Bush Slams Saudi Arabia on Saudi Rape Case

From Times Now in India

12/6/2007

President Bush today (December 6) criticized one of America's biggest allies, Saudi Arabia, commenting on a gang rape case that has made the international community sit up and take notice

Saudi Arabia hit international headlines recently, after a19-year-old victim of gang rape was sentenced to 200 lashes, since she'd been with an unmarried man when she was sexually assaulted. Once again, many are angry at what they see as the hypocritical favouritism, doled out to the oil-rich country by the US.

The Bush Administration considers the Saudi royal family, a close ally and rarely criticises the country's poor record on human rights or oppresive attitude towards women. Even Britain's own royal family and government pulled out the red carpet for the Saudis on a recent state visit despite widespread protests.  

Which is why  today's comments by President Bush, imagining how upset he'd be if one of his own daughters was in the Saudi Arabian legal case, is so remarkable.

Many wonder, why the Bush Administration has remained so silent, on Saudis' poor human rights records when that was one of their secondary arguments for invading Iraq.

Ruling according to Saudi Arabia's strict reading of Islamic law, a court originally sentenced the woman to 90 lashes for being alone with an unrelated man and the rapists to prison terms of up to five years.

The Supreme Judicial Council last month increased the sentence to 200 lashes and six months in prison, and ordered the rapists to serve between two years and nine years in prison.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal tried to distance the Saudi government from the ruling at a news conference in the United States last month, and said that the case was being reviewed and "we hope, it will be changed."

S. Arabia, United States do least for climate: study

Rush-hour traffic lumbers along a freeway in San Diego

From AFP - December 7, 2007

BERLIN (AFP) — Saudi Arabia and the United States do the least to protect the climate while Sweden does the most, according to a report by a German environmental group published on Friday.

Germanwatch's Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) evaluates and compares the climate protection performance of the 56 countries that are responsible for 90 percent of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions.

Saudi Arabia retained its last place finish from last year in the rankings, but the United States fell two places to second bottom.

The report had sharp criticism for Australia, which slid to 54th in the list from 47th last year.

Germanwatch said Australia had "more and more deviated from the necessary reduction targets as stated in the UN Framework for Convention on Climate Change" under former prime minister John Howard's 11 years in charge.

It expressed hope for an improvement under his successor Kevin Rudd, who ratified the Kyoto Protocol on cutting greenhouse gases in one of his first acts in office this week.

As last year, Sweden is the country doing most to protect the climate, followed by Germany which on Wednesday unveiled a package of laws and regulations to help it meet its target of a 40 percent cut in greenhouse gases by 2020.

Germany displaced Britain, which slipped to seventh. Iceland ranked third.

However, Germanwatch said that even high-ranking countries could not sit back and relax.

"The results illustrate that even if all countries engaged in the same manner, current efforts would still be insufficient to prevent dangerous climate change."

The report was published as 190 nations meet on the Indonesian island of Bali to create a framework for a post-2012 treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol.

Iranian Women: Beyond the Veil

From the Telegraph in UK

Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 10/11/2007

The Western perception of Iranian women is that they live difficult, oppressed lives. Yet these pictures taken by the British photographer Olivia Arthur show Teheran's young women to be independent, party-loving, and leading surprisingly liberal lives.

By Isabel Albiston

In April, the Western media carried reports of an Islamic crackdown against women in Iran, aimed at enforcing strict dress codes on the streets of Teheran and across the country. Thousands of women were cautioned; many were arrested. Teheran's public prosecutor declared that women who dressed immodestly 'endangered the security and dignity of young men'. After Mahmoud Ahmedinejad was elected president in 2005, he sought to reverse the liberalisation of the state that had happened under the previous president, Mohammed Khatami. Every year, as summer approaches, Iranian state television announces that the police will take action against women who dress inappropriately, defying Sharia law.

Haniye, a 22-year-old graphic design student and Olivia Arthur's translator (sitting against the bed) with her friend Farnoz, 22, also a student, at Farnoz's house, after having dinner with her family. Haniye lives in Teheran with her parents and has a boyfriend – her mother knows about him, but her father does not. As well as visiting Farnoz's house, Haniye took Arthur to her friend Pagol's 23rd birthday party in Isfahan. 'Haniye and Pagol put on tons of make-up and were quite shocked that I didn't want to do the same,' Arthur says.

In the opinion of Olivia Arthur, 27, a British photographer who earlier this year spent several weeks taking candid photographs of young Iranian women from all sections of society – rich and poor, conservative and liberal – the crackdown was a farce. 'The fashion police stop women in the street and tell them to put their headscarves on properly and not to wear make-up. But in Teheran, a city of 15 million people, where most young women wear make-up and nail varnish, the police can only stop a few. The next day everyone will come out and do exactly the same thing.'

The Western perception of young Iranian women is that they live difficult lives under an oppressive regime, but Arthur wanted to present a more balanced view. Sixty per cent of Iranian students are women. In a country where more than half the population is under 25, many young Iranians watch pop videos on illegal satellite channels and find ways to express themselves by pushing the boundaries of Sharia law. 'Behind closed doors, the women in Iran create a world for themselves away from the conservative ideology of their leaders,' Arthur says. 'I had the overwhelming sense that they know what they want and are going to get it.'

Fatima is 11 years old and lives in a poor neighbourhood on the outskirts of Teheran with her mother and three aunts. Her father was a drug addict and left the family. 'As I was talking to her mother and aunts, Fatima took herself away and went upstairs to say her midday prayers,' Arthur says. The poster on the wall is of Fatima's uncle, a local wedding DJ who plays 'cheesy Iranian pop music' and lives elsewhere. 'As a group of women living together they struggle in a very conservative community, because it is considered strange not to have a man in the house,' Arthur says.

Born in London, Arthur has worked as a photographer for four years. Her father's job as a diplomat meant that she travelled widely as a child. While studying maths at Oxford she took photographs for the student newspaper and was named the 2001 Guardian Student Photographer of the year. She then took a course in photojournalism at the London College of Printing and spent the next two years taking photographs in India, followed by projects in Kashmir, Turkey, Georgia and Russia.

While working in Turkey last year, Arthur met an Iranian woman living in Istanbul who complained that widely published photographs of Iranian women dressed in black chadors were unrepresentative. The idea of photographing the ordinary lives of young women in Iran seemed timely to Arthur, given the widespread interest in Iran's strained diplomatic relations with the West.

Staying mostly with a photographer friend, Newsha, in Teheran, Arthur also visited the nearby city of Isfahan and the resort of Ramsar by the Caspian Sea. She asked a student, Haniye, whom she met through Newsha, to work as her translator. 'It worked well because Haniye introduced me to her friends,' Arthur says. This helped give her photographs a relaxed feel. Over the course of the project, Arthur discovered an ingrained sense of hospitality in the people she met. 'If you visit someone's house, you have to eat their food and drink their tea – it's an insult not to,' she says.

Arthur entered Iran on a tourist visa and was obliged to comply with the same rules as everybody else. 'In public I had to wear traditional dress – a headscarf and an overcoat that comes down to the knee,' she explains. 'Headscarves are compulsory, but most people don't want to wear them.'

Edyanita lives in Teheran and is Christian. She is a graphic design student and a friend of Haniye's. The Christian community in Iran has a special legal status – Christians are permitted to drink alcohol and dance so long as they are not in the company of Muslims. It is normal for Edyanita to have a glass of wine at home and she says that there is a much more relaxed attitude towards drinking in the Christian community. 'Edyanita was fed up with the fact that many of her [Muslim] friends are obsessed with drinking, parties and dressing provocatively. She blamed the authorities for putting so many restrictions on young people, arguing that they rebel against those rules,' Arthur says. 'Maybe she's right. But isn't that how young people all over the world behave?'

Although Arthur hoped to document the similarities between young women in Iran and in the West, she was surprised by the extent to which the Iranians she met were obsessed with their appearance. 'I thought it would be more hidden. Women aren't supposed to wear make-up, but they openly wear so much of it.' A keen interest in fashion is evident – in men as well as women. 'Even in some of the poor villages, I met women who save up to go into town and buy make-up,' Arthur says.

In addition, many young Iranians are under-going plastic surgery; there are an estimated 3,000 plastic surgeons operating in Teheran. Haniye was open about her nose job. 'I said to Haniye and [her friend] Farnoz, "What's this craze for nose jobs?" They said, "Oh yeah, I've had one, she's had one and Pagol is getting her jaw done." It was as though they were talking about what lipstick to wear.'

Saudi Woman on Jetski - Picture of the Day

Huda, About.com Guide to Islam

Despite what may seem like restrictive clothing, many Saudi women find ways to have some fun! Here a Saudi woman goes jetskiing in the Arabian Gulf.

Outspoken Saudi lawyer to face hearing

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- The Saudi lawyer representing a woman gang-raped and sentenced to 200 lashes faces a disciplinary hearing for insulting the Supreme Judicial Council.

Abdul Rahman al-Lahem faced a disciplinary hearing Wednesday for "insulting the Supreme Judicial Council and disobeying the rules and regulations" of the court, CNN reports.

Al-Lahem represented a victim of gang-rape sentenced to 200 lashes and a six-month prison term for violating Islamic law by being alone with an unrelated man before the rape. The Saudi courts revoked al-Lahem's license to practice law for speaking out against the sentence.

Al-Lahem said the media coverage and his role in the case invoked a harsh response, including calls for his head.

"I wish that those who oppose me could engage in a direct dialogue instead of calling for violence. Unfortunately, they are still stuck in a culture of closed-mindedness," al-Lahem told CNN.

Al-Lahem said the chief judge was among those whose opinions and sense of authority are outdated.

"He's used to lawyers who accept everything he says without questioning. I told him, 'You misunderstood the law, your honor' and he couldn't take that," he said.

Worship and anxiety lead the way in the pilgrimage to Mecca

Metro Detroiters worry they'll be mistreated by Saudi police during the Hajj
Gregg Krupa / The Detroit News

December 7, 2007

Latifeh Sabbagh packs at the family home in Dearborn on Thursday while she visits with her sister Houda Hamka and 3-year-old niece Batule Hamka. Later in the day she was to fly to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj, the traditional Muslim pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. (Bryan Mitchell / Special to The Detroit News)

DEARBORN -- With the death of a young friend and attending two religious retreats this summer, Latifeh Sabbagh, a 23-year-old social worker, is experiencing a formative spiritual moment in her life. So, she thought, what better time to go to the Hajj?

"I lost my friend on a day when I was contemplating whether I should go this year or not," said Sabbagh, who left Thursday for Saudi Arabia, one of thousands of Muslims from Metro Detroit who are beginning the journey this week. "And God helped me get through, so I just wanted to show my closeness to Him.

"I have to say, though, my anxiety level is kind of high, right now."

Sabbagh is not alone among Metro Detroit pilgrims in her feelings of intense happiness and concern about the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca that Muslims are required to make at least once in a lifetime, if they are physically able. It is one of the Five Pillars of Islam.

Mixed with the overwhelming religious sentiments of the Hajj and the anticipation of distant travel, some local Muslims say that recent incidents in Saudi Arabia make them increasingly anxious about their treatment by security police. The fears, some say, threaten to diminish an essential experience of the Hajj: The awesome sense of unity conjured by a few million Muslims all gathering in one place, relinquishing their earthly stations in life to attain perfect equality as they worship God.

Dearborn contains one of the largest concentrations of Shi'a Muslims in the United States. Their spiritual leaders say they are concerned their followers are targets for harassment, arrests and even beatings by members of the security forces who are practitioners of an acutely fundamentalist version of Islam, Wahhabism.

"This is a real conflict that goes on between a very strict minority, who happen to be custodians of the holy shrines in Saudi Arabia, and a much larger group that is really upset with this kind of treatment," said Carl Ernst, a professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina. "Even people who express deep and emotional reactions at the tomb of the Prophet are sometimes bothered.

"I have heard, over the years, of elderly women breaking down in tears in front of the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad and being beaten up with sticks," Ernst said.

The problems with extreme fundamentalists emphasize a point that many Muslims say critics do not understand: They are the primary victims of extremism.

Amane Karaali, 23, a public school teacher in Dearborn, who was to leave Thursday for the Hajj, says that her mentors make the risks clear.

"They tell me to be deferential and if the security police warn you, just do what they want you to do or they might do something more drastic," Karaali said. "You might go to jail. You might not be able to fulfill your duties on the Hajj."

Shi'a and Sunnis sometimes worship differently. The distinctions may be as simple as different methods of ceremonial cleansing before prayer. The Shi'a tend to show greater emotion and physical reverence at grave sites of Muslim leaders. The Wahhabis tend to detest perceived ostentation.

While many Muslims consider the different approaches largely incidental, they say a small portion of the security police in Saudi Arabia resort to beatings and arrests to prevent them from occurring during the Hajj.

Recent incidents involving residents of Metro Detroit have some of the pilgrims particularly on edge, this year.

They say that Imam Sayid Hassan al-Qazwini, the leader of the largest mosque in the country, the Islamic Center of America, was accosted last year at the Hajj. After he left Saudi Arabia, his nephew, Jawad al-Qazwini, was beaten, arrested and detained along with a group of other young worshippers from the United States and Great Britain. The group eventually was released after intervention by the British and American embassies.

"What happened to me was very minor," said Qazwini. "The harassment of Shi'a pilgrims is very typical in Saudi Arabia. But it escalates. It turns into physical assault -- like what happened to my nephew, which was a very serious matter."

Other local imams say they share the concerns and make them known to pilgrims under their charge.

"No doubt, we are kind of fearful of the my-way-or-the-highway kind of people," said Imam Mohamad Ali Elahi, the leader of the Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn Heights. "But these tend to be isolated incidents, and the Saudis are aware of the kind of damage this can bring to their reputation and the reputation of their country."

Saudi authorities said they grapple with intense security concerns, monitoring 2 million to 3 million worshippers from all over the world gathered in limited areas. Nail al-Jubeir, director of information at the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, said he is unaware of the particulars of individual cases. But he vowed that the Saudi government vehemently opposes any abuses.

"As far as any harassment or someone being beaten up or something like that, we will not tolerate it," Jubeir said. "With 2 million people gathered together, we have to be aware of safety, and sometimes in the past people have used the occasion for political purposes. Cooler heads have to prevail."

Sabbagh, the social worker, says she tries to resolve her concerns as part of deepening spiritual practice. It is only a matter of placing oneself in God's hands.

"We have a saying in Arabic, 'insh'Allah': If God is willing," she said.

"I am a strong believer that God has His way, and if anything does happen, hopefully He will give me the strength."

Syria blocks Facebook in Internet crackdown

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis

Reuters
Friday, November 23, 2007; 4:54 PM

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Syrian users of Facebook said on Friday the
authorities had blocked access to the social network Web site as part
of a crackdown on political activism on the Internet.

"Facebook helped further civil society in Syria and form civic groups
outside government control. This is why it has been banned," women's
rights advocate Dania al-Sharif told Reuters.

"They cut off communications between us and the outside world. We are
used to this behavior from our government," said Mais al-Sharbaji, who
set up a Facebook group for amateur Syrian photographers.

There was no comment form the government, which has intensified a
campaign against bloggers, virtual opinion forums and independent
media sites in recent months.

Syria has been under emergency rule since the Baath Party took power
in a 1963 coup. No public criticism of the party and the powerful
security apparatus is allowed. Scores of dissidents have been jailed
over the past year.

Thousands in Syrian use Facebook to communicate with relatives and
friends abroad. The social network also links groups with political
and cultural interests. Syrians who have pages on the site include
businessmen with links to the ruling class and pro-government
commentators.

Ammar al-Qurabi, head of the National Association for Human Rights,
said little independent political content published by Syrians on the
Internet is now tolerated.

"We have asked officials and they said Facebook could become a conduit
for Israeli penetration of our youth, but the real reason for blocking
the forum because it provides for criticism of the authorities,"
Qurabi said.

"There is now an 'Internet political crimes' ward at one prison.
Internet cafes have been required to limit their communications
services," said Qurabi.

Activists who have published Internet articles are often summoned for
interrogation and several have been arrested. Dozens of sites have
been banned for what officials deem as subversive activity.

Even Microsoft Hotmail is regularly blocked. There is no access to
scores of newspapers on the Web, such as the Lebanese daily an-Nahar
and al-Quds al-Arabi, which is published in London by veteran
Palestinian journalist Abdel-Bari Atwan.

The Internet started spreading in Syria only when President Bashar
al-Assad succeeded his father, Hafez al-Assad, in 2000. Bashar held
the title of head of the Syrian Computer Society before becoming
president.

(Reporting by Khaled Yacoub Oweis; Editing by Sami Aboudi)

Islam’s Silent Moderates

From the New York Times

December 7, 2007

Op-Ed Contributor

By AYAAN HIRSI ALI

The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication, flog each of them with 100 stripes: Let no compassion move you in their case, in a matter prescribed by Allah, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day. (Koran 24:2)

IN the last few weeks, in three widely publicized episodes, we have seen Islamic justice enacted in ways that should make Muslim moderates rise up in horror.

A 20-year-old woman from Qatif, Saudi Arabia, reported that she had been abducted by several men and repeatedly raped. But judges found the victim herself to be guilty. Her crime is called "mingling": when she was abducted, she was in a car with a man not related to her by blood or marriage, and in Saudi Arabia, that is illegal. Last month, she was sentenced to six months in prison and 200 lashes with a bamboo cane.

Two hundred lashes are enough to kill a strong man. Women usually receive no more than 30 lashes at a time, which means that for seven weeks the "girl from Qatif," as she's usually described in news articles, will dread her next session with Islamic justice. When she is released, her life will certainly never return to normal: already there have been reports that her brother has tried to kill her because her "crime" has tarnished her family's honor.

We also saw Islamic justice in action in Sudan, when a 54-year-old British teacher named Gillian Gibbons was sentenced to 15 days in jail before the government pardoned her this week; she could have faced 40 lashes. When she began a reading project with her class involving a teddy bear, Ms. Gibbons suggested the children choose a name for it. They chose Muhammad; she let them do it. This was deemed to be blasphemy.

Then there's Taslima Nasreen, the 45-year-old Bangladeshi writer who bravely defends women's rights in the Muslim world. Forced to flee Bangladesh, she has been living in India. But Muslim groups there want her expelled, and one has offered 500,000 rupees for her head. In August she was assaulted by Muslim militants in Hyderabad, and in recent weeks she has had to leave Calcutta and then Rajasthan. Taslima Nasreen's visa expires next year, and she fears she will not be allowed to live in India again.

It is often said that Islam has been "hijacked" by a small extremist group of radical fundamentalists. The vast majority of Muslims are said to be moderates.

But where are the moderates? Where are the Muslim voices raised over the terrible injustice of incidents like these? How many Muslims are willing to stand up and say, in the case of the girl from Qatif, that this manner of justice is appalling, brutal and bigoted — and that no matter who said it was the right thing to do, and how long ago it was said, this should no longer be done?

Usually, Muslim groups like the Organization of the Islamic Conference are quick to defend any affront to the image of Islam. The organization, which represents 57 Muslim states, sent four ambassadors to the leader of my political party in the Netherlands asking him to expel me from Parliament after I gave a newspaper interview in 2003 noting that by Western standards some of the Prophet Muhammad's behavior would be unconscionable. A few years later, Muslim ambassadors to Denmark protested the cartoons of Muhammad and demanded that their perpetrators be prosecuted.

But while the incidents in Saudi Arabia, Sudan and India have done more to damage the image of Islamic justice than a dozen cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, the organizations that lined up to protest the hideous Danish offense to Islam are quiet now.

I wish there were more Islamic moderates. For example, I would welcome some guidance from that famous Muslim theologian of moderation, Tariq Ramadan. But when there is true suffering, real cruelty in the name of Islam, we hear, first, denial from all these organizations that are so concerned about Islam's image. We hear that violence is not in the Koran, that Islam means peace, that this is a hijacking by extremists and a smear campaign and so on. But the evidence mounts up.

Islamic justice is a proud institution, one to which more than a billion people subscribe, at least in theory, and in the heart of the Islamic world it is the law of the land. But take a look at the verse above: more compelling even than the order to flog adulterers is the command that the believer show no compassion. It is this order to choose Allah above his sense of conscience and compassion that imprisons the Muslim in a mindset that is archaic and extreme.

If moderate Muslims believe there should be no compassion shown to the girl from Qatif, then what exactly makes them so moderate?

When a "moderate" Muslim's sense of compassion and conscience collides with matters prescribed by Allah, he should choose compassion. Unless that happens much more widely, a moderate Islam will remain wishful thinking.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a former member of the Dutch Parliament and a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, is the author of "Infidel."

Remember God - Hadith of the Day

HADITH OF THE DAY

Be Always Busy with the Remembrance of God

A man once said to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him): "The laws
of Islam are too heavy for me, so tell me something that I can easily
follow." The Prophet replied: "Let your tongue be always busy with the
remembrance of God."

The Prophet also said: "No other act is a more effective means for
deliverance from the chastisement of God than the remembrance of God."

Fiqh-us-Sunnah, Volume 4, Number 99

Saudi Arabia Launches First Women's Laundry

From IOL

November 29, 2007

Riyadh - In a first for Saudi Arabia, 50 women began working for a shop offering laundry for pilgrims in Mecca, media reports said Thursday.

About 90 per cent of the workers in the first-of-its-kind shop are Saudis, local Okaz newspaper said.

Shop manager Mona Ba'arm told Okaz that the idea of the shop was inspired by a family business working in the hotel industry after they had sensed a pressing need for a women's laundry.

No "masculine elements" are ever allowed to step in the store, Ba'arm said.

About 35 women supervise the washing process, 15 others work on administrative jobs and the rest deliver the service.

The female workers received intensive training for 90 days to operate advanced machines, Okaz reported.

In another first, a girls' college pioneered the introduction of physical education classes for some of its female students for the first time in the history of the kingdom, al-Watan newspaper reported Wednesday, citing the college dean.

The sports classes will be part of a health education course for female freshmen students.

Girls' schools in the conservative kingdom do not offer physical education classes and many privately-owned gyms and pools are off limits to women. So are walking trails in Saudi cities.

The kingdom's clergy, which embraces the radical Wahhabi interpretation of Islam, cautions against introducing physical education in girls' schools.

They argue that girls should not disrobe outside their homes as changing in locker rooms may cause them to lose their morals.

Women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to drive cars. Neither are they allowed to get married unless approved by a male guardian, who should be either her father, brother or another blood relative. - Sapa-DPA

Saudi artist breaks barriers for women

From the Chicago Tribune

Woman/Style

By Massoud A. Derhally

Bloomberg News

November 28, 2007

Her father is chairman of National Commercial Bank, Saudi Arabia's
largest lender. She has a degree in business from Riyadh's King Saud
University. Now, Hanan Bahamdan is making her global mark -- in art.

The sale opens a path for Saudi Arabia's female artists, who had been
left out of a rush by collectors into Middle East works. Oil prices
have tripled in four years, boosting the ranks of wealthy collectors
in the region, while a decade-long boom in the global art market has
enticed new investors.

"This is a first step, and many Saudi artists are exhilarated with
the sale of my painting at Sotheby's," Bahamdan said in a telephone
interview from Riyadh. "They say: 'You've opened the door and
opportunity for people to learn about us.'"

Christie's International, the world's biggest auction house, sold $15
million of contemporary works in Dubai on Oct. 31, led by a record
$657,000, including commission, for Ahmed Mustapha's "Qu'ranic
Polyptych of Nine Panels." Mustapha had held the previous record of
$284,800, set at Christie's first auction in the emirate in May 2006.

Bahamdan, 41, has been painting for 20 years and has held exhibitions
in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. About 300 people attended her first
exhibition in 1991 at her house in Riyadh, where she had 50 pictures
on display. Later, she worked for two years in a studio in Egypt with
Mohamed Sabry, one of the leaders of pastel painting in the country.
She has also lived in Beirut and London.

"At the beginning it was difficult for art full stop, and not just
women," Bahamdan said. "Then, gradually, support for artists grew, and
I found tremendous support myself. I am different because, perhaps, I
have lived abroad for 10 years and tasted freedom."

Saudi Arabia is the only country that prohibits women from driving, a
ban that was challenged in 1990, when 47 women drove in convoy through
Riyadh. The protesters said their passports were temporarily
confiscated and they were barred from employment for two years.

"Freedom is not just about driving a car," Bahamdan said. "Freedom is
also about being able to achieve one's goals."

The kingdom has undergone a metamorphosis in the last 20 years in
painting and art, Bahamdan said. Not only is there an increase in the
number of venues in Saudi Arabia where work can be exhibited, but
there is now more acceptance for artists to show portraits, which some
in the religious establishment frown upon. Nudes still are not
allowed.

Female contemporary Arab artists have a long way to go to achieve
international recognition, according to Bahamdan.

Last month's sale was Sotheby's first in London dedicated exclusively
to modern and contemporary Arab and Iranian art, said Lina Lazaar, an
art specialist at the auction house. About 70 percent of the buyers
were from the Middle East, 20 percent from Europe and 10 percent from
Asia, Sotheby's said.

"It was unbelievably well received and has been absolutely great," Lazaar said.

Nightlife in Ramallah, the West Bank - Picture of the Day

On the street Like its Israeli counterpart, the West Bank city of Ramallah, some 60km (37 miles) east, also has a high proportion of young people, but a much more limited nightlife. "We just walk and hang around," said 16-year-old Aref Jadala (centre).   "There aren't many places to go and it's a bit expensive - prices are like in Europe."

Pakistan's Dancing Girls Fear Taleban

From the BBC

 

Thursday, December 6, 2007

By M Ilyas Khan
BBC News, Swat, northern Pakistan

 

Work for girls such as Palwasha is drying up

On a chilly October night, a late visitor bangs the huge steel gate of a house in a narrow alley of Mingora city, the headquarters of Pakistan's troubled northern district, Swat.

But no-one answers.

A painted sign on top of the gate says: "No more singing and dancing from today - 8 August 2007."

A curious neighbour walks up to the visitor, telling him the girls inside "have got letters from the Taleban, advising them to put an end to their business if they don't want their house blown up".

Whisky and dance

 

Taleban sign saying the dancing girl establishment is closed

People in the Bunrh neighbourhood, the so-called music street of Mingora, confirm this information.

"Dozens of families have shifted to other cities, while many others are stuck here without any means of a living," says Fazl-e-Maula, the father-in-law of a local dancing girl, Nasreen.

Local Taleban have been spreading their influence in Swat since 2005, and are currently holding large swathes of territory just north of Mingora.

Last August, they distributed a dozen letters across the Bunrh neighbourhood threatening bomb attacks unless the dancers and musicians gave up their professions.

Swat has been long known for its fair-skinned dancing girls, popular with people who wish to have dancing at a wedding party or any other private party across most of northern Pakistan.

Unlike some dancing girls in the Shahi Mohallah area of Lahore, the women in this conservative city have never had a reputation for providing any sexual services.

This is too much - I don't feel like dancing any more
Former dancing girl Nasreen

Many people visit the girls in Swat at their houses in Bunrh for a glass of whisky and a dance.

Down the decades, many of the girls have shown themselves to be talented radio singers or movie stars.

But in recent years the tide has turned against them in a big way.

It started with the "Islamisation" policy of former military ruler, Gen Zia ul-Haq, in the 1980s, which saw the rise of the clergy's influence in social life. This made dance parties at weddings increasingly unpopular.

In 2002, a religious alliance, the MMA, came to power in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and banned all cultural shows where these girls performed.

At the turn of the millennium, many girls were on their way out of business.

"I was too old to dance by then," recalls Shah Bano, 38. "My daughter had her admirers, but when the MMA came to power, invitations to wedding parties began to get few and far between. And there was the risk of arrest and public humiliation."

Two years ago her husband, Babu - "the best drummer in Mingora" - died. This gave her son, a staunch opponent of dancing in the family, a chance to force his sister out of business.

"I work for a local butcher," says Shaukat Ali, Shah Bano's son. "The wages are not great, but I'm glad my sister doesn't have to dance for a living."

Violent campaign

 

The Talaben have been gaining strength in Swat

The girls who turned to music concerts and stage shows, often held in Peshawar, the capital of NWFP, were thrown out of business when the cultural shows were banned.

Some of them benefited temporarily when the aficionados and businessmen on NWFP's dance and music scene diversified into the video CD business, producing and distributing long plays and dance sessions on VCDs and DVDs.

But a violent campaign by militant Taleban has caused this business to decline across large parts of NWFP. Hundreds of video outlets have been blown up. Others have voluntarily closed down or switched to other businesses.

These repeated reverses have frustrated many girls and their families. Nasreen, 26, a mother of two, is one of them.

She says she was "hurt when some maulanas [clerics] sighted her and banned her stage show in Peshawar four years ago".

"It was a problem because the men of the house - my husband and father-in-law - knew no other trade except to play musical instruments."

Optimists and rebels

Palwasha idolises Bollywood stars

In 2006, she received almost half a dozen contracts to perform for music video CDs, often recorded on private premises.

It brought her enough money to buy a passenger van for her husband. However, due to his inexperience the income from the van has been far from satisfactory.

She says she tried to supplement the household income by receiving guests at home, until the Taleban in Swat issued their threats in August, leading to a complete ban on all singing and dancing in Mingora.

"This is too much. I don't feel like dancing any more," she says.

But Mingora's music street is not without its optimists and rebels.

"My heart tells me that things will change for the better, but I hope I'm alive by then," says Palwasha, an enthusiastic 18-year-old novice.

And for a novice she has done very well so far.

Unlike Nasreen, she has taken risks and done more than 20 CD plays and video dance sessions, despite an explicit ban by the Taleban.

She has also sung numbers or performed on songs for the official Pakistan Television (PTV) and a Pashto language private TV channel, AVT Khyber.

Three months ago, she did a small role for a teleplay produced by Pakistan's Geo Entertainment TV channel.

She aspires to go to Lahore and act in movies, but neither she nor her uncle and guardian have any contacts there.

And it is dangerous to stay on in Mingora.

"I have defied the Taleban's ban, and sometimes I suspect that they know it. I only hope to get out of here before they blow me up," she says.

The names of some of the people in this article have been changed.

Iran: Young Man Executed for Alleged Sex Crime

From the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC)

Date: December 5, 2007 Middle East » Iran » Press Release

For Immediate Release

Contact: Hossein Alizadeh, IGLHRC Communications Coordinator, 212-430-6016

(New York, Wednesday December 5, 2007) - The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) has learned today that despite an order by the Iranian Chief Justice to nullify his death sentence, Mr. Makvan Mouloodzadeh was executed in Kermanshah Central Prison at 5 a.m. this morning, Iranian time. Neither Mr. Mouloodzadeh's family or his lawyer were told about the execution until after it occurred. IGLHRC is still investigating the facts in this case.

"This is a shameful and outrageous travesty of justice and international human rights law," said Paula Ettelbrick, IGLHRC's executive director. "How many more young Iranians have to die before the international community takes action?"

Mr. Mouloodzadeh was a 21-year-old Iranian citizen who was accused of committing anal rape (ighab) with other young boys when he was 13 years old. However, at Mr. Mouloodzadeh's trial, all the witnesses retracted their pre-trial testimonies, claiming to have lied to the authorities under duress. Makvan also told the court that his confession was made under coercion and pleaded not guilty. On June 7, 2007, the Seventh District Criminal Court of Kermanshah in Western Iran found him guilty and sentenced him to death. Despite his lawyer's appeal, the Supreme Court upheld his death sentence on August 1, 2007. The case caused an international uproar, and prompted a letter writing campaign by IGLHRC and similar actions by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Outrage! and Everyone Group.

In response to mounting public pressure, and following a detailed petition submitted to the Iranian Chief Justice by Mr. Mouloodzadeh's lawyer, the Iranian Chief Justice, Ayatollah Seyed Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi, nullified the impending death sentence of Mr. Mouloodzadeh. In his November 10, 2007 opinion (1/86/8607), the Iranian Chief Justice described the death sentence to be in violation of Islamic teachings, the religious decrees of high-ranking Shiite clerics, and the law of the land.

In accordance with Iranian legal procedure, Mr. Mouloodzadeh's case was sent to the Special Supervision Bureau of the Iranian Justice Department, a designated group of judges who are responsible for reviewing and ordering retrials of flawed cases flagged by the Iranian Chief Justice. However, in defiance of the Chief Justice, the judges decided to ratify the original court's ruling and ordered the local authorities to carry out the execution.

Mr. Mouloodzadeh's execution came days after a panel at the UN General Assembly passed a resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty.

You can read IGLHRC's action alert on our website: http://www.iglhrc.org/site/iglhrc/section.php?id=5&detail=797

Our Letter to the Iranian authorities is also posted on our website in both English and Persian: http://www.iglhrc.org/site/iglhrc/section.php?id=5&detail=798
##


The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) is a leading human rights organization solely devoted to improving the rights of people around the world who are targeted for imprisonment, abuse or death because of their sexuality, gender identity or HIV/AIDS status. IGLHRC addresses human rights violations by partnering with and supporting activists in countries around the world, monitoring and documenting human rights abuses, engaging offending governments, and educating international human rights officials. A non-profit, non-governmental organization, IGLHRC is based in New York, with offices in Johannesburg and Buenos Aires. Visit http://www.iglhrc.org for more information

British Teacher Home From Sudan

Gillian Gibbons, center, the British teacher jailed in Sudan for letting her students name a teddy bear Muhammad, with her son John and daughter Jessica shortly after her arrival at Heathrow airport in London.

December 4, 2007

British Teacher Home From Sudan
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 12:40 p.m. ET

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) -- Muslim leaders bearing flowers delivered a message of support Tuesday before the homecoming in northern England of a British teacher jailed in Sudan for allowing her students to name a teddy bear Muhammad.

Gillian Gibbons was due to return to Liverpool after being pardoned for insulting Islam -- ending a case that set off an international outcry and angered many moderate Muslims.

After traveling through the night from Sudan, Gibbons told reporters awaiting her arrival at London's Heathrow Airport that she was stunned by the swift turn of events and her eight days in jail for insulting Islam.

''I'm just an ordinary middle-aged primary school teacher. I went out there to have an adventure, and got a bit more than I bargained for,'' she said. ''I don't think anyone could have imagined it would snowball like this.''

At her son's home in Liverpool, members of the Islamic Society of Britain brought a bouquet with the message: ''Welcome back, Gillian.''

''It was outrageous, she shouldn't have been treated that way,'' said Dr. Abdul Hamid, 33. ''She's been the victim of something ridiculous. We're glad she's back home and her ordeal is all over.''

Gibbons, 54, was freed Monday after two Muslim members of Britain's House of Lords met with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. The teacher sent the president a statement saying she did not mean any offense.

''I'm very glad to be back, and I'm a little shocked about all the media attention that I've been getting. I'm looking forward to seeing my family and friends and to have a good rest, and I'm hoping that you'll give me space in order to do that,'' she said in a statement.

''It has been an ordeal, but I'd like want you to know that I was well-treated in prison and everybody was very kind to me.''

Gibbons expressed sorrow at leaving Sudan, and said that until she was jailed, she had had only good experiences.

''I wouldn't like it to put anyone off going to Sudan -- in fact I know of a lovely school that needs a new Year Two teacher,'' she said.

Her son John and daughter Jessica went to Heathrow from their homes in Liverpool, a port city in northwest England.

Gibbons smiled broadly as she was hugged by her son, and jokingly said to him, ''That's enough affection for one day.''

Al-Bashir insisted Gibbons had a fair trial, in which she was convicted of insulting Islam's Prophet Muhammad and sentenced to 15 days in prison, but the president agreed to pardon her during the meeting with the British delegation, said Ghazi Saladdin, a senior presidential adviser.

Gibbons was cautious about answering questions.

When asked her feelings about the offense she was accused of, she said: ''I don't think I really know enough about it to comment really. It's a very difficult area and a very delicate area.''

She added, ''I was very upset to think that I might have caused offense to people.''

Gibbons said she learned of the intense media coverage of the story on her second day in prison.

Asked if she was terrified of prison, she said, ''That's an understatement.''

''I was in two different prisons,'' she added. I never actually went to the main women's prison, thankfully. The first one I was at was just like a downtown prison -- like a lockup. I was treated the same as any other Sudanese prisoner in that you were given the bare minimum.

''Then I was moved to another prison and there the Ministry of the Interior sent me a bed. which is possibly the best present I've ever had.''

Children and staff at Liverpool's Garston Church of England Primary School, where Gibbons taught for 12 years until 2000, had been praying for her safe return.

''It's been a bizarre and busy week,'' head teacher Rick Widdowson told The Associated Press. ''Gill's safety has been paramount and now she's back home it's the first day of getting her life back on an even keel.''
 

Who Feeds the Earth? - Muslim Wisdom

How many are the creatures that carry not their own sustenance? It is Allah who feeds (both) them and you: for He hears and knows (all things).

-Qur'an, Al-'Ankabut, Surah 29:60

Gay Muslim Outs Himself to Muslim Scholars at Conference

Gay Muslim Outs Himself to Muslim Scholars at Conference

Doors of tolerance start to open for gay Muslims?

JOHANNESBURG, December 3, 2007 (PlusNews) – Suhail AbualSameed looked calm, yet he was shaking inside. He was seated before a row of ulama,
distinguished Islamic scholars, from Afghanistan to Yemen at the
International Consultation on Islam and HIV/AIDS, organised by the charity,
Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW), in Johannesburg, South Africa, last week.

The previous day, several of them had denounced homosexuality as un-Islamic
and evil.

Today, AbualSameed had something to tell them.

"As a gay Muslim, I feel unsafe, unloved and unrespected in this space," he
said.

"Were I to become HIV-positive, the first thing I would lose is my Muslim
community. I couldn't come to you guys for support."

You could cut the tension the room with a knife.

AbualSameed continued: "I wish you did not refer to gays with the (Arabic)
words 'shaz' and 'luti' – perverts and rapists – because we are not."

Two men in keffiyas, the gingham headcloth worn by men in many Muslim
countries, waved their arms to silence him but the chairman nodded for him
to continue.

Spellbound, the audience listened as AbualSameed, a Jordanian living in
Canada, did the unthinkable: outing himself.

The groundbreaking consultation brought together Muslim community leaders,
academics, doctors, relief workers and HIV-positive activists to rethink the
Islamic response to HIV and AIDS.  One key issue was HIV prevention among
hard-to-reach vulnerable groups like sex workers, street children, injecting
drug users, and men who have sex with men.

Jaffer Inamdar, the HIV-positive founder and programme manager of the
Positive Lives Foundation in Goa, India, told IRIN/PlusNews: "Lots of sex,
drugs and gay activity take place during the high season from September to
April in this popular tourist destination.  Harsh, condemning language make
them [gays] run away, hide and continue to spread HIV."

Anti-gay laws

Homosexuality is forbidden and considered a crime in most Islamic countries.
Six officially Islamic countries (Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, United
Arab Emirates, Yemen, and the 12 northern states of Nigeria) invoke sharia –
Islamic religious law – and maintain the death penalty for consensual
same-sex sex, according to human rights watchdog Amnesty International.

Other countries punish homosexuality with fines, jail or lashes, coupled
with social stigma and blaming Western culture for introducing gay
lifestyles.

Not surprisingly, AbualSameed was fearful.

"I saw their gaze, their body attitude, and my memory told me there could be
a physical reaction," he said.

But he had nothing to fear.

"Afterwards, veiled women, bearded men, the most religious types, came to me
and apologised if they had said something offensive, if they had made me
feel unloved or unsafe."

Each friendly gesture signalled belonging.

"This is us: our culture is intimate, warm, based on relationships.  When I
outed to my family, they did not turn on me," a relieved AbualSameed told
IRIN/PlusNews.

The following morning, the ulama had a surprise.

Conference spokesperson and IRW head of policy Willem van Eekelen read their
collective statement, saying that although Islam does not accept
homosexuality, Islamic leaders would try to help create an environment in
which gay people could approach social workers and find help against AIDS
without feeling unsafe.

"This first time ever that a high-level religious forum has talked,
acknowledged and accepted gays," said AbualSameed.

"This will open the door to talks with the Muslim gay community and help
other gay Muslims to come out in a safer space."

To see theologians from Egyptian and Syrian universities, and imams – Muslim
community leaders – from India, Sudan and Pakistan defy official Islamic
homophobia is "definitively a first," said sheikh Abul Kalam Azad, chairman
of the Masjid (mosque) Council for Community Advancement, in Bangladesh.

"Homosexuality is a sin but we should not be cruel.  They [gays] suffer a
lot in the Muslim world."

Inamdar welcomed the statement.

"There are many gays in my group [in Goa].  Islam says it is a sin and we
have to follow Islamic rulings, but we are all human and deserve respect."

An unlikely ally for gay rights turned out to be Sudanese sheikh Mohamed
Hashim Alhakim, dressed in a white robe with gold trimmings and a white
turban, and his wife, clad in a black hijab, with their baby just behind
him.

Alkahim runs the S-Smart Training and Consultancy Centre in Khartoum, which
also runs AIDS awareness programmes.

"I used to be very hard against homosexuals and sex workers," he said.  "But
I learned to respect their humanity.  I advise them to change, but if they
are going to continue they must practice safe sex so they don't harm
themselves and their partners."

Evil ways

During the weeklong consultation, AbualSameed, who is coordinator of the
Newcomer/Immigrant Youth Programme at the Sherbourne Health Centre in
Toronto, had endured homophobic statements.

Just the day before, one scholar had ranked homosexuality with bestiality
and adultery as evils to avoid.

"The harshness of the comments made me passionate; I had to do something for
my own identity and dignity, and of other gay Muslims," said AbualSameed.

His decision to speak out was nurtured in his conference working group, made
up of Muslims from Iran, Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania.

South African psychologist Sabra Desai spoke about care and solidarity, and
recalled the Prophet's words: "'If one part of my body hurts, my whole body
hurts'," she said. "I take this to mean that if one member of my community
hurts, we all hurt."

Then she squeezed AbualSameed's hand under the table and passed him the
microphone.

Slowly, he started: "As a Gay Muslim …".

And with every word, the doors of tolerance opened wider.

(c) 2007 IRIN/PlusNews, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.  The opinions expressed
do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations or its Member States.

Sudan frees Briton in teddy row

Sudan frees Briton in teddy row

KHARTOUM, Sudan (CNN) -- A British teacher in Sudan jailed over the
naming of a teddy bear has been released from police custody, the
British Embassy in Khartoum said, several hours after Sudan's
president Omar al-Bashir pardoned her.

Gillian Gibbons, freed after Sudan's president Omar al-Bashir granted
her a presidential pardon earlier Monday, apologized for any distress
her actions may have caused.

"I have great respect for the Islamic religion and would not knowingly
offend anyone and I am sorry if I caused any distress," Gibbons said,
in a statement read out by Sayeeda Warsi, one of two Muslim lawmakers
who traveled out to Sudan to secure her release.

Gibbons, 54, was sentenced to 15 days in jail last Thursday for having
allowed her students at a private school to name a teddy bear
"Mohammed."

Without a pardon, she would have remained in jail another six days.

She is expected to leave Sudan on flight to England soon after the
courts ruled she should be deported after completing her sentence, the
spokesman said.

Gibbons also praised the "kindness and generosity" of the Sudanese and
said she would be sad to leave her job at the Unity High School and
said she would miss her students "terribly".

The pardon came following efforts by Nazir Ahmed and Sayeeda Warsi,
Muslim members of the House of Lords, to persuade the Sudanese
government that releasing Gibbons would create international goodwill
toward their country. Watch Time magazine's Sam Dealey's report on the
pardon. »

Ahmed, who is a member of the House of Lords --the UK's upper
parliamentary chamber, told CNN that Sudan's president was impressed
that Gibbons intended no harm.

"This was an unfortunate, unintentional, innocent misunderstanding," Ahmed said.

He added: "I am very confident that the whole matter will be resolved
within hours rather than days."

"Common sense has prevailed," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown
said. He added that Gibbons will be taken to the British embassy in
Khartoum after "what must have been a difficult ordeal".

British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, said he welcomed President
al-Bashir's intervention.

"Gillian's welfare has been our priority at every stage. Gillian will
now be released into the care of British Embassy officials in
Khartoum. We will be discussing with Gillian her preferences for her
return to the UK," he said.

Gibbon's son John told reporters he was sure his mom would be "very
pleased", but said the family were holding in their excitement until
she returned to Britain.

"It's been a good news morning, but the family won't be 100 per cent
thrilled until she's on the plane.

"It's been a strange old week, very strange for the family, and we're
pleased it's coming to an end," he said.

He also expressed his family's gratitude towards the British
government for helping to secure Gibbon's release, adding they were
"thankful" for the Sudanese president's decision.

The efforts of Ahmed and Warsi had been complicated by pressure from
hard-liners for Gibbons to serve out the last week of a 15-day
sentence.

Some protesters called for her execution.

She has apologized to a faculty member offended by the toy's name,
Time magazine's Sam Dealey told CNN.

The members of Parliament met privately with Gibbons on Saturday, who
told them she was being treated well, they said. Warsi told Dealey she
was doing "remarkably."

Gibbons was cleared of charges of inciting hatred and showing contempt
for religious beliefs, her lawyer, Ali Ajeb, said.

On Friday, hundreds of protesters, some waving ceremonial swords from
trucks equipped with loudspeakers, gathered outside the presidential
palace to denounce Gibbons.

What Pursuit Will Bless You - Muslim Wisdom

Do not regard yourself as infamous or weak.
Reflect upon your aspirations, O noble one.
No matter what your station be,
keep searching.
For this pursuit is a blessed course.
This quest removes all impediments to God.

-Rumi, "The Life and Thought of Rumi"

Gay' bride' beaten in Morocco

From United Press International

AL-QASR AL-KABIR, Morocco, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Protesters in Morocco rioted over the lavish wedding of a gay couple whose celebration reportedly included slaying a bull and drinking its blood.

More than 600 people in al-Qasr al-Kabir turned out to condemn the northern city's leniency toward homosexuals and criticize the couple for a disintegration of Muslim values, al-Arabiya, a satellite TV station in Dubai, reported this week.

The bride, a well-known gay man named Foud, surrendered to police after being beaten and was sentenced to jail along with five wedding guests for violating laws against homosexuality, al-Arabiya reported. The whereabouts and identity of the groom were unknown.

The wedding, which lasted two days, resembled a traditional Moroccan ceremony with the bride adorned with jewelry over a gown. A bull given as a wedding gift was slain to the celebratory sound of ululations as the bride drank the bull's blood from a glass, one of the guests reported.

Though homosexuality is illegal in Morocco, gay men and women recently were allowed to form an advocacy group demanding equal rights and an end to discrimination.