ذات مَرّة أثناءَ رِحلةٍ في البَرِيّة
وَجَدتُ كُرَةً زجاجيةً سِحرية
قادرةً على الاتصالات الروحية
عَبْرَ المساحاتِ البَرِّيّةِ والبحرية
لتَنْقُلَ أخبارَ البشرية
في أيّ مكانٍ على الكُرةِ الأرضِية
لَمَسْتُها، فإذا بوجهٍ لهُ بَعْضُ الشَفَافِيّة
قُلتُ لها أخبريني عن العراق
وعنْ أهلي والرفاق
فقدْ طالَ الفُراق
قالتْ: ما سأقولُهُ قدْ لا يُطاق
قلتُ: قولي ما عندَكِ
قالتْ: صِراعٌ على الكراسي ودَمٌ مُراق
وخرابٌ في كُلِّ زُقاق
ودُخانٌ يملأُ الآفاق
وشعبٌ أصابَهُ انشقاق
قلت لها: كذَبْتِ، فليسَ هذا ما وُعِدْنا بهِ ولا ما جَرى مِنْ اتفاق
ضَحِكَتْ وقهقهَتْ ثمَّ قالَتْ: أفِقْ يا مُعاق
أعلمتُها بقسوةِ أخبارِها
فأجابتْ: أفضلُ مِنَ النِّفاق
عُدْتُ وسألْتُ عنِ الميناء
عنِ البصرةِ الفيحاء
ردَّت: يَمرَحُ فيها الغُرَباء
عابثينَ بِكُلِّ فَناء
قلتُ: فَماذا عَن النجفِ وكربلاء؟
قالتْ: سوقٌ لِتَصريفِ البضاعةِ السوداء
فقلتُ حائرا: والمَوصلِ الحدباء؟
قالتْ: المٌ ونحيبٌ وبُكاء
قلتُ: عسى خيراً في الفلوجةِ أو سامراء
قالتْ: ما أكثر الشهداء
قلتُ: فأينَ أهلنا النُجباء؟
قالتْ: إستقوى عليهِم العُمَلاء
أصابني الدوار، بهذهِ الأخبار
سرَحْتُ في الأفكار، بحثاً عن إستقرار
سألتُ عنْ كركوك
فجاءَني الجواب: كَشُعلةٍ منْ نار
قلوبٌ مستعرةٌ وعيونٌ يتطايرُ منْها الشرار
كلُّ من سارَ عليها إدّعى أنّ غيرَهُ غريبٌ عن الدار
قلتُ: لماذا
لا تُحَلُّ خلافاتُنا بحِكْمةٍ ووَقار؟
من هوَ صاحبُ القرار؟
قالتْ: إنهُ هوَ الواحدُ القهار
قلتُ: لمْ تَفْهمي سؤالي
قالتْ: بلى، لكنَّ جوابَهُ عَصِيٌّ حتى على الأسْحار
حسِبتُها تَهزأُ بِنا لِما جلَبَتْهُ لنا الأقدار
فأجبتُها بحَزْمٍ: لنْ يكونَ لكِ إنتصار
نحنُ منْ تَحدّى الأخطار
نحنُ أناسٌ صامِدونَ كالأحجار
صابرونَ كصَبْرِ الأشجار
نحنُ شعبٌ بنى حضارةً تشْهدُ عليها كَثرةُ الآثار
نحنُ منْ بَنى بغدادَ وأحاطها بالأسوار
نحنُ منْ رَفَعَ الملويّةَ مِئذنةً للأنصار
نحنُ منْ وثَّقَ بالكتابة غزارة منَ الأفكار
نحنُ منْ بِحِبْرِ الكُتُبِ لوَّنَ الأنْهار
نحنُ منْ برَعَ في الرياضياتِ، نحنُ منْ فسَّرَ كيفِيّةَ الإبصار
نحنُ منْ دَحَرَ عدُوّهُ في حطّين، نحنُ منْ إنتصرَ في ذي قار
فقاطَعَتْني وقالتْ: بلْ هُمْ أجدادُكم كانوا من الأخيار
سألتُ: ماذا تغيَّرَ بعدَ ذاكَ الانهيار؟
قالتْ: نَخَرَتْ قلوبَكُم الأنانيّةُ، واستَعْبَدَكُم الدينار
أخجلَني كلامُها كأنَّها تُوَجِّهُ لنا الإنذار
ثمَّ عُدْتُ بصوتٍ خافتٍ ووجهٍ يميلُ الى الاحمرار:
هلْ منْ سبيلٍ لمحوِ هذا العار
لإعادةِ الأمجاد لهذهِ الأمصار؟
هلْ منْ نهايةٍ لهذا الليلِ، هلْ منْ مجيءٍ للنهار؟
فالشمسُ غائبةٌ منذُ كُنا صغار
وما عُدنا قادرينَ على الإنتظار
أخبرينا عنْ سِرِّ أجدادِنا إنْ كُنتِ تعلمينَ الأسرار
قالتْ: سِرُّهُمْ يعرِفُهُ الصغارُ والكبار
تضحيةٌ وثقةٌ
واتكالٌ على النفسِ
أتمنى من كل إنسان عراقي التفكير في مستقبله ومستقبل بلده والابتعاد عن لغة الطائفية
دعونا نبني العراق معا . دعونا نعيد أمجادنا. دعونا نكون عبرة ومثالا للدول الأخرى في التعايش السلمي والتسامح واحترام الرأي الآخر بغض النظر عن ديننا ومذهبنا
لن يستفيد أحد من خراب العراق إلا أعداء العراق ولن يستفيد أحد من عمار العراق إلا أهل العراق
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Shalash's Writings: 'Cheers Iraq!' - 'بـصـحـة الـعـراق'
كتابات - شلش العراقي
ايها الاخوة دعيت ومجموعة من ابناء عمومتي واخوالي وجيراني ، مع حشد كبير من ابناء مدينتنا الى اداء صلاة مشتركة مع اهلنا ، ذهبنا الى هناك واستقبلونا بحفاوة وود ومحبة ليست بجديدة عليهم ، تجاذبنا اطراف الحديث بيننا وتحدث بعض الاخوة من رجال الدين عن ضرورة هذه اللقاءات الحميمية ، وهذه اللقاءات ايها السادة ،هي ليست حفلات تعارف ولا جلسات مصالحة بين طرفين متخاصمين ، انما هي باعتقادي المتواضع رسائل مهمة لاولئك الذين يعملون في الظلام لتلويث اخوتنا العميقة ، والتي ورثناها عن ابائنا واجدادنا و امتد وجودها منذ وجود انسان وادي الرافدين على هذه الارض ، بعد الانتهاء من الصلاة المشتركة تعانقنا ونزلت دموعنا وانزل الله على قلوبنا رحمته وطمأنينته ،
الله مااجمل محبتنا وتآخينا الذي يغيض الاعداء وينكد عليهم عيشتهم ، فرحت بدموعي كما فرحت بدموع الاخرين وادركت عظمة قلوبنا ، العراقيون يااخوان اصحاب قلوب رحيمة وطيبة وعلى نياتها ، لكن الظلاميون يريدون قتل اجمل واحلى صفاتنا ، لعنهم الله واعادهم الى جحهورهم خارج الحدود،
في طريق العودة كان معنا لسوء حظي عمي شناوة وفي نفس السيارة التي انحشر فيها اكثر من ثلاثين راكب ، ووسط هذا الجمع الخيّر صاح على شناوة بصوت عال : ها شلش شفت الصلاة شكد حلوة ، بالله بشرفك مو احسن من ( ذيج الشغلات ) ؟ ،
طبعا الجميع فهموا معنى( ذيج الشغلات ) فمنهم من اطلق ضحكة عالية ومنهم من ابتسم ، ومنهم من تعوذ بالله من شر الشيطان الرجيم ، والتفتوا الي ليشاهدوا علامات الاحراج التي سببها هذا العم الارهابي ،
اطرقت رأسي للارض خجلا واحمرت وجنتاي (هاي جذب) ، وظلت كلمات شناوة تطن في راسي ، فتذكرت (ذيج الشغلات) التي يقصدها شناوة والتي تعني العرق والبيرة واللبلبي والجاجيك ومشتقاتها ، تذكرت البارات وايامها البهية ، وكيف اننا اهل العرك عراقيين بكل معنى الكلمة ، لاننا خلصنا حياتنا نسكر سكرة مشتركة تظم جميع فئات الشعب وتكويناته ، وبدون اي تمييز ، وكنا كذلك وبعد الربع الاول من عرق العصرية ابو القبغ الاسود ، يشتغل بيناتنا البوس والعناق الذي يبدأ بعد عبارة:
- اني مادري وين شايفك ،
واننا في البارات ايها الاخوة الذين لم يتشرفوا بدخولها من قبل ، احبة واخوانا لاننا بصراحة عراقيين فقط ،لانعرف من هو السني والشيعي والصابئي والكردي والتركماني الجميع عراقيين وبس ، بدليل انه ليست هناك بارات شيعية وبارات سنية ، وكان ميخائيل ابو البار الذي يسهر على راحتنا وخدمتنا يحبنا جميعا و طالما قدم لنا شرابا بالدين وهو لايعرف عنا شيئا غير اننا حبابين لانكذب ولا نخلف وعدا ونحترم كلمتنا ،كنا نسكر سوية ونغني سوية ونستمع الى قصص العشاق الفاشلين عندما يتقدمون من طاولاتنا ويطلبون "شخاطة " ثم ندعوهم للجلوس لتبدأ الاسطوانة الخالدة :
- صارلي سطعش سنة احبها وتاليها تزوجت ابن خالتها الفيترجي
يشتغل التدخين والحسرات والاهات حتى ينبري اخر بالقول
- لك انت زين سطعش سنة ، اني ربيتها بين ايدية ولكيتها فوك السطح .....
وتستمر القصص الحقيقية والوهمية حتى ينطلق صوت غناء احدهم من زاوية ما في البار ،
"يصبرني المايدري بعلتي ويكَلي تهون
عشرة وشيبّت باولها .. تاليها شلون "
يشتغل طك الاصابع وجيب ربع اودي ربع لنص الليل.
وانا هنا ايها السادة الافاضل ، لاادعوا الحكومة الوطنية الى بناء بارات كبيرة للعراقيين للحفاظ على اخوتهم ووحدتهم الوطنية فالاخوة والوحدة موجودة ومتينة ان شاء الله ، ولكن اردت ان اقول -
- كلشي بوقته حلو
وبهذه المناسبة الكريمة وبصحة العراق الرائع ابو الطيبة والكرم ،عراق المحبة والاغاني ، عراق العشاق المجانين ،عراق العراقيات الحلوات ،بهذه المناسبة ،ارفع كاسي تحية لكم ابناء العراق الجميل اينما كنتم ، والكَعدة وياكم حلوة بس لازم اكَوم ، لان منع التجول راح يبدي وبيتنا كلش بعيد ،
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
'Pop Singer Makes Slaving for Beauty Look Ugly'
By Courtney E. Martin - WeNews correspondent
(WOMENSENEWS)--She leans over the sink in the bathroom of a hot nightclub, sticks a toothbrush down her throat and vomits while screaming, "I want to be skinny!"
This is just one scene of the action-packed music video for "Stupid Girls," first aired on MTV Jan. 26, as the first single released from pop star Pink's most recent album, "I'm Not Dead."
Pink--born Alecia Moore on Sept. 8, 1979, in Doylestown, Pa.--has built a reputation for being sassy since her debut album, "Can't Take Me Home," in 2000. The "Stupid Girls" video, though, and another controversial track on the album titled "Dear Mister President," have certified her as a rebel.
Early sales figures reveal a fan base hungry for her message. "I'm Not Dead" will most likely compete with her previous successes: 2003's "Try This," which has sold 700,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and its predecessor, 2001's "M!ssundaztood," which has sold 5.2 million copies to date.
Played over and over on MTV, the "Stupid Girls" video parodies conspicuous consumption, cosmetic surgery, eating disorders and vacuous celebrities. One refrain also raises a puzzling political question: "What happened to the dreams of a girl president?"
"Stupid Girls," which is the top debuting single of 2006 so far, has spilled beyond the usual TV and Internet margins of pop music. It has been taken up by bloggers interested in pop culture and feminism and has been discussed in high schools, colleges and families across the country.
'An Important Message'
"I am a mother of a 10-year-old daughter," reads a posting on Pink's Web site. "A few weeks ago I came across Pink's song 'Stupid Girls' on MTV. I immediately called my daughter into the room and we watched the making of the video together. What an important message."
With a broadcast range of 169 countries and 28 languages, the "Stupid Girl" video on MTV resonates internationally. "I am just glad that the girls from my classes (who are having a hard time growing up and finding their way) can listen to your songs," an English teacher in a German high school posts on Pink's site. "We sometimes talk about your lyrics in class."
Pink--one part pop, one part rock and one part hip hop--pens her own testimonial to her song and video. "A lot of people are relieved that someone has finally said something about the mindless epidemic of unhealthy girls out there promoting consumerism and escapism," she writes on her site.
In an early April appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," Pink emphasized that the main message of her controversial video is that "smart and sexy are not oil and water."
Slaving Away
Another message that Pink conveys--as she falls off a treadmill, fake tans herself bright orange and lies on a gurney waiting for the surgeon's knife--is that slaving away to look good is ugly.
Jessica Weiner, author of the 2006 "Do I Look Fat in This?: Life Doesn't Begin Five Pounds from Now" book, which exhorts active self-acceptance, applauds the message. "We do have more opportunity open to us as girls and women and yet we starve out this freedom, nip and tuck it, focus on the surface and don't show up to vote, protest or make noise."
Social activist Adrienne Brown, co-author of the 2004 book, "How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office: The Anti-Politics, Un-Boring Guide to Power," agrees. Brown calls the behavior that Pink mocks "a distinct brand of political paralysis" and says the singer is telling girls and young women "to be alive and active and fearless . . . the implications of which could include power: voting, advocacy, protest even."
Pink has also stirred uneasiness, in part because she is perceived as attacking women rather than darker forces at work in mass culture.
Culture Draws the Image
"My initial reaction was, 'Thank God someone is taking this stupidity as cool nonsense and doing something about it'," writes Feministing.com founder Jessica Valenti, who featured a link to the video on her blog. "But it also kind of made me sad. Should we really be calling each other stupid? That's not doing anything to solve the problem of how young women are being portrayed. Why aren't we analyzing the culture that demands this kind of image from them?"
Audrey D. Brashich, author of "All Made Up: A Girl's Guide to Seeing Through Celebrity Hype and Celebrating Real Beauty," which was published last month, wonders if Pink's commercial medium can be trusted to convey a serious social message.
"Pink's marketers might have just tapped into the song because they thought it was funny, or because they like the 'catfight' aspect of it, not because they recognize the importance of its contribution to cultural debate," says Brashich.
A young woman posting on Pink's Web site felt maligned by the video: "I myself am struggling with binging and purging, but I am not a so-called 'Stupid Girl'. I have a high GPA, and I'm a very independent girl, but I am still struggling with bulimia and I was really disappointed to feel lumped in with the bimbos in your music video."
On Oprah, Pink explained what she means by stupid. "My definition of stupid is wasting your opportunity to be yourself."
Courtney E. Martin is a writer, teacher and filmmaker living in Brooklyn. She is currently working on a book on her generation's obsession with food and fitness, "Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters," which will be published on Simon and Schuster's Free Press in March of 2007. You can read more about Courtney's work at http://www.courtneyemartin.com/ .
Women's eNews welcomes your comments. E-mail us at editors@womensenews.org .
(WOMENSENEWS)--She leans over the sink in the bathroom of a hot nightclub, sticks a toothbrush down her throat and vomits while screaming, "I want to be skinny!"
This is just one scene of the action-packed music video for "Stupid Girls," first aired on MTV Jan. 26, as the first single released from pop star Pink's most recent album, "I'm Not Dead."
Pink--born Alecia Moore on Sept. 8, 1979, in Doylestown, Pa.--has built a reputation for being sassy since her debut album, "Can't Take Me Home," in 2000. The "Stupid Girls" video, though, and another controversial track on the album titled "Dear Mister President," have certified her as a rebel.
Early sales figures reveal a fan base hungry for her message. "I'm Not Dead" will most likely compete with her previous successes: 2003's "Try This," which has sold 700,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and its predecessor, 2001's "M!ssundaztood," which has sold 5.2 million copies to date.
Played over and over on MTV, the "Stupid Girls" video parodies conspicuous consumption, cosmetic surgery, eating disorders and vacuous celebrities. One refrain also raises a puzzling political question: "What happened to the dreams of a girl president?"
"Stupid Girls," which is the top debuting single of 2006 so far, has spilled beyond the usual TV and Internet margins of pop music. It has been taken up by bloggers interested in pop culture and feminism and has been discussed in high schools, colleges and families across the country.
'An Important Message'
"I am a mother of a 10-year-old daughter," reads a posting on Pink's Web site. "A few weeks ago I came across Pink's song 'Stupid Girls' on MTV. I immediately called my daughter into the room and we watched the making of the video together. What an important message."
With a broadcast range of 169 countries and 28 languages, the "Stupid Girl" video on MTV resonates internationally. "I am just glad that the girls from my classes (who are having a hard time growing up and finding their way) can listen to your songs," an English teacher in a German high school posts on Pink's site. "We sometimes talk about your lyrics in class."
Pink--one part pop, one part rock and one part hip hop--pens her own testimonial to her song and video. "A lot of people are relieved that someone has finally said something about the mindless epidemic of unhealthy girls out there promoting consumerism and escapism," she writes on her site.
In an early April appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," Pink emphasized that the main message of her controversial video is that "smart and sexy are not oil and water."
Slaving Away
Another message that Pink conveys--as she falls off a treadmill, fake tans herself bright orange and lies on a gurney waiting for the surgeon's knife--is that slaving away to look good is ugly.
Jessica Weiner, author of the 2006 "Do I Look Fat in This?: Life Doesn't Begin Five Pounds from Now" book, which exhorts active self-acceptance, applauds the message. "We do have more opportunity open to us as girls and women and yet we starve out this freedom, nip and tuck it, focus on the surface and don't show up to vote, protest or make noise."
Social activist Adrienne Brown, co-author of the 2004 book, "How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office: The Anti-Politics, Un-Boring Guide to Power," agrees. Brown calls the behavior that Pink mocks "a distinct brand of political paralysis" and says the singer is telling girls and young women "to be alive and active and fearless . . . the implications of which could include power: voting, advocacy, protest even."
Pink has also stirred uneasiness, in part because she is perceived as attacking women rather than darker forces at work in mass culture.
Culture Draws the Image
"My initial reaction was, 'Thank God someone is taking this stupidity as cool nonsense and doing something about it'," writes Feministing.com founder Jessica Valenti, who featured a link to the video on her blog. "But it also kind of made me sad. Should we really be calling each other stupid? That's not doing anything to solve the problem of how young women are being portrayed. Why aren't we analyzing the culture that demands this kind of image from them?"
Audrey D. Brashich, author of "All Made Up: A Girl's Guide to Seeing Through Celebrity Hype and Celebrating Real Beauty," which was published last month, wonders if Pink's commercial medium can be trusted to convey a serious social message.
"Pink's marketers might have just tapped into the song because they thought it was funny, or because they like the 'catfight' aspect of it, not because they recognize the importance of its contribution to cultural debate," says Brashich.
A young woman posting on Pink's Web site felt maligned by the video: "I myself am struggling with binging and purging, but I am not a so-called 'Stupid Girl'. I have a high GPA, and I'm a very independent girl, but I am still struggling with bulimia and I was really disappointed to feel lumped in with the bimbos in your music video."
On Oprah, Pink explained what she means by stupid. "My definition of stupid is wasting your opportunity to be yourself."
Courtney E. Martin is a writer, teacher and filmmaker living in Brooklyn. She is currently working on a book on her generation's obsession with food and fitness, "Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters," which will be published on Simon and Schuster's Free Press in March of 2007. You can read more about Courtney's work at http://www.courtneyemartin.com/ .
Women's eNews welcomes your comments. E-mail us at editors@womensenews.org .
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
I am Iraqi
نصعد جبل بدهوك ونصيف بسليمانية
ونشرب لبن أربيل ونكعد كعدة عربية
ونتغدة بكركــوك ونصعد المــلوية
وناخذ من الموصـــل الكبة المشوية
وياعيني على ديالى محلاها برتقالية
ونمر على بغداد نكول بعون الله محمية
ونتعشى بالأنـبـار تمن ودليــميـة
وكيمر السدة ناكلة من إيد حلاويــة
بين الكصب والهــور نصيد بنية
وناخذ تمر زهدي من الناصـرية
وبالنجف نزور الحضرة الحيـدرية
وانزورالامام الحسين زيارة كربلائية
ونشوف النواطيـر أهل القادسيــة
ومن السمـاوة يا ناس ناخذلنة ركية
من البصرة نتعلم صبر شكد شافت أذية
سألتـوني آنـــي منين وهاي الهـويـة
هذا آني العـراقــي إبن العـراقــيـة
ونشرب لبن أربيل ونكعد كعدة عربية
ونتغدة بكركــوك ونصعد المــلوية
وناخذ من الموصـــل الكبة المشوية
وياعيني على ديالى محلاها برتقالية
ونمر على بغداد نكول بعون الله محمية
ونتعشى بالأنـبـار تمن ودليــميـة
وكيمر السدة ناكلة من إيد حلاويــة
بين الكصب والهــور نصيد بنية
وناخذ تمر زهدي من الناصـرية
وبالنجف نزور الحضرة الحيـدرية
وانزورالامام الحسين زيارة كربلائية
ونشوف النواطيـر أهل القادسيــة
ومن السمـاوة يا ناس ناخذلنة ركية
من البصرة نتعلم صبر شكد شافت أذية
سألتـوني آنـــي منين وهاي الهـويـة
هذا آني العـراقــي إبن العـراقــيـة
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
The Lovely Ladies of Jeddah & Medinah or "Banat Jeddah wel Madinah"
The Post "Women & 'gendercide'" comes to me in the form of an email.
I receive these emails every other day from a wonderful source, an acquaintance whom I will call 'Sitalbanat' or 'S' as that is where the emails come from. She's an interesting sweet sensitive Saudi girl living in Dubai who first introduced me to the book "The Girls of Riyadh" and other interesting reads.
As a person, she reflects the quiet feminine confidence that I'm used to and link directly to Dynamic Educated Arab Women. As well, she is cultured and exudes a certain 'je ne sais quoi' that may confuse some but is a welcome breath of freshness to others.
She and the other Saudi girls that I first met in October, have come as a breath of fresh air! For the only Saudi women that I'd encountered, were the average abaya clad mothers of four or more during the Dubai Shopping Festival.
Though I'd heard of & encountered a few of the elite Saudi's I vaguely remember them from Cannes.
That's were you'd be in the summer of '84 or any other year of the eighties (every decade has its favourite city/country - the 80's were Spain & France, the 70's England rather London and the 90's was Germany/Holland and then of course there's the usual side dish of south east asia for the Arab men or the chosen honey moon place for conservative moslim couples!)
But I digress! These lovely ladies of Jeddah & Medina - KSA not USA - Have left a great impression on me, though we now meet rarely, we did meet more often during Ramadan. I'd even been invited to the Birthday of 'Sitalbanat' a.k.a. 'S' even though we'd just met. That was an elegant gesture which I would not forget.
The other ladies were just as generous and perhaps quite funny, especially 'N'! She's a ball of laughter and fun and she's not fat! (I used to be obese and people thought me funny so there had always been a reflected relation between Fat & Funny)
She's petite, Pretty and with a sultry natural bronze complexion that screams femininity. N is witty and sweet, she would revel us with her antics and stories of past experiences that somehow made one laugh despite the stories being at times somewhat serious subjects.
As for 'R', well at first I couldn't figure her out. Was she a tom boy or was it just a facade to protect herself. She's Intelligent with bright greyish brown eyes and soft dirty blonde brown waves of a crown, a pout that would cause jealousy for some and a personality that would do the same to many.
R had the dry wit that hits when you least know it. She's strong in charachter and exudes a self confidence that would leave many a moustache shaken, yet at the same time she has a gentleness that would astound the softest heart.
When 'H' invited us to her house, I was shy and honoured to be invited because of our short aquaintance. When I arrived, I discovered that it is only natural to be shy in front of such generosity and hospitality. as a mother of two, she personifies the woman that most of us as women would hope to be once married. Beautiful, adept, intelligent, a great cook, a fun & loving mom and a wonderful wife. (Ma Sha' allah - May God Almighty protect them all from the evil-eye!)
H made an amazing filo pastry pie filled with an assortement of cheeses & sweetcorn, Saudi Kabsa and I can't remember the rest. the desert table overflowed into two and the Ramadan drinks variety ranged from teas & coffees to juices and drinks. H had a big beautiful home and a bigger heart.
I actually enjoy the company of these ladies altogether, you get a wonderful variety of what makes women so special and the object of many an amourous poem throughout history. They are all intelligent & dynamic women whose busy lives only adds yet another fascinating facet to their characters which seems more like the colours reflected by the sun through a window of memories from a lazy afternoon as a child.
I receive these emails every other day from a wonderful source, an acquaintance whom I will call 'Sitalbanat' or 'S' as that is where the emails come from. She's an interesting sweet sensitive Saudi girl living in Dubai who first introduced me to the book "The Girls of Riyadh" and other interesting reads.
As a person, she reflects the quiet feminine confidence that I'm used to and link directly to Dynamic Educated Arab Women. As well, she is cultured and exudes a certain 'je ne sais quoi' that may confuse some but is a welcome breath of freshness to others.
She and the other Saudi girls that I first met in October, have come as a breath of fresh air! For the only Saudi women that I'd encountered, were the average abaya clad mothers of four or more during the Dubai Shopping Festival.
Though I'd heard of & encountered a few of the elite Saudi's I vaguely remember them from Cannes.
That's were you'd be in the summer of '84 or any other year of the eighties (every decade has its favourite city/country - the 80's were Spain & France, the 70's England rather London and the 90's was Germany/Holland and then of course there's the usual side dish of south east asia for the Arab men or the chosen honey moon place for conservative moslim couples!)
But I digress! These lovely ladies of Jeddah & Medina - KSA not USA - Have left a great impression on me, though we now meet rarely, we did meet more often during Ramadan. I'd even been invited to the Birthday of 'Sitalbanat' a.k.a. 'S' even though we'd just met. That was an elegant gesture which I would not forget.
The other ladies were just as generous and perhaps quite funny, especially 'N'! She's a ball of laughter and fun and she's not fat! (I used to be obese and people thought me funny so there had always been a reflected relation between Fat & Funny)
She's petite, Pretty and with a sultry natural bronze complexion that screams femininity. N is witty and sweet, she would revel us with her antics and stories of past experiences that somehow made one laugh despite the stories being at times somewhat serious subjects.
As for 'R', well at first I couldn't figure her out. Was she a tom boy or was it just a facade to protect herself. She's Intelligent with bright greyish brown eyes and soft dirty blonde brown waves of a crown, a pout that would cause jealousy for some and a personality that would do the same to many.
R had the dry wit that hits when you least know it. She's strong in charachter and exudes a self confidence that would leave many a moustache shaken, yet at the same time she has a gentleness that would astound the softest heart.
When 'H' invited us to her house, I was shy and honoured to be invited because of our short aquaintance. When I arrived, I discovered that it is only natural to be shy in front of such generosity and hospitality. as a mother of two, she personifies the woman that most of us as women would hope to be once married. Beautiful, adept, intelligent, a great cook, a fun & loving mom and a wonderful wife. (Ma Sha' allah - May God Almighty protect them all from the evil-eye!)
H made an amazing filo pastry pie filled with an assortement of cheeses & sweetcorn, Saudi Kabsa and I can't remember the rest. the desert table overflowed into two and the Ramadan drinks variety ranged from teas & coffees to juices and drinks. H had a big beautiful home and a bigger heart.
I actually enjoy the company of these ladies altogether, you get a wonderful variety of what makes women so special and the object of many an amourous poem throughout history. They are all intelligent & dynamic women whose busy lives only adds yet another fascinating facet to their characters which seems more like the colours reflected by the sun through a window of memories from a lazy afternoon as a child.
Women and 'gendercide'
By Ayaan Hirsi Ali, AYAAN HIRSI ALI, a Somali-born Dutch legislator,
lives under 24-hour protection because of death threats against her
by Islamic radicals since the murder of Theo van Gogh, with whom she
made the film
March 26, 2006
AS I WAS PREPARING for this article, I asked a very good friend who
is Jewish if it was appropriate for me to use the term "holocaust"
to portray the worldwide violence against women. He was startled.
But when I read him the figures in a 2004 policy paper published by
the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces, he
said yes, without hesitation.
One United Nations' estimate says that between 113 million and 200
million women around the world are "missing." Every year, between
1.5 million and 3 million women and girls lose their lives as a
result of gender-based violence or neglect. As the Economist, which
reported on the policy paper, put it last November, "Every two to
four years the world looks away from a victim count on the scale of
Hitler's Holocaust." How could this possibly be true?
Here are some of the factors:
• In countries where the birth of a boy is considered a gift and
the birth of a girl a curse from the gods, selective abortion and
infanticide eliminate female babies.
• Young girls die disproportionately from neglect because food and
medical attention is given first to brothers, fathers, husbands and
sons.
• In countries where women are considered the property of men,
their fathers and brothers can murder them for choosing their own
sexual partners. These are called "honor" killings, though honor has
nothing to do with it. Young brides are killed if their fathers do
not pay sufficient money to the men who have married them. These are
called "dowry deaths," although they are not just deaths, they are
murders.
• The brutal international sex trade in young girls kills uncounted
numbers of them.
• Domestic violence is a major reason for the deaths of women in
every country.
• So little value is placed on women's health that every year
roughly 600,000 women die giving birth. As the Economist pointed
out, this is equivalent to the genocide in Rwanda happening every 12
months.
• Six thousand girls undergo genital mutilation every day,
according to the World Health Organization. Many die, and others
live the rest of their lives in crippling pain.
• According to the WHO, one woman out of every five worldwide is
likely to be a victim of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime.
All these figures are estimates; registering precise numbers for
violence against women is not a priority in most countries.
All the victims scream their suffering. It is not so much that the
world doesn't hear them; it is that fellow human beings choose not
to pay attention.
It is much more comfortable for us to ignore these issues,
especially when the problems are so widespread and for many, so far
away. And by "us," I include women. Too often, we are the first to
look away. We may even participate, by favoring our sons and
neglecting the care of our daughters.
Going forward there are three challenges:
Women are not organized or united. Those of us in rich countries,
who have attained equality under the law, need to mobilize to assist
our fellows. Only our outrage and our political pressure can lead to
change.
Next, there are the forces of obscurantism that want to close the
world off. The Islamists are engaged in reviving and spreading a
brutal and retrograde body of laws. Wherever the Islamists implement
Sharia, or Islamic law, women are hounded from the public arena,
denied education and forced into a life of domestic slavery.
Lastly, cultural and moral relativists sap our sense of moral
outrage by defending the position that human rights are a Western
invention. Men who abuse women rarely fail to use the vocabulary the
relativists have kindly provided them. They claim the right to
adhere to an alternative set of values — an "Asian," "African"
or "Islamic" approach to human rights.
This mind-set needs to be broken. A culture that carves the genitals
of young girls, hobbles their minds and justifies their physical
oppression is not equal to a culture that believes women have the
same rights as men.
Three initial steps could be taken by world leaders to begin
eradicating the mass murder of women. A tribunal like the
International Court of Justice in The Hague should look for the 113
million to 200 million women and girls who are missing. A serious
international effort must urgently be made to precisely register
violence against girls and women, country by country. And we need a
worldwide campaign to reform cultures that permit this kind of
crime. Let's start to name them and shame them.
In the past two centuries, those in the West have gradually changed
the way they treat women. As a result, the West enjoys greater peace
and progress. It is my hope that the Third World will embark on this
effort. Just as we put an end to slavery, we must end
the "gendercide."
lives under 24-hour protection because of death threats against her
by Islamic radicals since the murder of Theo van Gogh, with whom she
made the film
March 26, 2006
AS I WAS PREPARING for this article, I asked a very good friend who
is Jewish if it was appropriate for me to use the term "holocaust"
to portray the worldwide violence against women. He was startled.
But when I read him the figures in a 2004 policy paper published by
the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces, he
said yes, without hesitation.
One United Nations' estimate says that between 113 million and 200
million women around the world are "missing." Every year, between
1.5 million and 3 million women and girls lose their lives as a
result of gender-based violence or neglect. As the Economist, which
reported on the policy paper, put it last November, "Every two to
four years the world looks away from a victim count on the scale of
Hitler's Holocaust." How could this possibly be true?
Here are some of the factors:
• In countries where the birth of a boy is considered a gift and
the birth of a girl a curse from the gods, selective abortion and
infanticide eliminate female babies.
• Young girls die disproportionately from neglect because food and
medical attention is given first to brothers, fathers, husbands and
sons.
• In countries where women are considered the property of men,
their fathers and brothers can murder them for choosing their own
sexual partners. These are called "honor" killings, though honor has
nothing to do with it. Young brides are killed if their fathers do
not pay sufficient money to the men who have married them. These are
called "dowry deaths," although they are not just deaths, they are
murders.
• The brutal international sex trade in young girls kills uncounted
numbers of them.
• Domestic violence is a major reason for the deaths of women in
every country.
• So little value is placed on women's health that every year
roughly 600,000 women die giving birth. As the Economist pointed
out, this is equivalent to the genocide in Rwanda happening every 12
months.
• Six thousand girls undergo genital mutilation every day,
according to the World Health Organization. Many die, and others
live the rest of their lives in crippling pain.
• According to the WHO, one woman out of every five worldwide is
likely to be a victim of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime.
All these figures are estimates; registering precise numbers for
violence against women is not a priority in most countries.
All the victims scream their suffering. It is not so much that the
world doesn't hear them; it is that fellow human beings choose not
to pay attention.
It is much more comfortable for us to ignore these issues,
especially when the problems are so widespread and for many, so far
away. And by "us," I include women. Too often, we are the first to
look away. We may even participate, by favoring our sons and
neglecting the care of our daughters.
Going forward there are three challenges:
Women are not organized or united. Those of us in rich countries,
who have attained equality under the law, need to mobilize to assist
our fellows. Only our outrage and our political pressure can lead to
change.
Next, there are the forces of obscurantism that want to close the
world off. The Islamists are engaged in reviving and spreading a
brutal and retrograde body of laws. Wherever the Islamists implement
Sharia, or Islamic law, women are hounded from the public arena,
denied education and forced into a life of domestic slavery.
Lastly, cultural and moral relativists sap our sense of moral
outrage by defending the position that human rights are a Western
invention. Men who abuse women rarely fail to use the vocabulary the
relativists have kindly provided them. They claim the right to
adhere to an alternative set of values — an "Asian," "African"
or "Islamic" approach to human rights.
This mind-set needs to be broken. A culture that carves the genitals
of young girls, hobbles their minds and justifies their physical
oppression is not equal to a culture that believes women have the
same rights as men.
Three initial steps could be taken by world leaders to begin
eradicating the mass murder of women. A tribunal like the
International Court of Justice in The Hague should look for the 113
million to 200 million women and girls who are missing. A serious
international effort must urgently be made to precisely register
violence against girls and women, country by country. And we need a
worldwide campaign to reform cultures that permit this kind of
crime. Let's start to name them and shame them.
In the past two centuries, those in the West have gradually changed
the way they treat women. As a result, the West enjoys greater peace
and progress. It is my hope that the Third World will embark on this
effort. Just as we put an end to slavery, we must end
the "gendercide."
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