Rania, Queen of Jordan, at work: Development, gender and extremism

Posted on February 27th, 2007 by .
Categories: Misc. News.

H/T: Myrtus

Jordan queen, Rania, has delivered a speech at the eighth Jeddah Economic Forum. In this speech she emphasized the importance of building a developed future for Muslims and Middle Eastern generations, correcting the false images of them in the West through reforms in the region for example with regard to genderissues.

She called upon moderate Muslims to stand up and reject extremism and highlighted the relationship between free choice and Islam by stating that Islam does not force upon women to wear the veil. She criticized the US role in the Middle East and the prejudices of Westerners towards Arab people but also stated that Arabs themselves contributed to these prejudices. She questioned the lack of progress and pleaded for reform based upon Arab traditions, Islamic tradition and non-Muslim rolemodels:

She invoked the golden age of Islam when Arab civilization was more open to the wisdom of others. “The Arab ancestors welcomed new ideas from foreign lands and combined them with their own experiences to push boundaries of knowledge farther,” she said.

The queen referred to two important non-Muslim moral leaders of the 20th Century — Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., who revolutionized methods of nonviolent protest and boycotts through mass participation and personal sacrifice.

These “leaders of humanity”, as she called them, managed to create profound change in their societies by meeting the violence of the state with nonviolent popular uprising. She quoted King’s famous line: “There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe nor popular, but because conscience tells him it is right.”

“And let us not forget the great words of our own religion,” she added. “God said in the Holy Qur’an ‘God will not change a nation until they change themselves,’” the queen said. “Today we must ask ourselves, where is that spirit?”

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Thoughts on Religion, Identity and the Middle East – Mughrabi Gate: Archeology and Identity Politics

Posted on February 27th, 2007 by .
Categories: Misc. News.

Middle East scholar David Hulme has an interesting blog on the question of how identity, ideology and other moral issues in society fuel the Middle East conflict. Particularly interesting, in the light of recent events, are his thoughts on the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians over the Israeli reconstruction of a ramp leading to the Mughrabi Gate, adjacent to the Jewish holy site, the Western Wall in Arab-Israeli Conflict over the Mughrabi Gate and When Archeology is Made Political

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Claiming Equal Citizenship » Morocco Amends Nationality Code

Posted on February 27th, 2007 by .
Categories: Gender, Kinship & Marriage Issues, Morocco.

Claiming Equal Citizenship » Morocco Amends Nationality Code

Great News – On January 18, 2007, the Moroccan Government passed a bill to reform the country’s nationality code which will enable women the right to pass on their nationality to their children. Although the bill has passed at the Cabinent level, it is awaiting approval from the Parliament, which hopefully will come next week.

The law was amended in line with the country’s family code, the Moudawana, meaning that only Moroccan women who have married Muslim men in accordance with the Moudawana would benefit.

The Moroccan Minister of Communication, Nabil Benabdallah, is quoted in The Magharebia, a news source reporting on the Maghreb region, as saying, “the bill is an important step towards the emancipation of the Moroccan woman, after the reform in the family code (mudawana). Thus, the child will acquire Moroccan citizenship even if the father is a foreigner, but only if he is a Muslim and married according to the rules of the mudawana.” (more…)

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