 A Middle Eastern country is building a massive thick steel wall as a barrier between themselves and a Palestinian regime. The country is being condemned for its actions across the Arab world, denounced by Islamist figures like Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, and facing angry demonstrations at its embassies around the world. Signs with the president’s face daubed with a Star of David are waved, and furious slogans are chanted.
The new construction project, written about critically in the world press as “choking” Gaza, has been dubbed the “iron wall” and the “wall of shame.” Sound familiar? Nothing new? In fact, the situation is very new. The country that is being berated and condemned is not Israel.
The wall is being build by the Egyptian government to separate territory controlled by Egypt and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Israel is routinely charged with inhumanely and heartlessly fencing off Palestinian Gazans in a “prison,” despite the fact that Egypt’s official crossing to Gaza is also clamped shut, with the exception of a few days each month.
But with the construction of this new wall, Egypt is taking some powerful hits from within the Arab world. The wall being constructed is designed to stop the flow of smuggling between Egypt and Gaza through the border town of Rafah, an underground economy that is not limited to — but certainly includes — major weaponry and ammunition being stockpiled for terrorist attacks and to help Hamas rearm for the next war between Gaza and Israel.
Along with the weaponry brought in to replace the stockpiles decimated in Operation Cast Lead, millions of dollars worth of other commerce flows through the tunnels on a daily basis. Everything from food, to gasoline, to machinery, to farm animals. The tunnels are a major source of revenue for Hamas, which charges a premium for the construction and use of the tunnels and puts a tariff on any goods that are brought in. The planned 10 kilometer-long wall will include steel sheets that will reach 60 meters underground — an attempt to cut off the tunnels and the commerce that flourishes there. In addition to weaponry, the tunnels are also a conduit for terrorists, both reasons that the tunnels themselves were targeted in Operation Cast Lead. Construction of the wall began in early December, with the Egyptian government doing its best to keep news of it quiet for as long as possible. By mid-December, it became impossible to hide such a massive project, and news of the construction broke and began to spread. Even as reports began appearing in the media, Egypt refused to acknowledge its existence. An AP article dramatically described the construction in the same judgmental terms normally reserved for accounts of Israel’s building of barriers: A jackhammer pounded large steel beams side by side into the sandy soil on the Egyptian side of Gaza’s border, putting in place an underground wall that could shift the balance of power in this volatile area. Once completed, the steel barrier would cut off blockaded Gaza’s last lifeline. In the wake of the media attention, demonstrations condemning the Egyptian action have ensued, beginning in Jordan, where an organization of unions and professional associations protested construction of the wall.
Some 150 people gathered outside the Egyptian embassy in Amman earlier this month and burned photos of President Hosni Mubarak. The photos depict Mubarak with a Star of David stamped on his forehead. More at Pajamas Media 
 The sexual harassment of women in the streets, schools and work places of the Arab World is driving them to cover up and confine themselves to their homes, said activists at the first-ever regional conference addressing the once taboo topic. Activists from 17 countries across the region met in Cairo for a two-day conference ending Monday and concluded that harassment was unchecked across the region because laws don't punish it, women don't report it and the authorities ignore it. The harassment, including groping and verbal abuse, appears to be designed to drive women out of public spaces and seems to happen regardless of what they are wearing, they said. Amal Madbouli, who wears the conservative face veil or niqab, told The Associated Press that despite her dress, she is harassed and described how a man came after her in the streets of her neighborhood. "He hissed at me and kept asking me if I wanted to go with him to a quieter area, and to give him my phone number," said Madbouli, a mother of two. "This is a national security issue. I am a mother, and I want to be reassured when my daughters go out on the streets." Statistics on harassment in the region have until recently been nonexistent, but a series of studies presented at the conference hinted at the widespread nature of the problem. As many as 90 percent of Yemeni women say they have been harassed, while in Egypt, out of a sample of 1,000, 83 percent reported being verbally or physically abused. A study in Lebanon reported that more than 30 percent of women said they had been harassed there. "We are facing a phenomena that is limiting women's right to move ... and is threatening women's participation in all walks of life," said Nehad Abul Komsan, an Egyptian activist who organized the event with funding from the U.N. and the Swedish development agency. Open discussion of the harassment issue first emerged in Egypt three years ago, after blogs gave broad publicity to amateur videos showing men assaulting women in downtown Cairo during a major Muslim holiday. More at FoxNews
 CAIRO — Al Qaeda's deputy leader on Monday accused President Barack Obama of deceiving the Arab world and failing to advance Middle East peace talks, and said the militants' struggle against the United States and its allies is "a war between Muslims and infidels." In a new message posted on the Internet, Ayman Al-Zawahiri claimed Obama has brought the region nothing but "blockade and siege" despite efforts to reach out to Arabs. "Obama's plan, though wrapped in smiles and calls for respect and understanding, aims only to support Israel," al-Zawahiri said in a 26-minute audio message. Usama bin Laden's deputy has been critical of Obama since his election, even releasing a message that referred to the U.S. president as a "house negro," a slur for a black subservient to whites. "Obama's policy is nothing but another cycle in the Crusader and Zionist campaign to enslave and humiliate us, and to occupy our land and steal our wealth," al-Zawahiri said. The authenticity of the statement could not be independently verified, but it was posted on a Web site commonly used for militant messaging. In it, al-Zawahiri also scoffed at key American allies in the region — the Egyptian president and the Jordanian and the Saudi kings — for supporting peace with Israel. He urged Muslims and Palestinians to wage holy war, or jihad, not only in Israel and the Palestinian territories but also beyond those areas, saying there are "ample opportunities elsewhere." He praised Muslim militants fighting in Pakistan, saying the conflict there was a "war of Muslim dignity and pride" and warned the Palestinians against any negotiations with Israel. "We should continue jihad to liberate Palestinian land and establish an Islamic state there. We should wage jihad against Jews and all those who support them, whether they are Americans or Westerners," he said. The terror network's No. 2 said the group "will not forget" its members held in American prisons. He specifically mentioned Ramzi Youssef, convicted and now serving a life sentence for the first World Trade Center attack in 1993, and also Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Al Qaeda's mastermind of the September 11 bombings. Mohammed and four others, held for years at the military base in Guantanamo Bay, are due to stand trial on charges they plotted the September 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. FoxNews
 By Samer al-Atrush CAIRO, Egypt — Human rights deteriorated across the Arab world in 2009 with torture widely practiced in several countries, an Arab watchdog said in a report released on Tuesday. The report by the independent Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies surveyed 12 countries and said that most of them repressed human rights activists, press freedoms, and discriminated against religious minorities. The state of human rights in the 12 countries—Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen—"has worsened compared to 2008," the report said. "Arab governments remained wedded to a broad array of repressive laws that undermine basic liberties," compared to the previous year, said the report, "Bastion of Impunity, Mirage of Reform." "Peaceful rotation of power through representative politics, and clean and competitive elections remained a dream in most countries covered by this report," it said. Egypt and Syria were singled out as leading offenders, with Cairo said to lead the region in practicing torture and Damascus for repressing rights activists. "Egypt continued to top the list of countries in which torture is routinely and systematically practiced," it said, adding that dozens had died in the country of torture or excessive force by police. The report also found torture was "routine" in Bahrain, "rampant" in Tunisia, and practiced in Saudi Arabia against terrorism suspects. Human rights advocates faced harassment in several Arab countries, with Syria, which has jailed dozens of democracy activists, holding the "worst record in this regard." Religious and ethnic minorities also continued to suffer discrimination in several Arab countries, such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the report said. "Despite the Saudi regime's attempt to appear to champion religious tolerance and interfaith dialogue in international forums, in practice the national religious police continue to exhibit violent behavior," it said. Egypt, where roughly 10 percent of the 80-million-strong population are Coptic Christians who frequently complain of discrimination, "is increasingly acquiring the features of a religious state," it added. The report also said that US policies were "wholly inimical to reform and human rights in the region," and accused President Barak Obama's administration of abandoning support for reform initiatives in the Arab world. "The last spark of life in the initiatives was quashed once and for all with the arrival of a new US administration," it said. Bahey eldin Hassan, the rights group's director, said the 12 countries surveyed were indicative of the region. "We think that through analyzing these countries we can get a general picture of the region," he said. Hassan said the report did not include recommendations because the governments would ignore them. "These are not governments that are going through a reform process and are waiting for advice." The rights group's representative in Geneva, Jeremie Smith, warned at a press conference that Arab countries had exported attempts to undermine accountability to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. "Arab governments have largely taken strategies that they have perfected at a national level to avoid accountability, and they have exported them to the United Nations system," he said. Inquirer H/T: Atlas
 Turkish Prime Minister Recip Erdogan is in Washington, D.C. for meetings with American officials and a number of public and private appearances along the DC circuit. Unfortunately I'm too snowed under with work to actually go to any of them -- but I wish I could, because there's probably no more interesting figure in Middle East diplomacy these days. Erdogan has been charting a new course for Turkish foreign policy which has sparked noisy popular acclaim with Arab publics, wary observation from Arab leaders, and jittery anxiety among many Israelis. Turkey's shifting Middle Eastern role is one of those factors which really could shake up long-standing patterns in a number of ways. Erdogan, of course, heads the government of the mildly Islamist AKP. The electoral success and governing style of the AKP has proven absolutely fascinating to many in the Arab world. I've had many conversations with, and read hundreds of papers and op-eds by, Muslim Brotherhood members keen to figure out the lessons of the AKP's success. As a model of workable political Islam, the AKP offers an important model -- if a dual-edged one. Many Turkish secularists continue to sound the alarm bells of creeping Islamism, complaining that even if the AKP is committed to democracy it is using its governing power to radically reshape Turkish political culture and governing principles. These strike me as healthy debates and normal politics, though, not the stuff of political apocalypse. Erdogan burst into a new level of Arab popularity with his much publicized outburst at Davos, when he stormed off a panel with Shimon Peres in protest over Gaza as Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa sat by bemusedly. This demonstration captivated Arab audiences and become the talk of Arab politics for weeks.
Turkish diplomacy has built effectively on Erdogan's sudden personal popularity by seeking a more active and independent diplomatic role. Its diplomacy in many ways resembles that of Qatar, also an important American ally which has found considerable popularity with Arab public opinion. Like Qatar, Turkey explicitly and determinedly talks to both sides of the great Arab political divide, maintaining relations with Israel and the United States while also engaging regularly with Syria and Iran. It isn't for nothing that Turkey was well-positioned to mediate the secret Syrian-Israeli talks last year. If this reorientation has earned Erdogan and Turkey applause in the Arab world, it has naturally provoked some serious criticism among Israelis and those committed to the Israeli-Turkish alliance (especially after its cancelation of a scheduled war game with Israel in October). I've seen an endless deluge of opeds filled with ominous warnings of Turkey's dangerous new path, rising anti-Americanism, the AKP's creeping Islamism, its alleged turn to a radical Islamist foreign policy. And don't think that Arab regimes, suspicious and fearful of their own Islamist movements, aren't fearful of the AKP's example and worried about the intrusion of a new, unpredictable diplomatic player into their turf. I find this all overblown. Turkey's turn to a more active Middle East role was driven, I'd guess, as much by the effective closing of the door to European Union membership as it was by Erdogan's Islamism (the AKP was a strong advocate of EU membership when that was a viable option, hardly the marker of a radical Islamist agenda). It has played a more constructive role in Iraq, after tensions spiked over Turkish military incursions into northern Iraq because of alleged PKK safe havens there.
Its distancing from Israel is, from what I can tell from a distance, broadly popular with Turkish public opinion -- especially after the Gaza war. And it appears that Turkey and Israel have rebuilt their working relationship over the last few weeks. Turkey's cultivation of good relations across the spectrum makes perfect sense for a player on the periphery without a direct stake in old battle lines which wants to maximize its diplomatic clout. And it is potentially extremely useful. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Turkey is exactly the sort of player which the Obama foreign policy needs: one able to talk to both sides of deeply rooted conflicts, while maintaining its credibility and protecting its own interests. Turkey can mediate Syrian-Israeli talks in a way which no Arab country could (I heard a rumor a few weeks back, which I couldn't confirm, that Syria was actually urging Turkey to rebuild its ties with Israel so that it could resume an effective mediation role). Turkey can bridge the gap with Iran in ways which few Arab states could -- and without the vulnerabilities of, say, a Qatar. So I regret not having time to see Erdogan while he's in town. Turkish foreign policy is one of those wild cards which really could shake things up, bridge old divides, and introduce new possibilities. Obama's diplomacy should be creative and subtle enough to take advantage of those opportunities, and to maintain a strong alliance in new conditions. Foreign Policy
 ANKARA, - Turkish government's course of policy in the Israeli-Palestinian war has heightened expectations in the Arab world that Turkey should assume a more effective role in solving conflicts in the Middle East, results of a survey has shown.
The survey on 'Turkey Perception in the Middle East' was conducted by the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation in seven Arab countries among 2006 interviewees in July.
The survey - as Anatolia news agency reports - showed a growing awareness for Turkey in the Arab world after 2002 when the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party came to power as 79% of all participants and 89% of the interviewed Palestinians had said Turkey should engage in mediation efforts.
Over 75% of the interviewees said they had a positive view on Turkey and 80% of them said Turkey "treated the Arab countries well." "The elaboration of Turkey's foreign policy toward the Middle East especially during the AK Party government has created an awareness for Turkey among the people in the region," said Prof. Meliha Altunisik from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara.
Altunisik said Turkey was perceived as "a constructive country that contributes to stability and its role in the region has been boosted in a constructive way. This is a very positive result."
The Turkish scholar said the recent lifting of visa requirement between Turkey and Syria had also contributed much to the positive perception.
 By Khaled Abu ToamehFor decades, the profession of journalism has been one of the most dangerous in the Arab world. The truth and facts are often sacrificed for the sake of “preserving the higher national interests of the people” and “to avoid playing into the hands of the enemies of the people.” A journalist is taught that his main mission is to be loyal first and foremost to his president or monarch and then to his government and homeland. In this world, Arab dictators are above any form of criticism. When was the last time one read an article in a newspaper published in an Arab capital that criticized the leader of that country? Not only are journalists and editors banned from criticizing their leaders, they are also prohibited from publishing any material that may, God forbid, be interpreted as “offensive” to His Excellency or His Majesty. The official media in the Arab world is often under the control of the Ministry of Information, which appoints editors and journalists, and pays their salaries. Under the Arab dictatorships, there has never been room for freedom of expression. These dictatorships have their own media, which actually serve as a mouthpiece for the ruler and his family and close friends. In Morocco, for instance, five local journalists will go on trial later this month after they published articles about King Mohammed VI’s health. The journalists work for Al-Jarida, Al-Ayam, Al-Oula and Al-Mishaal newspapers. Read more here ...Source: Hudson New York
 Saddam Hussein killed more Arabs and Muslims than any other Middle Eastern leader in recent history.
He committed genocide against the Kurds, launched wars of aggression against Iran and Kuwait, launched missiles at Israel and Saudi Arabia, tortured innocents without compunction and imposed totalitarianism in Iraq.
His regime brought unprecedented war, terror and misery to the region. Why, then, does the Butcher of Baghdad remain such a heroic figure to so many Arabs?
Two decades ago, famed historian Bernard Lewis wrote a prescient piece in The Wall Street Journal titled "Not everybody hates Saddam" in which he examined the pro-Saddam narrative of some Arabs. Since then, not much has changed. On a recent trip to Amman, I asked dozens of Jordanians how they felt about the dictator. Tragically, though not surprisingly, Saddam still has a great many fans in the Arab world. Nearly every single Jordanian I spoke with had high praise for the deceased tyrant. "He gave us free oil," said one. "He stood up to the West," opined another. One cab driver, who had pins with Saddam's picture covering his dashboard, informed me that Saddam was the greatest leader in the Middle East - "Only he was capable of keeping order in Iraq." TWO PREDOMINANT themes emerged in all my conversations. First, Saddam was seen as the leader of resistance to America and Israel. He fought two wars against America in slightly over a decade and launched dozens of Scud missiles at Israel while other nations stood by.
Second, he imposed order in Iraq. True, it was an order of rape, pillage and plunder, but at least it was order. Prizing stability over liberty is the root of so many of the region's ills. In Arab societies, one quickly realizes that anything can be excused in the name of opposing the West. Some in the Jordanian public had high praise for al-Qaida, for example, when it was hijacking planes and bombing American civilians, but support for the group dropped dramatically once it struck in Amman in 2005. Most Jordanians also never felt the sheer terror of Saddam's regime. They were never suffocated by sarin and VX nerve gas raining down from the skies, never had to flee from helicopter gunships mowing down innocents by the tens of thousands and never had to worry that Uday Hussein, the notorious rapist, would take a liking to their daughter while prowling the streets. Infuriated by the adulation I heard for Saddam, I asked a friend who had served as chief of staff to one of Iraq's highest politicians to help make sense of this madness. "That is the prevailing mentality in the Arab world," he said. "People in this region are historically insecure. For at least 1,000 years there was nothing but darkness. Read more here,,,, Source: JPost
 By Ghassan Rubeiz Arabs face stubborn obstacles to social change. They recognize their problems but do not settle on alternatives; and they are worried about replacing their autocratic political regimes. Change, they fear, may lead to even worse circumstances. Responding to the challenge, Arab scholars have collaborated over the past seven years in examining the causes of societal underachievement. They have studied a range of issues: governance, the economy, gender, poverty, education, environment, health, and conflict. Their conclusions, published starting in 2002 in successive UN Human Development Reports, under the auspices of the United Nations Development Program, have been seminal but also short on effective action for reform. The UNDP reports have forecast continued deterioration in the wellbeing of the Arab community. The major findings of the 2009 report were released on July 21. The document revolves around the concept of personal insecurity. Its underlying thesis is that citizens facing intense personal stress can not change their circumstances for the better. The findings of the 2009 report spell danger and call for intervention. Arab regimes are in constant search for legitimacy and do not receive much support from their peoples in this regard. Arab countries score low on political freedoms and high on corruption. Regimes threaten the security of their citizens. The legal environment for non-governmental organizations is too restrictive. In six countries political parties are utterly forbidden. Emergency law is declared to justify police-state activities. Elections are predictable and manipulated. Rulers stay in office for long periods. Read more here ... Source: Al Arabiya
By Joel Brinkley | May 10 "Free press" and "the Arab world" are two phrases in direct opposition. Across most of the region, journalists go to jail if they criticize or defy the government. So ribbon cuttings and airport greeting scenes that journalists call "grip and grin" predominate newscasts. The rest of the airtime is filled with endless loops of political orthodoxy: gruesome images of Israelis mistreating Palestinians or Americans brutalizing Iraqis. That's not what Muamar Orabi offers on Wattan TV. He's the station's director. Wattan (which means "homeland") is a commercial, secular station broadcasting from Ramallah, West Bank. In the Arab world, that by itself is quite unusual. "There is another land in Palestine, different from the one portrayed on other Arab TV stations," Orabi said. "We like to focus on internal political news, cultural events, success stories. It's very important to raise the voices of marginalized people, and to make the government accountable for them." In other words, Orabi's station tries to make the case that Palestinians have a life apart from their interminable conflict with Israel. Children get up every morning and go to school. Shopkeepers welcome customers, and restaurants take lunch reservations. Every day there's a traffic jam in Ramallah's city center. At night, parents read their children a book before putting them to bed. That's not to say the conflict is absent from daily life. Israeli security checkpoints make traveling between West Bank cities difficult to impossible. The security wall surrounding most of the West Bank in some places divides villages. Israeli settlements continue to gobble up West Bank acreage. And, of course, occasionally a West Bank Palestinian attacks an Israeli, or vice versa. But to watch the other Arab stations' coverage of the West Bank, you would think that life there is nothing more than an unending, brutal struggle with Israel. "We present another face of Palestine," Orabi told me. He is in the United States this month, on an Eisenhower Fellowship, looking for funding and advice. The U.S. Agency for International Development recognizes the value of having an independent station serving the West Bank and Gaza and gave him $500,000 to upgrade his facilities, but it's not enough, he laments. As it turns out, Wattan is now the most popular station in the West Bank and Gaza because it defies the Arab political orthodoxy that says every consideration of life is less important than the struggle against Israel. For more than 40 years, Arab leaders have promoted this worldview primarily as a means to distract their subjects from complaining about how poorly they are treated at home. Of course we are concerned about poverty, these leaders aver. But all our thoughts, all our resources, must be devoted to fighting the Zionists, freeing our Palestinian brothers! Of course, the Arab leaders do nothing for the Palestinians but talk. Still, after 40 years, this mantra has become pervasive, unshakable. So it's no wonder that Arab television continues to play those endless loops showing Israeli soldiers brutalizing children. That's not to say that Wattan TV never participates in this pandering. It runs a newscast, and often the conflict with Israel is the news. As it is, Orabi often gets in trouble. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, may put up a pleasant enough face to the West. He talks of democracy; he espouses Western values. But he is no more willing to take criticism than other Arab kings, dictators and potentates. A few months ago, when Wattan TV aired a piece on the corruption that is endemic to the Palestinian government, Orabi said, Abbas' agents arrested him along with several other staff members. "They put me in jail and wanted me to sign a paper saying I wouldn't broadcast anymore," he said. "I refused." Eventually they let him go. But that was hardly the first time the government has gone after his station and probably not the last. A retrograde government is not Wattan TV's only problem. Hamas airs three satellite channels with high-end production values using money supplied by Iran. And, of course, Abbas has a station of his own, amply funded by the Palestinian government, legitimately or illegally obtained. You can only imagine the carnage shown every day on Hamas TV, while viewers of Abbas' station are encouraged to think that their president does nothing but shake the hands of other world leaders and inaugurate newly paved roads. Amid all this, a station with an avowed mission to be independent, not a mouthpiece for political leaders or their orthodoxy, deserves to be encouraged. Joel Brinkley is a professor of journalism at Stanford University and a former foreign policy correspondent for the New York Times. To comment to him, e-mail brinkley@foreign-matters.com. Source: San Francisco ChronicleH/T Gig
 Although physical violence and sexual violence are easier to see,
many women consider psychological abuse and humiliation even
more devastating than physical violence. The photo shows
women at a refugee camp at Tawilah, north Darfur in 2007.By Dr. César Chelala NEW YORK -- Recent reports that Qatar will ratify the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) soon calls attention to the problem of domestic violence in the Arab world, which is presently underrecognized and underreported. Its persistence, and its effects, cast an ominous shadow on Arab women's basic human rights. That violence against women is considered normal behavior in many countries doesn't diminish its seriousness or its negative impact on the physical and mental health of women worldwide. Its persistence throughout the world – despite other obvious social measures of progress - indicates the need to confront it with more effective policies. Domestic violence - violence that occurs in the home or within the family - is the most common kind of gender violence, and affects women regardless of age, education or socioeconomic status. Read more ...Source: Middle East Times
 By Dr Numan Gharaibeh Empowering Arab civil societies is doomed to fail without empowering 50% of the Arab societies (girls and women). Concepts such as empowerment, dependence, independence, autonomy, self-reliance, etc are tricky. They lend themselves of over-simplification and over-generalization and other black and white and extreme interpretation. Most humans don’t deal well with vague, slippery, and unclearly defined, or clearly undefined concepts. There is no absolute dependence or absolute independence, only a mix of different proportions of the two. Social and moral judgment—not known for its sophistication—has it that independence is “good,” and dependence is “bad.” Or to put it in relative terms, independence is better than dependence. However, a close examination of an average day reveals the depth of the problem of separating dependence from independence. We no longer hunt and gather our food; we simply go to the supermarket to buy it. After all we are not interested in going back to becoming hunters and gatherers. We are dependent on the supermarket, the gas company, the electric company, the phone company, endless manufacturers and so on. Read more ...Source: Arab Democracy
 In response to the sweeping condemnation in the Arab and Muslim world of Israel's actions in Gaza, and the calls to prosecute Israeli leaders for war crimes, liberal Arab writers have accused the Arabs and Muslims of hypocrisy. The liberal website www.elaph.com has published two articles in this vein, by Egyptian liberal Kamal Ghobrial and by Kuwaiti liberal Fahker Al-Sultan. Both writers point out that the Arab and Muslim world is quick to express outrage over atrocities and human rights violations when Arabs or Muslims are victimized by non-Muslims, but turns a blind eye - or even condones the violations - when the victims are non-Muslims, or when Muslims prosecute their own brothers, as happened in Saddam's Iraq and is happening today in Darfur. The writers argue that this double standard stems from the problem of hatred for the other, and especially towards Jews. Al-Sultan emphasizes the role of the traditional Islamic mentality - and of political Islam, which exploits this mentality - in promoting inflexible xenophobic and antisemitic attitudes. Read more ...Source: MEMRI
 By Dr Radhasyam Brahmachari Egypt was once the pioneer in the liberation of women in the Arab world. “The Liberation of Women”, the first Arab feminist manifesto was published in Cairo as early as in 1899. And by 1920s, women were dropping veils; by 1960, the country had more female doctors than many in the West. They won the right to vote and entered politics in 1956 and even secured a ban on the horrible practice of female circumcision. At that time, a new bill called the “Personal Status Bill”, that sought to establish absolute equality between men and women was in the pipeline. Unfortunately, then came the war with Israel and the move died. In those days of political turmoil, a conservative tide, spearheaded by Islamic fundamentalists, snatched away most of the rights women had won so far. Under a constitutional amendment in 1980, Islamic law was enshrined. As a result, women were reduced to the status no better than that of pet animals of males. For example, the practice of female circumcision was reintroduced. In medical term, it is nothing but a surgical operation that removes a part called clitoris of the female genital. At present, hundreds of Egyptian girls die every year due to excessive bleeding from the traumatic operation. In 1994, CNN telecast such an operation worldwide and sparked a heated debate in the Egyptian parliament. Egyptian Mufti, topmost religious authority in the country, appealed to members of the parliament for banning the practice. But the fanatic Islamist leader of the Al-Azhar University, Gad al-Haq Ali Gad al-Haq, promulgated a fatwa directing the Egyptians to continue the practice and the parliament also honoured his edict. Read more ...Source: Islam Watch
By Dr. Radhasyam Brahmachari On April 4, 2006, Kuwaiti women made history by voting and contesting in a local by-election for the first time, after the parliament granted them right to suffrage the previous year. “Today is the biggest feast we have been waiting for more than 40 years”, said Ms Khaledah al-Khadher, one of the two female contestants, to journalists at a polling station in suburb of the town Salwa. “This is the first time Kuwaiti women can show the men that we are capable, it is important that we do our best and leave the outcome to Allah”, she added. In the said by-election, some 28,000 voters, about 16,000 of them women, cast ballots to elect a MP from eight contestants, including two women. It may be recalled here that in the first week of December, 1999, jubilant mullahs and their supporters in the streets of Kuwait City celebrated the defeat of a bill in Kuwaiti parliament that sought to approve women’s right to vote and contest in parliamentary election. The incident was enough to understand the unwillingness of the chauvinistic Arab men to allow full citizenship to their woman folk. It may be mentioned here that, among the conservative Gulf countries, only Kuwait has an elected legislature, while the rest are ruled by dictatorship in one form or another. While dissolving the parliament in May 1998, Kuwait’s Amir, Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad al-Sabah, issued a decree granting women the same political rights as enjoyed by men. But the newly elected, parliament rejected the decree in the last week of November, 1999, by a narrow margin of 32–30 votes. It took another five years for the bill to be tabled again in 2004; and fortunately, it could gather more supporters this time round as sundry conservative members of the parliament crossed floor, joined the liberal camp and helped Kuwaiti women win their voting right. Read more ...Source: Islam Watch
 Arab investors have lost 2.5 trillion dollars from the credit crunch, Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad al-Sabah, whose country hosts an Arab economic summit next week, said on Friday.
"The Arab world has lost 2.5 trillion dollars in the past four months" as a result of the global financial crisis, Sheikh Mohammad told a press conference following a joint meeting of Arab foreign and finance ministers in Kuwait.
He also said that about 60 percent of development projects "have either been postponed or cancelled" by the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states because of the global meltdown.
Arab leaders who hold their first ever economic summit on January 19-20 will discuss the impact of the worldwide economic meltdown on the 22 Arab countries.
The biggest loss was an estimated 40 percent drop in the value of Arab investments abroad, which previously totalled around 2.5 trillion dollars.
Falls on stock markets contributed more than 600 billion dollars to the losses, while Arab investors were further affected by a sharp decline in oil revenues, the declining value of property investments and other repercussions of the global downturn.
Next week's summit will also discuss the Gaza war but leaders are still intent on agreeing a joint response to the financial crisis.
Source: Breitbart
 During a December 20, 2008 visit to the Omani capital Muscat, European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering stated that democracy in the Middle Eastmust evolve from within, that it must reflect local traditions and values, and that the West should not pressure the region to adopt a European-style democratic system. This statement sparked criticism among Arab intellectuals; the next day, 'Omran Salman, editor of the reformist website Aafaq.org, posted an article harshly critical of Poettering's statements. Following are excerpts from Salman's article: Western Officials Would Rather Keep the Middle East Under Dictatorships"…What is the meaning of statements [such as Poettering's]... that the democratic system followed in Europe is appropriate for countries all over the world except in the Arab region? "Naturally, such statements are not innocuous, nor are they for the benefit of these alleged exceptions [i.e. the Arab countries]; rather, they are manifestations of racist tendencies as well as self-serving objectives. "These people [like Poettering] believe that Arabs deserve nothing better than their present governments - [that is,] they do not deserve the democracy enjoyed by civilized nations. It follows that it is better not to pressure dictatorial regimes but instead to grant their wishes, [and receive] in exchange agreements, money, and profits - while the people there can go to hell. Read more ...Source: MEMRI
 Liberal Author Dr. Shaker Al-Nabulsi: Secularism Will Triumph in the Arab World; Terrorism's Crimes Are 'The Death Struggle of Fundamentalism'On May 15, 2008, the liberal Arab website Aafaq.org published an interview with prominent Jordanian-American liberal author Dr. Shaker Al-Nabulsi. In the interview, Al-Nabulsi discussed the meaning of secularism and its importance to the future of the Arab world. The following are excerpts from the interview: "'Secularism'... [Is] In the Interest of Religion - To Keep the Sacred (Religion) Apart from the Profane (Politics)"Interviewer: "What is your concept of secularism?" Nabulsi: "'Secularism' means the separation of religion from the state, excluding the clergy from politics, and not permitting religious political parties. These measures are all in the interest of religion, to keep the sacred - religion - apart from the profane - politics. "This is because when, throughout the ages, politics made use of religion, the joining of religion and politics was to religion's detriment. Politics gained, and religion lost. And likewise, this separation [exists] in order to hold the politician accountable for his political activity, and not [let him] take refuge under the umbrella of religion to avoid accountability and punishment. It is difficult to oppose or hold to account the clergy who combine religion and politics. "In fact, the separation of religion from politics is easier for the Shi'a than for the Sunnis. Shi'ite institutions evolved like the Church, and the Shi'ite hierarchy resembled the ecclesiastical hierarchy, so that both hierarchies remained separate from the state. Read more ... Source: MEMRIDr. Shaker Al-Nabulsi
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A Middle Eastern country is building a massive thick steel wall as a barrier between themselves and a Palestinian regime. 
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