Archive for February 2012

Muslim Women Losing Rights Due to “Arab Spring”

By on February 27, 2012

Below is an except from an excellent commentary about women and the “Arab Spring”

I was very hopeful for the Women that took to the streets during the Arab Spring and Winter; however, what was as much of a “Women`s Revolution” as it was a Democracy Revolution in the Muslim World it has been the Women that have gained less…

 Muslim Women took to the streets because they were tired of being covered from head to toe in searing heat. They were tired of slaving for a man that under radical religious laws allows him to give his attention to several other women. Women were tired of being beaten, burned, mutilated, and acid thrown in their face in the name of Mohammad. They were tired of not having a voice, a vote or self-value. All in all women were tired of being tired…

 I remember a chat with a Muslim woman on an overnight train ride. This informal interview of this brilliant young woman, which had a wonderful Diplomacy background, fluent English, Turkish, Russian and Ukrainian was quite impressive. Yet, her story and cultural hardships gave me a clear understanding that under radical Muslim laws she would have no voce; therefore, her thoughts and opinions would be of no value to her, her family, or the constructive Muslim World. In her mind she saw that her education, time and hard works over a decade or so wasted and would really have little to no value within the Muslim culture.

 I did what I could to encourage her to rise up, and be different and encouraged her to write and share with the world her voice. I felt that she could condemns the lack of Human Rights ” and oppression that women face in the Muslim culture. Her moderate thinking was very pleasant to hear in comparison to most Anti-American Muslim voices. We discussed her near 250 page Dissertation as well as my thoughts and works within the Middle East to try and make it a much more constructive place.

Read the rest here: Muslim Women Lost Many Rights in the Arab Spring

 

This entry is filed under Arab Spring, Burka/Hijab/Veil, Women's Rights and Gender Apartheid.

Women in Islam: Hell’s Residents are Mostly Women

By on February 27, 2012

Mohammed said, “I was shown the Hell-fire and that the majority of its dwellers are women.”

The quotation above is from the sunna of Mohammed and is in many hadiths.  The literal playing out of this declaration happens constantly in Islam.  Sometimes it’s by fire, sometimes it’s by acid.  Here is one example regarding a woman in Pakistan.

Naseeban Mahar, 22, was set on fire allegedly by her husband. He apparently doused her in petrol, in Daurahi Maher village in Shaheed Benazirabad district on Tuesday.

Why was Naseeban burned?  Because she left her husband and went back home to live with her parents.

Read the rest of the article here:  Landlord Sets Wife on Fire

This entry is filed under Pakistan.

Tunisian Women Slapped by Salafists for Wearing Trousers and Skirts

By on February 27, 2012

Tunisian women facing repression following the revolution

Tunisian Women Facing Violent Oppression After Recent Revolution

 

Police in a Tunisian town used tear gas on Thursday to break up a crowd of about 200 hardline Islamists, armed with sticks, swords and petrol bombs, who set fire to a police station, witnesses told Reuters.

“The security forces are chasing about 200 Salafists armed with swords and sticks after an exchange of petrol bombs and tear gas,” resident Omar Inoubli told Reuters by telephone from Jandouba, about 160 km (99 miles) west of the capital.

“These groups set fire to a police station …. (They) are broadcasting recordings through the loudspeakers of mosques calling for jihad (holy war).”

Residents said the clashes broke out when police arrested a Salafist but tensions had been brewing between authorities and the conservative Islamists who have become more active since last year’s revolution.

“The situation has become serious in the city, which has been living in a state of terror and fear because of Salafist groups seeking to impose a strict way of life,” another witness, a woman who did not want to be named, told Reuters.

One resident said the Salafis had threatened people drinking alcohol and slapped women wearing trousers or skirts.

Read the rest here: Tunisian Forces Clash with Radical Islamists

For background, go to our previous posts.  This posts predicted this very  fate for Tunisian women.  And this post, discussing the resurgence of burkas in Tunisia since the revolution.

This entry is filed under Salafist, Tunisia.

Saudi Women May Be Allowed to Save Citizens from Sin

By on February 26, 2012

Head of Vice Commission says Saudi women may serve, and calls critics "night bats".

Saudi Women May Serve on Feared Commission


 Saudi Arabia  is considering breaking long-standing social barriers and recruit women in its feared Islamic police, newspapers reported on Sunday.

Women in the conservative Muslim Gulf kingdom have so far been banned from joining the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which has often triggered controversy because of its tough ways in dealing with people.

“We are studying allowing women to work in the Commission…they could have jobs similar to those of men but in their field,” the Commission’s director Abdul Lateef Al Shaikh told the Arabic language daily ‘Al Watan’.

He said the Commission is mulling recruiting women in line with instructions by King Abdullah who “strongly believes in giving women them their full rights.”

 [Saudi women be given full rights like equality before the Court of Law? or like the right to NOT have their husbands beat them? or like the right to be considered mentally equal to men?]

[ . . . ]

Commission Accused of Violence Against Saudi Women

The Commission, the most influential police force in Saudi Arabia, has been under fire by the local media and many websites over its tough ways in dealing with people in the kingdom. Newspapers have reported scores of incidents in which Commission members attacked people or dealt harshly with women. On Sunday, one newspaper said some members jumped on a woman and impounded her mobile phone after suspecting it has indecent pictures.

“What is said about the Commission is not true,” said Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al Sadees, Imam (preacher) of the Grand Mosque in Makkah.

He described anti-Commission journalists and website writers as “night bats” who hide under the cover of night to spread lies. “I can tell these night bats that the Commission men are not monsters…they do not put sticks on the people’s neck…they are men of mission who just want to save the people from sins,” he said.

Night bats provide a great help to humans by controlling the insect population and by pollinating plants.  And they are the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight.  I’m flattered the Sheik compares me to these amazing creatures.

This entry is filed under Saudi Arabia.

Rebellion of Muslim Women Will Defeat Third Jihad

By on February 26, 2012

Muslim Women in Iran protesting and refusing to breed for jihadHere is a wonderful new article about Muslim women refusing to breed for jihad. My good buddy, Citizen Warrior, is a problem solver of the highest degree.  In the ideological battle with Islamic jihad, he is like a Tai Chi master who understands Sung Tse’s Art of War.

Here’s an excerpt from his new article:

 “The Rebellion of Muslim Women May Defeat the Third Jihad.”

I’VE BEEN reading an interesting book called How Civilizations Die and have come across some surprising facts. The book was published in 2011 and uses very recent population and birth rate data. Here’s the bottom line: Women in Muslim countries are helping the counterjihad by not having many children. They are undermining orthodox Muslims by denying them soldiers. Here are some passages from the book:

In November 2010 President Ahmadinejad demanded that Iranian girls marry at the age of sixteen and produce more children… For years, Ahmadinejad has denounced Iran’s falling birth rate as a Western conspiracy to hobble his country…In 2006 he declared that Iran’s population should nearly double: “I am against saying that two children are enough…”

But Iranian women are doing the opposite of what Ahmadinejad asked. Back in 2006, when he first discovered the supposed Western plot to depopulate his country, Iranian women were having two children on average. By 2010 their fertility had dropped to only 1.7 children. Among the Persians who make up just over half of Iran’s people — the rest are Turkish-speaking Azeris, Kurds, Arabs, and Baluchis — fertility is even lower. And in Iran’s urban centers, there are even fewer births. In Tehran, the nation’s capital, fertility is just 1.5 children per woman.

Read the rest: The Rebellion of Muslim Women May Defeat the Third Jihad.

If you have any spare time, peruse the website of Citizen Warrior.  You’ll find educational, illuminating and highly practical information about how to engage your friends and family in discussions on Political Islam and its effects on our civilization.

 

This entry is filed under Iran, Sexuality.

Criminalize Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)!

By on February 21, 2012

Only 19 States Outlaw Female Genital Mutilation

The following info on the crimnalization of Female Genital Mutilation in the USA comes from the AHA Foundation website, headed by Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

Currently, only 19 states and the federal government have passed laws prohibiting female genital mutilation. Yet studies suggest that approximately 228,000 girls and women in the U.S. have either suffered FGM or are at risk.  FGM has significant and lasting medical consequences for victims. Immediately following the procedure, girls are at risk for severe pain, shock, bleeding, bacterial infection, and injury to nearby tissue.  In the long term, girls and women who have suffered this procedure are at risk for recurrent bladder and urinary tract infections, cysts, infertility, and complications during intercourse and childbirth.

Enacting new laws criminalizing FGM in every state would have a significant deterrent effect and would send a strong message that this conduct is not acceptable anywhere in the U.S.

The AHA Foundation achieved its first success in this campaign in February 2012 when New Jersey Senator Loretta Weinberg introduced our model FGM legislation.

Contact your state representatives and encourage them to introduce bills banning FGM in your state.  Our model FGM legislation can be found here: AHA Foundation Model FGM Bill.  Download Sample Letter to Your Representatives Text for Prohibiting Female Genital Mutilation

Tougher Action on Female Genital Mutilation in New York

In New York, it is a crime to perform female genital mutilation on a girl or consent to having this procedure performed on one’s child.  New York State law also requires the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) to study the risks and dangers associated with FGM and to implement appropriate education and preventative outreach programs in communities that traditionally practice FGM.  However, since the implementation of this law in 1997, OCFS has done little to comply with this requirement.

A bill pending in the New York State Assembly – A.2478 – seeks to compel OCFS to comply with the requirement that it study FGM in New York State by requiring the agency to submit an annual report to the Governor and Legislature detailing the results of their study and the community outreach activities engaged in during the previous year.  Imposing this new reporting requirement on OCFS would help ensure that the agency is, in fact, devoting time and resources to investigating instances of FGM in the state and reaching out to the community in an attempt to prevent girls from being victimized.  Such a report would also provide valuable information about how frequently FGM is performed in New York, shedding much-needed light on a practice shrouded in secrecy.

Go here   to read more, see a map of the US that shows what states have laws against this hideous practice and to become an activist on this issue.

 

This entry is filed under Female Genital Mutilation.

Women in Pakistan Rally for Rights: “Empowered Women – Stronger Pakistan”

By on February 21, 2012

Women in Pakistan Rally for Equal Rights

Women in Pakistan Rally for Equal Rights

Women Rally for Rights in Pakistan

From the VOA:

Tens of thousands of women rallied in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi Sunday to call for improved rights and gender equality.

Organizers of the event called “Empowered Women – Stronger Pakistan” said more than half a million female activists and supporters of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) political party took part, while local media reported up to a million participants.  The exact number could not be independently verified.

The women, waving MQM flags under a huge portrait of party leader Altaf Hussain, shouted slogans in his support.

 Women in Pakistan Treated Worse Than Animals

From the Hindustan Times:

Mutthida-e-Qaumi Movement (MQM), a key coalition partner in the PPP-led government, on Sunday lamented that women are “treated worse than animals” in Pakistan as the party held a massive rally in southern Sindh’s provincial capital to highlight the need to empower them.

Addressing the rally from London over phone, MQM chief Altaf Hussain, who has been in self exile in the UK, demanded more rights for Pakistani women.

“The world over women are considered equals in every sense. Unfortunately and sadly in Pakistan they continue to be treated worse than animals,” Hussain said.

“Women in Pakistan are subjected to treatment meted out to second-or-third-class citizens. Worse, they are treated like animals. Crimes like honour killing, wani and marriage to the Quran are rampant under the veil of tradition,” he lamented.

He mentioned honour killing, Karo Kari, acid crimes and domestic violence and even brought up topics like dowry and gender discrimination which are considered the social norm.

This entry is filed under Activists, Pakistan.

Indian Women Students Banned from Muslim University Library?

By on February 21, 2012

Aligarh University in India

Aligarh University in India

I’m not convinced and neither are students and teachers at the Women’s College in India.  Here’s an update on this story  about women students at Aligarh Muslim University in India not having access to the University library.

Students of the Women’s College in Aligarh Muslim University are waging a bitter struggle for a facility their counterparts in other institutions would take for granted-access to the university’s central library.
Now, in a concession to these undergraduate women students, AMU has decided provided them online access to the catalogue of books. The varsity says the girls can choose the books which would then be issued and delivered to them.

The 100-year-old Women’s College, a constituent of AMU-a central university which had built a reputation for an enlightened social outlook-is housed in the fortress-like enclosure of Abdullah Hall. Except for professional courses, this is the only college providing undergraduate education to women in the university.

The women boarders of the hall are not allowed out of the college campus except on Sundays, so membership of the university library is ruled out for them. Even day scholars of the college are not allowed into the library, considered one of the best in Asia.

A delegation of students recently made a representation to HRD minister Kapil Sibal alleging gender discrimination and demanded they be allowed to use the Maulana Azad Library, considered one of the best in Asia. Although the college has its own library, the central library is far better stocked.

Politicians such as Brinda Karat have also taken up the issue with the ministry. Following letters sent by the central ministry, AMU decided to allow online access of the library’s catalogue of books. It refuted charges of gender discrimination, saying postgraduate women students had access to the library.

Continue reading Indian Women Students Banned from Muslim University Library?

This entry is filed under Education, India, Women's Rights and Gender Apartheid. | 2 Comments

New Bulletin is Out!

By on February 20, 2012

Our latest Bulletin of news and events regard!ing the oppression of women under Islam is now available. You can find archived issues here.

This entry is filed under Miscellaneous. | 1 Comment

News of Women in Saudi Arabia

By on February 20, 2012

Couple in Saudi Arabia Lashed for Love

A Saudi court sentenced a local man and his girl friend to 50 lashes each and ordered him to wash 10 dead people after they were caught in a car parked in a deserted place under the cover of night.

The judge also sentenced the man to 15 days in prison and ordered him to memorize 10 Koran verses and 100 sayings by the Prophet Mohammed, according to Sabq newspaper.

***

Women in Saudi Arabia Barred from Sports

In Saudi Arabia, girls and women are shut out of competitive sports, according to a just-released report by Human Rights Watch.

There are no national teams for women, and physical education for girls does not exist in state schools (although it does in private schools). Fitness clubs open to women are few and costly. Many of the swimming pools and running tracks that did exist for women were closed by the government in 2009 for being unlicensed, leaving women to search out gyms operating under the radar or to exercise at home.

This entry is filed under Forbidden Love, Saudi Arabia, Women's Rights and Gender Apartheid.

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