a burqa is few and far between.

Few outside of bedouin tribes or adherents to the Salafi branch of Islam would jump to defence of this archaic garment that restricts freedom of movement, hinders the enjoyment of fresh air and sunshine, and makes it virtually impossible to ride a bike, drive a car and let alone do a cartwheel.

But when Mr Redegalli painted a mural of a niqab wearing woman, crossed through with red paint, and the words “Say no to burqas” on the outside wall of his studio in Station St, Enmore, few believed that he was striking a blow for women’s liberation.

Local grafitti artists were quick to show with a few dabs of paint, exchanging burqas for bogans, that Muslims are welcome in Newtown, but racism is definitely not.

One of the artists left a letter for Mr Redegalli, with this message, “To think that your “extremist” mural is doing anything thought provoking is awful. I can see racism, homophobia and all other terrible things used to divide, separate and keep the poor fighting amongst themselves and working to keep the extremely rich wealthy whenever I turn on the TV or open a newspaper or magazine.”

“We spend our days trying to make the world good for everyone, and for you to use shockjock tactics to engage with the public is cheap and insensitive,” the letter said.

Mr Redegalli claims his real target is extremism, not women and not Islam. “I’m trying to talk about a problem of extremists and an area of culture that does not key into our own culture, because if you talk to enough people, they are fearful,” Mr Redegalli told the City Hub. “Having an idea of where we are heading and what rights we want to have, needs to be discussed.”

Are Australians bound to repeat the endless cycle of bashing, fear and abuse of each new wave of migrants? In the eighties, Vietnamese, Greeks and Italians copped it, then that rabid red-head pointed the finger at Asians in general. Since George W Bush’s “either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists”, it has been open slather on Muslims while the US and its allies have bombed the living daylights out of Iraq and Afghanistan, causing untold civilian casualties.

Zubeda Raihman from the Muslim Women’s National Network of Australia, based in western Sydney, said Mr Redegalli could better spend his time fighting the issues that are really confronting. “When you look at the demographic of Australia, there are many Muslims, and only one in 1000 wear the burqa. If it it’s not a problem now, why would it be in 20 years? Many immigrants are coming from other parts of the world, and they don’t wear it. I know many women from Afghanistan and Iraq who are not even wearing hijab because they’ve found this new freedom, so what’s the big deal?” Mrs Raihman said.

“My personal opinion is that the burqa’s not necessary. It predates Islam and used to be worn because of the dust and the weather. But the women who are wearing it are facing the obligations of their culture. They continue doing what their mothers and grandmothers do, it’s a done thing,” she said.

The argument that the burqa is not part of Islam is irrelevant. To the women who wear it, it is important to them.

One of the Newtown locals, Veronica Blair, who confronted Mr Redegalli about his mural, said his fear of extremism was misplaced.

“If there was any possibility of Sharia law being introduced in Australia, I would fight that too, but look at who is in government and who has power? It’s not Muslims that he should fear,” she said. “Want to talk about something we really need to fear? How about those Christian extremists who have nothing better to do every Saturday morning than taunt women walking into the abortion clinic on Missenden Rd.”

The only extremists Mr Redegalli’s little act brought out of the woodwork were some neo-Nazi extremists who inexplicably lurk around Newtown and Tempe, and of course it gave fodder for the hateful online rantings of the Australian Protectionist Party. Redegalli says many people do not feel comfortable around women wearing burqas. Maybe so, but is banning them really a good response? It seems to just play into the hands of Islamophobes and Christian extremists such as Fred Nile.

Jamal Daoud from the Social Justice Network in western Sydney says he personally doesn’t like the burqa, but he sees attacks on it as part of a broader attack on Islam.

Mr Daoud said he opposes any effort to restrict personal freedom, “especially making laws about what someone wears on her head, because it’s not harming anyone else in society.”

From a family of secular communists, he has long lobbied a niece in Jordan who chose to start wearing a burqa at the age of 19 as a response to the creeping influence of western values, such as raunch culture, in her country. “Sometimes we are laughing and joking with her about it, but we can’t interfere with her choice,” Mr Daoud said.

The Social Justice Network supported a recent rally in Lakemba against a ban on the burqa and would also support measures stop the burqa being forced on women who don’t wish to wear it. “We are against the Saudis enforcing this on women and in support of any pro-democracy movement in Saudi or in any other country,” Mr Daoud said.