Counterpoint: Setting Themselves Apart; This is no 'personal' decision. The fundamentals of modern civil society are at stake.(Muslim women and the veil)(Cover story)(Viewpoint essay)

Byline: Ayaan Hirsi Ali (Hirsi Ali, a former member of the Dutch Parliament, is author of "The Caged Virgin" and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.)

British Prime Minister Tony Blair says the Muslim veil is a mark of separation, which makes the integration of Mus-lim women into society more difficult. He's right. Those who wear the veil deliberately set themselves apart.

Many are coerced into shrouding their bodies. The veil is the visible symptom of their more comprehensive subjection. They are required to be obedient, to ask permission of their male guardians when they leave the house, often with a chaperone. These victims of force, whether they live in England or in Saudi Arabia, almost always have very limited education. They are married young, through arranged or forced marriages, and are groomed for docility. They do not appear in unemployment statistics, or any statistics at all. As ordained by their faith, they are invisible.

Those women who voluntarily choose the veil are different. Often they are literate, verbally forthright and independent. Many are recent converts--"born again" Muslims and Islamic activists who may be well integrated into society. Yet they have made a clear choice. They reject the Western lifestyle. The veil is an expression of the moral philosophy they hold and wish to impose upon others. They seek to provoke, to intimidate. In many European cities it is increasingly common to see girls, sometimes as young as 5, with headscarves tied tightly around their necks, or even little veils. They are taught to keep away from boys, from unbelievers and from Muslims who are weak in the faith--in other words, other, unveiled Muslim little girls. That is precisely the purpose of the veil.

The veil also manifests division of the sexes. Women must veil; men do not. Underlying this simple dogma is a sexual morality that holds women responsible for the sexual conduct of ...