To Goldberg, what has the Holocaust got to do with women wanting to cover up? I fail to see how this is anti-semitic.

To blog reader, London: where did you learn all that garbage about Islam? I suggest you educate yourself by reading about the religion (from a non-extremist book, since extremists of any religion are not true reflections of a given religion's beliefs, but rather exaggerated and twisted ones) before writing such rubbish. You can't even spell their prophet's name correctly.
Regarding the ''If she refuses to wear it, we beat her." comment, this is also rubbish. Islam tells a woman to dress modestly, but whether she chooses to wear the veil or not is entirely her choice and she should do so of her own free will, and not from force. It is forbidden for men to beat women if they refuse and any who do so and think it is acceptable to do so are seriously mistaken and uneducated men. That text whoever quoted is obviously an extremist opinion, and thus, a distorted one.

Mimi, London,

To the press reports that "fan the flames"...not reporting on the violence there doesn't make it go away...it just makes it quiet. Look at all the violence in Africa, the AIDs problem there, child soldiers. Many of these flew under the radar and still do and the press doesn't report them....doesn't stop them from happening.

Meredith, DC, USA

This whole business of a woman's dress code is just a reflection of the attitude of males towards women: as a possession, as property. Perversely, the women appear to conform; but don't tell me that's because of "free choice".

Women who need, or feel the need, to wrap themselves in excess garments signal loud and clear the immaturity of the males in their societies. I can't help finding it all rather primitive.

Ed Zuiderwijk, Cambridge, UK

Goldberg - "Gaza, Israel".

Last time I checked, Gaza was not in Israel and its illegal occupation of that territory had ended.

Martin, St. Helier, Jersey

Sounds a bit daft to me , as the closer the Jews get to the Muslims in their dress , the easier it will be for the Muslims to sneak a suicide bomber up close to any Jewish target they wish.
Please feel free to continue to push the self destruct button , not just for Jews but for the area as a whole.
I feel sure if the press pulled out and didn't pander to the main protagonists need for worldwide recognition the whole middle east boiling pot would reduce in temperature somewhat.
Reporting the daily death toll does nothing but fan the flames.

Nick Dixon, Sutton Coldfield, England

I cannot understand what has modesty to do with conquering someone? It has not happened in history & is against all rational thought & logic.
The shock is that i heard muslims saying very similair statements, i am afraid they both miss the point.

S heath, CAIRO, egypt

Is this only for those women who think themselves beatiful?

Amin Aswet, Gibraltar,

I dont see what is anti semitic about it! & it is true that religious fanatics think alike, whether jewish, christian or muslim. Baruch who killed worshippers in a mosque in 94 was praised by jewish fanatics as a martyr & a hero, even though many jews did not agree, its the mentality not the faith.

S heath, CAIRO, egypt

Ruth Gledhill, on her Faith blog at THE TIMES had a highly informative piece on the Moslem face mask (what it is actually called in Arabic) last year and quoted the passage from the Koran and the supporting ahadith of Bukhari (the actual article on it was taken from FaithFreedom, a site manned by ex-Moslems). The real reason Moslem women wear this apparel is that Mahomet, the warlord of Islam, decreed that women he captured in battle and chose for his 'wives' were to 'cover up' when they were observed defecating in the open by Moslem men (they were barely wearing any clothes). Those whom he chose from among his captives to be his sex slaves presumably remained uncovered. So, Moslem female apparel has nothing to do with female modesty, it has to do with every woman being regarded in Islam as a possession, one demeaning way or another, by a man. Also, as the Dispatches: Undercover Mosque programme made clear with the imam's quote, "If she refuses to wear it, we beat her."

blog reader, london,

Women of all extremist sects, whatever their religion, might as well wear total covering since it signifies their acceptance of their denigration by males and the contempt in which their (man-made) religion holds them.

anne, bournemouth,

This article is completely stupid. Firstly, since when is it important how 100 poor woman in some corner of Israel dress and think?
Secondly, who exactly are the 'many' religious leaders advocating expulsion from Arab lands. This is part of the English presses obsession with trying to show that Jews in the Middle-east are as extremist as millions of Muslims there without a shred of evidence. There was a tiny organization of about a dozen such individuals in Israel almost all of whom were imprisoned for expressing their views. Their Rabbi was Meir Kahane who was killed some years back. The idea of 'many Rabbi's' or even several Rabbi's is a gross exaggeration.

Typical of the Times to try and create the illusion of impartiality by creating the illusion that that a dozen extremist Jews in Israel are as popular as the hundreds-of-thousands of Palestinians who call for the destruction of Israel and the murder of all Jews in the region.

Steven K., Manchester,

Sorry, but how is this article anti-semitic? It is informative and for me shows how much these Jewish women care about their modesty. Get a grip "goldberg", this doesn't reflect badly on the Jews. Except perhaps the men who try to prevent their wives and daughters from dressing the way they feel God has ordained for them.

There are things in the article I cannot agree with such as "Muslim women are imitating Jews to try to gain God's favour with modesty. " ALL women were expected to dress modestly in all three Abrahmaic faiths, not just Judaism. And Islam does reference Judaism as a precursor to Islam. It is not therefore imitating, but developing the laws and rules laid down by the prophets of Judaism.

Overall it's an interesting, if not terribly in-depth article.

Jennifer Hynes, Plymouth, England

Anti-Semitic Mr Goldberg?
The article is reporting on a movement of about 100 Jewish women in this city who have begun covering their bodies. How can a simple report on a movement in your country be seen as Anti-Semitic, it's like saying that can article on a movement in France is racist, do you trualy believe this is the case?

As for forgetting about the holocaust; it's somewhat of a national obsession to continuously discuss it.

Sam, London,

Women covering up their faces, hair or bodies was encouraged in many civilizations. Today, muslim women, catholic nuns and now jewish women reviving their old traditions is but a repetition of ancient customs.
Even in Rajasthan, in India, women cover their hair and faces with a colorful veil, so that its difficult to look at their faces.
This covering up was encouraged in ancient times in many parts of the world to prevent their being kidnapped by outsiders for their beautiful looks.
Today, this is done to divert dirty looks from lecherous men. But personally, I feel that women are emanicipated in many parts of the world and are equal to or even better than men in their contributions to making the world a better place to live in.

SM Hussain, Hyderabad, India

@goldberg

are you always going to use that reasoning from now on, any criticism aimed at Israel is an insult to Jews and referred to the Holocaust.

Reminds me of the muslims who can't take any criticism, and refer to the Crusades all the time.

Jeff, Manchester,

And do, pray tell, how on earth was this article anti-semitic?

Jeff, Manchester,

Another anti-semitic article by the Times?

Have people forgotten about the holocaust which was inflicted by Europeans?

goldberg, Gaza, Israel