In addition to excerpts from the NYT interview with Faiza Silmi, the Muslim woman whose application for French citizenship was rejected because she wore the niqab, Islam in Europe cites an article from the Danish paper Kristeligt Dagblad which quotes Faiza Silmi as saying:

“… it’s pure rubbish that I’m oppressed by my husband and all the men in his family. I go in and out of the apartment when it fits me. My youngest is two, but when the children are bigger I would like to work. I’m a trained seamstress and would like to continue in my profession…. I thought France was a free country, where people can live as they want. I respect others’ choice to go in jeans or miniskirts. Why can’t people respect my choice of something else.”