Barack Obama promised several years ago to defend the right of women to wear hijab in the U.S., which no one was contesting. But will he stand up for these women who are being victimized for not wearing it? Don't hold your breath.
"Iraq’s unveiled women face rising crackdown," by Dina al-Shibeeb for Al Arabiya, November 22 (thanks to AINA):
Iraqi women who do not wear the Islamic headscarf, commonly known as the hijab, are increasingly coming under crackdown as conservative Islam gradually permeates the Iraqi political scene.
For Al Arabiya as well as for Western media outlets, you're "conservative" if you support Sharia and "right wing" if you oppose Sharia.
“Day after day, I am seeing more indicators that there is discrimination against women who choose not to wear hijab in Iraq,” Hanaa Edwar, General Secretary of the non-government organization, Iraqi Al-Amal Association, told Al Arabiya.Edwar, also founder of Iraqi Women’s Network, sounded the alarm about attempts to force women to wear the hijab, especially in government offices.
Head of Iraq’s Ministry of Women, Ibtihal Kasid al-Zubaidi, ordered in January that women working in government offices dress “modestly.” Zubaidi axed tight pants, short skirts and colorful clothes.
Zubaidi, who segregated genders in her ministry, was lambasted as "anti-female" and her ministry described as an "anti-women ministry."
Edwar’s Iraqi Women Network, made up of 18 civil society organizations, protested against Zubaidi’s policy, describing it as seeking to curb women’s civil liberties.
More women are approaching Edwar to file their complaints about government institutions and even TV channels belonging to religious political which enforce strict dress code and gender segregation.
Edwar, a member of the High Preparatory Committee for National Congress of Iraq, said that there is an interference even with the way some women wear their scarves. She said, they were forced to cover their chin as well.
“There is no legal restraint over the power of a boss or a manager who thinks he or she can control how an employee should dress,” she said, adding “this has become exaggerated.”
Sexual harassment is on the list, Edwar warned, with widowed or divorced women being the number one target.
“How many high-ranking bosses have to resign because of this,” she said, in reference to CIA Director David Petraeus’s scandal that forced him to step down.
On Wednesday, Iraq’s Minister of Education, Ali Al-Adeeb warned university professors who “financially blackmailing male students and immorally harassing female students.”
The frustration over sexual harassment prompted some women to speak out during a Ministry of Interior conference last month.
“A number of women from the media came and boldly expressed their frustration in front of interior ministry officials about sexual harassment even from the highest of all ranks,” she said....
“In Iraq, we never had temporary marriage. This is clearly an imported phenomenon from Iran,” she said.
While in Shiite Islam, temporary marriage is allowed, it was rarely practiced nor was culturally accepted in Iraq as the conventional, permanent type of marriage was prevalent.
Other waves of conservatism in Iraq included the ministry of education banning music and arts in late 2010. The ban was lifted in Jan. 2011 as a more liberal new education minister took office.
Late September, human rights groups in Iraq voiced frustration at a wave of assaults on nightclubs and other alcohol-serving places.
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From Patheos:
“Dear Atheists, We Ex-Muslims Are Waiting For You”
Dear Atheists, we ex-muslims are waiting for you guys to get over Christianity and start waging war against Islam for a change. Yeah, sure it’s really fun and all bashing the Bible, fundies, priests, young earthers, the pope, etc, but really don’t you guys think that it’s time to shift at least some attention to Islam?
We ex-muslims are a very small minority, and there’s really nothing we can we really do to change anything. We can’t form orgnaizations or voice our thoughts in most Muslim countries. We practically have no rights whatsoever besides the right to go to jail or be hanged or beheaded for our blasphemy.
But the voice of millions of atheists like all of you would significantly help us. It brings into world attention our plight, and all the horrible things Islam is responsible for, and how it has oppressed and destroyed many of our lives. It would at least help change some laws that would benefit us ex-muslims.
I heard that Ayaan Hirsi Ali (an exmuslim) has replaced Hitchens as the one of the Four Horsemen of New Atheism. Maybe this is a cue that we need to concentrate more against the Religion of Peace?
To be fair, many atheist activists have spent time bashing Islam but it’s not nearly enough. While Christianity still deserves our attention since it’s the dominant faith in America, the role of Islam around the world demands our action.
As it is practiced around the world, Islam is a consummation of all the worst that religion has to offer:
* Cult-like isolation from other world views means generation after generation is born into ignorance.
* Circumcision of boys and girls because healthy children aren’t born perfect; they must have a knife taken to their genitals.
* Leaving the faith means death. Apostasy is considered one of the worst crimes.
* Treating women as sub-human pieces of property that must be beaten into obedience means at least half the population is silenced before they can speak.
* Personalized angel duo watches you at every moment, keeping a tally of all the good and bad you do so that you can be judged when you die.
* Reward of heaven is used as an incentive to kill and maim innocent people.
* Unyielding dogma leaves no room for thoughtful criticism nor humor.
* Islam means Submission. They want to be slaves to their god; it’s right there in the name.
This is not a religion of peace and we need to be more vocal about calling Muslims out when they perpetuate this lie. Moderate Muslims are softer on some of these points but still adhere to them enough to represent a very broken belief system.