The Voting Gap

Ethics, Gender and Sexuality


Women in Jordan (top); women in Lichtenstein (bottom): Which country first allowed women to vote?

In every region, there are laws that discriminate against women, in relation to property, the family, employment and citizenship. Too often, justice institutions, including the police and the courts, deny women justice.
Progress of the World’s Women, UN Report

Much attention is paid to the disparate gender roles in Islamic countries, from blanket veiling of women to not being allowed to drive cars. Yes, there are cultural elements in a number of Muslim-majority countries that treat women unequally. But gender inequality is not specific to Islam or any single nation. The sad truth is that in 2011 the species of Homo sapiens has not yet evolved a universal sense of the equal worth of males and females. Theories abound as to why males tend to dominate and it would be premature to believe that males have always been on top in social interaction. I do not defend cultural practices, dressed in religious rhetoric, that discriminate against women (nor would I if they discriminated against men, which is so rare it seems absurd to mention it). But it is useful to remind ourselves in the secular West of the Gospel advice that we should not be so intent on dissing the mote in someone else’s eye when there is a beam in our own (I see no problem in reversing the mote and beam for the moral).

Take voting, for example. Exactly a century ago only two countries in the world allowed women to vote. Today, that right is almost universal. It is not yet a century since women received the right to vote in the United States. Continue reading The Voting Gap →

كيف استقبل شباب الثورة بصنعاء ظهور صالح؟!

"Arab Spring", Ali Abdullah Salih, Sanaa, Yemen


  • الصورة لمتظاهرين في ساحة التغيير بصنعاء في 4 يوليو الجاري (AP).

    لمصدر أونلاين ـ صلاح القاعدي

    تباينت ردود الفعل لدى شباب الثورة في ساحة التغيير بصنعاء من الظهور العلني للرئيس صالح من خلال خطابه المسجل الذي بث يوم الخميس الفائت، وتوزعت بين حالة من الاحتقان والسخط على القوى المحلية والدولية لتأثيرها على مسار الثورة، وأخرى ساخرة.

    الشباب الذين استولى عليهم السخط والغضب نتيجة شعور سيطر عليهم، بسبب تفويتهم الفرص المتاحة لحسم الثورة، التي كان أبرزها فرصة رحيل صالح إلى السعودية. ومع ذلك خرج الشباب في مسيرات تجوب ساحة التغيير مرددين هتافات ضد قوى يعتقدون أنها سبباً حقيقياً في تأجيل حسم الثورة وومن بينها أحزاب اللقاء المشترك ودولتي السعودية والولايات المتحدة الأمريكية.

    وتنامت حالة العداء تجاه السعودية والولايات المتحدة في أوساط شباب الثورة في اليمن خلال الآونة الأخيرة بسبب دور الأخيرتين البارز في حل المشكلة اليمنية، وسط اتهامات لهما بالتواطؤ مع نظام صالح والسعي لإجهاض الثورة السلمية المطالبة بإنهاء حكم صالح المستمر منذ نحو 33 عاماً.

    الاختلاف في الآراء ووجهات النظر كان سيد الموقف حول انعكاسات خطاب صالح، ويرى الشاب سليمان الراشدي ان اتضاح حالة صالح الصحية بعد أسابيع من التضارب، سيسهل في الإقدام على الخطوات القادمة وتحقيق بقية الأهداف التي قامت من أجلها الثورة.

    لكن كثيراً من شباب الثورة جعلوا من ظهور صالح مادة لصياغة النكتة التي تتميز بسرعة انتشارها على قطاع واسع من اليمن بمختلف الوسائل المتاحة.
    Continue reading كيف استقبل شباب الثورة بصنعاء ظهور صالح؟! →

    • The Anti-Muslim Inner Circle

    Islamophobia


    Illustration by James Victore

    By Robert Steinback, Southern Poverty Law Center, Intelligence Report, Summer 2011, Issue Number: 142

    The apparent recent surge in popular anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States has been driven by a surprisingly small and, for the most part, closely knit cadre of activists. Their influence extends far beyond their limited numbers, in part because of an amenable legion of right-wing media personalities — and lately, politicians like U.S. Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), who held controversial hearings into the radicalization of American Muslims this March —who are eager to promote them as impartial experts or grassroots leaders. Yet a close look at their rhetoric reveals how doggedly this group works to provoke and guide populist anger over what is seen as the threat posed by the 0.6% of Americans who are Muslim — an agenda that goes beyond reasonable concern about terrorism into the realm of demonization.

    Of the 10 people profiled below, all but Bill French, Terry Jones and Debbie Schlussel regularly interact with others on the list. Most were selected for profiling primarily because of their association with activist organizations. People who only run websites or do commentary were omitted, with two exceptions: Schlussel, because she has influence as a frequent television talk-show guest, and John Joseph Jay, because he is on the board of Pamela Geller’s Stop Islamization of America group. Three other activists, Steve Emerson, Daniel Pipes and Frank Gaffney, have interacted with many of the core group as well and also have offended many Muslims, but they are somewhat more moderate in their views of Muslims than those who are profiled below.

    For the description of the ten people, click here.

    Breaking News: Salih on Yemeni TV

    "Arab Spring", Ali Abdullah Salih, Yemen, YouTube Watch


    from Al Jazeera website

    The first video of President Ali Abdullah Salih since his severe injuries has been broadcast in Yemen just a short while ago. A brief excerpt is already on Youtube with better videos likely to be posted. As the pictures above and below show, he is heavily bandaged and the audio indicates he has trouble speaking. It is hard to imagine that he would be able to resume work any time in the foreseeable future. It appears he is lucky to even be alive. For an interview on Al Jazeera with Dr. Ameen al-Himyari of Qatar University, click here.


    from the BBC website

    On Mahometism, 1833 style: #2

    Islam and Christianity, Islamophobia, Lithographs, Muhammad, Orientalist Images


    A History of the Church, p. 95

    One of the books owned by a great, great aunt of mine in Cleveland was A History of the Church, etc., published in 1833. In a previous post, I offered some excerpts from its coverage of “Mahometanism.” The author is a certain C. A. Goodrich, who is decidedly Protestant and as unfriendly to Roman Catholicism as he is to Islam and Hinduism. Near the end of the book is a section entitled “The Story of the World” by Josiah Conder, originally published in the Missionary Annual for 1833. Its comments on the various religions, including Islam, is quite fascinating, again as a reflection of a time when the United States was barely half a century old. Continue reading On Mahometism, 1833 style: #2 →

    Tabsir Redux: A Sailor and his Camel Ride

    Animals, camels, Travel


    [Illustration: Arabian Camel from George Shaw, Zoology (1801)]

    [Tabsir Redux is a reposting of earlier posts on the blog, since memories are fickle and some things deserve a second viewing.]

    [Joseph Osgood was a Black American sailor who visited the Yemeni port of Mocha about a dozen years before the start of the American Civil War. He offers a rich, descriptive account of his visit to the Yemeni coast, including a sailor’s view of the ship of the desert.]

    No wheel carriages are used here, the most general mode of transportation being by camels, for which the males along are serviceable. The flesh of the camel forms a staple article of food, the head and neck being excepted, because one of the race unwittingly rendered these parts unholy by obtrusively poking his head and neck into Mahomet’s tomb. Wellsted says that a camel is welcomed at its birth, by the Arab, with “another child is born unto us.” Continue reading Tabsir Redux: A Sailor and his Camel Ride →

    Old World Travel 90 years on: #2 The Simoon and Mirage

    Algeria, Environment, Libya, Orientalism, Orientalist Art, Photography, Tunisia


    Exactly 90 years ago a four-volume set of encyclopedia-like human interest books was published as The Human Interest Library: Visualized Knowledge by Midland Press in Chicago. In a previous post I commented on its thoroughly “Orientalist” flavor. Not only was the Sahara portrayed as a barren landscape with people who have nothing to do, but the only winds of change are violent storms summed up in the Anglicized “simoon.” Above is an image from the frontispiece to volume 2 in the series and entitled “The Dreaded Simoon – The Scourge of the Desert”. I have not been able to find the name of the artist, which is clearly pre-1921. The caption reads: “The fury of the simoon is like the blast of a furnace. Winged with the whirlwind. and charioted with thunder, it blasts everything in its course. It has the appearance of a train of fire whose murky smoke fills the whole wide expanse of the desert.”

    Here is the text describing “The Scourge of the Desert” (Vol. 4, p. 97):

    As the color plate shows, the simoon, described by writers, must have presented a majestic and awe-inspiring spectacle. Continue reading Old World Travel 90 years on: #2 The Simoon and Mirage →

    An American Treaty on Religion

    Algeria, Islam and Christianity, Islam in America, Orientalist Art


    Yes, a treaty and not a Humean treatise, although Hume’s treatise on Religion no doubt had an influence on the creators of the text. The third treaty established by the young United States, recently liberated from British rule, with the nations of the “Barbary Coast” was with the Bey of Algiers in 1797. Like the earlier two treaties, the focus was on maritime trade in the Mediterranean and the problem of Barbary “pirates” as well as neutrality of the Barbary states when the U.S. was battling other “Christian” powers. Our Founding Fathers (for surely those members of Congress in 1797 were as close to being Founding Father’s as Sarah Palin’s contorted dubbing of John Quincy Adams, who had just turned 20 and had yet to enter politics) were obviously not working hard to free slaves (as these treaties will bear out), but they did stress a point that many rightwing pundits conveniently gloss over: the United States was not created as a “Christian nation.”

    As you read the treaty below, in celebration of the 4th of July, note article 11 in particular. It turns out that the translation provided to Congress by Joseph Barlow, is not very accurate and the original Arabic version did not contain what we find in Article 11. But in fact, Congress never knew that and only saw the version printed here; this was accepted unanimously and then acknowledged as well by President John Adams at the time. So it was certainly not the contention of the Dey of Algiers that the U.S. was not a Christian nation, but an idea that resonated well with the young Congress.

    Treaty of Peace and Friendship, signed at Tripoli November 4, 1796 (3 Ramada I, A. H. 1211), and at Algiers January 3, 1797 (4 Rajab, A. H. 1211). Original in Arabic. Submitted to the Senate May 29, 1797. (Message of May 26, 1797.) Resolution of advice and consent June 7, 1797. Ratified by the United States June 10, 1797. As to the ratification generally, see the notes. Proclaimed Jane 10, 1797.

    [Translation]
    Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the United States of America and the Bey and Subjects of Tripoli of Barbary.

    ARTICLE 1.
    There is a firm and perpetual Peace and friendship between the United States of America and the Bey and subjects of Tripoli of Barbary, made by the free consent of both parties, and guaranteed by the most potent Dey & regency of Algiers.

    ARTICLE 2.
    If any goods belonging to any nation with which either of the parties is at war shall be loaded on board of vessels belonging to the other party they shall pass free, and no attempt shall be made to take or detain them.

    ARTICLE 3.
    If any citizens, subjects or effects belonging to either party shall be found on board a prize vessel taken from an enemy by the other party, such citizens or subjects shall be set at liberty, and the effects restored to the owners. Continue reading An American Treaty on Religion →