2. The decisions of women to put on or remove the hijab is a personal, regardless of whether they are public figures or not. In Islam, the belief is that individuals will be judged for their actions and intentions, the latter of which can only be determined by Allah. Therefore, speculations about the reasons why a news anchor wears a headscarf are simply that: speculations. Whether I agree or disagree with the individual’s choice, I should not be allowed to prevent them from making that choice.

3. Feminists and others who’s goal is to champion women’s rights should be the first to defend a Muslim woman’s right to wear a headscarf. As long as it is a personal choice and not one that is forced by any other individual, then there should not be any consternation about it. Islam itself is a religion that does not advocate any compulsion with regards to religious duties, “Let there be no compulsion in religion” 2:256. The idea that women who did not wear it before, especially those who are educated professionals such as Ben Guenna, are forced to wear it is absurd.

4. If anyone is pressuring young girls in the Arab world to dress a certain way it is the dozens of scandalously-clad-cheap-looking-hoe-like “pop stars” who’s skirts keep inching higher and tops inching lower. Their images are plastered on billboards and music videos are incessantly replayed across every TV screen in the Middle East. The idea that modestly dressed women on a few religiously oriented programs and possibly a news anchor or two are “pressuring” young girls in the Middle East to dress more conservatively is laughable. The latter are proving to be role models for young girls, empowering them to educate themselves, and decide if that is a step they would want to take. On the other hand, the Haifa Wahbi type wardrobe sits in the windows of boutiques and malls across Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, luring young girls to show as much skin as possible, inevitably turning some girls into the sex-symbols that feminists should be speaking out against.

5. The real pressure is also on news anchors, presenters, and even other singers who choose to remain somewhat descent when they appear on our television screens. Whether they are threatened with losing their job for choosing to wear a headscarf or refusing to wear a tighter shirt and shorter skirt, women in all fields and especially those public ones are losing this freedom of choice. As long as her way of dressing does not get in the way of completing her job, then women should not be harassed to wear or not to wear the hijab or any other article of clothing.

Clearly, this subject is larger than one single post, and I may come back to it because it has been deemed so “controversial” in recent times, an argument I simply don’t buy. The root of the issue is freedom of choice, which should be respected by all to avoid discrimination against certain segments of society who wish to fulfill certain religious or moral obligations. Intentions of individuals are theirs alone, and whether we believe they are pure or not, does not entitle us to discriminate against them, especially in the work force and education sector. Preventing women from getting an education because of their dress does not liberate them and will only help to promote ignorance and oppression.

I’d like to see the energy used on debating the hijab focused on more pressing issues facing women in the Middle East such as lack of access to education, discrimination in the workforce, domestic abuse, health problems, lack of political participation, etc. I don’t like double standards. A woman’s choice is a woman’s choice, whether it’s considered “liberal”, “conservative”, “Marxist” or anything in between. Unfortunately, when the spotlight is placed on women’s rights in Islam, double-standards, generalizations, and misconceptions are common.

[technorati tags: LBC, hijab, Islam, Khadija Ben Guenna, Hanan Turk, Arab World, popular culture, feminism]

The meeting between President Bush and PM Blair last week attempted to show support for the new Iraqi government and reassure the world the Iraq is indeed on the right path towards democracy. Most observers, however, quickly picked up on the uncertainty that laced the leaders’ words, especially as Bush expressed regret for egging on the Iraqi insurgents in July 2003 (it was one of his many cowboy moments) when he said: “bring ‘em on!”. Iraqi government or no Iraqi government, the reality of the situation across the Cradle of Civilizations is chaotic at best. My friend and fellow blogger Fatima describes the challenges of everday life in post-war Baghdad, from sleepless nights without electricity to risky walks to the grocery store. This is from her latest post:

So I continued the other way, and stopped by to chat with my husband’s aunt. She was telling me that her 20 year old son, B, was standing in line for gasoline this morning, and saw some cars pull up and shoot some poor guy in front of his house. His body was left out in the burning sun for a couple of hours before anyone picked him up. Horrible, but sadly becoming a daily recurrence here.

She also describes the measures average Iraqis have taken to protect themselves and their property because they cannot rely on the government to ensure their safety:

This particular neighbor had their oven gas canisters stolen on two different occasions from their doorstep. Since then, they have covered their gate with barbed wire, and put a spiky metal piece on top of their gate door. They had to take security matters into their own hand, because no matter how many times these thieves come to our neighborhood, more than likely, no policeman has the time, dedication nor ability to catch them. And so, chaos reigns.

This is the reality of Iraq today. I don’t want to hear Rumsefeld’s rhetoric about a few thousand Iraqi policemen who were trained. Don’t tell me about improving electricity or water availability or catching insurgents when every family suffers because the lack of the most basic needs that were available even during Saddam’s reign.

For god’s sake, just admit you were wrong, Messieurs Bush, Blair, Cheney, Rumsfeld. Admit you had no plan B. Admit that you invaded Iraq knowing you could win the battle but forgetting that you had to also win the peace. Admit that your “coalition” was the weakest that history has seen and now has fallen apart. Admit that you ignored advice from top level officials and continue to ignore advice from congressmen and former military men who are telling you that you are only digging yourself a deeper hole.

Your dignity has already been lost.
Your words are no longer believed.
Your rhetoric is “so yesterday.”

Relevant articles:
Iraq is the Republic of Fear; The Inshallah Occupation; Exporting Chaos*

[*h/t Jordan Journals]

[technorati tags: Iraq, war, failures, Bush, Blair, Rumsfeld]

Of course they are bound to occur. Natural disasters are usually unaviodable. Humans attempt to build structures to stem the effects of hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, etc. We try to take precautions and prepare people so that they can take specific steps that will help them save their lives and belongings during such disasters. But there is only so much individuals can do.

Governments of course have a role because we entrust them with providing us security and stability in our lives, including during natural disasters. But not all governments are equal. Not all states have similar resources.

So why not creat an international force that can leap into action at the first signs of an earthquake, tsunami, or hurricane?

This would be a neutral, strictly humanitarian coalition of professionals including doctors, nurses, paramedics, rescuers, engineers, etc who would be trained in dealing with disaster stricken areas of all kinds. At the first sign of such a disaster, the affected nation would immediately contact this UN sponsored committee and ask for assistance.

Without too much paperwork and bureaucratic strings attached, this international force would leap into action and be ready to go within hours of notification. They should arrive at the disaster zone no later than 24 hours from the time of contact and shall be equipped with all necessary equipment for them to do their work efficiently. Their work is saving lives. Period.

The amount of people who are afflicted with disease, hunger, malnutrition, etc in the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster can be significantly diminished if such a force existed to help with food distribution, setting up temporary homes, and make-shift hospitals.
I realize that when such disasters occur, many governments around the world extend their hands in assistance with money, manpower, medicine, food, etc. However, this usually takes a few days before individuals are deployed to the disaster zone. An internationally sanctioned humanitarian force would be more efficient and more powerful in numbers and tools to do the work they need to do.

If such an entity already exists, then I am not aware of it as I did not see it put to work during the earthquake in Iran, the tsunami in East Asia, Hurricane Katrina, and many others.

The devastating earthquake in Indonesia is a sad reminder to us all. For the sake of thousands that have already died, and the many others that have been displaced and injured because of these disasters, will someone please do something?

UN Security Council jocks, are you listening to me?!

[photo of Indonesia earthquake aftermath, Reuters]
[technorati tags: international, disasters, natural, assistance, UN, Indonesia, earthquake]

A bill seeking to impose sanctions on the Palestinians for participating in democratic elections that resulted in the success of a party not in the liking of the US was passed yesterday by a majority in the House. For more on the serious consequences of this bill, see my earlier post. Despite the fact that 361 congressmen voted for the bill, grassroots campaigns by pro-Palestinian organizations here in the US helped to delay the vote, trigger serious debate on the House floor, and spur some changes in the bill. Here is what the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation had to say:

Although the bill passed, our tremendous grassroots opposition to it prevented the bill’s supporters from rushing it through for a quick vote with no debate. We succeeded in delaying the bill for months, helped to get it watered down at the committee level, and forced AIPAC to expend enormous amounts of political capital to pass it.

In fact, our opposition helped generate something last night on the floor of the House of Representatives that has not occurred in a long time: the House held an open and honest debate about US policy toward Israel/Palestine for nearly three hours. This afforded many Members of Congress an opportunity to speak out in forceful terms against the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act (Congressional Record, H2990-H3012).

Even though the House has passed the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act, it is still a long way from becoming law. The Senate has yet to take up its less draconian version of the bill (S2370) and even if the Senate passes this bill, it will need to be reconciled by both houses in committee and signed by the President before becoming law. In other words, we still have many opportunities to continue to mobilize opposition to sanctioning the Palestinian people for exercising their right to vote.

The US Campaign urges its supporters to take one additional, extremely important action on HR4681. Please contact the Representatives who voted against or abstained on HR4681 and/or who spoke against the resolution last night. It is especially important if you and your organizations reside in the district of a Representative who took one or more of these steps against the resolution. It is critically important for Representatives to receive support when they act or vote courageously.

TAKE ACTION: Contact Representatives who voted against or abstained on HR4681 and/or who spoke against the resolution. To send a letter to them, click here. You can also call the Capitol switchboard at 1-888-355-3588 and ask to be transferred, or call them directly on the numbers below.

Click here to find out how your congressman voted on this bill and contact them ASAP with a letter of support or a letter expressing your disappointment for the way he/she voted. The main goal of any congressman is to be voted again to office this November, and their future is in your hands. Give them a piece of your mind and let them know that they will or will not have your support in the upcoming November elections. Your voice does make a difference.

Meanwhile, Israeli PM Ehud Olmert received a red carpet kind of welcome as he met with President Bush and later addressed a joint session of Congress– “a rare honour reserved for close allies of the US.” The US media is still apparently very confused about whether Bush is backing or rejecting Olmert’s West Bank withdrawl plan. Olmert of course needs strong support from the administration and Congress because “withdrawl” plans require lots of US tax payer $$$. Yes, that means your money and my money, Mr. Average American Joe.

[technorati tags: Palestine, aid, US, Congress, sanctions, Bush, Olmert, Israel]

Some of you may have heard about the “sniper attacks” that haunted the Washington D.C. metro area in October 2002 and ended up killing 10 innocent people. An article today on the CNN homepage brought back memories of the horrifying experience that we went through during those three weeks in October. This is the main headline from the story:

Lee Boyd Malvo testified Tuesday that his former partner and father figure, John Allen Muhammad, told him before the 2002 sniper attacks “we’re going to terrorize this nation.”
Malvo said Muhammad also outlined a plan for six sniper shootings a day for 30 days, to be followed by a bombing campaign that would target schools, school buses and children’s hospitals.

Some people are really sick and I wish we could get all these psychopaths in hospitals before they go out on shooting sprees like these two did. So what was it like to drive the streets of northern Virginia knowing that there are two men lurking out there killing people through a small hole in a white van? It was scary as hell.

I first found out about this early on October 3rd when I tuned in to watch the morning news. All the local networks were covering this story of a series of shootings which they were still unsure if they were all connected. Now shootings in various parts of the DC region is not uncommon, but the way the networks were covering these shootings live from the scenes and waiting for press conferences caught my attention. I was glued to the TV for an hour or so, as the news started to come in reporting that two women had been killed within one hour, one while reading a book on a bench and the other while pumping gas into her car.

At that point, the police hadn’t connected a shooting that had occurred the night before in a grocery store parking lot, and 2 other shootings earlier in the morning that killed a man mowing his lawn and another cab driver pumping gas into his car.

Now everyone was one edge, waiting for the forensic reports to indicate whether the shots fired were from the same gun, and therefore from the same shooter.

When I finally managed to get myself away from the TV, I headed to my university with the radio on still following the investigations, and getting more freaked out by the minute.

That evening, the forensics reports proved that all 5 victims so far had been shot by the same gun, and that eyewitness reports indicated that a “boxy white van” had been seen in the area before a few of the shootings.

By the time I come home from college, everyone is talking about the “sniper,” as he/they came to be known. A few hours later, we would find out on the 11 o’clock news that another innocent person had been killed, this time a 72-year old walking on a street in D.C.

The problem is that there was nothing in common among the victims. Their ages varied widely, men and women, of all races and ethnicities (white, black, Hispanic, Indian, etc), of all social classes, and in various areas of the DC metro region and during all times of the day and night.

They were completely random shootings which made anyone living in northern VA, southern MD, and Washington D.C. a possible victim. That includes myself, my family, my friends, my co-workers, my college classmates, my professors…everyone one of us was a potential target.

The tips from various individuals that the sniper was traveling in white boxy van was probably the worst part of this ordeal. I’m not sure if it’s just this area that we live in or all over the US, but white boxy vans are everywhere! They are used mainly by various kinds of services such as painters, carpet cleaners and movers, A/C fixers, plumbers, handy men, craftsmen, and various other types of businesses. If you don’t see like 10 of them on the road everyday then something must be wrong! One of my neighbors even had one for a business that he had.

So you can imagine how scared people were as they drove in the streets and avoided every white van they saw. I would avoid eye contact with the drivers but still try to get a good look at them in case I saw something and had to give a description to the police. I examined their facial expressions and wondered if they were the sniper. They, on the other hand, looked just as scared as we all were. All of them were being scrutinized because of the possibility that one of them may be used by the sniper. They were even forced to stop at certain checkpoints and random stops by the police. Many businesses chose to stop using their trucks for a few days until things settled down. But the shootings continued, and got closer to my home.

Montgomery County police chief Charles Moose became a household name. We waited daily for his press conferences on the morning & evening news, to hear if the next victim was shot by the same gun. If there were any clues found at the scene. If there were any more tips that would help us find this animal who was terrorizing our towns. In D.C., volunteers from a group I can’t remember the name of came to gas stations to fill up for people who were too scared to get out of their cars (4 people were killed at gas stations).

My family tried to limit our outings. They forced me to come home early from college, and drive on certain roads they thought were safer than others. They wanted me to avoid the highway which the police had said the sniper was traveling on. If a class was not important, don’t go, they told me. “Don’t go to the gas station; your dad will fill up for you.” Just sit at home and wait for the bastard to be caught so we can live normally again.

But the shootings continued. A 13-year old boy was injured by a shot near his school. Mothers loading their shopping bags into minivans were killed in open parking lots. October 7, 9, 11, 14, 19, 21, 22, 23. During each of those days there was at least one shooting. The days that there weren’t were even worse as the panic attacks continued. Schools considered shutting down until the sniper(s) was caught. The shooting on October 14th in the parking lot of Home Depot in Falls Church, Virginia was the closest to my home. Only 20 minutes away, I knew the area by heart; I had been in that parking lot; I had dined in the restaurant next door. This was too close, too damn close.

The media of course took this story and ran. We have a tendency here to blow things out of proportion, to scare people rather than make them feel safe. And the media did just that. Of course it was a scary and dangerous time, but the media used it to their advantage, getting people glued to their TV screens. I mean, in this area, we panic when we get more than 3 inches of snow and people rush to the stores to buy milk and bread, so you can imagine what it was like at this time.

Living in an area with a good number of Muslims and Arabs of course raised other fears. We prayed together and hoped that the perpetrator would not be Muslim or Arab. A year after 9/11, we did not need something like this to strike our community again. Please God don’t let him be Muslim…Please.

With all the attention on the sniper, all the tips and all the clues, we all expected a Hollywood-like arrest. Maybe a high speed chase on our own Interstate-95. But the end wasn’t even close to anything dramatic.

On October 24, police received a tip of a suspicious car in a Maryland highway rest stop. When the police arrived, they found two black men sleeping in their 1990 blue Chevrolet Caprice with a rifle that later proved to be the one used to target 11 of the 14 shootings. Wait, let me repeat, they were SLEEPING. And they were not in white van. The white van tip turned out to be fatally wrong. The men had a small firing port in the car where one could lie down and shoot without being seen and other drove the car after the shots were fired. The rifle could never be seen by the public.

And then, their names were revealed. The older man, John Allen Muhammad and his younger counterpart, 17-year old Lee Boyd Malvo, had worked together during the shooting spree. Originally John Allen Williams, he changed his name in Oct. 2001 after having joined the Nation of Islam a few years earlier.

Of course, our worst fears became a reality when we heard his last name, Muhammad. But the fact that he wasn’t part of mainstream Islam, and that the investigation revealed that his religion was not a motive, put many of us at ease. They had planned to some how terrorize the region and extort $10 million from the US government.

Finally, the case was put to rest in our view when they were arrested, later charged, and eventually convicted and given the death penalty and life in prison (for the younger). It was something I had never experienced before, living in such fear. Of course the cliche is that it makes you appreciate the safety you live in. That my neighborhood has not witnessed any such crimes on a regular basis. That I don’t find drug dealers near my home, or drive by shootings outside my window.

Thank God they were caught. They got what they deserved as they destroyed families and terrorized millions in our area.

[more on the sniper attacks]

I just finished calling my representative’s office in the House in regards to HR 4681 “The Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006″ which seeks to impose sanctions against the Palestinian people for choosing to participate in democratic elections and subsequently electing Hamas to power.

The call was very easy and took literally 2 minutes from me, and thankfully congressman Jim Moran will most likely vote against the bill. Please don’t underestimate the power you have as a constituent of your congressman. Just call 1-888-355-3588 and ask for your representative in the House (you can find out who he/she is by entering your zip code here).

The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation summarizes the reason why we are against HR 4681:

HR4681 is the most draconian sanctions bill that Congress has EVER considered imposing against the Palestinians. The anti-Palestinian sanctions in it include:

* Restricting US humanitarian aid and potentially eliminating entire US aid projects, such as infrastructure and small business development;

* Threatening to withhold a portion of US dues to the United Nations because it maintains bodies that advocate for Palestinian human rights and seek to hold Israel accountable to international law;

* Defining territory controlled nominally by the Palestinian Authority as a “terrorist sanctuary”, thereby requiring US businesses to obtain special export licenses for most goods destined for the Occupied Palestinian Territories and gutting the provisions of the US free trade agreement with the West Bank and Gaza;

* Refusing visas to members of the Palestinian Legislative Council and the Palestinian Mission to the UN, even those who belong to political parties that the United States does not classify as “foreign terrorist organizations”;

* Restricting the movement of PLO diplomats at the United Nations and threatening to close the PLO’s office in Washington, and;

* Instructing the US representative to the World Bank to use the considerable strength of the United States in international financial institutions to vote against the continuation of humanitarian aid projects.

Please take 2 minutes out of your day and call 1-888-355-3588 right now, for the sake of the Palestinian people.

Related posts

[technorati tags:Palestine, economy, aid, US, Congress, sanctions, human rights]

After taking a short break from my usually “serious” political posts and from blogging all together, I tried to get back into “my mode” all day today but I just couldn’t. I hit my usual daily visits to the BBC, Aljazeera, Washington Post, NYTimes, and the blogosphere in the hopes that a bright yellow bulb would light in my head or that something would catch my attention and produce a post, but alas, nothing. Nothing new that is.

Yes, the Iraqis finally managed to form themselves a government despite pressure from the Americans and from each ethno-religious faction to do this or that, or hand this ministry to this Shiite or that Kurd.

Meanwhile, the average Iraqi doesn’t really give a damn because he’s sitting at home, unemployed, afraid to be out buying groceries at 5 pm, listening to gun shots and mortars exploding outside his home, and attempting to rationalize the death of a close relative. He’s also contemplating packing up and taking his family across the border like thousands of other Iraqis who simply find life in Iraq unbearable in every sense of the word.

Oh, and we can’t forget about the Palestinians, can we know. An Israeli air strike killed a grandmother, mother, and her 4-year old son who were riding with a member of Islamic Jihad, the “target” of another Israeli state sanctioned assassination plot. In another incident, an explosion in an elevator killed 2 and seriously injured a dozen others including Tareq Abu Rajab, the head of intelligence for the PA. To make matters worse, Palestinian security officials accused Hamas of attempting to assassinate Abu Rajab, while Hamas called on all parties to remain calm and not jump to conclusions. This comes after Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas’ continuous attacks and accusations of Hamas’ involvement in the Jordan weapons smuggling fiasco. As if Hamas is still a party in opposition, and not a party in control of government, Abbas treats the Hamas-led government almost as an enemy, further enforcing the idea that a civil war is inevitable in Palestine, which I find highly unlikely. Hamas is not helping its image either by refusing to participate in investigations or respond fully to the accusations hurled at the government.

Meanwhile, the average Palestinian is caught in the middle of an international “mind game” that is essentially starving and killing dozens of innocent people as we speak because they decided to democratically hold a party accountable for years of corruption, theft, and utter recklessness in their handling of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as well as internal Palestinian affairs.

Normally I would be feeling frustrated and angry at all this. The problem is I feel nothing…almost indifferent. It’s like déjà vu every day. So what’s the difference? The other day I was watching the regular Aljazeera headlines at the top of the hour and what caught my attention was that there was no report of a car bomb or similar explosion in Iraq. I kept on listening, and even reading the headlines scrolling on the bottom of the screen, waiting for the number of dead today. But it wasn’t in the top headlines. It’s sad. Why do I notice such things? Have the car bombs become a norm? An expected headline everday? Do I just wait for the “number” of people who have lost their lives because some bastard decided he was powerful and smart enough to be able to drive a bomb laden car through a crowd on a Baghdad street? And what’s the different between 10 and 75 anyway?

Or those poor souls in Darfur, protesting and begging for some attention from the world. Don’t even get me started.

I wish I could visit the moon or Jupiter for a few days, or maybe a few months.

[technorati tags: Iraq, politics, government, Palestine, Hamas, Israel, Darfur, failures, moon]