Sky is the Limit for Pakistan's Women Fighter Pilots

pakistan

Sky is the limit for Pakistan’s women fighter pilots

From the Dawn Newspaper - Sunday, 07 Mar, 2010

In a country where extended family is important and most middle-class women rely on servants for household work and child-minding, Ambreen and Nadia may be saved some of the problems faced by women in the West. —AFP Photo

ISLAMABAD: Ambreen made Pakistani history by becoming one of the country’s first female fighter pilots, but on Sunday she was due to swap her flight schedule for an arranged marriage.

“It’s all set and planned, but I haven’t talked to him,” she admits, her face scrubbed clean and wearing a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) jumpsuit – a far cry from the make-up and ornate gown she’ll wear for the wedding.

The wedding between Flight Lieutenant Ambreen Gul, 25, and an engineer from Islamabad has been arranged by their families in the best Pakistani tradition.

When she wakes up on Monday – International Women’s Day – she’ll be married to a man she has only seen once before and with whom she has barely exchanged a word.

Pakistan is a conservative Muslim country, where the United Nations says only 40 per cent of adult women are literate. Women are victims of violence and abuse, and the country still lacks a law against domestic violence.

But in 2006, seven women broke into one of Pakistan’s most exclusive male clubs to graduate as fighter pilots – perhaps the most prestigious job in the military and for six decades closed to the fairer sex.

Ambreen’s company manager father was delighted. Ironically it was her housewife mother who initially feared her daughter would bring shame on the family.

“It was because of our eastern culture. She thought people would say, ‘Why are you letting your daughter go out of the home?’

She and 26-year-old Flight Lieutenant Nadia Gul say PAF is a trailblazer for women’s rights. As respected officers with a 60,000-rupee-a-month salary, they are living out their dreams.

“It’s a profession of passion. One has to be extremely motivated. I love flying. I love to fly fighter jets, to do something for my country that is very unique,” smiled Ambreen, her hair stuffed into a pony tail.

Signing up aged 18, only a handful of girls beat homesickness and stiff competition to pass a six-month selection process and graduate after three-and-a-half years of training.

“It was the toughest time we’ve ever faced,” Ambreen remembers.

During a training flight on a Chinese-made F-7, she once blacked out for a few seconds before survival reflexes kicked in.

Nadia, whose army captain husband is serving on the front line of Pakistan’s war against the Taliban in the mountains of Swat, won a prize for academic achievement at PAF’s first women fighter pilot graduation.

“It was the first time. It was history,” she remembers, a bottle-green hijab covering most of her hair and tucked into her padded pilot’s jacket.

“I was just a girl who went to college and came back home, but now I’m in a great profession,” said Nadia.

Commanding male subordinates, they bat aside any question of sexism or men who don’t take kindly to being ordered about by a woman.

They love the respect that comes with official fighter pilot status in the armed.

“Families are very fascinated. Everyone’s very impressed,” says Nadia, describing her husband as “very supportive” and “proud”.

Forbes ranked Pakistan in 2010 as the fourth most dangerous country in the world. Officers say only a tiny elite – and no women – actually fly in combat in Pakistan’s tribal belt, a battleground against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

While PAF is outwardly very proud of its women pilots, some wonder privately whether women are strong enough to reach the top of the profession.

But flying transport and cargo planes, ferrying VIPs like cabinet ministers around the country, Nadia feels women’s lot is improving and takes issue with Western perceptions of Pakistan as backward.

“PAF are giving us this chance on an equal basis. It was really a bold step that the Pakistan Air Force has taken in recruiting lady fighter pilots,” she said.

In a country where extended family is important and most middle-class women rely on servants for household work and child-minding, Ambreen and Nadia may be saved some of the problems faced by women in the West.

They believe marriage and – in the future – motherhood can complement, not replace, a career, “provided you have a supportive family.”

Saudi Commission Argues for Letting Women Study Abroad Without a Guardian

From the Chronicle of Higher Education

July 29, 2008

Saudi Commission Argues for Letting Women Study Abroad Without a Guardian

As Saudi Arabia continues to send thousands of students abroad on government scholarships, some in the government are questioning the requirement that female students be accompanied by a male guardian. Arab News reports that the country's Human Rights Commission has asked that the rule be waived if the student's family permits it.

"This would help hundreds of women who don't have male guardians available or ready to go with them to pursue higher education outside," the commission's spokesman, Zuhair Al-Harithy, told Arab News.

The commission has submitted its request to the Council of Ministers, which determines government policy.

So far, though, the Higher Education Ministry has refused. The government's decision affects thousands of women. In 2006 King Abdullah established a scholarship program for 80,000 students to study abroad. More than 13,000 were in the United States in 2007, about 20 percent of them women, according to Saudi government figures.

The requirement to bring a guardian, or mahram, applies only to women who study on government scholarships. Women who study abroad at their own expense are allowed to travel alone as long as they have the permission of their guardians to do so. —Beth McMurtrie

Yemen Women Anger Over Virtue Committee Announcements

Yemen women anger over Virtue Committee announcements

[23 July 2008]

SANA'A, July 23 (Saba) – The Yemen Women's Union YWU has voiced anger over statements by the scholars of the Virtue Committee regarding the Yemeni Women's political participation and fixing the quota in the forthcoming parliamentary elections for 15% of seats.

Chairwoman of the YWU Ramzia al-Eryani, general secretary of the Arab Women's Union said she, on behalf of the Yemeni women, handed over to the parliament speaker Yahya al-Raei a note calling for a parliament approval for legislations that deal with women's participation and other issues.

The note also included proposals linked to constitutional amendments suggested by president Ali Abdullah Saleh and that concern women.

Muslim Women (in France) Resist Stereotyping

From the Washington Post

Muslim Women Resist Stereotyping
In France, Many Try to Balance Their Faith's Traditions With Secular Society

By Elizabeth Bryant
Religion News Service
Saturday, July 26, 2008; B09

PARIS -- Like most young French women, Wafa Ben Salem goes out to movies and dinner, dates men, albeit usually with a chaperone, and is an avowed fashion maven.

But it's not hard to see how she stands out with her form-covering clothing, a headscarf tied under her chin and her pledge not to engage in pre-marital sex.

"I'm Muslim, and it's been taught to us in our religion, and I believe in this," said the 24-year-old university student from the southern French town of Cagnes-sur-Mer.

Like many young Muslim women here, she is trying to strike a balance between personal empowerment -- "I'll meet men before I get married to decide which one is right for me" -- and tradition -- "But I'll keep my virginity until marriage."

A series of highly publicized incidents involving Muslim women has reinforced popular perceptions that an intolerant, sexist brand of Islam is on the march in France, home to Europe's largest Muslim population.

Yet religion experts, and many Muslims, caution against easy stereotypes. Far from submissive, they say, Muslim women are looking for a fit between their faith and the highly secularized society around them.

Nonetheless, recent incidents have fed the perception that women are living under the thumbs of men.

Last month, a court in the northern city of Lille annulled the marriage of two Muslims after the husband alleged that his wife was not a virgin. People were outraged when Justice Minister Rachida Dati initially supported the ruling.

More recently, the Council of State, the country's highest administrative body, upheld a ruling that denied citizenship to a Moroccan woman who wears a burqa, contending that her "radical practice" of Islam was incompatible with French values. Urban Affairs Minister Fadéla Amara, a practicing Muslim, called the veil a "sign of oppression of women."

There were also widespread media reports about a surge among Muslim women seeking surgery to reattach their hymens to give suitors the illusion of virginity and a Muslim husband who refused to allow a male doctor to perform an emergency Caesarean section on his wife.

Yet the reality, some say, is different from the perception.

"The large majority of Muslims tinker," said Franck Fregosi, a sociologist who has written extensively on Islam in Europe. "The girls will try to go out with boys but hide it from their families. And most of them have a normal life. Some will have sexual relations before marriage. But they will still try to preserve appearances so their families won't know."

Young women, Fregosi said, also struggle to break free from the cultural traditions of their immigrant parents, including shunning arranged marriages.

"Their priority is to have a pious husband, not a cousin or another man chosen by the family," he said. "And that is something new."

Religious anthropologist Dounia Bouzar sees two factors at work: a "return to belief" but also a "questioning of the Western model, of the woman who knows what she wants with her body. A lot of young girls are wondering whether that really means more liberty."

Most French Muslims are hardly pious practitioners of their faith. A 2006 survey by the CSA polling agency found that although nearly nine in 10 Muslims observe the holy month of Ramadan, only 17 percent go to mosque regularly. Separately, the CSA poll found that 91 percent approved of equality between the sexes.

The dress and habits of France's Islamic community of 6 million, many of them immigrants from Turkey and North Africa, strikes a particularly sensitive chord in France.

In 2004, the French government banned students from wearing conspicuous religious symbols in schools. Although the edict included large Catholic crosses and Jewish skull caps, it was the Muslim headscarves that sparked the most controversy.

More recently, town officials in the village of La Verpilliere forced Mayor Patrick Margier to rescind his decision to allow separate swimming pool hours for women, after the matter stirred local furor. Amara, the French urban affairs minister, called the pool rules a "dangerous" reflection of pressure by religious fundamentalists.

But the mayor said he stands by his original decision.

"This wasn't about a threat to secularity," he told Le Monde newspaper. "The 50 women who participated were of all ages and nationalities, in swimsuits without any distinctive (religious) signs. We wanted to reach out to them, and I regret people aren't more tolerant."

How Iraq Became a Prison for Women

From the Vancouver Sun

Tuesday » May 13 » 2008
 
How Iraq became a prison for women
 
Daphne Bramham
Vancouver Sun

Friday, May 02, 2008

When there were no weapons of mass destruction, U.S. President George W. Bush reframed the Iraqi invasion as a means of building democracy and restoring women's rights.

But like the entire misadventure, things have gone badly wrong. From the 1960s through most of Saddam Hussein's regime, Iraqi women were among the most liberated and liberal of all Muslim women. Girls went to school, women worked, wore what they chose, drove cars, ran for office and spoke their minds.

It was the international sanctions against Iraq that destroyed the economy and drove women from the labour force.

Yet far from restoring women's rights, on the Americans' watch, Iraq has become a prison for women.

Its constitution, passed in 2006, says no law can go against Islam. It is now barely safe for women to go out without wearing not only a burka, but gloves.

An estimated 10,900 women have been killed since the 2003 U.S. invasion until the end of 2007. Many were killed because they were women. Some were targeted because they were secular professionals, liberal politicians, journalists and women's advocates.

In Full Cover Girl, Swedish director Folke Ryden profiles several Iraqi women who were interviewed periodically between 2003 and 2007.

The documentary premieres Monday at 9 p.m. on the Knowledge Network.

Through the women, Ryden poses some very troubling questions. What is the nature of democracy? Can it be something other than liberal and secular? And, what about equality rights? Are they antithetical to Islamic values? Or, can rights be circumscribed to conform?

Jenan al-Ubaedy is the full cover girl, her moon face shining white against the burka and her black gloves. Far from hiding behind the burka, Jenan is an elected member of the Iraqi parliament. Representing a conservative Islamic party, she is a steely-eyed, outspoken proponent of shariah law.

One of the most interesting scenes was shot in Jordan in the fall of 2004 when Western women described as "experts" were "training" Iraqi women to be political and community leaders. Two experts talked about how women often apologize, under-estimate their abilities and have to work twice as hard as men. Jenan was having none of that. She said Iraqi women don't believe that; Muslim women don't believe that.

As Jenan spoke, the "experts" called time, insisting that the session was over. They tried to ignore her as Jenan talked about how the Koran gives women more rights than other religions.

In a later interview about Islamic, or shariah, law, Jenan said if a thief steals, it is only right that his fingers should be chopped off. If her husband asked to take a second wife, she wouldn't oppose him: "It is unfair of me to say no."

It is okay for a man to beat his wife, if he leaves no marks. But Jenan says, "We are training our daughters to be cleverly with their husbands." They are training them to "absorb" their husband's wrath to forestall the blows.

Three years later in 2007, burka-clad Jenan is filmed against the backdrop of the White House, where she and other leading Iraqi women had been invited by Bush, who praised them for what they were doing for their country.

Bush talked about his hope that Iraqi women would be equal, free, prosperous and educated "not in the same way as in the United States of America, but in a way suitable for the Iraqi culture."

Small wonder the Iraqi emancipation has been such a failure. Small wonder Charlotte Ponticelli, head of America's Iraqi Women's Democracy Initiative, was so reluctant to comment on camera about women's rights in Iraq and kept insisting, "Iraqi women would never accept a rollback of rights."

Only two years after the invasion, Baghdad was divided into hostile camps. Militias stopped women and punished them for not being veiled. Western experts fled and soon after, so did Abir Absilani.

She had moved back to Baghdad from Sweden soon after Saddam Hussein was deposed. Hoping for peace, Abir and her father hoped to establish a secular party and help write a new, secular constitution. She eschewed guns and declared "Our passion is our protection."

Their party won one seat in the first set of elections, but it was the father, not the daughter, who took the seat. By 2006 as Jenan was rising in prominence, Abir fled back to Sweden. Her cousin had been kidnapped. He returned bearing a death threat against her.

But Abir loves her country and returned in 2007, dressed more conservatively but still unveiled. Abir is shown tucking a handgun into the waistband of her pants. She pats the gun, calls it "my best friend," then looks at the camera, conscious of the irony.

Using the American government's own yardstick, Rydsn's documentary measures its failure in Iraq. Far from being a polemic, it is understated and left me wishing that someone would do similar reporting on the women in Afghanistan -- preferably before the next federal election.

dbramham@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Sun 2008

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Muslim Women Redefine Feminism

From The Connection (in Sacramento, CA) - May 1, 2008

Muslim women redefine feminism

Hanan Salem

Issue date: 5/1/08 Section: Opinion

They speak in a heavily accented version of English, suffocating beneath tent-like cloaks. Voiceless and enslaved, these Muslim women wrap themselves up in head scarves in public.

While the rest of American women take the slightest sunray as a signal for baring flesh and flaunting assets, these fully covered women stand out as more than unfashionable but as victims of oppression.

Such are the tragic misconceptions of American Muslim women-barbaric, veiled housewives victimized by an Islamic lifestyle.

To about 10 million Muslim women, that lifestyle includes the female head covering, an Islamic dress code called Hijab and a symbol of modesty and freedom.

No, not of oppression but of true liberation. But how can restrictive dress be anything but suppressive?

According to the North American Council for Muslim Women, Hijab liberates females from the shackles of male scrutiny and sexual objectification. Muslim women who adhere to the Islamic dress code, as ordained by God in their holy book the Quran, are judged based on their minds and not on their physical appearance.

In a society where most women cannot walk in the presence of a man without being visually undressed and checked out like potential sex partners, the Hijab serves as a shield from such dehumanization.

Through loose coverage and modesty, Muslim women reassert their humanity, their worth as more than just another plunging neckline.
Islam says that every woman is a jewel and when she respects herself enough to preserve her beauty for herself and her loved ones, she rejects being objectified by a society that does not value her.

As a Muslim women and one who non-verbally proclaims it from a half mile away, I have been a target of pitiful double-takes, harassment, the "aren't you hot under the there" remarks that stem from those who assume a headscarf is drilled like a screw permanently into my skull.

Not only are these pathetic misconceptions, they are based on biased media. How dare they portray Islamic modesty as oppressive when, in our culture, 1 out of every 6 American women are rape victims?

If not rape, 1 out 3 American women have been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused during her lifetime, according to the U.S Department of Justice.

Consider our American lifestyle, women subjecting themselves to plastic surgery, drugs, and diet under societal pressures. Even at the age of 15, girls are sticking their fingers down their throats and retching three times day out of desperation to fit Kate Moss' jeans.

And they claim Muslim women are the oppressed ones? Just because we don't look like what Cosmo or Calvin Klein think we should?

By all means, we choose the Islamic way of liberation, one that doesn't sacrifice health and self esteem. Not mute or meek, a Muslim women is valued for her intellect and personality rather than curves or cleavage.

It's because Islam has raised their status that Muslim women are liberated at a whole new level, one high above any traffic-stopping Hooters billboard.

Emirati Women Emerging as a Strong Economic Force

From The National of the UAE

Emirati women an economic force

Rania Abouzeid

May 13. 2008 10:57PM UAE

Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, the Minister of Foreign Trade, wants to
correct misconceptions about the opportunities open to Emirati women. Jaime Puebla / The National

ABU DHABI // Emirati women are emerging as a strong economic force and their contributions to the country’s non-hydrocarbon GDP, while recognised at home, are still considered novel overseas, Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, the Minister for Foreign Trade said yesterday.

There is a global misconception about Emirati women that should be redressed, Sheikha Lubna said. As part of her efforts to do so, the Minister has lent her support to a research project that will document the contributions of Emirati women to the fields of business, the humanities, the arts and sport.

The initiative, entitled Empower: The Emergence of UAE Women as an Economic Force, has been undertaken by the Dubai-based firm Marketing Pivot with contributions from female university students. The results are to be published early next year in a book which will be distributed to key decision-makers including foreign dignitaries, cabinet ministers and business leaders. It will also be offered to universities and libraries around the world.

“When I travel I want to make sure that people know that I’m not the odd example, that there are many like me,” Sheikha Lubna said. “I’m a walking example of defying stereotyping, not only of the UAE but also of [the] Arab and Muslim world. These books will be a reference.”

According to the World Bank’s latest figures, females comprised 13 per cent of the labour force in 2004. The figure was five per cent in 1980. Mariam Mohammed Khalfan al Roumi, the minister of social affairs, told the UN General Assembly in March that number had risen to 22.4 per cent.

“It’s not that women weren’t there,” Sheikha Lubna said. “My grandmother was an entrepreneur, a businesswoman. The culture itself has always been open for women, what is different is really the confidence of the women themselves. Sometimes women are self-deprecating.”

The key force driving the changing attitude of Emirati women was education, Sheikha Lubna said, adding that females now account for 70 per cent of university students nationwide.

Women were more of an economic force in the country not just because of how much money they have and the spending power that entailed, but also because of how they made that money in the first place.

“You see a lot of women who have wealth, like an inheritance, but that’s not really what we’re talking about. We’re talking about women as a natural force, evolving, developing, handling their money themselves, independently,” Sheikha Lubna said. “We see a lot start-up companies created by young women, organisations run by women.”

According to Forsa, a Dubai-based investment company run by women that exclusively deals with female clients, Arab women are becoming increasingly savvy about how they invest their money.

The firm, which launched last year, would not reveal how many clients it has on its books.

The minimum investment is one million dirhams, part of the firm’s bid to build a Dh1bn investment fund. The majority of Forsa’s clients are “high-end investors,” said an executive who requested anonymity.

In addition to female entrepreneurs, women were also making other inroads in the workforce.

There are more women than men employed in government organisations and ministries, according to the Dubai Women Establishment.

In 2004, there were 4,470 women to 4,271 Emirati men working in state organisations.

The Dubai Women Establishment declined to provide more recent figures, which will be included in its forthcoming report. But Maitha Buhumaid, the group’s communication’s director, said the numbers would indicate that women had made further advances.

“The numbers of women in business are shooting up, and our current research shows that we’re going to see more women leaders in different sectors,” said Ms Buhumaid.

“There are more opportunities offered for women, and women are more aware and better equipped through education and experience.”

The main obstacle to the further participation of Emirati women in the workforce was the age-old balancing act between work and family, Sheikha Lubna said.

“Balancing home and work is a critical matter to all women, regardless of where they come from,” she said. “The difference in a society like ours is that you actually have an assisting environment, whether there’s a nanny, a maid, extended family. That helps.

“But there are no sectors here that are restricted and men-only.”

Women in Lucknow Defy Tradition by Praying at Mosque

From NDTV.com

Muslim women seek equality in mosques

by Anant Zanane

Saturday, May 10, 2008 (Lucknow)

In a rare sight on Saturday, some Sunni women gathered in a Lucknow mosque and prayed together with men.

These women normally offer namaz at their homes, but they're trying to make a statement. The All India Muslim women personal law board wants mosques across India to open their doors to regular visits by women.

''We are only practicing what Islam has been has been saying, we are not doing anything that goes against the principles laid down in the Shariat,'' said Shaista Ambar, President, All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board.

But the clerics aren't happy and have labeled this as defiance.

''If a woman is in the market during the time of namaz she has the right to go to a mosque, there is a separate section over there for women and she can offer her prayers there. But this cannot be allowed to become a regular practice,'' said Khalid Rashid, a Sunni cleric.

But the women are convinced that there's no looking back. Mehrunissa said, ''We don't care about those who issue these fatwas.''

A few days ago, the board had issued a model nikahnama for Sunnis and upset clerics for doing away with triple talakh.

Now with a move to pray at mosques, it's their way of doing away with gender inequality.

Underground Sport: Saudi Women Shed Veils to Play Basketball

Members
and fans of the all-women Jeddah United basketball team gather in front
of a basketball court at the First Women's Welfare Society in Jiddah,
Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, April 30, 2008. Such is the start of women's
sports in Saudi Arabia, a Muslim country so conservative that the
fledgling women's sports leagues and teams that have begun to appear
here in recent years remain almost entirely underground, far from
public scrutiny or religious clerics' eyes. (AP Photo/Donna Abu-Nasr)

From the Associated Press - May 9, 2008

Underground sport: Saudi women shed veils to play basketball

By DONNA ABU-NASR

JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — The players bounded into the gym, shedding their long black cloaks and veils to take to the basketball court. Up this night: Jeddah United against the Jaguars, as 30 women spectators hooted and hollered from the stands.

Such is the start of women's sports in Saudi Arabia — a Muslim country so conservative that the fledgling women's sports teams that have begun to appear in recent years remain almost entirely underground, far from public scrutiny or religious clerics' eyes.

"One day we're going to look back on such events and hopefully say, 'Wow, we've gone a long way,'" said Lina al-Maeena, the founder and team captain of Jeddah United.

"Future generations won't have to start from zero."

It is a far cry from Title IX, the landmark 1972 U.S. anti-discrimination law that spearheaded women's equal treatment in sports at a time when the women's rights movement was gathering steam across the West.

In Saudi Arabia, women cannot drive or vote and have few legal rights. The restrictions stem from the strict version of Islam the kingdom follows. Many conservative adherents believe that women's emancipation will lead to decadence and a dissipation of Islamic values.

For these religious conservatives, keeping the sexes segregated and maintaining male guardianship over women is not enough. They want to ban anything they believe might encourage women to abandon conservative Muslim values.

Because of the influence conservative clerics have on government and society, sports and physical education classes are banned in state-run girls' schools. Women's games and marathons are canceled when the powerful clergy get wind of them, and female athletes are not allowed to participate in the Olympics.

Despite such obstacles, Saudi women have quietly been forming soccer, basketball, volleyball and other teams throughout the kingdom in the past few years. Some operate under schools and universities, others are under the umbrella of charities. A few, like Jeddah United and the Jaguars, are independent.

The teams have none of the privileges that men's leagues — which have existed for decades — enjoy.

They're not part of the General Presidency for Youth Welfare, the federation that oversees sports. They find it hard to get corporate sponsorship. They don't have proper facilities where they can train, or even certified referees. And they are not allowed to participate in international competitions.

And while men's games are broadcast on TV and take place in huge stadiums, women rarely advertise their games — or even talk openly about them — for fear the clergy will stop them. That makes it difficult for them to reach spectators from outside their immediate circle of friends and family. And teams in one city often do not know that teams in another exist.

In March, Sheik Abdul-Aziz Al-Sheik, the kingdom's mufti, or senior cleric, told Okaz newspaper he had ordered a university in the capital, Riyadh, to cancel a women's marathon. Last year, clerics barred a women's soccer game in the Eastern Province.

Abdul-Kareem al-Khodair, a professor at Imam University, wrote on al-Muslim Web site that introducing physical education classes for girls at government schools would be tantamount to "following in the devil's footsteps" — an argument conservative clerics make to highlight the corrupting influence of women's sports.

That attitude is one reason why the rate of obesity among Saudi women is higher than among men, health care officials say. About 52 percent of Saudi men and 66 percent of women are either obese or overweight, according to Saudi press reports.

The women playing basketball on a recent night last week were conscious of the controversies.

Al-Maeena, 29, stressed that her efforts to promote sports are aimed at combating such "social ills" as obesity, osteoporosis and depression, and providing healthy alternatives for women, who spend their time shopping and smoking waterpipes. She and the others emphasized they do not seek broader liberties, such as an end to segregation of the sexes or the wearing of veils and abayas, the black cloaks all women must wear in public.

"We look at it as part of our national duty. It's not just for getting into the Olympics or competing in international games," al-Maeena said before the game started.

Did she worry the game would be canceled?

"The key is to have publicity later," she said. "It's also a matter of luck, but you're more likely to get lucky in Jiddah compared to other places" because the seaport city is the kingdom's most liberal.

One of the toughest things for the women's teams is finding coaches, said Lina Abouznada, board member in charge of the sports center at the First Women's Welfare Society, which fields its own team.

The society, which cares for 36 female orphans, was the venue for last week's game. The players bounced into the center around dusk, dressed in loose-fitting, knee-length shorts and jerseys underneath their flowing abayas.

No men were allowed in. The players had trained in courts they rent at gyms, or in those attached to private homes.

Before playing, the women shed their cloaks — permitted under the country's laws because no men were around.

Jamila Antone, the Jaguars' American coach, compared the game to amateur league play in the United States — even though the two Saudi teams are among Jiddah's top four.

"If the girls had facilities like boys do for all sports, they would do better than the boys," she said.

Norah Ashrur, a 22-year-old special education teacher, watched as her team, dressed in Jeddah United's colors of raspberry, white and gray, played.

"It bothers me that nobody cares," said Ashrur, who lived in Fort Collins, Colo., from the age of 7 to 12. "In the U.S. everybody would be there."

But because of segregation rules, not even her father could come to the game.

In the end, the Jaguars — whose colors are blue, yellow and gray — won.

Abouznada insisted the situation of Saudi female athletes will change for the better. "Doing things step by step is better than doing it in one step," she said.

"But we need to speed it up," al-Maeena interjected.
On the Net:

* http://www.jeddahunited.com

Op-Ed: Acquiring Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia: Between Gradualism and Haste

From Al-Hayat - May 9, 2008

Acquiring Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia: Between Gradualism and Haste

Raghida Dergham Al-Hayat - 09/05/08/

Riyadh -- During the relatively historic National Experts Meeting on Domestic Violence held at the Marriott Hotel in Riyadh, a glass shield was installed to separate the male and female sides of the audience.

The meeting was historic because it was the first of its type to openly address domestic violence, including sexual violence against women, and because the program to eliminate domestic violence was established by royal decree. Were it not for political will, such a program would have never seen the light, and neither males nor females would have met under the same roof with nothing separating between them but a low wall of glass, an accomplishment by all means in the long and difficult path to openness and breaking the walls of gender segregation! Desegregation in hospitals between male and female doctors is permissible, as female autopsy teachers and students from the opposite sex revealed. But those female doctors and professors participating in such a progressive convention have almost rejoiced at the glass shield, as they compare it to the separate closed rooms where members of the two sexes could only convene through low-quality video screens during regular seminars.

Ultimately, the status of women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia remains different in contrast to the status of women in the rest of the world, including Arab women in several Arab countries. However, the developments in the Kingdom are stimulating evident curiosity among Western media, which constantly perceives the Saudi woman's path as a barometer indicating whether change will be short-lived or will be institutionalized, as women and human rights organizations wish.

Coincidentally and in parallel with the two-day meeting on domestic violence, the "Scientific Seminar on the History of King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz" convened at the Intercontinental Hotel along with an exhibition on the late King organized by Al-Faisal family and descendants of both sexes. The memorial photograph included only sons and grandsons though the seminar and the documents clearly indicated that King Faisal and Queen Effat have raised in tandem the banner of educating girls and establishing the model school for mixed education.

Today, Princess Loulwa bint Faisal chairs the Dar al-Hanan School and the Effat College board of trustees. She co-chairs with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey of Clifton, the World Economic Forum's C-100. The chairpersonship was assigned to Princess Loulwa who was nominated by her brother Prince Turki al-Faisal, in a move approved by King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz and perceived as a symbolic precedent with significant implications.

Princess Effat's upraising in Ataturk's Turkey where she was born before returning to the Kingdom at the age of 16 (she is of Saudi origin from Al-Thunayyan family) may have had an impact on King Faisal's perceptions of the education of girls and desegregation in secondary schools even though Islamic education enjoyed a much higher position among the King's priorities. The relationship between the two was based on respect and openness and was translated into the desire to entrench these two values in society.

Several factors obstructed this desire. These factors were the subject of debate, as the participants in the meeting discussed the background, causes, and elements behind the declining respect for women's fundamental rights and the hindered openness to religious regulations and legislations that offer women basic protection against the violations of men who have used religious traditions to achieve selfish goals.

A part of the women who belong to the openness-to-education generation under King Faisal and who later became degree-holding professionals is angry. These women are angry at the "step-by-step" gradual approach to acquiring self-evident rights of women. They are also angry at the "delight" of their comrades with the separating glass shield. Another part insists that the Saudi environment can only tolerate a gradual approach to attaining women's rights patiently and diligently, away from the media, and yes…celebrating the glass shield because, as one participant put it, "at least we now breathe the same air."

One of the women upset with the slow gradual approach says, "So many decisions and initiatives have been made, only to die in the crib because of the absence of administrative institutions. Institutionalism does not exist. Everyone behaves according to his cultural, tribal or regional nature and background." She adds that what practically happens is "one step forward and ten backward." Hence, "gradual change is not successful; we need a set of laws and a system to protect us."

According to this opinion, "no progress in science, education and health can be achieved without desegregation. Isolation is tantamount to backwardness and will persist even if the segregating wall is made of glass." This view admits that "something new is happening and there is change, namely the state's policy to improve the status of women." Those who embrace this view, however, speak of the control exercised by the clergy over the decisions issued or to be issued by the state. They refer in particular to the tradition of guardianship.

Dr. Asia Al-Ruwaf, who has been standing next to men inside the surgery room for 27 years and established a ward for pediatric surgery, blames the religious tide which started in 1979 with the Khomeini revolution in Iran and left direct marks on the progress of women everywhere. She says, "The problem lies in customs not in religion or law." She points out to "the divide in the religious voice between the hardliners and the moderates who are closer to the reformist movement." She sums up the situation as follows: "The politicians side with women, the clergy are divided, and the public still side with the hard-line religious current."

According to news from Riyadh reported in Al-Hayat this week, dwellers of Saudi mosques will notice new expressions such as "human rights" uttered by preachers during Friday prayers, "as the Ministry of Islamic Affairs vowed to mobilize its imams and preachers to spread awareness about human rights as part of a new partnership with the official rights entity." The task will cover this time the rights of children, girls, wives and servants.

According to the international definition of human rights, the concept of guardianship, like gender segregation, opposes the fundamental human rights. The Saudi woman is subjected to these practices because traditions - not religion or laws - require that she demand permission from her father, brother, husband, or son, even when she is in need of urgent healthcare, not just in matters of travel, education, work, and marriage. In confronting domestic violence, a woman has to practically seek her husband's permission to file a complaint against him.

None of this is the result of enacted laws but rather, the result of the lack of legislation that bars these violations and practices. This is exactly what the Saudi woman is gradually breaking down to eliminate the discrimination against her and to develop herself into a member of society that deserves respect and protective laws prohibiting such humiliating practices. Hence, women themselves are not divided over the need for change.

Yet, they disagree over the pace of change. In the eyes of some women, the participation of businesswomen in the official delegation that accompanies King Abdullah on official visits represents an unprecedented move that highlights the significant official support for women and proves King Abdullah's determination to support women in the path of change.

The advocates of gradual change believe that hasty change could be counterproductive, whereas gradual change offers more guarantees for women's rights. They speak of the importance of raising awareness among men and women alike. They say that there is no need to clash with the opposition, since the path is paved for change. As such, there is no need to rush things and end with a confrontation.

One woman underlines the importance of focusing on women's needs to have these needs met calmly and given the necessary care instead of being turned into a matter of rhetoric. The Breast Cancer Association, for example, established by Dr. Suad bin Amer and now headed by Princess Haifa al-Faisal, is a leading association in the region specialized in raising awareness, assisting female patients and setting up testing centers for women.

Led by its Secretary General Princess Moudi bint Khalid bin Abdul Aziz, Al-Nahda Association currently deals with girl unemployment and women empowerment as a means to help women retrieve the economic value they once enjoyed before the oil boom.

In turn, the executive officer of the National Family Safety Program (NFSP), Dr. Maha bint Abdullah al-Munif, concluded the National Experts Meeting on Domestic Violence by reading 22 recommendations reached by the male and female participants, including judges, police officers, lawyers, and psychiatrists. The first recommendation was the recognition of domestic violence cases in the Kingdom in such a magnitude that draws concern and demands immediate intervention to confront and prevent such practices.

Recognizing and speaking openly about these phenomena is in itself a matter of change. However, the recommendations demand actions and not mere recognition and admission. Efforts must be exerted to incriminate all kinds of domestic violence harmful to the victim or her family, and to impose reinforcing and deterring penalties against the perpetrator.

There is talk about compulsory reporting of assaults, protection to informants, and punishment of perpetrators. There is talk about the need to set up administrations that prevent and counter domestic violence, administrations that would promote cooperation within all concerned ministries and official institutions thanks to efficient mechanisms. Next year's plan of action will also focus on training and rehabilitating professionals engaged in domestic violence cases and on obliging workers in security entities to receive complaints. There are also recommendations to publish a Sharia'a-compliant log of personal status in the Kingdom to limit domestic violence. The recommendations also demand the activation of family courts to rule on cases of domestic violence.

This is not the first time that the issue of violence against women, children and the elderly is discussed in the Arab region. However, this is the first time that men and women speak out in Saudi Arabia about these matters. Princess Adila, King Abdullah's daughter who sponsors the program says, "We are benefiting from the Arab and western experiences because they have achieved far more progress than us." She specifically refers to Jordan, Yemen and Tunisia, where Arab expertise are of help. She adds that several steps are being taken in different areas, from public affairs to economics, to test the Saudi woman's qualification and responsibility as a new partner in national development. Half the population, about 49%, is female. Half the population, she adds, is under 15 years of age, and society cannot move forward by relying on one half.

Be it slow or fast, this process is part of the change underway in the Kingdom. Women are now part of change as a result of a serious political decision, a fact that must be acknowledged and encouraged. Incorporating the talk about human rights into religious preaching is commendable. However, the slow pace remains an enemy threatening the path of change, as it leaves it vulnerable to the forces that resisted and continues to resist this kind of change.

The best deterrent that offers protection for gradual change lies in the quick enactment of laws. It is also the best deterrent against those who mistakenly think that traditions offer them permanent immunity and impunity. Let the removal of the glass shield be gradual one step at a time, but let it be accompanied by a quicker enactment of laws and lying of institutional foundations.

Urgent Action Appeal - Arrest of Iranian Women's Rights Activist

URGENT ACTION APPEAL

- From Amnesty International USA

To read the current Urgent Action newsletter, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
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For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa09308.pdf

10 April 2008

UA 93/08   Arbitrary arrest/ Prisoner of conscience

IRAN        Khadijeh Moghaddam (f), women's rights defender

Women's rights defender Khadijeh Moghaddam was arrested by
security officials on 8 April at her home in Tehran. She has
been accused of "spreading of propaganda against the state;
disruption of public opinion; and actions against national
security" and is held in Vozara detention center in Tehran.
Amnesty International believes she is a prisoner of
conscience, held solely on account of her peaceful
activities in support of equal rights for women in Iran.

Khadijeh Moghaddam is an active member of the Campaign for
Equality, which aims to collect one million signatures of
Iranians for a petition demanding an end to legal
discrimination against women in Iran. She was arrested at
her home at 11am when security officials forced their way
into her house. She was shown the warrant for her arrest
only after a lengthy argument. Khadijeh Moghaddam was taken
to a base belonging to Iran's Revolutionary Guards known as
Eshrat Abad, Tehran (also known as Prison 59), where she was
interrogated for several hours about her involvement with
the Campaign for Equality, before being brought before an
investigative judge of the Tehran Revolutionary Court. The
judge also interrogated her, charged her and set her bail at
an amount approximately equivalent to US$ 112,000.

Khadijeh Moghaddam's family and friends spoke with her while
she waited to be transferred to the Vozara detention center.
She told them that she was arrested for hosting meetings of
the Campaign for Equality in her home and that the
investigative judge had asked her to identify seven or eight
members of the Campaign who had participated in these
gatherings. Later Khadijeh Moghaddam told the judge that she
was unable to pay the bail. According to a statement issued
by Campaign for Equality activists, the judge said that
Khadijeh Moghaddam would be imprisoned for a week before
being brought back before the Court for questioning, when
she would have another opportunity to provide the names of
the Campaign members and the bail amount. When she was asked
to make a statement in her defense, Khadijeh Moghaddam
stated: "...my way of life is my defense."

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Dozens of activists and supporters have been arrested in
connection with their activities for the Campaign for
Equality, some while collecting signatures for the petition
aiming to end legal discrimination against women in Iran. As
of January 2008, the Campaign's website had been blocked by
the authorities at least seven times (see:
http://www.change4equality.com). Official permission to hold
public meetings has frequently been denied, and Campaign
activists usually hold their workshops in the homes of
sympathizers, some of whom have then received threatening
phone calls apparently from security officials or been
summoned by them for interrogation. At least one such
workshop was forcibly broken up by police, who arrested
those present, beating some.

Two women, Ronak Safarzadeh and Hana Abdi, remain detained
in the city of Sanandaj, Kordestan province (see UA 297/07,
MDE 13/130/2007, 7 November 2007) because of their
affiliation to the Campaign for Equality.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as
possible:
- expressing concern at the arrest of Khadijeh Moghaddam in
connection with her peaceful activities in support of equal
rights for women in Iran;
- urging the authorities to release her immediately and
unconditionally since she is a prisoner of conscience;
- asking the authorities to ensure that while in detention
she is granted immediate and regular access to her family
and lawyer of her choice and that she is protected from any
form of torture or ill-treatment.

APPEALS TO:
Head of the Judiciary
His Excellency Ayatollah
Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh
Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri
Tehran 1316814737,
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Email:        info@dadgostary-tehran.ir
(In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation: Your Excellency

Minister of Intelligence
Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie
Ministry of Intelligence
Second Negarestan Street, Pasdaran Avenue
Tehran, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Salutation: Your Excellency

Leader of the Islamic Republic
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street - Shahid Keshvar Doust Street
Tehran, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Email:          info@leader.ir
Salutation:   Your Excellency

COPIES TO:
President
His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Fax:             011 98 21 6 649 5880
Email:          via website: http://www.president.ir/email/

Director, Human Rights Headquarters of Iran
His Excellency Mohammad Javad Larijani
C/o Office of the Deputy for International Affairs
Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Justice Building
Panzdah-Khordad (Ark) Square
Tehran, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
Fax:             011 98 21 5 537 8827
(please keep trying)

Iran does not presently have an embassy in this country.
Instead, please send copies to:
Iranian Interests Section
Embassy of Pakistan
2209 Wisconsin Ave NW
Washington DC 20007
Phone:          202 965 4990
Fax:              202 965 1073
Email:           requests@daftar.org

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 22
May 2008.

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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement
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This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including
contact information and stop action date (if applicable).
Thank you for your help with this appeal.

Urgent Action Network
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Email: uan@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566

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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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Middle Eastern Female Filmakers Give Glimpse of Once-Veiled Worlds

From AlterNet.org - March 10, 2008

Middle Eastern Female Filmakers Give Glimpse of Once-Veiled Worlds

Not willing to let men or Westerners speak for them, Middle Eastern female filmmakers get behind the camera.

Full article...