Tolerance versus Blind Acceptance of Discriminatory Customs

I liked this statement that I read today on the UN website entitled “Étude sur la liberté de religion ou de conviction et la condition de la femme au regard de la religion et des traditions”

"Not all traditions are equally valid, and those which run counter to human rights must be combated. It is essential to distinguish between tolerance, which is necessary, and blind acceptance of customs which may involve degrading treatment or blatant violations of human rights. In order to ensure that freedom of religion does not undermine women's rights, it is vital that the right to difference which that freedom implies should not be interpreted as a right to indifference to the status of women. As Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Where, after all, do human rights begin? In small places, close to home”."
http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/religion/III1.htm

What is wrong with the men here?

Last night, as I was leaving my Arabic lesson, a young boy (maybe 14 max?) walked past me on dark and reasonably lonely pavement. As he approached me, he leant in and whispered something into my ear. He also grabbed my arm for a split second. I didn't understand what he whispered, but it was threatening and intimidating and certainly wasn't meant to be a pleasant experience for me.
I walked home and fumed (and occasionally cried) for the next 40 minutes. Why would such a young boy feel entitled to intimate and harass me in this way? What on earth is his view of women (and, of course, Western women in particular)?
I was wearing many layers of clothing that covered my arms and legs. I had on a pair of trainers and a coat that was buttoned to my neck (I was kind of hot, actually!). So I was not "on display" in any way... (just in case anyone thinks I might be to blame...)
As this blog makes clear, I am deeply saddened by the way women are treated in this society. As a liberated, strong, free woman, I feel that I am being pressurised every day to be meek and to cover myself and to stare at the floor. Ideally, it seems, I wouldn't leave the house.
One person has told me that I am a guest in this society and should leave if I don't like the customs. But this isn't "custom." This is a social outlook that encourages even young boys to threaten and subdue the women that pass them on the street.
I do not believe that society in the US or the UK is perfect. And I am not 'bashing' every aspect of the Muslim world or claiming that there is true equality between the sexes in any other country. But I am angry and dismayed and horrified at the deep-seated and very public sexism in this society. Even if the Quran does call for a 'barrier' between the sexes, this barrier should also be respected by men. The men, as much as the women, should lower their gaze and not intrude into a woman's personal space. They should keep their sexuality in check in public spaces. Here, men's actions towards women are tinged with violence and are intended to continually underline male supremacy. I feel strangled and it is a fight for me every day to not become subdued and a little defeated.
I do not care what women wear. I do not care if the sexes never look each other in the eye. But I do care that women are continually threatened in the street, are completely absent from political positions (Egypt was ranked 130 out of 134 countries in the "Women in Parliament" rankings, 2005: http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/arc/classif300906.htm), and that educational opportunities and even health care are nowhere near as readily available to women as to men (see World Economic Forum rankings on women's equality in Egypt at http://www.weforum.org/pdf/Global_Competitiveness_Reports/Reports/gender_gap.pdf. Women's empowerment is ranked from 7 (highest) to 1 (lowest) and Egypt comes near the bottom at 2.38 out of 7).
I do not want one societal model that is implemented around the world. I value the differences that exist from culture to culture, including the degree to which religion is integrated into political and legal life. I accept the principle of modest dress and behaviour, as long as it is demanded of men as much as women. But sexual inequality and a culture of aggression towards and repression of women should be eliminated in every society. I feel in Egyptian society that there is a long way to go.
I am angered when I am living in the UK and US because I am very aware of the gender discrimination and 'glass ceilings' that still exist. As a woman, I face extra hurdles when I contemplate how to balance a career and children. I have to continually assess whether, if I choose to wear makeup or shave my legs, I am bowing to masculine desires and demands. I have to consider why I always feel the need to lose another few pounds in weight. But my anguish in those societies can't match the anger that I feel living in this society where I am physically and mentally assaulted by men every single day.

Friend asks me why I'm angry about Saudi Rape

A friend wrote to me in response to my posting about the Saudi rape case and asked: "what exactly makes you angry about this? :)" He went on: "I can see why there is plenty in this case to make one angry, the mere fact that a 19 year old was savagely gang-raped 14 times is more than enough, but I still don't think that absolves the victim for her "crime." And what she did is a crime as defined by the Laws of the country in which she lives. Whether it is an appropriate or just law, and whether it accurately reflects the requirements of Islam are wholly irrelevant to the matter at hand. The fact is, she was committing a crime when she got into the stranger's car and (absent any absolving factors) she should be punished for it, irrespective of what happens afterwards. "

I have written a lengthy response to this comment (and it could probably have gone on for many, many more pages). My anger arises for a number of different reasons (as I explain). But one of the most disturbing things for me regarding this comment was the view of law as a mechanical tool that should be applied no matter what has happened to the criminal/ victim (ie the 19-year-old woman). Even if, for some reason I cannot understand, you believe that the woman should be punished for "illegal mingling", the fact that she was gang-raped and has to carry the scars of that attack around with her for the rest of the life should surely be punishment enough???

For more information about this case, see http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/11/16/saudia17363.htm
It turns out that both the woman and her male friend (the man who she was "illegally mingling" with) were gang raped by a group of strange men:
"The young woman, who is married, said she had met with a male acquaintance who had promised to give her back an old photograph of herself. After she met her acquaintance in his car in Qatif, a gang of seven men then attacked and raped both of them, multiple times. Despite the prosecution’s requests for the maximum penalty for the rapists, the Qatif court sentenced four of them to between one and five years in prison and between 80 and 1,000 lashes. They were convicted of kidnapping, apparently because prosecutors could not prove rape. The judges reportedly ignored evidence from a mobile phone video in which the attackers recorded the assault. "

I would be curious to hear people's response to the idea that, if a law is on the books, it should be applied regardless of the pain that might have consequently been inflicted on the individual who violated the law. I have put some examples in my comment on the original saudi rape posting (following Sage's comment). Any more comments/ rebuttals would be appreciated.

Cambodian Image - Khmer Rouge and Genocide Tribunal

One of the most striking images from today's BBC "world in pictures".

"Cambodian boy Bum Leap, 15, sits by a shrine in Phnom Penh filled with remains of Khmer Rouge victims as a UN-backed tribunal rounds up senior members of the former regime."

This photo links with the news that Khieu Samphan, the Khmer Rouge's former head of state, was arrested and taken him to a UN-backed genocide tribunal.

I have friends working at this tribunal and I hope that it will be able to provide the people of Cambodia with the justice and resolution that they desire and deserve. Transitional justice is such a tricky issue....

Eritrean Pentecostalism - Refugees in Cairo

I am currently researching Eritrean Pentecostalism.
The persecution of religious minorities in Eritrea is terrible. Here is one description from a (rather dated but still accurate) man who posted a comment on the BBC:

"I was doing my national service in Sawa Military training during the period 1999- 2001. During the two years period of my stay in Sawa, I witnessed an enormous amount of beating and torture to individuals who happened to be followers of Jehovah's Witness and Pentecostal (commonly known as "Pente") religions. I was, on many occasions, a prison guard to these people. The Jehovas are detained for refusing, according to their faith, to take the military training. But the "Pentes" are usually simply detained for reading bibles, praying in a group, singing gospels etc during the free time, even though they are good soldiers. Once they are detained their head is shaven, like the other criminals in the prison. 20-30 of them are detained in a 3x4 metal-house. They were allowed to go out only for 30 minutes in whole day. The perfect relaxation time for the detainees were when they were taken to load and unloads cement, food etc from trucks. They all prefer this work than to be locked in the container even though it is physically exhausting for them. But the worst time for all of them was during 'questioning' time. They were badly beaten to the extent that noses are broken, feet bleed. After the beating comes the notorious 'helicopter' torture in which your two legs are tied with your hands on your back. You are thrown in the sun and milk is poured on your body to attract the flies. It was the most inhuman treatment I have ever witnessed."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3663654.stm

(The image on the RHS is from a website that deals with Eritrean conscientious objectors in general - Pentecostalists do not necessarily resist military service (unlike, for example, Jehovah's Witnesses). http://www.wri-irg.org/news/2005/eritrea-en.htm)

Saudi Gang-Raped Woman is Sentenced to Lashings and Prison

This story made me so angry: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7096814.stm
It describes a situation in Saudi Arabia where a 19-year-old woman who was gang-raped fourteen times has, herself, been sentenced to 200 lashes and 6 months in prison. She was given these lashes because she had violated Islamic rules about separation of the sexes and had been in the car of a strange man. Her punishment was increased after she appealed the initial ruling in the case. The judges said that she has been attempting to manipulate the media.
Also, her lawyer has had his license suspended and faces disciplinary proceedings.

Prayers

When I am in my evening Arabic class, we generally stop to listen to the prayers from the mosque next door. This evening, my teacher sang the prayers to me - it was mesmerisingly beautiful. The rhythm and flow of the prayers were deeply spiritual. I only wish that all the muezzins have a voice as good as my teacher's!

This painting is from the Egyptian Museum of Modern Art in Cairo. I visited this gallery last weekend and this image was one of my favourites.

Arabic Calligraphy

I went to a beautiful exhibition in the Cairo Opera House that featured Arabic calligraphy. Here are a couple of my favourite images - if you look close enough you can see me in the reflection of the right-hand picture!

Paper Streamers and Sunshine

I'm not sure why there are so many streamers and paper chains hanging across the streets here in Cairo - maybe they are left over from the recent Eid festivities. Or maybe they are year-round decorations...

Regardless, I loved the way these silver pieces of paper were catching the light this afternoon on my walk through Zamalek. It's still lovely and warm here. Cairo natives tell me that it's unseasonably hot, but I'm enjoying the sunshine (when I can see it through the smog ;-)).

Burmese Embassy - down with the junta.

When I was walking past the Burmese Embassy on the way home the other night, I notice this posting on the outside wall. The junta's oppression of the Burmese people is horrific. I wrote a report on the conditions inside Burma last year and talked with over 20 Burmese democracy activists who lived in Thailand, the US and the UK. I deeply admired their own self-sacrifice and that of their friends who remained inside Burma. This notice declares that the monks who recently demonstrated against the junta had "perverted" and sullied their religion by mixing it with politics. It makes me so angry to read this notice and know that hundreds of Burmese activists are rotting away in jail simply because they want freedom of expression and open elections. Whenever I walk past the Burmese Embassy, I think about these brave activists and pray that the junta will somehow be removed so that the Burmese people can emerge from the terrible oppression, poverty and fear that currently rule their lives.

Dead Kittens

I was walking home from the postoffice this afternoon and enjoying the sunshine and a slightly cooler nip in the air, and then I saw this dead kittne on the pavement. There was a time when I would have sat down on the kerb and cried at the sight of this little thing, but fortunately I've developed a tougher skin over the years. But it's still sad to see the half-starved horses being beaten on the streets, and to find dead little cats on the pavement. It's just one other element of life here that makes the days a bit tougher.

Of course, there is also a great deal of animal pain and suffering in British and American societies, but it is kept hidden from public view in large factory farms and abattoirs. This is why I'm a vegetarian... But public and open animal cruelty is generally regarded as unacceptable and something that would generate disapproval. Are British and US societies hypocritical with regard to their treatment of animals? Of course. But I still appreciate the fact that beating a dog or an emaciated horse is not regarded as acceptable behaviour.

Balancing Acts around Cairo

I'm continually impressed at the balancing acts I see people perform on the streets here. I didn't manage to photograph the guy with bread on his head actually biking - he biked past me and then the Danish Embassy security guard stopped him.

EIPR/ HRW report on denial of religious freedom in Egypt

Today, EIPR published its joint report (with HRW) on the persecution of Baha'is within Egypt. This report is an excellent account of the way in which the Egyptian government denies freedom of religion within Egypt. Basically, all national ID cards (cards that are essential for routine activities such as enrolling in university, acquiring a driving license, travelling, drawing a pension etc...) require that the individual declares his or her religion. There are only 3 religions that can be selected: Muslim, Christian and Jew. There is no option for a blank. This means that the Bahai community in Egypt is denied basic rights and discriminated against in a terrible manner. Also, individuals who convert from Islam to Christianity face charges of apostasy and are denied the ID cards.

There was an impressive press conference held at our office today, with a range of foreign and Egyptian journalists. I was happy to see a report on the BBC website this evening:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7091412.stm

Some words of wisdom from Edward Abbey

"We're all undesirable elements from somebody's point of view." Abbey's Road.

"Anarchism is founded on the observation that since few men are wise enough to rule themselves, even fewer are wise enough to rule others." A Voice Crying in the Wilderness.

Egyptian Museum of Modern Art

I spent a lovely Saturday afternoon in the Opera House complex in Zamalek. I finally found some solitude and peace!! I even managed to eat a sandwich sitting on the steps of the Museum of Modern Art without getting harassed. And there was classical music playing over the sound system..... ahhhhhhhh......
There were some interesting pieces in the museum. I took photographs of the ones that really caught my eye. More of the photographs are posted on my flickr account and on my other blog, http://spiritualsustenance.blogspot.com/

On this blog, I've decided to post a picture entitled something like "crowding" or "over-population". It was in the section where modern artists had been asked to capture elements of life in Cairo. There were, of course, more classically 'beautiful' images, but this painting reflects the chaos and crowds in the street here and the reason why I'm finding it so difficult to get any kind of real peace...

Daily Torture to the Ears... Calls to Prayer

Back in 2005, Muhammad Ahmad told the BBC that: "Rather than being a joy, to listen to the call to prayer is a daily torture to the ears." I could deeply sympathise with the description of the morning prayers given by Ahmad, a Cairo resident. My apartment is directly opposite a mosque and the morning call to prayer manages to rip into my sleep even with ear plugs firmly implanted (yes, yes, I know such firm implanation can't be good for the ears... but severe lack of sleep will also have bad effects...).

The BBC describes beautifully how:
"Just before dawn, Cairo resident Muhammad Ahmad is jolted out of his peaceful sleep by a thunderous azan, or call to prayer, roaring out from huge speakers attached to a very modest mosque two streets away.
A few moments later a second, even louder muezzin's voice joins in - not in time or in tune with the first call to prayer - summoning him to do his duty, this time at the local prayer hall just around the corner.
Over the next few minutes, at least half a dozen other voices of varying tunefulness join in - distorting the sound of the azans and making them sound like a military order.
Being invited to rise and pray is one thing, but discordant bellowing is quite another. ...

"Some of the mosques blast not just the roughly dozen sentences of the call itself," he wrote, "but all of the verses and actual prayers intoned by the local imam."
When all the local mosques do the same thing competing with one another in volume, what should be an announcement lasting at most two minutes goes on for 45 minutes, keeping the entire neighbourhood in a state of high alert.
"I'm not an irreligious man," he explains.
"But there were no loudspeakers at the time of the Prophet. Now, rather than being a joy, to listen to the call to prayer is a daily torture to the ears."

The main point of the article is to describe the controversy that arose in 2005 when the Ministry of Religious Endowments attempted to unify the call for prayer and have it broadcast from one spot. The opposition was allegedly huge, with citizens claiming that America had backed this idea (to silence radical muezzins in individual mosques), or that the Egyptian government was attempting to get its own message across by destroying the range of calls given by different muezzins.

So, 2 years later, nothing is resolved. And many people living in Cairo (yes, that would include me!) are left to suffer through a microphoned cacophony of tuneless prayers.

Women in Iran

I have been reading this morning about women in Iran. My attention was drawn to the issue in part because Delaram Ali, a woman's rights activist from Iran, was recently sentenced to a flogging and two-and-a-half years in prison for working against the state. Amnesty International and other groups are calling for her release.
(see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7088310.stm)

The BBC also has an article on the "fashion police" in Iran and how the authorities are attempting to get Iranian women to dress more conservatively. The article is interesting, but what I found most thought-provoking were the comments that follow the article. Some people criticise the BBC reporter for being too negative: one woman asks "We certainly do not question what is worn by the average person on the streets of London, Paris or Berlin? So why is there such a great interest in Iran?"

Another woman emphasises the way in which wearing the veil can be empowering - but also stresses how heavy-handed governmental enforcement of women's dress can make lead to distorted social views of women. This is how the veil becomes an article of oppression rather than of liberation:

"The issue of hejab occupies the minds of women and men alike since the Islamic revolution in 1979. A woman convinced of the necessity of hejab feels that she does not wish to attract the stares of strange men by exposing her body and hair and stressing the beauty of her face. She wants to be valued as a person, not as a beauty. In many Islamic countries, women wear hejab, but with much more variety. While I like to cover up, I think that the authorities, when imposing hejab shortly after the revolution, went too far and were too restrictive. Thereby, they created sensivities in men that it is now difficult to get rid of."
Madleine, Tehran, Iran

Comforting day hiding in my room.... and Llangollen!

I've had a wonderful day and I haven't even stepped outside of my house (maybe that's why it has been nice! ;-)). I started the day with an hour's silent meditation, then I did yoga, then I read a beautiful email from my friend in Chile, then I read about Quakerism and the quest for community and seeking a higher being. And now I'm planning on heading out to a Denali celebration in Cairo (a Hindi friend is celebrating this festival of light!). I've also been having lovely daydreams about the green mountains in Wales - and particularly Llangollen, where I was born. This photograph was taken this summer when I was visiting my mum. For me, it's heaven on earth! My mum and sister are in the photo - it's my screen saver on my computer because my mum's smile and the view over the 11th-century Crow Castle are always very comforting to see.

Solitude in the Quaker Faith

I have been reading about Quaker faith and practice this morning. I wanted to share this quotation from one woman writing in the early 20th century. I am continually struggling with the degree of solitude that suits my personality, and I liked the perspective in this quotation:

"The amount of solitude which is attainable or would be wholesome in the case of any individual life is a matter which each of us must judge for himself... A due proportion of solitude is one of the most important conditions of mental health. Therefore if it be our lot to stand apart from those close natural ties by which life is for most people shaped and filled, let us not be in haste to fill the gap; let us not carelessly or rashly throw away the opportunity of entering into that deeper and more continual acquaintance with the unseen and eternal things which is the natural and great compensation for the loss of easier joys. The loneliness which we rightly dread is not the absence of human faces and voices - it is the absence of love... Our wisdom therefore must lie in learning not to shrink from anything that may be in store for us, but so to grasp the master key of life as to be able to turn everything to good and fruitful account."
Caroline E Stephen, 1908
http://quakersfp.live.poptech.coop/qfp/chap22/22.20.html

Nonsense!

"I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it is a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life’s realities."-Dr. Seuss





I was looking at middlexeast's blog this morning (see http://themiddleeastinterest.wordpress.com/2007/11/) and I had to share today's posting... It made me smile and I hope it makes you smile too: courtesy of middlexeast!
I definitely could feel new brain cells waking up.. Working as a human rights lawyer and reading page after page of politics / law/ accounts of abuse can make life's realities all too present. This posting reminded me to turn the telescope around!

Amy Winehouse - what??!

Ok... so just one of the songs I was listening to today was "Back to Black". What is she going on about when she says "And life is like a pie (pipe?) and I'm a tiny penny rolling up the walls inside." Is this some cool drug reference that I'm too uncool to understand? I like to think she's saying "pie" because it reminds me of blackbirds baked in a pie, and pennies that were put in plum puddings for christmas. But I'm guessing it's pipe and I will be disappointed...

Storefront IV: Guns and Black-Clad Security Forces

This was definitely my favourite shop for today! As I was walking in the downtown area, I passed this gun shop. My heart was warmed at the thought of guns being handed out over the counter -- I felt like I was back in the US! Particularly reassuring was the fact that I turned the corner and saw three black Egyptian security-force trucks parked on the street.

The photographs are a little dark, but I hope you can just make out the faces of the security forces staring out through the small barred truck windows. Big police and security force trucks just like this seem to be parked everywhere and, if you look up at them, you see dozens of pairs of eyes staring down at you from behind barred windows.

One little aside on the black-clad security forces (compared with the white-clad police). The men who serve in the security-forces are conscripted from the poorest sections of Egypt (where people live on less than $1 a day). They have to leave their families and come to live in Cairo for three years. They live in camps on the outskirts of the city where conditions are reported to be terrible. Whenever there are demonstrations or civil discontent, it is usually these security forces who are ordered to come in and beat up the citizens - they get all the government's dirty work...

Maybe the apartment is pretty, but the outside? Ugly as hell

My apartment is lovely on the inside, but that doesn't mean that the walls in the corridor outside aren't dirty and crumbling, and that the lift doesn't look like it's about to snap off its wire! Every single lift in the buildings here (apart from the posh hotels) are nasty looking death-traps with doors that only half close and a faint smell of piss. The stairwells aren't much better, though I usually opt for these above the lifts (at least I can get off the stairs in a powercut!). In addition, every 'courtyard' in the centre of the buildings basically doubles up as a rubbish tip/ cat paradise. These photographs were taken from the 'courtyard' in the offices of AMERA, the refugee non-profit where I am doing some work. The building itself has a beautiful marble staircase and is located in the prestigious embassy district in Garden City. The British Embassy is directly opposite. But, as usual, there is a rubbish dump right in the middle of the building (and this is an exact replica of the 'courtyard' in my apartment complex). The keen-sighted blog readers can try to spot all the cats!

What I was dreaming of today...

After pushing through downtown Cairo in the dark (the electricity decided to cut out as I was half-way down a rather precarious staircase coming from a coffee shop), I spent a very happening Thursday night on the treadmill in the gym. I started thinking about a hike I did this summer with my little sister, Laura. We went up to the top of Snowdon, the highest peak in Wales, and enjoyed some breathtaking views and clean, crisp air. What I would give for some peace and quiet, some open space and some good outdoor exercise.... the memories alone made me feel 100% better! Ok... I think pictures of Wales will have to be another regular posting. The process of putting them up on my blog will make me happier!

Midan Tahrir

This "Times Square" of Cairo is called Midan Tahrir. I walk through this downtown square most evenings and attempt to navigate the crazy traffic and frantic crowds. I love watching the families who are gathered around the statue (can't work out who the turbaned dude is...), peacefully picnicking while hundreds of cars pump out fumes fit for a chain-smoker. I also think it's interesting to see the minarets and palm-tree lined (crumbling) promenades next to the flashing Sanyo/ Coca-Cola signs.

Loneliness

I've been searching for a good poem tonight on loneliness, but this is a sensation that conjures up such melancholy and self-pity that the poetry on the topic is generally dire! So, self-pity aside, I wanted to jot down a few notes on my sensations of loneliness - a feeling that is not new to me because I seem incapable of staying in any one location or with any one person for more than a fleeting amount of time!
So... loneliness.... you tend to know it's creeping into your life when:
- you eat every meal alone and generally standing up.
- you end up spending hours on the internet reading strangers' blogs (I hate this!)
- you don't end up going to bed until 3am because you feel too hollow inside to be sleepy.
- you walk for hours at night because you can't face another long night at home. You walk even more at the weekends.
- you come home and see your roommate's boyfriend's shoes and know they are lying on bed watching a movie together.
- you are happy to see familiar strangers who go to your yoga class because their presence is comforting.
- you walk down the street and know that nobody is looking at you as an interesting and feeling human being but only as a foreigner (and one who is apparently readily available for sex!!)
- you start wondering a little too much why your relationships always fall apart.
- you have to fight back tears when you see couples and friends laughing together and showing affection.
- you start making a running commentary of your life in your mind and you talk about yourself in 3rd person (a sure sign that you're spending too much time alone!).
- the only people who talk to you all day are the men on the street who say "sexy, sexy, sexy."

Of course, all of these feelings are heightened, or even initially created, by boredom. Unbelievably, despite being in an incredibly new culture that never fails to surprise... I'm bored. Mainly because I sit at my desk all day and have nothing to do. But I'm trying hard to think of new projects and make new friends so all self-pitying and melancholic posts are eradicated from this blog!
But nobody should underestimate the difficulties of moving to a new city where you don't know a soul - especially when you don't speak the language. I always like to forget exactly how emotionally challenging this experience can be. But, fortunately, I also know that it generally gets better. So I just have to ride it out and look for the damn silver linings!

Bedouin family life

As I mentioned in the previous posting, I went to a talk about Bedouins in Sinai yesterday. So it was interesting to read this article in the BBC about Bedouin family life:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7083696.stm

An audience of dissatisfied African men

Last night, November 7, I went to a talk at AU on “Crossing the Border: Palestinians, Migrants and Bedouins in Sinai.” The speaker described the complex layers of cultures and ethnic groups that live and move through this section of Egypt. There were, she said, four principal groups: 1) Palestinians; 2) Bedouins; 3) Egyptian migrants; and 4) Illegal migrants.
The speaker described the thousands of Palestinians that have been trapped at the border at Rafah since Hamas took control of Gaza strip. A new word, she said, has emerged in the Palestinian dictionary to describe these people: “al-Alqyin”, or “the stranded.” She explained how the Bedouins, who had lived in this section of the world for generations, lacked basic legal rights such as property rights and citizenship. She outlined how the Egyptian government repopulated Sinai after 1982, drawing villagers from the Egyptian valley over to Sinai with promises of better salaries and housing.
But what struck me about the whole talk was not all this fascinating information about Palestinians, Bedouins and Egyptian migrants. It was the makeup of the audience who had come to listen to the talk. Over 75% of the people sitting in the room were African men. I have no idea where these men were from. I have no idea whether they are living in Egypt legally or illegally. But they did seem particularly fascinated by the topic of “illegal migrants.” Unfortunately, the speaker only brushed over this topic in the last minute of her 40-minute presentation. Knees jiggled nervously around me. When the speaker stopped, these men questioned her about the smugglers who traffic people across the border from Egypt to Israel: Was it just the Bedouins? Who was in overall control of this smuggling? Who controlled the border? The speaker’s answers were wholly inadequate (to be fair, this wasn’t her focus..)

I could only imagine what was passing through these men’s minds. Maybe I’m projecting stories onto them – maybe none of them have any intention of attempting to cross the border through the desert mountains. But it is likely that Israel is a potential destination for at least some of the men, despite the fact that Sudanese and Eritrean refugees have recently been shot by the Egyptian police as they were crossing the border, and despite the fact that Egypt has declared it is planning to return to Sudan some Sudanese refugees sent back from Israel (in violation of international refugee law). (see http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/EMAE-78FM49?OpenDocument; http://fortresseurope.blogspot.com/2006/01/three-migrants-shot-dead-in-2007-at.html).
When the speaker described the harsh conditions, the dangerous mindsets of the security force policing the border, and the rise in the use of violence in that region of the world… I couldn’t help but wonder if this was making at least some of the men’s hearts jump. I felt deeply grateful that I didn’t have to face this type of arduous journey in the quest for peace and economic opportunity.

"Manifesto of a Veiled Woman"

At the “women in cyberspace” conference that I went to at AU on Monday night, Mona Eltahawy’s young sister told a wonderful story about the preconceptions that surround women who choose to wear the veil. Mona’s sister (whose name I didn’t catch – I will call her Laura, because that’s my sister’s name!) has decided to wear the hijab. She stated that veiled women in Egypt walk a tight line: the fundamentalists don’t like these women (they aren’t covered enough) and the liberals want to save every one of them. Laura described how, one day at college, she wanted to fill in a questionnaire on the topic of beauty. So she asked for a copy of the questionnaire and was told that veiled women were not allowed to fill it out. This led Laura to use her facebook account to vent her frustration. On facebook, she published her “manifesto of the veiled woman.” This manifesto included statements such as 1) I have sexual desires like any other woman/person; 2) I care about beauty. Laura said that she was sick and tired of being viewed as a vegetable.
Before long, she received a message from an Egyptian man who clearly could not cope with this open expression of sexual desire. Egyptian man told Laura that she was “a danger to society.” Egyptian men, he declared, did not want to marry women like this so Laura would have to (quote) “turn to homos.” Laura promptly blocked this charming man from her facebook account. But she made a final telling remark: cyberspace provided her with a relatively safe space to express her desires and individuality. And she was able quite easily to block the Egyptian man who took such offense. But if she had stood at a street corner and declared such beliefs, would she have been so safe?

Women in Cyberspace: Talk at American Univ, Cairo

On Monday, November 5th, I went to a panel discussion at AU on "Her Space, Our Space: Girls and Women Pushing the Boundaries of Cyberspace." The panel was chaired by Mona Eltahawy, an Egyptian journalist whose writings on the Arab world appear regularly in Arab and U.S. media. (see her website at http://monaeltahawy.com/). The discussion threw a fascinating perspective on the spaces women are using to assert their voices, and the subversive potential of blogs and internet use. Here are some of the highlights of the discussion:

Mona Eltahawy opened the discussion by describing how she became addicted to blogs – first through Kuwaiti, and then Saudi bloggers. She fell in love with one blog in particular: one that was written by “Saudi Girl”, a woman who dreamed of the day she could wear flip-flops and show off her toe ring and nail varnish. “I loved this girl!” Mona said. After giving a paper on blogs to a prestigious meeting of journalists, and urging those present to check out Saudi Girl’s site to discover the way women were using cyberspace to push boundaries, Mona discovered that Saudi Girl was actually Saudi Guy…. “But,” Mona said, “I wasn’t disappointed.” Instead, Mona described how she was thrilled at the layers of subversion and gender blurring that was at the heart of this particular blog. You can still read saudigirl’s “outing” on her/his webpage at http://saudigirl.blogspot.com/. S/he writes:
“It first started when I became livid by some of the idiotic arguments that certain public men were using to justify, or make apologies for, the dearth of women's rights in Saudi Arabia. I decided to write to these men in a public fashion. Why not write as a man you ask? Well, I thought it would be more effective (for the cause) if a woman demonstrated the total absence of logic in their arguments. So Alia, a character created for an angry email, became my Arab Amazon, fighting for her rights, and for the rights of all downtrodden Saudi women.”

The discussion at AU also touched on the fact that blogs were a good place for women to reinvent themselves, and to speak out in a way that was not allowed within day-to-day life. One veiled woman described how she started a blog after she spoke out in class and was met with cries of “What! A veiled woman speaking out! You should be quiet…” Writing a blog, she said, was part of her refusal to remain silent. On a blog, you cannot tell if a woman is veiled or not – indeed, you cannot even tell whether it is a woman or a man who is writing. In this way, the blog can override many initial social prejudices.
The discussion also touched on whether blogs were an effective way of changing society. Some of the older members of the audience argued that blogs were a form of escapism, and that it was important to travel and talk to people face-to-face. Just because you blog with two or three people from America or Australia, for example, did not mean you actually knew those cultures…
Can blogs really depose dictators like Mubarak? Who knows… but, as the panel pointed out, blogs were becoming a new media and a new way for the younger generation to assert their voice. We were reminded that two policemen were jailed on Monday for the torture of a prisoner in Egyptian jails – and they were prosecuted principally because an Egyptian blogger spread the video footage of the torture (see my posting on this story – Nov 6). So, the overall theme of the night was: blog! And get your voice heard…

Cairo Shopfronts III: Post-Office and Brooms

There isn't much to say about these photos: I loved the image of all the back-lit brooms in the hardware shop and I liked the dude on the phone outside the post-office, complete with his headgear.

Cairo Shopfronts II

Here are a couple more shopfronts that caught my eye this evening. The shop on the far RHS appears to sell underwear. The window display changes frequently and I'm continually amazed what appears on these models. Sometimes the female figures (like the girl model in this picture) are veiled. Sometimes the underwear is modest and unsexy. But most times there is a strange blend of hijabs/veils, and lingerie suitable for the most racey XX movies. What exactly is the woman wearing in this photograph?? I love the fact that she has a modest scarf draped over her shoulders and long sleeves covering her arms, but also has gaping holes all down her breasts and thighs! I guess we never know what women are wearing under their niqabs!

I also liked the photo of the flower shop with all the plastic flowers out on display. There are some beautiful fresh-flower displays in some of the houses and offices in Cairo. But more frequently, people have grand displays of plastic flowers -- if gold gilt and any other extra embellishment can also be incorporated, then all the better!

Brightly-lit Nile

Ok...ok... I know I've already added a few photos that look exactly like this. But, at the moment, I'm still entranced when I walk home over the Nile and see the disco boats lined up, the permanent restaurant boats all lit up and the skyscrapers towering in the distance. I can't capture all the noise, energy and craziness that comes with this image. And I can't describe the hot and dusty wind that was tangling my hair as I took this shot. But I hope you can imagine some of what I feel every evening when I look down at the dark Nile surging below me, hear the latest Arabic pop tunes floating up from the disco boats and attempt to avoid any stray hand belonging to the men crowding the pavements.

Maybe this place should be called Caitro? Cats, cats, cats

I've never seen so many cats in one city-- usually because where there are large populations of stray animals, most of those strays are dogs so that the cat population is kept under control -- or at least more hidden from view. Here, the felines rule. And they aren't just little skinny cats. They are true street cats: part cat, part tiger, with massive heads and thick necks. They are everywhere.... lurking under the parked cars, sitting in the middle of the pavement, up in every little nook and cranny of a building.
Given the central role that these cats play in my daily life, I decided that I should include regular random shots of cats on the street. So here is my first photo of a couple of cats on the wall directly opposite the office where I work.

Bumper to Bumper: The obstacle course of Cairo's pavements

As I've mentioned in a previous posting, the cars here in Cairo are often parked bumper to bumper. I took a photo today of the cars that are parked outside my office so you can see why so many people end up walking on the road: you just can't access the pavement! The doormen (called bawabs) who sit outside most buildings here push the parked cars together -- either by pushing down hard on the back bumper so that the car 'bounces' forward, or by letting off the handbreak (if the door isn't locked!) and rolling it forward. This leads to great space efficiency on the parking front. But it also means that you have to be very thin, or agile enough to climb over the cars, if you want to get through to the other side. I'm going to start practicing my stunt forward rolls over the car bonnets...

Egyptian Shopfronts. Part I: Hijabs and stilletoes

I decided to take photos of my favourite shop-fronts on my walk home this evening. I ended up taking about 10 photos (they're all up on my facebook account), so I will post them over a few days. The pictures as a group capture some of the crazy juxtapositions and quirks of Cairo: hijabs (veils) next to a shop with high-heeled diamente boots; open-air unrefrigerated meat; red dates; nasty local alcohol; back-lit dangling brooms...

I hope it will help you imagine a little better my long walk home at night. I'm never bored!

world's ugliest dogs?

My dear friend Amber sent me this link and it made me chuckle at my desk today.. and also cry because 1) I'm a sucker for stories about rescued/ near death animals and 2) it's my period. Check out the gallery of photos for some damn ugly canines: http://www.sonoma-marinfair.org/uglydogvote.shtml

Torture in Egypt

Two stories about torture in Egyptian jails have made international headlines this week. The use of torture by Egyptian state security forces is endemic and is widely criticised by human rights groups in Egypt and abroad. Today, Amnesty International released a statement calling for "sweeping measures" against torture in Egypt. (see http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=10145)

See also the commentary by arabawy (good Egyptian blogger) at http://arabist.net/arabawy/2007/11/06/boulaq-police-sadists-sentenced-to-3-years-in-prison/

Two Recent Stories:

On Monday, two Egyptian policemen were sentenced to 3 years in jail for torturing an Egyptian man, Emad al-Kebir, who was being held in custody. These policemen sexually assaulted and beat the detainee, and filmed the whole event so that they could use the footage to intimidate others. I don't know how they failed to consider the fact that this footage would likely become public... sure enough, you can see the horrific video online at YouTube.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7078785.stm

The second story that appears today regards an Egyptian man, Ahmed Saber Saad, who died after being held in custody and tortured for three days by police.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7082446.stm

Photo journal of 30-year-old Egyptian woman

The BBC currently has a series of photo journals exploring families around the world. One of these journals is of a 30-year-old woman from Egypt who is a science teacher and mother of three daughters.
Two entries in particular were sad to read because of what they say about the status of women in Egypt. The captions state:

"It took Sherifa a long time to come to terms with the fact that she has three daughters and no boys. Relatives, she says, used to see her as inferior to women in the village who have sons.
"I cried and cried so much when the ultrasound scan showed that my third child, and last hope, was another girl. I am now completely over it. People still tease me about it, but I no longer get so upset. In fact I am happy with my three brilliant daughters, and above all it is God's will."

And:

"Accepting God's will is a theme with Sherifa's life and marriage. "My father was violent with my mother. I chose to marry Ouf because he seemed caring and tender. He used to spend hours standing outside my window," she says.
"After marriage, he changed. He became violent and would insult me in front of his family. I hated my daughters seeing this. We used to argue so much, but with time this passed. I learned that if I wanted to live in peace, I had to compromise, and it has worked." "

For the full photo journal, see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/07/middle_east_egyptian_family/html/1.stm

Disco Boats... got to love them!

Most people who have never spent time in Cairo probably imagine the Nile as a mysterious body of water that flows silently and steadily through the heart of the capital. Think again. I’m afraid bull-rushes and fellucas (sail boats) aren’t the predominant sight on the Cairo section of the Nile. Instead, the big rage is the “disco boat.” As you can see from the photograph, the ‘disco boat’ is basically a floating pile of fairy lights with loud speakers strapped to the sides. All manner of terrible Arabic music blasts from these boats, adding to the constant noise that bombards me on my walk home. My mum is visiting me in February. I bet she can’t wait to join me for some floating disco moves…

5 days of bleeding and still alive... just

In the South Park movie, Mr. Garrison admits his suspicions about women: “I don’t trust anything that bleeds for 5 days and doesn’t die.” Sometimes I also don’t trust this thing that insists on regularly bleeding and I wish I could escape it entirely! As yet another period approaches, and I face another series of sleepless nights, I began to reflect on the extreme discomfort that insists on visiting every month…

Anita Diamant has written a novel called “The Red Tent.” This title refers to a red tent where women in nomadic tribes used to congregate. Once a month, the women set up this tent and refused to move. They were obviously all on the same cycle and they would sit in the tent, gossip, bleed and … who knows… Cry? Shout? Moan?

Periods are strange and dominating things in my life. Every month, I find my body is taken over by what I call “my period self.” For about three days before my period, and for a couple of days afterwards, an alter being moves in under my skin, creating strange electrical currents down my arms and legs and into my stomach. I can still feel my calmer, rational, happy person there inside, but the period self insists on taking control. I am convinced that this period self is a manic depressive on crack. She takes an overdose of amphetamines and then inserts herself into my body. My mind begins to work over time. I get over-stimulated by ideas, I start attempting to do (literally) ten things at once and I can’t sleep at night. This might seem like a good time to be hyper productive… but no. While my mind is jumping up and down and doing somersaults, my concentration levels also deplete and I become overwhelmingly exhausted. So, basically, I walk around like an over-caffeinated crack addict who hasn’t slept for a month. It’s not a great feeling… particularly when it’s coupled with sharply painful stomach cramps.

I used to despair whenever this period self took up residence. I thought my life was doomed and I would never recover. I now recognize her face, know that she is only passing through, and I try to focus on the fact that I only need to endure her for 10 days. The problem is… I’m only left with 20 days of (relative) sanity in every month.

Where’s my red tent???

Mary Oliver's "Singapore"

I have so much I want to write about this evening (went to a great panel discussion this evening about Arab women in cyberspace and justice triumphed in Egypt today when two policemen were jailed for torture) - but it's already late and I have to get up to go to a conference on migrant workers. But I promised myself that I would make one posting before going to sleep this evening. I wanted to share a poem by Mary Oliver, one of my all-time favourite poets. This particular poem is not one I read with much frequency, but when I read it before going to sleep last night, I was struck by the way in which Oliver manages to capture the subtleties of human interaction. In just a few lines, she shows how we can all make immediate, alienating judgments about people and how we can also, with something as small as a smile, overcome those moments of alienation and judgment.

The poem is called "Singapore":
"In Singapore, in the airport, / a darkness was ripped from my eyes./ In the women's restroom, one compartment stood open./ A woman knelt there, washing something/ in the white bowl.
Disgust argued in my stomach / and I felt, in my pocket, for my ticket.
A poem should always have birds in it. / Kingfishers, say, with their bold eyes and gaudy wings./ Rivers are pleasant, and of course trees./ A waterfall, or if that's not possible, a fountain rising and falling./ A person wants to stand in a happy place, in a poem.
When the woman turned I could not answer her face./ Her beauty and embarassment struggled together, and neither could win./ She smiled and I smiled. What kind of nonsense is this?/ Everybody needs a job.
Yes, a person wants to stand in a happy place, in a poem./ But first we must watch her as she stares down at her labor, which is full enough./ She is washing the top of the airport ashtrays, as big as hubcaps, with a blue rag./ Her small hands turn the metal, scrubbing and rinsing./ She does not work slowly, or quickly, but like a river./ Her dark hair is like the wing of a bird.
I don't doubt for a moment that she loves her life./ And I want her to rise up from the crust and the slop and fly down to the river./ This probably won't happen./ But maybe it will./ If the world were only pain and logic, who would want it?
Of course, it isn't./ Neither do I mean anything miraculous, but only/ the light that can shine out of a life. I mean/ the way she unfolded and refolded the blue cloth,/ the way her smile was only for my sake; I mean/ the way this poem is filled with trees, and birds."

On Being "Rushed" to Hospital in Cairo

I’m not sure about the general logistics of dying in Cairo. But I do know this: if you are “rushed” to the hospital in an ambulance, you sure as hell aren’t likely to survive. I’m not talking about the medical care. I’m talking about the traffic. I’ve seen ambulances attempt to navigate the Cairo traffic on a couple of occasions now. Do cars get out of the way in a show of communal care?? Do they hell…. I admit that there isn’t exactly anywhere for these cars to go. Most pavements are 1) crowded with people and 2) have about a meter drop to the floor. And the roads are constantly packed. But I think a little more effort could be made so that the ambulance doesn’t simply sit grid-locked with the rest of the vehicles, sirens a-blaring… Usually, the ambulance driver gets on the microphone to make an appeal. My roommate told me that her boyfriend (who speaks Arabic) listened to one of these appeals. “There’s a man dying in here!! Move over!! Move over!!,” the driver screamed. “Are you heartless people who do not care about a dying man??” “Move over!! Move over!”. After a few minutes of screaming, the sirens stopped. “Fine. No need to move over now,” the driver continued to yell, “He’s dead.”
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Headlights optional...

As you already know if you’ve been reading this blog, I do a lot of walking on the streets of Cairo. Much of this walking happens at night, on my way home from work / the gym/ some social gathering. For those of you who haven’t spent much time in poorer countries, don’t think street lights and nice pavements. Think impassable pavements (pot-holes/ piles of rubbish with cats/ parked cars), total darkness, non-stop hectic traffic, lots of men sitting on their arses, double or treble layers of parked cars at the side of the road etc etc. Most of the time, I’m at the edge of the street, alternately pushing myself up against parked cars to avoid the traffic, and walking further into the street to avoid the men…

Other little quirks that make the walk that little bit more interesting include the fact that:
1) Headlights are optional. Sometimes, if I have my ipod on, I won’t know a car is behind me until the very last minute. At that point, the driver tends to flash his (99.9% of the time it’s a ‘he’) headlights and then I have to attempt to duck between parked cars. Generally, the gap between the parked cars is so small that I have to plaster myself up against the car instead… (and try not to look at all sexual while doing it!). So headlights become a type of lighthouse beacon rather than a permanent fixture of night-time driving…
2) Over 50% of oncoming drivers seem to like to do an extra swerve towards me and away from whatever it is they’re avoiding (other pedestrian/ a random piece of furniture in the road/ a car that’s stopped for the hell of it/ a donkey). Sometimes I can almost feel the car brush up against me and I catch my breath in momentary fear. Is this another way for attention-starved men to feel manly???

Damned if you Do, Doomed if You Don't

Lisa Belkin studies women in the workplace and her recent article on the topic was no surprise - but it still made me sigh in frustration (I'm guessing this is part of a much wider collective sigh amongst women!)

Emphasising the confusing status of women, particularly when it comes to behaviour in the workplace, Belkin starts her article: "Don’t get angry. But do take charge. Be nice. But not too nice. Speak up. But don’t seem like you talk too much. Never, ever dress sexy. Make sure to inspire your colleagues — unless you work in Norway, in which case, focus on delegating instead."

Belkin goes on to discuss the double-standards and confusing signals that plague the workplace:

"Catalyst’s [an organisation that focuses on women in the workplace] research is often an exploration of why, 30 years after women entered the work force in large numbers, the default mental image of a leader is still male. Most recent is the report titled “Damned if You Do, Doomed if You Don’t,” which surveyed 1,231 senior executives from the United States and Europe. It found that women who act in ways that are consistent with gender stereotypes — defined as focusing “on work relationships” and expressing “concern for other people’s perspectives” — are considered less competent. But if they act in ways that are seen as more “male” — like “act assertively, focus on work task, display ambition” — they are seen as “too tough” and “unfeminine.”

One interesting study by a psychologist highlighted just one double-standard:

"He [the psychologist] is the author of one such study, in which he showed respondents a video of a woman wearing a sexy low-cut blouse with a tight skirt or a skirt and blouse that were conservatively cut. The woman recited the same lines in both, and the viewer was either told she was a secretary or an executive. Being more provocatively dressed had no effect on the perceived competence of the secretary, but it lowered the perceived competence of the executive dramatically. "

Good grief!! As Belkin points out, women just can't win.... Whatever culture I find myself in, I am enraged at the ways in which society oppresses women and assesses them according to different standards. We women just have to keep pushing at those visible and not so visible social, economic and sexual barriers!!

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/01/fashion/01WORK.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5087&em&en=fc0c03fe07914c0c&ex=1194325200&adxnnlx=1194176375-/7GgGL7xUve8xiU8i%2029VA