USA, MN: More Muslim Girls Turn to Scouting

Many thanks to in2thefray for pointing out this International Herald Tribune article on Muslim Girl Scouts. (The article also appears in the NY Times.)

While the article emphasizes the role of scouting as a cultural integration tool, the fact is that being a Girl Scout is fun. The values are wholesome and the girls learn some good life skills.

To Muslim girls in U.S., Girl Scouts offer a chance to fit in

Neil Macfarquhar (International Herald Tribune)

Scattered Muslim communities across the United States are forming Girl Scout troops as a sort of assimilation tool to help girls who often feel alienated from the mainstream culture, and to give Muslims a neighborly aura. Boy Scout troops are organized with the same inspiration, but often the leap for girls is greater because many come from conservative cultures that frown upon their participating in public physical activity.

Sudan: Parents, Students Back Teddy Bear Teacher

Gillian Gibbons should be freed without charges. Period. She has not committed any crime.

It is ironic that young children actually have a better understanding of the Great Teddy Bear non-issue than the Sudanese authorities have.

LET HER GO.

Student defends Briton jailed over teddy bear

Opheera McDoom (Reuters)

A 7-year-old Sudanese student on Tuesday defended the British teacher accused of insulting Islam saying he had chosen to call a teddy bear Mohammad because it was his own name.

Gillian Gibbons, a 54-year-old teacher at the Unity High School in Khartoum, was arrested on Sunday after complaints from parents that she had insulted Islam’s Prophet by allowing the bear to be named Mohammad. She is facing a third night in jail without being formally charged.

“The teacher asked me what I wanted to call the teddy,” the boy said shyly, his voice barely rising above a whisper. “I said Mohammad. I named it after my name,” he added.

USA, NY: Convert to Islam Jailed 16 Years for Crime He Did Not Commit

Jeffrey Mark Deskovic credits Islam for helping to maintain his sanity through those dark years. Unfortunately, life on the outside is still a daily trial.

Vindicated by DNA, but a Lost Man on the Outside

Fernanda Santos (NY Times)

As a boy, Jeffrey Mark Deskovic could swim the length of a pool underwater without coming up for air. On sultry days at the Elmira state prison, where he spent most of his 16 years behind bars for a rape and murder he did not commit, Mr. Deskovic would close his eyes under a row of outdoor showers and imagine himself swimming.

… For kinship and protection, Mr. Deskovic — a former altar boy who converted to Islam during his first year in prison — sought out fellow Muslim inmates. “If it weren’t for my religion,” he said, “I would have taken my own life in prison, or I would have lost my mind.”

USA: Selling a War on Iran; Start with Test-Marketing

Focus Grouping War with Iran

Washington Dispatch: A recent Virginia focus group test-marketed language to get tougher on Iran.

(Mother Jones)

Laura Sonnenmark is a focus group regular. “I’ve been asked to talk about orange juice, cell phone service, furniture,” the Fairfax County, Virginia-based children’s book author and Democratic Party volunteer says. But when she was called by a focus group organizer for a prospective assignment earlier this month, she was told the questions this time would be about something “political.”

On November 1, she went to the offices of Martin Focus Groups in Alexandria, Virginia, knowing she would be paid $150 for two hours of her time. After joining a half dozen other women in a conference room, she discovered that she had been called in for what seemed an unusual assignment: to help test-market language that could be used to sell military action against Iran to the American public. “The whole basis of the whole thing was, ‘we’re going to go into Iran and what do we have to do to get you guys to along with it?” says Sonnenmark, 49.

UAE, Abu Dhabi: Project to Translate Books into Arabic

Translating More Books Into Arabic

Iman Kurdi (Arab News)

… Have you been in an Arabic bookshop lately? Pretty depressing landscape, isn’t it? Whether it is books written in Arabic or books translated into Arabic, there’s just not much of it about, and what there is — with some highly notable exceptions — is generally published in very poor quality, be it the quality of the language or the quality of the print and paper.

Back in 2003 we all gasped in shame when a UN report pointed out that more books are translated into Spanish a year than have been translated into Arabic in a millennium. We gasped but we were not surprised, not really. Those with an elite view of the world shrugged their shoulders and said, “Well, that’s because we read in English”. Some took a predictable political stance: “Well yes, why should we translate works from the West when our own culture is so rich?” And my personal favorite was: “Who needs books when you have the Internet?” But all of it masked an important truth: We don’t read enough. Books have almost lost their rightful place as a critical building block of contemporary Arab culture…

See also:

Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage

And:

Abu Dhabi Launches Major Arabic Translation Initiative

(PR Newswire)

Kalima, one of the most significant cultural initiatives to come out of the Arab world in years, launched today and announced a much-anticipated list of 100 books, selected as candidates for translation into Arabic. Kalima (“word” in Arabic), funds the translation, publication and distribution of high-quality works of classic and contemporary writing from other languages into Arabic.

“The rest of the world enjoys a wealth of domestic and translated writing, why should the Arab world be any different?” asked Karim Nagy, Founder and Chief Executive of Kalima. “Today Kalima is bringing Arabic readers all over the world quality writing in their mother tongue – something they have been deprived of for so long. Kalima has taken the first steps on the long path toward rebuilding the Arab library.”

Saudia Arabia: At what age … is a woman in Saudi Arabia considered an independent, sane, responsible adult?

Currently, the answer to that question is “not ever, at least not in this lifetime.”

When Is a Saudi Woman Considered an Adult?

Maha Akeel (Arab News)

It is surprising and frustrating to see that women in Saudi Arabia, despite all their achievements, continue to be treated as underage dependents who need and are forced to be managed by their male guardians.

It is necessary at this point of Saudi women’s history to address this important issue.

We cannot claim that a Saudi woman has all her Islamic and civil rights when the system insists on considering her immature, irresponsible and dependent on her male guardian no matter how old she is, how highly educated and intelligent she might be or what she has achieved in her professional career. At what age and under what circumstances is a woman in Saudi Arabia considered an independent, sane, responsible adult?…

Jerusalem: “A group of yeshiva students spat at us and their teacher just stood by and watched.”

Some very uncharming street behavior by certain Yeshiva students and their teachers.

Christians in Jerusalem want Jews to stop spitting on them

Amiram Barkat (Haaretz)

Brazil: 15-Year Old Girl Jailed with at Least 20 Men for 1 Month; Raped Repeatedly

This is indescribably horrible. How does a young woman recover from this?

15-year-old girl jailed with 20 men

(Agence France-Presse)

A 15-YEAR-old girl was put in a Brazilian jail cell with more than 20 men, and for a month was raped relentlessly and forced to have sex for food, human rights groups say.

“She was raped from day one” at the jail in Para state, a Children and Adolescent Defence Centre (Cedeca) spokeswoman said.

The number of men in the cell varied from 20 to 34 while the girl, a robbery suspect, was there.

Saudi Arabia: Ministry of Justice Blames Media for Their Handling of Rape Case

60 lashes to the rape victim for “being alone” with a man; 140 lashes for having the temerity to appeal the ruling.

Lashing Out at the Media Over the Qatif Girl Case

Abeer Mishkhas, abeermishkhas@arabnews.com

The case of what has come to be called the Qatif girl is the talk of the media in Saudi and abroad; it is full of issues that we need to examine closely. To begin with, it raises questions about the country’s legal system, the fear of the power of the media and the secrecy that courts prefer to shroud cases in. There is also the social ruling against the girl, which is another important issue that has to be thoroughly looked into…

… The media, according to the judges, were … to blame. The girl was actually sentenced to extra lashes for going to the media with her story, and her lawyer got his share of blame and actual punishment for talking to newspapers about the case. The girl was also punished for something that is not actually a crime. She was out with a male friend in front of a shopping center so it was in a public space — not a secluded private one — and there were passers-by and shoppers all around. The mere implication that she brought this on herself by being out with a stranger only rubs salt into the wound. Basically, what those judges are saying to the girl is “You deserve what happened to you!” which is a very cruel and unjust way to think.

To say that for being in a public street with a man she deserved to be raped 14 times is simply beyond belief.

USA: 5-Year Old Iraqi Boy Continues to Heal from Burns; More Surgery Ahead

Defiant Youssif puts on brave face

(CNN)

Burned Iraqi boy Youssif shows no fear as he stares up at the rock-climbing wall. “I can do it fast and then I am going to stand on top.”

It’s a declaration of defiance and strength from the 5-year-old who will need plenty of both as he continues his long recovery from horrific burns suffered when masked men set him on fire…

Pakistan: Tabligh Jamaat Annual Meeting Passes Quietly Amidst Surrounding Political Chaos

Pakistani Group, Suspected by West of Jihadist Ties, Holds Conclave Despite Ban

Jane Perlez (NY Times)

For six days they came: hundreds of thousands of Pakistani men squashed onto a barren rice field, dressed in baggy trousers, crocheted caps on their heads, sandals on their feet and long beards a common feature.

They prayed five times a day, listened to preachers, ate by the flicker of oil lamps and slept, cheek by jowl, on the hard ground.

By Sunday night, the annual convention of the Pakistan-based group Tabligh Jamaat, the largest gathering of Muslims outside Mecca, had come to an end without incident. That, in itself, was remarkable this year: amid the current political crisis, the government had banned all large gatherings and had broken up several others by force…

Honor Killings Plague Palestinian Women

In discussing the dismal situation facing Palestinian women accused of “dishonorable” acts, this article highlights the dirty underside of honor crimes. It may be puzzling to some, but many women are also involved in aiding and abetting the men who commit honor killings.

As order slides, Palestinian women face honor killings
Rights activists say such murders have increased as a result of the worsened security situation, and press for a new law.

Ilene R. Prusher (The Christian Science Monitor)

… According to local organizations, such murders have risen in the Palestinian territories to nearly 50 this year – a fact that many here blame on the absence of any true law and order, which allows individuals to enforce their own version of justice. Palestinians here say the image of an ever-weaker Palestinian Authority has increased after Hamas’s violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in June, making this local vigilantism harder to combat.

Particularly galling to many here is the fact that a man who admits to murdering a female relative for reasons of honor can be sentenced to as little as six months in jail. Palestinians say that policy is based on an old Jordanian law, which still holds in the West Bank: Article 341 considers murder a legitimate act of defense when the killer acts “in defense of his life or his honor…”

Germany: Writer of Turkish Descent Shakes Up German Literary World, Critiques Leftists

You’ve got to swing your hips!

A conversation with Feridun Zaimoglu

Ali Fathollah-Nejad, interviewing (EuroZine)

German author Feridun Zaimoglu, pioneer of the “Kanak” school of fiction (the migrant underworld described in the vernacular of its testosterone-fuelled protagonists), has begun narrating from the Muslim woman’s perspective. In his latest novel Leyla, an older Turkish woman tells about her life in Germany; while in a new theatre piece entitled Schwarze Jungfrauen (Black Virgins), young Muslimas talk graphically about their sexual desires. In March 2007, Zaimoglu ruffled feathers when he gave up his place at an official conference on Muslims in Germany in protest at the non-attendance of young ordinary Muslims and criticized feminist former-Muslims for demonizing young Muslim women. He explained to Ali Fathollah-Nejad why the liberal-Left in Germany operates double values when it comes to the “Muslim question”.

Afghanistan: More Kabul Beauty School Dirt

Saviour ‘abandons’ Kabul’s salon girls

Dean Nelson (London Times)

FOR a while, Zahra Hossein thought her days of fear in Afghanistan were behind her as she looked forward to living the Californian dream.

Her “saviour” Debbie Rodriguez, an American hairdresser who founded a salon in Kabul and turned the story into a best-selling book, had rescued her from death threats in the Afghan capital and promised her a new life in San Francisco.

However, according to Hossein, she has been abandoned in India while Rodriguez, who drew on the private suffering of her salon girls for the book, has gone on to make a fortune.

‘The Kabul Beauty School” tells how Rodriguez, 46, ran away to Kabul to escape a difficult marriage in Michigan, married a local warlord and started her salon to help oppressed Afghan women to learn unfamiliar arts from aromatherapy to Brazilian waxing…

Zahra Hossein, one of the Afghan hairdressers, feels abandoned by Rodriguez. Other women (American) involved in the salon allege that Debbie Rodriguez fabricated some of the people and events in her book “Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil” and question Rodriguez’s business practices. See New York Times archives.

Side Note: The London Times article states that Rodriguez “started her salon to help oppressed Afghan women to learn unfamiliar arts from aromatherapy to Brazilian waxing.”

**Sigh** They’re STILL oppressed, but a least they can look good and smell good.

Libya: Marriage No Easy Proposal

For Young Libyans, Old-Style Marriage Is a Dream Too Far

Ellen Knickmeyer (Washington Post)

Custom and changing economies are frustrating millions of young people in Libya, Egypt and other less prosperous parts of the Arab world. The oil wealth gurgling into Libya with the lifting of international sanctions has yet to trickle down to its people. With few prospects of advancement, many of the young are finding marriage a luxury they can’t afford…

Bad economic conditions, housing shortages and cultural traditions (heavy dowries) are all impediments for many people wishing to marry in Libya.

But, at the end of the article, another obstacle emerges: the growing unwillingness of working women to marry at all.

In the middle and upper classes, money doesn’t always guarantee an end to young men’s loneliness.

In Libya, Egypt and some Gulf states, among other countries, growing numbers of women are resisting pressure to marry so they can stick with careers and educations…

… “A lot of my friends — doctors, people like that — looking at marriage think it’s a relationship that brings you down,” Ekram [a female doctor] said…

Ekram’s own dream was to do postdoctoral work in Canada. Asked if she planned to bypass marriage, she nodded. “Yes,” she said. “I think so.”