Ban the burqa, allow the burkini

France has been seized by a silly hysteria over the burkini, prompting me to wonder when Europeans will get serious about their Islamist challenge.

For starters, what is a burkini? The word combines the names of two opposite articles of female clothing: The burqa, the Islamic tent-like, full-body covering; and the bikini. Also known as a "halal swimsuit," the burkini modestly covers all but the face, hands and feet, and resembles a wetsuit with a head covering.

Aheda Zanetti, of Ahiida Pty Ltd. in Australia, claims to have coined the term in 2003, calling it "smaller than a burka" while "two-piece like a bikini." The curious and sensational cross of two radically dissimilar articles of clothing, along with the item's ability to fulfill the unique needs of active but pious Muslim women, the burkini was "the subject of an immediate rush of interest and demand," according to the company. Some non-Muslim women, including British cooking celebrity Nigella Lawson, wear it for protection from the sun, while observant Jewish women have adopted a variant garment.

In 2009, a public swimming pool in Emerainville, France, banned a burkini-wearing woman on the grounds that she was violating pool rules by wearing street clothes. But burkinis only erupted into a national political issue on Aug. 12 when the mayor of Cannes, a resort town on the French Riviera, banned burkinis -- without legally defining exactly what they are -- on the Cannes beaches because it represents Islamism. A court then confirmed his ban and French Prime Minister Manuel Valls further endorsed it, on the grounds that the burkini is a religious expression that has no place on the beach. Francois Fillon, a likely candidate for president next year, also endorsed the ban, and other French municipalities followed suit, including the city of Nice, plus another nine towns in the Alpes-Maritimes Department as well as five towns in the Var Department.

This development astonishes me, even after I myself argued that the burqa -- and the niqab, a similar article of clothing that leaves a slit for the eyes -- needs to be banned from public places on security grounds. Those formless garments not only permit criminals and jihadists to hide themselves, they also enable the wearer to hide, say, an assault rifle without anyone knowing. Men as well as women hide under burqas for criminal and jihadi purposes. Indeed, I have collected some 150 anecdotes of bank robberies, abductions, murders, and jihadi attacks since 2002. Philadelphia has become the Western capital of burqas and niqabs as criminal accessories, with at least 34 incidents in nine years.

In contrast, the burkini poses no danger to public security. Unlike the burqa or niqab, it leaves the face uncovered, and it is relatively form-fitting, leaving no place to hide weapons. Men cannot wear it as a disguise. Further, while there are legitimate arguments about the hygiene of large garments in pools (prompting some hotels in Morocco to ban the garment), this is obviously not an issue on the coastal beaches of France.

Accordingly, beach burkinis should be allowed without restriction. Cultural arguments, such as the one made by Valls, are specious and discriminatory. If a woman wishes to dress modestly on the beach, that is her business, and not the state's. It is also her prerogative to choose unflattering swimwear that waterlogs when she swims.

The Islamist threat to the West is very real, from the Rushdie rules to polygyny, honor killings, partial no-go zones, and beheadings. With the influx of millions of unvetted Muslim migrants into Europe, these problems will grow along with the number of Islamists. Nerves are on edge and the political scene is changing rapidly, as demonstrated by the growing number of Austrians who recently voted for a hard-line anti-immigration presidential candidate.

Issues around Islam are arguably Europe's number one concern, ahead even of the European Union and the financial crisis. They need to be dealt with by confronting real problems, not by focusing on symbolic irrelevancies such as burkinis, halal shops, and minarets. Burqas and niqabs must be banned, and the German government may soon do so. Freedom of speech about Islam and Muslims must be reconfirmed, Saudi and Iranian funding for religious purposes must be cut, and a single legal code must apply to all.

So, my advice: Focus on these real problems and let Muslims wear what they wish to the beach.

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