No More Harems: The Hidden History of Muslim and Ex-Muslim Feminism: The battle for women's rights is central to the battle for Europe and for western values.
“It’s not a question of Islam or Christianity, East or West, democracy, justice or freedom,” my father always told me. “It is a question of power. It is a question of modern day colonialism of countries for money and natural resources and the corruption of the Muslim government betraying their people,” Asra Quratulain Nomani, Standing Alone in Mecca, page 44.
Phyllis Chesler | Pajamas Media | October 4, 2011
I love Muslim and ex-Muslim feminist women. They are so earthy, womanly, passionate, knowledgeable, beautiful, and eloquent — so emotionally present, so incredibly brave. Smitten? I guess I am, I always have been — ever since I began moving in Muslim circles 50 years ago.
Take Tunisia's minister for women's affairs. Amidst the mayhem and madness, Lilia Labidi just up and walked out of the United Nations meeting. Unlike Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was "waxing enthusiastic about the success of the Arab uprisings," Labidi's "giddy exposure to the UN rapidly dissipated. Her own appeal to the gathering (of powerful women presidents and secretary of states) for help in consolidating gains for women in Tunisia elicited little reaction."
And so, Labidi decided to go home. She said: "I cannot live here in such luxury," and she noted that her $700.00 a day cost of staying in New York "would be better spent on a project for rural women." Labidi was offended, frustrated, that the entire UN seemed to care only about the "Israeli-Palestinian conflict" and had absolutely no interest in the needs of women, neither in Tunisia nor anywhere else.