Afghan Women Lose Political Power and Talks With Taliban Spells Trouble

Talks with the Taliban, and the surreptitious removal of the law requiring at least a quarter of the seats in the provincial councils be held by women, does not bode well for the female segment of the Afghan population.

A legal requirement that women make up at least a quarter of all provincial elected officials was quietly removed by conservative male parliamentarians, officials said, the latest in a series of decisions undermining advances in women's rights in Afghanistan.

The change, engineered in mid-May, was only discovered by women members of parliament a few days ago.

The action has sparked fears among women's rights activists that President Hamid Karzai's government is increasingly willing to trade away their hard fought gains to placate the Taliban as part of attempts to coax them to the peace table.

Activists said it could also reduce the number of women serving in parliament's upper house, as most women are elected there via their role as elected provincial officials.

According to Farkhunda  Naderi, a rights activist who also happens to be one of the few MPs in the current Afghan government, believes:

"This is a political strategy: to please (the Taliban) in peace talks they're willing to give up women's rights."

I hate to think we wasted so many years and so many lives for nothing, but once we are gone, I have no doubts that the Taliban will work there way back into power.

Such a shame.

Tunisian Husband Forced Wife To Wear Niqab, She Kills Their Baby

How tragic is this.

A Tunisian woman stabbed her two-month old daughter to death to punish her husband for forcing her to wear the niqab, or full-face Islamic veil, Arabic newspaper Al Jomhouria reported Wednesday.

The family lives in M'hamdia, in the Ben Arous governorate.

The woman confessed the murder to police, explaining why she did it. 

You have to wonder would this have happened prior to the Arab Spring? It seems that the inherent chauvinism of the Muslim faith has emboldened many of the men in what once were secular countries. They now feel they have the right to control their women, with Islamic law to back them up.  Wherever Islam rules, women's rights take a huge nosedive.

Source: Ansamed

Muslim Brotherhood Blasts UN's Bid To End Violence Against Women

"Allah is our objective; the Quran is our law, the Prophet is our leader; Jihad is our way; and death for the sake of Allah is the highest of our aspirations." 

The Muslim Brotherhood's Credo 

This is the true face of the Muslim Brotherhood: The following is a statement posted on their website Ikhwanweb regarding the UN's attempts to "End Violence Against Women".

The 57th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), taking place from March 4 to 15 at UN headquarters, seeks to ratify a declaration euphemistically entitled ‘End Violence against Women’.

That title, however, is misleading and deceptive. The document includes articles that contradict established principles of Islam, undermine Islamic ethics and destroy the family, the basic building block of society, according to the Egyptian Constitution.

This declaration, if ratified, would lead to complete disintegration of society, and would certainly be the final step in the intellectual and cultural invasion of Muslim countries, eliminating the moral specificity that helps preserve cohesion of Islamic societies.

A closer look at these articles reveals what decadence awaits our world, if we sign this document:

1. Granting girls full sexual freedom, as well as the freedom to decide their own gender and the gender of their partners (ie, choose to have normal or homo- sexual relationships), while raising the age of marriage.

2. Providing contraceptives for adolescent girls and training them to use those, while legalizing abortion to get rid of unwanted pregnancies, in the name of sexual and reproductive rights.

3. Granting equal rights to adulterous wives and illegitimate sons resulting from adulterous relationships.

4. Granting equal rights to homosexuals, and providing protection and respect for prostitutes.

5. Giving wives full rights to file legal complaints against husbands accusing them of rape or sexual harassment, obliging competent authorities to deal husbands punishments similar to those prescribed for raping or sexually harassing a stranger.

6. Equal inheritance (between men and women).

7. Replacing guardianship with partnership, and full sharing of roles within the family between men and women such as: spending, child care and home chores.

8. Full equality in marriage legislation such as: allowing Muslim women to marry non-Muslim men, and abolition of polygamy, dowry, men taking charge of family spending, etc.

9. Removing the authority of divorce from husbands and placing it in the hands of judges, and sharing all property after divorce.

10. Cancelling the need for a husband’s consent in matters like: travel, work, or use of contraception.

These are destructive tools meant to undermine the family as an important institution; they would subvert the entire society, and drag it to pre-Islamic ignorance.

The Muslim Brotherhood urges the leaders of Muslim countries and their UN representatives to reject and condemn this document, and to call upon this organization to rise to the high morals and principles of family relations prescribed by Islam.

The Muslim Brotherhood also calls on Al-Azhar (the highest seat of learning for Muslims) to take the lead, condemn this declaration, and state clearly the Islamic viewpoint with regard to all details of this document.

Further, we urge all Islamic groups and associations to take a decisive stand on this document and similar declarations.

In conclusion, we call on women's organizations to commit to their religion and morals of their communities and the foundations of good social life and not be deceived with misleading calls to decadent modernization and paths of subversive immorality.

God Almighty says: "God wants to forgive you, but those who follow whims and desires want you to deviate far away from the Path). {Quran 4 : 27}

The Muslim Brotherhood
Cairo: March 13, 2013

Okay, so the first 4 issues might garner agreement from some conservatives in other religions, but the other 6?

What shameful disregard they have for women and children.

Afghan Women Fear Life After NATO Leaves- Don't Want Their Burqas Back

A depressing article about the fears Afghan women have regarding the NATO troop withdrawal in 2014. They fear having to go back to the burqa, though many never stopped wearing it. In the beginning they had high hopes, but those hopes have been dashed, even more so with the imminent departure of NATO. Even post Taliban, women have been marginalized, and those who fight for women's rights often live under the fear of death.  They fear losing the tiny bit of freedom they gained once the Taliban were no longer in power. And it's tiny. They feel totally abandoned.

The Guardian's Tracy McVeigh interviewed seven women who managed to make a life for themselves post Taliban, but they don't see much hope for their future.

The international community said the fall of the Taliban in 2001 would bring in a new era of rights. Afghanistan's women and girls would be returned to schools and workplaces and freed from the infamously fierce restrictions on their lives. It was a key political justification used by the British and Americans for their continued presence. That year US secretary of state Colin Powell declared that restoring women's human rights would "not be negotiable". Prime minister Tony Blair promised: "The conflict will not be the end. We will not walk away, as the outside world has done so many times before." Now, with the withdrawal of international forces and their caravan of international agencies, consultants and contractors looming in 2014, there is evidence that Afghan women have seen very few of the promised changes and are terrified of the future.

[snip]

A 2012 survey of women across Afghanistan by the charity ActionAid found that nine out of 10 feared the departure of the international community, believing that their lives will significantly deteriorate. And violence against women has never been higher: 87% of women report domestic abuse.

Their stories are depressing, if it's bad now, imagine what it will be like when we leave.

53-year-old Dr Monisa Sherzada Hassan, who escaped to Germany in 1994, returned in 2001 to sit on a government committee for peace and reconciliation is one of the lucky ones. Her two kids study in Germany, and she has a German passport so she can leave, but this is what she had to say about the situation.

"There are 70 members [on the committee], and nine are women. The women have just a symbolic presence. By voting they get nothing – committees only have functions to hear, not be heard. For women it's not that they are not tough or capable, but that their position is not equal. I see progress if a man says: 'Hello, how are you?' Otherwise they see a woman and they look over her head.

"The younger women are the most broken and depressed. We try to show them we are with them, but they see no future. They are dependent financially on their families.

"If the US and UK wanted, they could eliminate the Taliban in two days. They brought them and they can get rid of them. Now they are trying to leave Afghanistan isolated.

"I don't understand why the foreign forces would leave now, because they just ensure that the next Afghan crisis will be bigger. Our young people have never lived without bloodshed, and the hunger of youth is a great weapon for fundamentalists.

"When the conservatives come back they will shoot all these women who have been fighting for justice. Any fundamentalist knows the addresses of those who speak out for women's rights. The international community should support and protect these women, but they just think about their own departure. These women think about what will happen when the doors of these embassies are closed in their faces and when nobody at all will think about them.

"I am lucky in that I've got a German passport and can leave when I want, but I would beg the British and the American politicians who promised so much: please make one page in Afghanistan's history a lighter one. Before it's too late."

There was a time when women had rights in Afghanistan, ironically, during the late 1970s when the Marxists took control of the government. Even Vogue Magazine made a trip there in the 1960s when Kabul looked pretty much like any Western city.  How things have changed since then.

Read the whole Guardian article here, it's heartbreaking.

Syrian Women Upset With Rise Of Islamists In Opposition

It's the women of the Arab Spring- that turned into a civil war in Syria- that I most feel sorry for. At least those that truly did or do yearn for freedom. They were (and continue to be in Syria) instrumental in helping to oust the various dictators they believed held their freedom in shackles, only to discover that their battle for equality will continue under the Islamists that now lead their countries.

They're still struggling in Syria, and some women over there are running scared now that they see hardline Islamists in the opposition movement are gaining strength, which inevitably means they will have gained nothing when the battle against Bashar al-Assad's regime is finally won.

These men, they say, are extremists who are expanding control, waving the black flag of Jihad and excluding women in a way that mirrors the male domination of the autocratic regime that is still clinging to power.

"All opposing Syrian factions insist on marginalizing women," said Maya al-Rahbi, a human rights activist, "which means that these factions are not a true representation of the Syrian people. Half of the population is left out."

Rahbi, director of a Damascus-based women's research center, said "this indicates how patriarchal these groups are and how unbelieving they are in democracy, which can never be achieved without giving women their rights."

Another woman, Majida, is an anti-government activist who does not want to use her real name to protect her safety. She told Women's eNews in an email interview that only three of the 60 leading members of the new Syria National Coalition, which was established in November in Qatar, are women. That ratio overlooks the female momentum behind the opposition fighters and blatantly ignores their active participation in the Syrian conflict for the past 21 months.

Women's rank in the opposition, in fact, mirrors that of the Syrian establishment, where the few female ministers in the government are channeled into "female" ministries such as Social Affairs and Labor.
"We, women, have been fooled," Majida said. "How can such a weak representation be accepted? Do three women reflect the role of the female population in Syria? Did they forget what women died during the revolution by organizing protests themselves? How thousands of us were arrested and tortured just like men? It is men who chose the armed conflict, limiting the physical role of women to some extent. But our suffering was greater than theirs, because murder, rape and torture always affect women and children more than men in armed conflicts."

Rahbi echoed that outrage. "Where are all the mottos we've been hearing since the beginning revolution? Where did the calls for 'freedom, dignity and justice for all citizens' go?" she said.

She added that, "This reminds us of the same oppressive regimes and of their same policies against women. Why then did women take part in the revolution from the very beginning? Why did they sacrifice and lose their loved ones? Why were they killed, arrested, exiled and stranded? Why the revolution in the first place?!"

Indeed they've been fooled. In essence what they have done is unwittingly help their men folk pave the way for the re-emergence of Islamists which were outlawed in those countries. They realize they will have fewer freedoms under the Islamists than they had under their dictators, but it's too late now.

Iran Contemplating Law To Restrict Women's Travel

Iran is taking giant steps backwards when it comes to women's rights. Not that women have had much since the Iranian Islamic Revolution in 1979 relegated them to third class citizens. Granted, up until recently they haven't had it as bad as some of their Muslim sisters in places like Saudi Arabia or hell holes like Afghanistan and Yemen- where women are non-entity's completely covered up and separated from the men folk- but they're being pushed in that direction.

Iran recently banned women from 80 university courses,  and is now trying to control their rights to travel outside of the country without the approval of a male family member. A law that is being considered by the 290-seat Majlis will require single women under 40 to get permission to travel abroad from either their father or male guardian. Currently, only single women (and men) under the age of 18 need  permission from their fathers to obtain a passport, while married women must get permission from their husbands. But that's about to change if the lawmakers get their way.

Since women were such a major part in pro-democracy, Green Movement a few years back, it seems the government is doing what it can to diminish the power of women by attempting to control and place further restrictions on their lives.  

Human rights lawyer and Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that Iran's interpretation of Shari'a law puts girls and women at a distinct disadvantage.

"According to our laws, if a 9-year-old girl commits a criminal offense, she will be tried and punished exactly as a 40-year-old person would," Ebadi says. "But if she wants to leave the country she is required, until the age of 40, to get permission from her father [for a passport]. If her father is deceased, she has to get permission from a judge."

Iran's civil code overwhelmingly favors fathers and husbands in all personal matters related to marriage, divorce, inheritance, and child custody.

Girls may be legally married as early as 13, and some lawmakers argue the age may, under Islamic interpretation, drop as low as 9. All women require permission from a male guardian to marry, regardless of their age.

Under Iranian law, women are also strictly compromised in terms of rights to compensation and giving legal testimony.

They are also bound by a strictly observed Islamic dress and conduct code, which forbids casual contact with the opposite sex and ordains that a woman must keep her hair and body covered in public.

Such laws are often used as a pretext to crack down on political opponents.

There are rights activists who are trying to do their part to gain more freedom for women, but they often wind up in jail. But there have been a few small wins.

One campaign claims to have reduced the number of women facing death by stoning for convictions of prostitution or adultery.

Another, the 1 Million Signatures campaign backed by Ebadi, has helped call attention to the stark legal discrimination against women in Iranian laws.

Ebadi, who now works in London after fleeing Iran amid rising harassment, says the rights movement has caused discomfort among Tehran's ruling establishment.

If the people don't somehow manage to oust the ruling Mullahs, it's only going to get worse for women there.

Shariah Tourism In Egypt!

Cairo-based travel agency Shouq Travel, is making travel in Egypt shariah compliant.  Yes, bring your kids, and drag along the wife all decked out in her niqab for a jaunt on a jet ski. Maybe you'll get lucky enough to have her hijab get sucked into the propeller and she'll drown.  At least they let them drive.
Or if the ocean isn't your thing, and you like sand flying into your nostrils (though a burqa might be a good thing in that case), how about some fun on an ATV in the Sinai?  Maybe wife's hijab will get stuck in the wheels and she'll make an exit like Isadora Duncan.



Shouq will also arrange all the hotels for you, separate swimming pools (why not just leave the wife at home), halal food and all:

Family Tourism

It is known also with Halal Tourism, we organize family trips that agrees with our traditions , our Egyptian culture and our El-Sharia teachings. We are dealing with a large number of hotels that provides Halal Meat (Animal slaughtered according to our Islamic teaches), and doesn’t present alcoholic beverages on board, or pork. We also provide other alternatives for women like covered swimming pools or other places reserved only for women. And since Egypt has a lot of touristic sites we in Shouq Travel are so keen to organize trips that cover different sites of Egypt. We also present through our trips entertaining activities for children and cultural and religious seminars for adults.

The women get to sweat under their swathes of black cloth, no less- while the males get to dress comfortably-note the bare arms. What's wrong with a burqini?

And that black blob on the back of the jet ski?  Oh yes, it's the wife.

Thanks to those Muslim Brotherhood types who are now the leaders of Egypt, there will probably be a proliferation of travel agencies popping up to cater to the Shariah lovers around the world who want to travel to the land of the Pyramids.

According to Al Arabiya Muslim travel is a booming business:

From halal spas to prayer rooms at airport terminals, the global tourism industry is gearing up for a projected boom in Muslim travel over the next decade, experts say.

Spending by Muslim tourists is growing faster than the global rate and is forecast to reach $192 billion a year by 2020, up from $126 billion in 2011, according to a study conducted in 47 countries by Singapore-based halal travel specialist Crescentrating, along with DinarStandard, a U.S.-based firm that tracks the Muslim lifestyle market.

Everyone deserves to travel, but why does religion have to factor into it?!  Halal spas?  And special Muslim prayer rooms?  What's wrong with a non-denominational chapel? 

Wow.  Just, wow!