Following an enemy

I am always questioning the motives forcing- I hope force is the adequate verb- Muslim women to join radical Islamist movements.
why would women engage a movement that sees them as sexual object needs to be tamed and covered. why do women agree to be identified as traps of the devil. Why do women accept to be called adulterer, if she wears perfume. why she trades her personal well for the obedience of the leader and the group, not only Allah. Why women march in masses supporting Umma (the nation) calls, but they never march for their own demands. Why do women constitute the wide base of support to the Islamist movement, but they are never allowed to join the elite of the movement as a person, only as a wife of X or a daughter of Y.
There are many arguments explaining the reason behind women's participation in Islamists movement. I reject the argument of false conciseness, which says that those women were fooled or mislead through many factors like socialization. So they will choose alternatives against their own interests. I reject this argument because it does not respect the personal choice of these women and perceive them as submissive creatures, who have no critical minds or well to question the illusions.
I agree with the argument of the Turkish scholar Deniz Kandyoti that women are forced that do a patriarchal bargain to give up their rights as individuals and women, to gain acceptance and agency. Those women adopt the same norms and discourse of the movement. They entrench the gender roles and images adopted by the movement. They know their limits and they never cross it. Kandyoti argument is opposite to Saba Mahmoud argument which claims that women create new form of agency and empowerment through engaging Islamist movement.
I believe that Islamist movements use women to gain support, to sustain societal statuesque and advocate for their ideas. I still remember how Muslim Brotherhood MB dealt with women in the movement or sisters, how they nominated two women in the parliamentary elections of 2000 and 2005 in Egypt, when all the political actors criticized them for excluding women from political arena. The two female candidtes of MB are Gihan el Halfawy in Alexandria in 2000, she is wife of prominent MB figure and Makarem el Deery in Cairo, Helipolis in 2005. she is a widow of prominent MB figure as well , they both failed and did not make to the parliament. It is obvious that both are related to prominent brothers and they are not real figures in the movement. In addition to that el Deery in one of her press statements affirmed that she took the permission of her eldest son before running for office and she commented saying that there are no powerful sisters in the movement as the icon Zeinab el Ghazaly. Also many critiques pointed that el Deery campaign manager was more powerful and charismatic than el Deery her self.

MB affirmed women inability to run for president office. And recently MB in its comments on the political momentum inside the movement after long period of stagnation, declared that women will not hold any senior position in the movement. MB pretext was protecting the sisters from any governmental backlash. MB is not the only example of opportunism of Islamist movements and their exploitation of women. what I hate most is that they claim that they can guide them to the only right path and they convince women that in order to be pious Muslim, they have to give up their rights as women and individuals.
Finally I will conclude by saying women are not herd who need to be shepherded, women will never follow an enemy.

photo found at:
http://www.carnegieendowment.org/

Lets remember Gaza 2008.

Although I did not witness the major Arab tragedies, like 1948 and 1967 wars, but I remember by heart when the American troops entered Kuwait in 1991, it was for me like electronic game. Airplanes are bombarding the targets and only flashes appear in the night darkness. I did not feel the pains of Iraqi people in this time. On the contrary, I remember the second Intifada in 2000, I remember the walls of Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences, Cairo University with all the horrible photos of the injured and dead Palestinian people. That was a major change of the media coverage of the Middle East conflict and a major change in my life, I was turmatised by all the pain and suffering the Palestinian are facing on daily basis and I did not believe that human beings are capable of committing such atrocities. I also recall the American invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the students demonstrations in Cairo, I remember my attitude towards it. I totally ignored it and did not participate in it. And I still have major problem in participating physically in such events.
All these black memories are invading my mind now, because today is the first commeration of Gaza war, a year passed on the war but the siege is still ongoing. The number of casualties is still increasing. Pain and misery is spreading in Palestine not only in Gaza.
The crimes were not committed by the Israeli army alone. The handicapped International community contributed, the failure of application of Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court contributed, although all the crimes under its mandate took place in Gaza 2008, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression. However the rationale of the statue is ensuring impunity of the states.
The silence of the Arab states contributed. the fights between the Palestinian fictions contributed. and the collaboration of the US with Israel contributed
Lets light a candle to fight the dark shadows of Gaza 2008, lets talk for the unseen victims, lets document the massacre to avoid another massacre. lets remember Gaza 2008.

1812

Today 18 of December is the International Day of Migrants and the New Hegri year. Today, I am thinking of the migrants and their status in the world and I recall the story of the greatest migrant, Prophet Mohammed ( PBUH). As many other migrants, he migrated from his homeland Mekka to Yuthreb( Medina), after suffering from the persecution.
These ideas touched me not only as Human Rights activist, but as a person belonging to Internally displaced population and a former migrant.
I am Nubian, descending from the south of Egypt and northern Sudan. My community suffered as many other African communities from the borders determined by the colonizers, Nubians were divided to Egyptians in the north and Sudanese in the south.
The sad story of Nubians does not stop here, however after the independence of Egypt and due to the developmental projects, Nubians were displaced from their historical land to Komopo valley. The tragedy is not only that the human population was not the priority, but the economic project is the main priority. the tragedy is in the aftermath of the displacement. The social, economic and political consequences were negative and they are persistent till now.
The Nubian case is a clear case that the Internally displaced persons IDP need protection under the auspices of international law. Although there is trial in the UN to fill in the gap of the absence of a binding treaty protecting the IDP, however the International community needs to exert more effort.
This is part of my story as the second generation of IDP population, the second part of my story was in Europe, in 2006 and 2007. I was studying in the University of Malta and University of Ghent. Before traveling I was afraid from all the rumors of racial discrimination against Arabs and Black people in Europe, however I was courageous enough to examine the situation myself and to build my point of view on my own experience.
In Malta the lovely Mediterranean island, I witnessed the dialogue in Europe about the illegal migration. I heard the racist calls to kill and deport all the illegal migrants and the calls to remember the Maltese historical role as the peaceful land welcoming the suffering migrants. I remember the talk of the Dean of Faculty of Law in Human Rights Day festival, he said Malta was always the small boat rescuing the migrants . also I remember the immigration office , the ugliest place in Malta, where people are classified according to their origins and skin color. I remember my anger when the immigration office delayed my visa for almost a month , although all my WHITE colleagues had it instantly from the first visit. I remember the support of MY Maltese friends especially Maria and Elaine, and their idea to write a petition to the police commissioner. I remember my anger speech to the police officer in the immigration officer and her smile to me saying " Good Morning", her nice gesture turned my mood, I felt that I might find kind souls in this ugly place.
Finally, I want to say that migrants, whether they are refugees or Internally Displaced persons or economic migrants are a very vulnerable group, they suffer from discrimination and exploitation. We need to highlight their suffering and try to alleviate their pain.
Please Listen to Radio 1812, a global initiative celebrating the International Migrants Day :
http://www.radio1812.net/
and the Arab version of Radio 1812, where I participated on : http://www.arabic1812.net/

to Dearest Nasrin Afzali

if you met a person what will you do in the first time ?

you will question him or her and yourself

i met Nasrin in Penang in Malaysia

she is clever, decent and kind

she was the campanion when i wanted to laugh or cry

Nasrin is Iranian women right activist and journalist

she is sentenced to be flogged and imprisoned

i felt the gloden heart and i kept her with all the memories in my heart

support Nasrin

through sending emails to the Iranian persident to stop this injust verdict

Bhutto is Silenced!!!

Bhutto is Killed in a blast!!!!
This piece of news is invading all the news networks all over the world.
The powerful Pakistani woman is killed.
the sequence of the Pakistani politics was saying that she will be dieing soon, since her return to her homeland Pakistan from Dubai, she was subject to assassination trails, the imposition of emergency status and the sudden removal of it and finally the weird presidential plea of securing the opposition leaders meant the opposite, that all the opposition leaders will be under attack.
Bhutto is down, may be tomorrow Sherif will be the victim, who know.

Bhutto was not a local Pakistani symbol, she is a human symbol, she is symbolizing a powerful woman, who used to speak bravely, while others were silenced. She portrayed an enlightened picture of women coming from the Global South, an educated privileged woman that struggled for her fellow illiterate and poor woman.
I will not be lair if I said she is a Muslim powerful woman, I will never forget her as the first woman prime minister in a Muslim country, where fundamental and extremist voices were trying to deform her photo.
Bhutto is not a saint, definitely she made some wrong steps throughout her endeavor, but she did not deserve to be slaughtered in public, between her supporters.
whoever killed her is a coward, that did not manage to stand up and argue with her in public, that's why her killers decided to manage their dispute with her, in a inhumane way, they decided to silence her forever.

But they forgot that Bhutto's causes are still alive.

We will struggle for Democracy
We will struggle for Civil Governments
We will struggle for Gender Equality
We will struggle against Fundamentalism.

Bhutto, Rest in Peace, May Allah Bestow his Mercy Upon You.
Bhutto, they killed you, but others and I are still alive.

Fatma

Why in the name of Allah ??!!

Last week I was in Milan in Italy, coming from Malta after attending my graduation ceremony, heading back to home in Egypt, in the transit area, I met punch of Tunisian young men and women, and they were so nice and decent, they made my day by their smiles and tenderness.
I was so happy , however, after boarding on the plane, the host gave me the newspapers, I was really in a trauma, I did not know about the brutal attacks in Algiers, it was claimed to be related to Al Qaeda, those terrorists killed those innocent humans, under the name of Islam.
These violent attacks are new miseries added to the black book of terrorism and horror that galvanized Algeria. Algerians faced black years and days under the black shadows of terrorism.
Those accidents reminded me with the same experiences we Egyptians went through it in the nineties, children, women, men and scared places were all under severe attacks, everyone was terrorized under the name of Allah and Islam, however Allah and Islam are innocent from those wicked claims.
I never understood and I will never do understand these claims, they were and are always invalid and null to me, if it is done for seeking power and influence, I may understand it while looking down to the animals who shed blood to settle their disputes.
I always hated their use Islam the religion of peace, as a tool of disturbing and destroying peace.
I always think of Islam as a torch to enlighten the human way, how come those can use it to burn and damage.
Dear Algerians, you have been through days, decades and centuries of hard times, you have proved to be tough and able to deal with the complications of this life, but till when we have to adjust and adapt with the unfavorable conditions imposed on us by the bad souls, why they hinder any progress, those terrorists are not only killing and terrorizing people, they are desecrating the face of Islam as well.

May Allah bestow his mercy on the victims and enlighten the dark hearts.
This post is dedicated to my Algerian friends: Kahina, Keiber, Samia, Najwa, Mohamed and Karimo.

Fatma

Days ....... Human Rights Day.

Some days are so memorable, you cannot forget them.

When I was young, the holy feasts and the national vacations were so important to me, they lost that importance when I grew up, I do not know why, may be I am not that joyful young heart anymore, may there is no joy around me.

Tomorrow is a very important day in my life; it is the International Human Rights Day, in that day, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, that declaration is considered to be the corner stone of the international bill of Human Rights, which promote and protect Human Rights.

Human Rights reminds with all the noble values of the humanity, virtue, justice, egalitarianism, peace, compassion and hope, it reminds as well with the crimes and tragedies against Human Rights, massacres, war, poverty, intolerance, discrimination, oh a lot to tell.

I am happy and optimistic today, that day is a chance to celebrate, to start thinking of tomorrow, a better tomorrow, where human are equal, only for the virtue of being human.

Celebrate Love, Equality, Peace and Tolerance.

Denounce and Stop Wars, Hatred and Injustice.

Looking Forward or Better Tomorrow.

Fatma