A model dumped by a Saudi Arabian Princess allegedly attacked her chauffeur soon after their breakup. And that doesn’t even begin to describe how bizarre this story is.
The model, Patrick Ribbsaeter, was caught with two other women in the Princess’ London apartment, and thus, realising that his shot at immediate wealth had slipped away, tried to attack the Princess in her sleep. At this point, her driver tried to stop him, which resulted in a brawl that up until this point, I imagined only existed in soap operas.

Moving past the hysteria the press caused about the issue, there are two points of contention I’d like to discuss.

In Saudi Arabia, women aren’t allowed to be in the company of men who aren’t their direct relatives. Any such vile, loose woman who dare utter a word to, or mingle with the ‘superior sex’ could face up to years of imprisonment and public flogging.
I don’t condone this. In fact, I absolutely abhor the extremities the Commission to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice (the religious police) go to to impose Quranic law.

Yet, the Saudi Arabian princess and her ‘lover,’ to whom she was unmarried (shock, horror) got away unscathed in such a high profile incident. Had this been anyone else, their fate would have been radically different.

Understandable, you might say, that these events took place on foreign soil is why no-body’s making a hue and cry about it back home. Also, one might argue that as a princess, she has diplomatic immunity against such cases.

Which brings me to the second point.

The somewhat archaic, or at least irrelevant interpretation of Sharia law postulates that everyone is equal – not that equality is archaic, but that the institution of theocracy is.
If that were the case, then Sharia law would apply to everyone, regardless of social status.
This begs the question as to whether the Saudi Arabian royalty, who are the self proclaimed keepers of the Islamic faith actually follow the law which adheres so strictly to that very faith.

She shouldn’t have to (and probably won’t) meet with the same fate that several others before her have. I believe no-one should. What I’m contesting, though, is the fallacy of the system that allows some to get away with things that often others are killed for.

In a gathering, in one of our break, some of the teachers and I they started talking about the dads who harassed their daughters and expressed their shock that this actually happened in Bahrain, this small island. One of them angrily said that this man must be so cold and has no heart to do so his daughter, that’s when I said ‘’if he already has a heart’’. I told them about a little first grader who was in my class, I found a bite mark that take the shape of a mouth, when I asked her about who did that to her, she said ‘‘it was my dad because he likes me so much he kissed me on my cheek’’. As everybody else, I had doubt about this. When I told this to the teachers in the gathering today they said ‘’it happens, when parents love their kids so much they want to suck their skin and some even leave such marks’’ Well, they certainly know when to say ‘’it’s ok, that’s normal’’ and when to blame someone else so badly and without a heart!

Then they directly said, it’s the woman who should be blamed for that and in our case, it was the girl, the pure little thing, because she wears sexy clothes, she wears shorts and sleeveless shirts that would show her little breast line, her dad and brother normally will be seduced by that! If anybody to blame, is the female. I didn’t say a thing on that, I was the only one with different thoughts, and if I wanted to add something I would say stop blaming women for everything and anything a man does. And I’ll stop here, because you readers already know where this discussion might goes if I said that.

One of them even gave example to add more reality to their logical points! She told a story about a girl who hugged her uncle so tightly and she was wearing sexy shirts and pair of jeans ‘she hardly fit in’. Making it sound like it was something very disgusting.. And I said nothing on that too.

When two married couples break up, blame the woman…. blame the one. With your voice, with your hands, blame her. When are they going to stop? That’s the question.

Interested in my work? Visit www.sarahmaple.com

On my blog, Free Thinking Lebanon, I started a new segment titled “Fatwa of the Day”. Every couple days I submit a post that discusses a certain Fatwa by a certain religious scholar. All the Fatwa’s I’ve discussed so far have been rejected by the Islamic authorities (even though many of these scholars quote holy scriptures; however, it’s their twisted approach that makes the orthodox religious “committee” reject them) . I just want to make note of the fact that the reason I started this segment is to show how absurd and bizarre religious extremism can be. Even though I am not a believer myself, I do not assault the beliefs of others and I do respect their religious views; I really hope that everyone who’ll be reading these posts will understand my intentions and will not take offense by them. In case anyone feels any unease by these reads, please post a comment below and I’ll be more than happy to discuss it (any feedback is also warmly welcome)..

Here are the Fatwa’s I’ve posted so far:

Fatwa of the Day #6: Wearing Nike Apparel is a sin

Fatwa of the Day #5: Why is Masturbation Haram?

Fatwa of the Day #4: Left-handedness

Fatwa of the Day #3: Emoticons

Fatwa of the Day #2: Breastfeeding Co-Workers

Fatwa of the Day #1: That Devilish Little Rat!

Welcome to my art blog on Mideast Youth. As a muslim in the Uk and of dual heritage, some of my work challenges perceptions of ‘oppressed’ Islamic women and misconceptions. I hope you enjoy. www.sarahmaple.com

The Other Side of Migration
By Nader Houella

Her blonde locks falling over her large curious eyes, the 4-year-old blonde child played with the toys in her hand. Her mother, seemingly in a hurry, took away the toys and tucked her baby girl in bed. “Where are you going mom?” the innocent girl asked. “I’m going to work. Now you go to sleep” she answered. She quickly got dressed, grabbed the cigarette pack, door keys, purse and rushed outside the door. Going down the stairs, the sound of her stilettos echoed through the walls and she could almost hear her heart beating fast with anticipation. A bit of walking and she finally reached the highway. As she stood there by herself, she took out her small mirror to even out the carefully designed make-up powders that saturated her face. Then a car stopped and a man in the driver’s seat asked her a question she had grown accustomed to: “What’s the deal tonight?” In her tight burgundy dress that just about covered her upper thighs, she bent down, allowing him a deep view into her cleavage, inspected the interior of his car, and responded as she had grown accustomed to: “30 dollars. That’s my only deal”. He instantly extended his hand and opened the door for her to get in. They took off to an unknown location.
This is a story told to me by Leila – The pseudonym of a 24-year old divorcee whom I met, during my investigation into one of Lebanon’s underground worlds: female prostitution. It is one dark, but hidden of the relationships among Mediterranean countries which ought to be uncovered.

Leila’s World
Leila’s world is usually avoided, ignored or rejected by the mainstream public, often perceiving it as a shameful, scandalous and sometimes illegal job. Yet, it is a world that is vibrant with the activities of many of the likes of Leila and her “clients”. In Leila’s world, there is a “market” of “clients” and “goods and services”. Tourists from around the Euro-Med region flock to this world, shaping its “supply and demand” for years, but also deepening its roots within society as an ‘evil’. We often choose not to speak of this world, but we all know that it exists. For the sake of public morality, we decide to compromise the truth. Yet the fact remains that female prostitution in Lebanon is a bitter truth that conceals within its many layers the reality of deprived families, abandoned women and neglected children. The glittering lights of nightclubs and the luxury of 5-star hotels may draw a festive picture on the cover of Leila’s story. However, the glitz and glamour of nightlife in Lebanon is nothing but a layer of thick painting on a very bitter social reality in which women, mothers, sisters, and daughters from various Mediterranean countries are the stars.

To the onlooker, Leila could appear just like any other normal woman going about her day, but the truth is that she lives a double life. She is a mother during the day and a prostitute during the night trying to make enough money to get herself and her daughter through another day. Indeed, this is the case with the likes of Leila, all of whom find themselves driven by different reasons to lead double or hidden lives. What do we know about this life? How does sleeping with total strangers for the sake of money feel? Is it a feeling of pleasure or disgust? Fulfillment or guilt? As recent research has shown, the woman usually finds herself in a routine, which she has gotten used and eventually numbed by. “I got used to my conditions; they became a part of my identity. I adapted, submitted and became very tolerant to the degradation that I experience” explains Leila, indifferently.

A Narrow Gateway
Seeking answers to many questions in that matter, I referred to “House of Hope” (Dar El Amal), Lebanon’s only non-governmental organization in the field of sexual exploitation and prostitution. According to well-researched statistics provided by this organization, out of the women who are benefiting from its services in 2007, many of them were from Mediterranean and Arab nationalities, 103 of them were subjected to physical violence 78 were victims of sexual harassment, 71 to rape, 29 to incest with ages ranging from 13 to 45 years.

Heba Abou Chakra, an experienced social worker who deals directly with the female victims in the “House of Hope” organization, explains that due to the sensitivity of the matter, it is difficult to reach out to the victims. “They usually come to our center through the word-of-mouth, or we find them indirectly through the HIV cases which other medical centers detect” she says, explaining that many of the prostitute cases are related to sexually-transmitted diseases, drugs and incidents of domestic violence, which are all associated with prostitution. Each and every female victim needs great support, not just a shelter; According to Abou Chakra, “there is a need for medical, legal, psychological, physical and hygiene support”, adding that some prostitutes resort to the center with their children, who in turn need special kind of support, such as schooling. In one of the recent cases narrated by Abou Chakra, a female prostitute who was sent to prison while being pregnant lost her baby twice. “Frequent abortion is common among female prostitute prisoners” she explains, adding that some prostitutes accept to sleep with strangers “for a price as low as $10 or sometimes the price of a sandwich”. Sadly enough, the need that drives these ladies is often degrading.

Looking at the other side of the problem, there is Abou Karim, the pseudonym of a 45-year-old owner of a super night club north of Beirut. To him, prostitution is a thriving business that has high seasons and low seasons: “Clients in luxurious hotels request photo albums of the ladies I recruit. They make their choice and I deliver the goods. It’s a regular job” says Abou Karim, who inherited this “trade” from his father. The woman has no choice but to abide by Abou Karim’s orders, since he provides her with shelter, food and financial support. Most importantly, explains Abou Karim: “She should do whatever the client desires. After all, the client is always right”.

Incidents to Remember:
Although the victims of prostitution are varied, there are shameful cases which emphasize the need for urgent action. One example is the underage girls. Ghada Al Hakim, who is a social worker at the Baabda prison in Mount Lebanon, witnessed in the prison which she works at the cases of “Syrian underage girls from remote areas being sold by their families to Lebanese clients to work in the market of prostitution. She adds that there is a higher demand for virgins, since they are considered as “goods that are still new”. In one case, as Al Hakim recalls, a Syrian girl was forced by her family to go into prostitution as early as age 14, only to be sentences to three years in prison in Lebanon after spending 5 years in prostitution, sending the money to her family in Syria. In one touching incident, the lawyer Rolan Tok, who is a specialist in migrant issues, revealed how one of the ex-prostitutes who resorted to “Dar El Amal” actually met her sister in the association by coincidence adding that “had worked as maids in their childhood, before practicing prostitution” (Interview with Rola Tok, 2010).

Corruption, organized
It may be corrupt and abusive, but prostitution in Lebanon is actually organized. According to Jabour, a social worker from Kafa Association, despite this organized manner, there is discrimination and corruption within prostitution itself. For example, when arrests take place and target the prostitutes (since they are illegal), those from Syrian, Palestinian, Egyptian, Moroccan nationalities get the worst treatment, while those from Ukranian and Russian nationalities are quickly pardoned. “You have two groups of prostitutes: those coming from ‘first-class’ nationalities and others from ‘cheap’ nationalities’ – this is how the General Security views them”. In one case which took place in Baabda prison, four Ukrainian prostitutes were arrested but were let free after two days, while those from other “cheap” nationalities end up in prison for months. “The General Security officials simply want to avoid having problems with their embassies” explains Jabour.

Main Reasons Explained
What would push women, even young girls, to go through this humiliating bitter experience? While the reasons are varied, the most influential ones are well known. Nohad Boustani, a social worker in the “House of Hope” association notes that according to her experience in the field, issues like emotional deprivation, abuse, fragmentation of the family and early marriage weaken the ability of the woman to reisit temptations. Many of these temptations, especially money, exist in the prostitution world. This eventually makes her vulnerable to sex traffickers and pimps. Moreover, Khawla Matar, who works in the International Labor Organization Human Trafficking Department, explains that many of these girls come from underprivileged situations where they were forced to leave home, either to work as beggars or remain homeless. At such a situation, they often fall at the mercy of sex traders. They already feel abused by their families, the only thing the sex trader offers is money in return for abuse. Other difficulties which prostitution victims experience, according to the psychologist Joelle Khoury are the lack of compassion and emotional and physical stability in their lives, which weakens them even further.

In the end, we may choose to paint a complete rosy picture of the reality of the relationships among countries in the Mediterranean region, but the facts on the ground related to sex trafficking should prompt us to deal with the darker sides of this relationship. Unfortunately, the fruitful cooperation and cultural exchanges which take place within Euro-Mediterranean region have yet to give these migrant sex workers the role they deserve in plural societies. In a time when bridges for intercultural dialogue are much needed, there exists a side were stereotypes are manifested and migrants are abused.

When someone shows intolerance in something to someone and at the other side scares him too, then the other guy gets encouraged to repay; it’s natural.

Imagine you’re at school. There is a big guy there who is strong and is not a tolerated guy relatively to other classmates. He scares you and you don’t even dare to ridicule him. In resting times he beats and kicks other guys and threatens them.
One day a courageous classmate draws big guy on the blackboard. The big guy becomes angry and beats him madly. It makes a bad atmosphere in the class for few months. Everyone talks about that event and everyone fears with an inner hatred. But it’s just like a fire under coal. It grows day after day and reveals itself someday.

This phenomenon also happens in other communities and has happened lately. Let’s call it Muhammad’s depiction controversy!

“Everybody Draw Mohammad Day – May 20th, 2010” was not unexpected. It would be started somehow. And I believe it grows day by day because of an inner hatred that exists in non-muslim community against Islamic fundamentalism. That’s what Muslims did to themselves.
Allah in Quean mentions Muhammad as another human being like us. And I don’t think he is holier than Jesus or Moses who are depicted freely.

Say, (O Muhammed) “I am no more than a human being like you….” 18:110

Dear Allah

It has been long since last time I heard from you. So, how is it going? Hope all well up there.
I would like to update you about what is going on here on earth>>

The day before Yesterday a US citizen with Pakistani origin was about to kill a few innocent people on the USA, by some explosive car on Time squire, fortunately his attempt has failed. As you would expect, you were directly accused of instigation. However, investigation is still going on, but it does not take genius , to guess that it would lead ultimately to your involvement.

Despite our close and special relationship, yet I should look at the facts objectivity. And it seems to me that you do take part of the blame, what made you chose a period of human history, where no internet, no paper, no pen, no electricity, no TV, no any sort of communication, and decide to reveal your word to someone who does not know how to read or write, what made you authorize killing non-believers in your book, why your Quran is loaded with lots of confusions and ambiguity, such book as you must have known , can be used by some idiots, to justify and legitimize killing others .
It seems that the killing and suffering of children and innocent people, does not concern you. It seems that your silence will remain forever.

Where are you? Why don’t you show up? Why can’t you stop those psychopaths who appointed themselves as your only legitimate representative , where are you? Have you been swallowed by some giant black hole , maybe that’s why we don’t hear from you any more > or maybe you have shifted to another universe after you become fed up from those psychopath representatives.
Wherever you might be, stay far from earth, it’s not safe as it used to be before religions, any car can be a bomb, any person walking in the street, can be suicide bomber .
Stay up and far in your majestic unknown state of mind > leave us struggling with your representatives >

Finlay, excuse my boldness, i know you have high spirit and you take jokes, unlike other gods.

Thanks and best regards,

If you want to know the plot of this post, you will have to read every word of it.

You know there are sometimes things that you hear or see and you just never forget. Things that immediately make it into your permanent memory and pop out as flying-by thoughts every now and then. They don’t have to be major events. Just small clips of events you lived to witness.

Since I was a child, I have noticed there was a major difference between the East and the West in the way women are viewed, and therefore a difference in the way women in the two directions express themselves. The very small details always caught my attention and stayed in my memory. The way they dress, the way they wear make-up, the way the walk, the way they talk (this one needs a separate article), and the way they view the world and themselves.

I have those short memory-clips of some Egyptian women walking like an Egyptian — If you know what I mean — and talking like one: as a weasel in a porn, and using those cliche words like: “Ma3sha Alloooooo, you look like a mooooon.. M3erci3 A3wi, R3abben Ykhal333eeeeky, h3e h3e” (with a weasel tone, get the picture?).

On the other hand, needless to say that Western women always seemed more free and self-assured to me. They could do whatever they wanted, in a good or a bad way, since men often saw them as equals.

Sometimes I really wondered how far those Western women would go..

One evening I was among a group of people, I can’t recall where or who or how, all I can remember is that a Dutch guy (with a stress on *Dutch*, coming from a place where you can be as rude as you want and get away with it) suddenly said: “I would forgive everything, but if I find out that my girlfriend poops, I will immediately break up with her”.

I have absolutely no idea why this sentence is engraved in my memory.

A-HA! So there ARE differences like the ones we have.

But I once had a roommate who insisted on having red wine every evening for dinner.. And to my bad luck we had a morning schedule for using the toilet and the shower, in which I used the toilet after her.

MAN! What can a glass of red wine in the evening do to the odor of your morning-after poop!

I was just sitting there *crying* while turning blue every morning.

A memory clip of me entering the toilet and being overwhelmed with this “HABW” of smell is still saved in my hemispheres.

On the other hand, I have a sister who didn’t do a number two for three months after her wedding out of fear of her husband hearing her fart or find any post-Kaka odeur.

I recalled all this this morning.. As I was sitting on my “throne”, something occurred to me: How do cultures differ considering women and pooping?

As an Egyptian and as a woman, do I poop like others? I wonder.. Has there ever been any research on trans-cultural pooping styles and smells?

There are many options.. You can sit with your knees close together when you squeeze, or have the legs wide open, sit up straight, lean back, or lean forward. Rest the head on your fists during those long poops, or on the tip of your toes as opposed to having your feet flat on the ground; you can sit long enough to have sleepy legs, or to have toilet seat marks on the back of your thighs and two elbow-imprints just above your knees..

Do you read on the throne?

Do you take your time? Or are you always in a hurry?

Is the mission often impossible?

Do you try to be quiet in public toilets? Do you feel any sense of obligation towards other people’s feelings? Do you get the guts to go uninhibited if and only if your neighbor broke the taboo and started an orchestra?

Do you go nuts when a drop of water jumps back to hit you in the butt like a stray bullet?

How would you feel/react if you found out there’s no toilet paper left?

And as an Egyptian, when you go abroad, how disgusted do you feel if there’s no shattafah in da hood?

And afterwards,

Do you ever say goodbye to your poop? Do you ever look back and check on it, taking into consideration that your poop tells books about your health? Dutch toilets have this great feature of a poop scoop, where there’s a platform that receives the stools and keeps them on display until you decide to flush farewell.

Do you try to hide the smell like a maniac?

How would you feel if you found out that the toilet won’t flush?

I wonder. Do pooping rituals say something about us? Are there cultural styles in the way we poop? Does it have to do with our personality?

And one last thought: Old-fashioned French toilets are the BEST invention for the constipation nation. The lower the toilet, the better. Did you know that? If you are constipated, just 2arfas, or put a box under your feet so they would become as high as possible. Satisfaction is guaranteed.

So what exactly is the plot of this post?

All my life I wanted to be famous. For something.. Anything..

And now that the memory of this post, and hence me, will pop out in front of you every time you use the toilet, then it is making me famous enough.

Mission accomplished.

I’ve been an author here at MEY when I felt I have something to share with Middle Easters since three years ago. After awhile I engaged with many discussions and many engaged with mine, vice versa. At that time, Nissim Dahan was an author there and we had great discussions regardless of what our beliefs were and what we were doing. I always liked his articles and also his idea on selling a vision of hope.

Today I was thinking to myself that where this feeling of convenience is coming from. I’m an Iranian and our government and its doctrine is against Israel’s. Also Israel knows Iran as its worst enemy. Where does this feeling come from?

The answer is that we have discussed here just as two authors without any prejudgments. I think when two persons, two nations and two friends have any discussions and with prejudgments simply call the other one, enemy; they can’t understand the other’s viewpoints and here is the misery.
I really dont care about what he believes in and how his life has been. I see him as a righteous man who likes to sell his visions of hope.
I think a good reciprocity is always the solution. What do you think?

It’s oppressive. It’s degrading. It’s this, it’s that. Jack Straw claimed this, Nicholas Sarkozy mentioned that. Let us liberate them in Afghanistan, let us liberate them in France. Yawn. I am getting fed up of these burka stories. They seem to be never ending and at times very cringe worthy. ’Burka woman sacked from her job!’  ’Lets liberate the burka women!’ ’Lady in burka aids Al Qaeda!’ ‘Burka lady almost kidnaps Obama!’ Now, I know you are probably raising your eyebrow, I wouldn’t blame you actually. Before you jump to conclusion about what I am going to express, give this veiled woman the voice that many claim I do not have and kindly listen to me. 

The over use of the term ‘burka’ has made it almost unattractive to me; therefore I will be referring to it as niqab.

I have joined the minority of Muslim women who wear the niqab in the West. As a matter of fact, I have been wearing it for 42 days now – yes I count, you got a problem? I am only kidding; of course you do not have a problem. I live in London, attend university and therefore do a lot of travelling. I still do, and I love it. Do not get me wrong, it’s not easy knowing that on the train some commuters are weary of you or perhaps worried. I get a lot of stares, sometimes the odd disapproving look. I myself once used to question why some Muslim women would put themselves through the difficulty of wearing niqab in the West, on buses and on trains. At the same time I admired their confidence, but never would I have thought I would be one of them. I recall being told “Babe just move to bloody Saudi Arabia” by a friend when I turned up at her doorstep covered from head to toe. I laughed it off secretly wishing she didn’t mean it. I too thought like that once.

The train had been delayed, so I’d be a few minutes late for my lecture. Brilliant. My first time back after the Christmas holidays, I was going to have to walk in front of everybody while wearing niqab. I began to feel sick. I took a deep breath, uttered some prayers and put my trust in God.

Walking into the lecture theatre was not what I had anticipated whatsoever. My nerves had disappeared. Stepping inside I saw heads turn immediately and lips began to move, strangely enough none of it bothered me, come to think of it, I may actually enjoyed my few seconds of fame that morning. With confidence I paced down the steps to the front of the lecture hall. I sat at the row I’d always sit at, with the girls I’d met from last semester. They too looked a bit stunned, and began quizzing me; I told them I’d answer all their questions after the lecture.

I know why niqab is disliked; I’ve heard the “disadvantages” of wearing it in the West, I’ve been told that I am selfish; that I will not be able to communicate with others; that it is unattractive; that to some individuals it represents something which is absurd or ancient. I’ve heard it all. Niqab is strange to the West because it is not part of the culture. But why does that all of a sudden make me an outsider to society? A lot of veiled women contribute to society; I’ve witnessed some that are teachers, doctors and journalists. They work and pay taxes like every one else, for those who may think that ‘niqabis’ are immigrants who speak no English and sit at home all day.

I am not going to play a victim. I am a strong woman and I will defend myself if I have to. I’ve made a decision which  I agree has giving me many challenges, but with the my effort and help of God, I will be all right. I understand that at times I may have to make extra effort with members of the public in order to portray myself as less hostile. My advice to you who are still curious or in doubt, ask a Muslim lady how she feels, approach her in the streets, ask her questions, say hi.  At times I really wished I had a placard which read “Talk to me, I don’t bite”

This is the first podcast in a long series on homosexuality in Sudan. Mideast Youth talks to Ali, a single gay Sudanese man living and working in the Gulf. When Ali started his blog, black-gay-Arab, he was only trying to find himself. Three years later, Ali has a lot of followers and writes about his identity as a gay man, posts videos and songs featuring interviews with mothers finding about that their sons are gay and shares the struggle of LGBT people in many Arab countries.

In this podcast, we discuss his identity, his struggles and the situation of LGBT people in the Arab world.

In his blog, Ali shares some of his views on the subject of coming-out of the closet or revealing to people your sexuality.

Yesterday was celebrated as Iran’s Clean Air, Blue Sky Day. Air pollution is a major issue in mega cities like Tehran. Most days, Tehran is clouded by a thick layer of smog making it difficult to breath especially for children and elderly.

Every year on January 19, they celebrate Clean Air day, encouraging people to use public transportation or bicycles instead of their personal cars so that it will reduce the polution of the mega city.

This year, in a symbolic act, President Ahmadinejad first rode a bicycle for a short distance and then joined a group of hiking athletes affiliated with the Federation of Sport and some of the ministers and officials. He seemed cheery, happy and skilled in riding bicycle!

They called on officials and the nation to increase the public interest in physical exercise for having fit and healthy society.

I hope they continue this way, through the year.Iranians are interested in sports but most of them seem to be too busy with their daily affairs to include exercising in their schedule. Many Iranian women attend gyms and clubs to remain fit and healthy, though it’s not yet a national habit.

I wish they would make it easy for women as well and encourage them to use bicycle in Iran. Though it’s not banned for them and some women ride bicycle in public, but still it seems more like a taboo in some areas.

We’ve broadcast today a new Arabicast episode on MEYArabic; an interview with Dr Sahar Al Mougy.

The interview was recorded during Ana Al-Hekaya (I’m the Tale) workshop, that has taken place at the AUC from 27 to 29th of December 2009.

The workshop, which is held annually since 1998, focuses on rewriting and renarrating the Egyptian folkloric tales from a feminist perspective. And involves youth writers; to increase their awareness about the feminist issues.

Listen now to the new Arabicast exclusively on MEYArabic, and you can also download it in an MP3 format.

The new Arabicast is mainly about the women’s role in the masculine society, and how to change this perspective throughout rewriting the folkloric treasures from a feminist view, and feminism here implies, as always, the equality between men and women. We debate also around the Neoislamism and its bad effects on women specifically, and on the society as a whole, the new social networks, like Facebook, and how does it influence accumulative change, and the bestseller cult.

Dr Sahar Al Mougy is an Egyptian renowned author and a lecturer of English at Cairo University. Writing from a feminist perspective, she articulates the conflict between the values of the west and traditional gender roles in the Middle East. She has published a collection of short stories and three novels, the most recent of which is Noon, named after the Arabic letter N. Taking in social issues in Egypt against the background of the global problems faced by Muslims in the time of 9/11 and Abu Ghraib, Noon is also notable for the high-profile media campaign (unprecedented in the Middle East) that accompanied its launch and the consequent selling-out of its first print run in the first week of sales; exposing the existence of a large Arabic reading population in Egypt and beyond.*

Worthy to mention, that MEYArabic has started broadcasting Arabicast episodes from last December, synchronously with celebrating our first anniversary, in style.

Listen to the Arabicast now!

* The biography is from here.

“In 2006 he was sentenced in absentia to a five-year jail term for allegedly ridiculing the ash-Shams, a sura of Quran in the song named “Shams” by Iranian judicial system. The conviction took place in spite of his formal apology. Later Namjoo claimed that he will perform an orchestral version of this song in Venice. He also sang this song in Oy album as a single.” – Wikipedia

That could be a new way of singing Quran, I believe, which you haven’t heard before. You feel strange and if you’re a Muslim, you may experience some kind of dissonance. Is it a Taboo or just a cool stuff?!
Enjoy the Song. Buy the Song or download here.

Every summer or holiday season, I convince myself that the Egyptian movie I’m about to see is going to be different. It’s going to have an actual plot , it’s going to lack sexism and racism and if I got lucky, it might divert from the usual (Read: corny!) slapstick humor. Armed with a friend( to keep me patient ), all the understanding I can muster and cinema-specific comfort food, I sit down a few seats away from the nearest kid.

Most of the time, I leave the cinema hall feeling disappointed, offended and ripped-off. Here I am, after wasting nearly two hours of my precious life, feeling slightly older and bitter that my intellect wasn’t stimulated in any way.

The question we need to ask here is not why such pathetic attempts at film-making are still being made, it’s simply: why is the public still interested in such films?

After all, the supply of what Egypt Today, called “brainless comedies” reflects the demand for such films.

I have to admit, the Egyptian cinema was blessed in recent years with the production of films such as Sahr Al Layaly and Yacoubian building and even the recent controversial “Ehky ya Shahrezad”.

The aforementioned movies reflect Egypt’s bittersweet reality.

The divorce rates are increasing at an alarming rate, Sahr Al Layaly points out the reasons, it introduces us to the problems and challenges of marriage in modern day Egypt.

Yacoubian building takes us on a long rollercoaster-style journey into Egypt’s social ills, economic woes and the current politically-chaotic scene.

I’m writing this with poor Mona Zaki in mind, the media wasn’t particularly nice to her this summer. She delivered a memorable performance as a talk show host on a difficult mission to give a voice to voiceless Egyptian women. She gives them a voice and lets them take us hand in hand down an often painful memory lane.

Let’s go back to the other side of the wall. Egyptian comedy movies usually rely on the actor’s looks for “cheap laughs”. Maybe I’m naive, but I always thought comedy should depend on clever and witty writing. This is exactly what a lot of comedy flicks lack, good writing. Whether the movie features Mohammed Saad or Saad al Sagheer, the actors try to generate laughter based on their looks or their ability to play dumb. Al Limby, a popular movie, features Mohammed Saad, as a “mentally-challenged” person. Al Limby went on to become one of Egypt’s highest-grossing films.

It’s a shame that making fun of mentally-challenged, overweight, unattractive people makes a lot of people laugh, it doesn’t make me laugh.

Any Egyptian or non-Egyptian feminist or any woman interested in the portrayal of women in the cinema is surely mortified when she hears sexist jokes. Even good-old Adel Imam, one of the greatest actors in Egyptian history seems to be saying a lot of sexist jokes lately. Foul jokes about a women’s body are not funny, they are just foul, for lack of a more bitter word!

Then, there is the blatant racism, I cringe every time I hear “jokes” about dark people being dirty, ugly, or if there are women involved, then they are really ugly “prostitutes”.

In yet another Egyptian comedy, Ali Spicy, Hakem walks into a room only to find his friend in bed with a black woman. The racist epithets go on and on, until he scolds him by saying “they are not women, they are animals”. This was of course one of the many tasteless climaxes in the movie. I wasn’t as bothered by it as I was by the fact that it was one of the funniest scenes for most of the audience members. It was so funny, it deserved a round of applause.

It’s hard to think of contemporary Egyptian cinema without such nuisances coming to mind. I appreciate good films and I can name all the well-respected and talented Egyptian artists, but I just can’t be bothered to sit through another sad excuse for a movie.

My friends tell me the interest in such movies comes down to one thing:- economic problems. The Egyptian public wants to escape the difficult living conditions by laughing out loud. I reluctantly believe them….although I think the public deserves better.

In this podcast, I speak with Nadia from Tunisia about relationships and the perception of sex in the Arab world. What is accepted, what isn’t, and what’s hypocritical about our current societies. This is an important discussion but still surprisingly a taboo in the MENA region. Amongst the things we discuss are: virginity, independence (specifically for women), families, marriage, and societal expectations.

Keep in mind that most of what’s in the podcast is a result of our observations and personal opinions. Regardless of whether or not you agree, we urge you to keep the conversation respectful.

TEHRAN (AFP)–Iran’s parliament plans to scrap stoning and amputation of a hand as punishments in a revised version of the Islamic penal code, the official IRNA news agency reported Monday.

“Parliaments judicial commission decided not to put some Islamic punishments including stoning in the (revised) law in line with the interests of the country,” commission head Ali Shahrokhi told the agency.

He said the commission is also proposing the abolition of amputation and has considered the idea of a “special court for minors under 18.”

Once the commission has finalised the new version of the penal code, parliament will vote on whether to implement the revised law for a trial period.

Afterwards it will be discussed for final approval by the vetting legislative body, the Guardians Council. Source

I’d decided to write an article on stoning and i had even gathered enough data to show how much this punishment is not islamic and not possible to be practiced. Now after i read this news, am happy. They promised for more progress in Iran’s penal laws. Changes will come, regardless of whom on power.

Good news among all the miseries that western media feels completely ‘devoted’ to present the world about my country..

It’s the utmost position an Iranian woman could occupy. Nevertheless, for some certain cultural reasons, Iranian women could not get the position they deserve and usually hid behind the male political figues. For example none of those presidents cross the idea of choosing women as minister.

Since 1963, long time before any other countries in the ME, Iranian women were allowed to vote and participate in Parliment election afterward.
Since then there’ve been always female members in the Iranian Parliment before and after revolution and they’ve had very strong effect on approving or debating noteworthy bills such as Family Protection Law which gave women many basic rights such as custody of children in some cases of divorce.

Now the big question: Is it the time for Iranian women to enter the presidential election?
I’d like to know your answer, since i assume Iranian women will be very influential in this coming election on June 2009, not just as prominent supporters of the male candidates but also as female candidate hoping for presidency.
The other day i read that Kamran Daneshjoo, the head of Iran’s election committee told reporters on Sunday that Of the 475 who signed up as candidates, 42 are women.

It’s not the first time that women sign up as candidates for presidency. But it’s the first time that there are women who are somehow qualified to be a presidential candidate based on the Iranian law:

A former member of Iran’s 290-seat parliament, Rafat Bayat is considered the most prominent female figure to register for the elections, scheduled for June 12.
The Sociologist, whose last bid for presidency was rejected four years ago, has announced that if elected, her first deputy will be a woman.

After registering at the Interior Ministry on Saturday, Bayat criticized the Ahmadinejad administration for missing so many ‘golden opportunities’, a reference to the government’s failure to take advantage of skyrocketing oil prices last year. Source

Under the Islamic Republic constitution, candidates for the presidency should be among “rejal”, a word meaning ‘men’ in Arabic but translates into a general meaning as renowned political figures in Persian:

The word has caused controversy in the past, with some interpretations claiming that the constitution bars women from running for president.
However, Iran’s constitutional watchdog, the Guardian Council, declared in April that there is no restriction on women standing in this year’s presidential elections.
“The council has never put an interpretation on the word ‘rejal’,” Abbas-Ali Kadkodaye, a spokesman for the Guardians Council said. Source

A friend of mine asked me what a female president could mean for Iran. I do not know really what to say. As i pointed above, there are some certain cultural issues in the Middle East that women face them in their daily affairs as to crossing the male-female borders.

Female engineers in Iran yet have problem to deal with the male laborers or being manager of a big male group. Most of them usually prefer to work as clerks instead of working directly in factories.

Though Iranian society has many different and complicated layers and that’s why nobody can exactly predict what could a female president mean for Iranians.

Would Iranians vote for a female presidential candidate even if they know she is most qualified for the position?

Rafat Bayat might not get my vote, just because i assume we have many figures -male or female- who are much more capable and qualified than her when it comes to politics.
I am not also sure about complicated society of Iran being ready to accept the idea of a female president while there are more famous candidates in the coming election. But for now, it’s a good step yet to break another taboo.

6 Iraqi gay people were executed by machine guns in Sader city in April 2009, this makes the number of executed gays in Iraq reach 10 after 4 other executions in March in the last few weeks, 25 boys and men are reported to have been killed in Baghdad because they were, or were perceived to be, gay. Three corpses of gay men were found in the Shia area of Sadr City last week – two of which were reported to have had pieces of paper bearing the word “pervert” attached to them. The Iraqi police condemned the action and said we will bring the killers to justice, as in Iraq since Saddam days there is no law forbidding people to become gay, but there is a strike tribal law to execute any one how dishonor the tribe name and acting as a gay means you dishonored the tribe and the tribe council will give the permission to kill you to your close relatives as in brother, fathers and cousins, it is an honor for them to have the chance to eliminate this part of the tribe that had brought the heads of the family down as they describe it.

But during Saddam days this tribal law lost its effective authority with the rise of the central government law, which considers homosexuality as a non-threatening issue to the party or the government, in the contrary it was useful to keep homosexual activities’ under discretion in a country were men are forced to stay for years in their army units on the front and women were stuck in houses waiting for them ,as Iraq went from 1 war to another the percentage of women to men became very high as into 3 to 1, gay behaviors were known in the society but kept in a forbidden discreet area were no one is allowed to mention it , if someone was found it usually was explained as curiosity or hyper activity and they rush the boy into marriage , as for women such acts were never found out due to close women society and the gap between the male and female members of the family as tradition and religion make it unorthodox to socialize between them ,making even the relation ship between family members distend and non personal ,so what happens in the women quarters are kept there

After 2003 a rise in the attack against gay people in Iraq started to show a return of the tribal power and rise of radical extremist calls to cleans the community of these weak people who had fallen to the temptation of the devil , a well known café for gays in Baghdad was burned to the ground ,many were beaten ,killed or kidnapped and in some cases they were raped by the same people who oppressed them for their homosexuality

Threats to any family how had gay member to start to take action against their relative or the tribe or the militia will do so, a UN human rights report in 2006 documented many cases of savage attacks against gays in Iraq, Amnesty International has urged The Iraqi government TO do more to protect homosexuals in the wake of a reported spate of killings of gay young men.

In a letter to Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, the rights organisation called for “urgent and concerted action”. It also criticised the government’s failure to condemn the killings.

The recent killings are said to have been carried out by armed Shia militiamen as well as by members of the tribes and families of the victims, Amnesty said.

The letter also raised concerns that religious leaders may be inciting violence against members of Iraq’s gay community, and over reported statements by one senior police officer that appear to condone or even encourage the targeting of gay Iraqis, as it is told that in the web site of one of the biggest Shia holy men in Iraq he had answered a question on what to do against gays by answering they must be killed and not a normal death but a death after a judgment from the tribe and community to provide a near execution to the religious’ punishments’ .

Amnesty called on the government to bring those responsible for the killings to justice and to afford effective protection to the gay community in Iraq.

*****

Sexual Politics in Modern Iran, by Janet Afary, takes advantage of modern historiography methods and offers an interesting explanation of gender and sexuality transformation in political, cultural and social contexts of 19th and 20th century Iran.

Very foundation of the book is about sexual revolution in Iran which somehow began with Constitutionalism Movement, had ups and downs, and finally got accelerated in the age of Islamic Republic and compulsory dress code, i.e. Hijab.

This sexual revolution as well as transformation of the meaning and application of Gender and Sexuality is a byproduct of long standing interaction of Iranian society with Ottoman Empire, Russia and West, rise of democratic reforms as well as modern nationalism in Iran.

History of Sexuality in Iran

Sheikh Saadi, known as Morality Teacher, writes: “at the height of youthfulness, as it happens and you are very well aware, I had some sort of affairs with a gorgeous one, a boy.”

Amir Onsorol-ma-Ali enjoins his son, Gilan Shah, that: “between boy-slaves and women, do not limit yourself to just one type, so as to enjoy both kinds,” and “in summer approach boy-slaves and in winter go to women.”

Moreover, Rumi, whose spiritual and mystique status is well recognized, explicitly uses bodily terms to describe sexual intercourse.

Today, however, we can never think of a morality teacher, father or mystique who, following example of Saadi, Amir Onsorol-ma-Ali or Rumi, confesses to homosexual affairs, describes such a relationship or explicitly uses sexual terms.

It’s clear that all of the above figures, similar to today teachers, fathers and mystiques, were very well aware of Sharia and morality principles.

Another point is that the lexicon we currently use in Persian to describe erotic events is fundamentally different from the one used up to a century ago.

Gender, sexuality, sexual relationship, homosexuality and some other similar terms are all brand new expressions in Persian. Previous generations, however, had been used to thinking about and speaking about such subjects, and had had a rich lexicon to do so. Hence, is this lingual revolution just a matter of linguistics or, on the contrary, it reflects a comprehensive transformation of subjective and objective worlds of Iranians and Iranian Society?

Sexual Politics in Modern Iran is an answer to above questions as well as some other ones pertaining to transformation of sexuality and sexual pleasure in modern Iran. Here, Modern refers to something more than just contemporary or today.

Sexuality in today Iran is different from it in old Iran, for we have got modernized and modernity has fundamentally changed our understanding and experience of sexuality.

The most important characteristic of the book is its research method. Janet Afary, a well known historian who is mainly experienced in the history of past two centuries of Iran, tries to study modern sexuality and gender transformations with regards to establishment of modern medical, health, legal, religious and political entities in Iran.

In the first part of the book, she proclaims that before Constitutionalism Movement, homosexuality, polygamy, temporary marriage, sex segregation and extended families had been some usual manners that had never faced objection. However, rise of Constitutionalism Movement and agencies attributed to it gave rise to the question of Social Justice and some new regulations were gradually enacted that transformed sexual morale of Iranian society.

In addition, she explains that, for example, modern health in Iran undermined religious justifications for sex segregation, overturned religious understanding of Clean and Unclean, and gave rise to a new understanding of feminine body which granted her a new social role. Medical advancements regarding abortion and repairing hymen led to establishing some new regulations and had a lasting influence on sexual identity of and sexual interaction among citizens.

In addition, rise of police department made the body, especially feminine body, the field of cultural and political conflict. Therefore, Hijab, for the first time in Iran’s history, turned into a social problem and a concern for the government.

Modernity and New Order of Sexual Life

Probably most of the people believe that modernity is followed by more sexual freedom and life in the age of tradition had always been bound to legal and customary restrictions which had severely limited sexual pleasure. Janet Afary believes that such a perception is so naïve and illusive. Sexual Politics in Modern Iran restates that heterosexuality and monogamy, as the only legal, justified norm of sexual behavior, were not enforced by the tradition; in fact, these norms and their moral-legal dominance is a byproduct of modern age.

In fact, modernity in Iran undermined pluralistic and free tradition of sexuality and legalized a simple form of marriage and heterosexuality. For example, even though gay and lesbian behaviors were forbidden by the Sharia, before the advent of constitutional monarch and more exactly before Pahlavi Dynasty assumed power, such behaviors were accepted among various social classes and having intimate relationship and even screwing gorgeous boys was, to an extent, a common practice.

Referring to deeply rooted mystique tradition in Iran, Afary states that Love did not essentially mean an emotional relationship between man and woman and it would include homosexual intimacy as well. Hence, love and sex between persons of the same sex is considered a taboo just in modern times, which is far different from older Love Customs.

Sexual Politics in Iran narrates the transition from older Love Customs to Modern Sexual Economy of Islamic Republic.

Reader finally comes to understand that the tradition backing Islamic Republic is not a historical tradition, but a tradition founded by that political and ideological regime.

For example, even though Sharia had maintained that adulterers should be stoned to death, few examples of older regimes practicing this punishment are available. In the old times, not merely in Iran but also in whole mideast, one can rarely think of a ruler trying a mid-class woman accused of adultery and finally stoning her to death.

That is what every little six year old girl dreams of; it’s finding her knight in shining armor! Then reality does this magical disappearing act of such dreams. When things do not go right or as we had dreamed in fairy tales we fall apart because we were not prepared. I don’t believe I am a pessimist rather I would say realistic in my thinking. I don’t believe that a person ought to wait for something to go wrong rather live the moment and enjoy it to the fullest and be prepared for mishaps, it’s a part of life.

In a culture where I come from many girls were prepped into marriage and the responsibilities that come with it from a very young age, from taking care of your husband and fulfilling his every need to cooking, child birth and raising your children. It is interesting how they seem to have disregarded her own needs.

In devoting yourself to your husband you are worshiping God! That is what many have been taught. Don’t get me wrong. I do believe that love is a mutual act that is shared by mates with all that comes with it from respect to sacrifices. However, here we have a giving party and a recipient. The giver is supposed to give even if the recipient does not exchange love, respect and so on.

Women are expected to grant all they are unconditionally even if man remarries or commits adultery! She ought to be patient and continue on giving even if she is abused mentally, emotionally or physically! This is how culture raises women. Through endurance in this life time with what man offers her she seeks salvation in the afterlife. So many women put up with so much for the sake of their children as well.

Women are unfortunate and very weak legally when it comes to their children after a divorce. At a certain age of about seven to nine years a child most likely returns to his father if the dad wished so. The father has the power to forbid the children from ever seeing their mother! Even if he passes away, his brother takes over. It is interesting how the mother has no right what so ever over her own children whom she carried in her womb after she breaks up with her husband.

She can’t enroll them in schools without the father’s approval. She can’t admit them in case of an emergency in a hospital without his presence or signed consent. A mother can’t open a bank account for her own children where I come from.

The Prophet mentioned that heaven lies beneath mother’s feet. This is a clear statement showing the importance of mothers in Islam. He had stated that you will not be able to enter the heavens unless you have done well with your mother. The prophet even mentioned that the importance of a mother is three times the father. This doesn’t seem to be taken to account in our culture.
There have been reports of fathers marrying their young daughters to much older men and it was surprising to see that mothers had no saying in that what so ever. They could not prevent or even speak out in a court of law because they were not LEGAL GUARDIANS!
However, there have been very few cases where such marriages were annulled due to pressures from the media.

There is an alarming rise in divorce rates in Saudi Arabia, however life for single mothers in this country is far from easy. Not only does society look at her differently but an accusing finger is also pointed at her for failing, for not playing her part right, for not taking adultery or abuse with its many forms like a “woman “ought to! (Don’t get me wrong, women can be the cause of many failed marriages as well, some marriages fail because of mismatches…etc) however, women pay the price in the end. They lose so much in a divorce, they usually are the ones who leave their homes and move back to their parent’s or into a new place after all the years of emotional, physical and financial investments they put up in their previous broken homes. Unlike men who get a pat on the back and offers of renewing their bed partner (They even use this same phrase with a man who has just become widowed).

It is much easier for men to move on after divorce but women deal with the children, tiptoeing on eggshells and playing their cards right so as not to lose them. A woman thinks a hundred times before remarrying because if the children were still with her, she would lose custody of them the moment she remarries!

As a single mother I understand what other moms go through. After starting a small support group I have been approached by several ladies who feel caged by society, some misfortunate ladies were abused and had their children taken away from them. It is so hard to imagine that the legal system and society watches silently and approvingly of such cruelty.

These heroines must know they are not alone in this. They must not feel defeated by culture. Praying for change is not enough but actively creating it is the way.. Even if they were tiny little steps.. Speak out.. There might be someone out there who is actually listening..

In an ultra conservative country such as Saudi Arabia, an all female rock band is not exactly the norm! These four college students were brave enough to follow their dreams and stand against the tides of a society that is hardly forgiving to such taboos.

Here is an article about them in The New York Times and you can listen to their song on myspace
I was actually surprised when I heard their music, they are talented.

These girls live in Jeddah, which is known to have a much more relaxed atmosphere than other parts of the kingdom. There are more and more male bands and concerts playing openly for the public, and you can even notice that there is less segregation between the genders in restaurants and shopping malls.
I have visited Jeddah a few weeks back. It really felt as if I had entered another country! People are much more relaxed and women can actually be comfortable in their own skin! unlike other areas of Saudi Arabia where women are made to feel awkward just by their mere presence in public.
But still, an all girls rock band does break so many social chains even in Jeddah. They won’t be able to perform in public unless they do private parties or for all girls only. None the less , their music is being heard and downloaded from inside and outside the kingdom.

I am excited to see such talents from our youths and I look forward to listening to more of their music. I do hope they will be given the chance to continue what they just started.

Sara

With great fear, she insists to keep her identity hidden.

I decide to call her Sara, and quote her saying the shocking statement: “I’ve been beaten up, forced to have unprotected sex, thrown out in the middle of the night without getting paid”.

Sara is just one of the many cases where a child is forced into prostitution in Lebanon because of financial needs. Sent by her parents to work as a house cleaner at the age of 12, the young child has been working as a sex trade for four years now, behind the walls. The walls of laws, dignity, respect and social justice that are expected to protect, but instead need protection themselves.

A Worldwide problem

Article will be completed later