Audax- Suggestions for your homework.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Covered women are not something out of the ordinary anymore in the western world. You can see them everywhere, sometimes in the least expected places, like cosmetics departments looking for hair dye, make up or simply in a women’s garments department, admiring some not quite orthodox lingerie.
You can see them on the beach, at festivals, you name it, perhaps on a mission given by their imam.

I might say that these covered women want to prove us, maybe a bit too hard, that they feel integrated in this society. Plus, I might deduce that our world pleases them more than their world. Here, covered or not, a woman can walk hand in hand with her partner, a serious misconduct punishable in an Islamic country, governed by Sharia. They can sit at the same table at a restaurant and enjoy their meal together, as a couple.
The debate over the wearing of the hijab, niqab or burka or other drapes in our world has not ended and it is not likely to end too soon.
Opinions are divided between those who defend the drapes, considering that they do not interfere with the values of a secular society and those who are against these garments as they are perceived as segregationist and insulting to western women and their history of fight for equal rights with men.
Those who wear a hijab in Canada also defend the headdress as they declare that wearing it is their free decision.
Other emancipated Muslim women, especially Iranian, cannot conceive wearing any of these garments, as they are seen reminders of a constrictive society they have willingly left behind the day they have decided to emigrate.
As the debate goes on, so do we and I would like to discuss the use of high heels by more and more Muslim women who wear hijab. High heels tend to replace the traditional, flat, man like hideous slippers.
High heels and hijab? It is, indeed, contradictory. As Muslim scholars say that the true Muslim woman is modest in clothing as she is in all other respects, trying to be as invisible as possible (by the way, how is this goal reached in our world where covered women are anything but “invisible’, as they do not blend in the context, as they do in a Muslim country?).
Make up, sometimes as heavy as the eyelids and eyelashes can carry, high heels, tight jeans… what is next? Perhaps, hijabbed women… smoking? Modesty and invisibility with heavy loads of mascara and high heels is a difficult to achieve goal.
As they defend the hijab as a fundamental element of their spirituality, I am thinking that they should also respect the rest of the requirements of their religion, thus, they shouldn’t hold hands with their partners for instance.
As I see it, those who wear the hijab here make a statement of provocation and not one of conviction.
You want to wear the hijab? Very well, then respect the rest of the interdictions.
So, you who cover your “precious” hair (by the way, your hair should be aerated for hygiene purposes) and expose the rest of your shapes, don’t you dare to consider yourself more virtuous than western women.
Don’t you dare to talk about modesty and don’t you or your husband dare to criticize western women.
You wear a hijab, high heels and make up?
N.B.
In our world, prostitutes assume what they do and never try to hide what they are. They deserve my respect more than a hypocrite hijab on high heels.

OBAMA, A STOOGE?
Friday, September 5, 2008


”Go into any inner-city neighborhood, and folks will tell you that government alone can’t teach kids to learn. They know that parents have to parent, that children can’t achieve unless we raise their expectations and turn off the television sets and eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white.”
Barack Obama, Keynote Address, Democratic National Convention, 2004

First of all, we should say that his white mother from Kansas had a constant fascination with interracial Muslim maleness. What has this to do with the presidential elections? It has, since Obama, half white and Christian, half black and Muslim might be one of the biggest political cons in the American history.
Obama is not a simple candidate, Obama is a case.
Kenyan citizens are already dreaming about Osama helping them by pouring money into the country simply because Obama’s father was a Kenyan. Obama, the half black, half white, young and ambitious, is projecting the image of a New Order. The question is whose order?
Should we ignore his race? Not at all. Does Obama have a crushing black support, as expected?
Well, since Obama is not a full blooded black, but a biracial, his opinions are not expected to side any side 100%.
For some, he is not a black, for others, he is not a white. It depends on which side you are.
His ancestors were not slaves in the USA, so he can’t impress the audience with heartbreaking stories about some distant relative who was lynched or had to run, maybe to Canada. Obama’s original given name is Baraka Hussein and it comes out of the Koran and Arabic, not Africa.
For those who imagine that being black in the USA is simple, since "all black are black", things are not that easy. It is not only white people who talk about the rights and the legitimacy of the first arriving, but blacks too. There is a tendency in the American black community of making differences: You were not born here, you don’t have ancestors who were killed, persecuted, who suffered and fought for what we have achieved today. Thus, you are not a true-born Afro-American.

Is Obama black enough for them?
Is Obama truly the first Afro-American candidate in the American history? It depends. Both sides are entitled to embrace him as their “first”: black people and biracial.
I don’t see the black community giving him the overwhelming support he wants. At this point, I believe that his voters are mostly white. If elected, he must play a hazardous game, to please both sides and to get what he wants from them, not stepping over his electoral promises.
More than others, black and Muslim (black or non-black) voters see Obama as their flange.
During his rallies, cameras are always taking their time to show some black people, smiling and almost in ecstasy, as if they were watching a minister on the Sunday preaches.
Maybe for the whites, Democratic presidential candidate Obama is what Saddam Hussein was thought to be for the Americans: an easy to control puppet. Once the puppet broke the strings, the puppet had to go.


Is Obama a little communist himself?
With a communist activist wife, in an ex-communist country Obama would get only a few votes from nostalgic of the named regime. As for today’s American electorate, communism is not a scarecrow anymore. Today, a sympathizer to the cause is not a break in the social advancement of an American.
Is Obama a sympathizer? Well, he married Michelle Obama and she might become the first communist first lady. He can not oppose her ideas that strongly. It is as if one would be married to a Nazi and pretend that the Nazi ideology is somewhere in the neighbour’s yard.
So, how many of his wife's marxist ideas have been embraced by Obama, the presidential candidate?

Is he “acting too white”?
Some say reading is “acting white”
Barack Obama is openly critiquing the African American community saying that many of his generation are disenfranchising themselves because they don't vote, taking rappers to task for their language, and decrying "anti-intellectualism" in the black community, including black children telling peers who get good grades that they are "acting white."
Can we draw the conclusion that according to some black people blacks should be poor, uneducated, singing rap, barking hip-hop, wearing gilded jewelry and sagging?
I don’t think that the question is whether America is ready to have a black president, but whether the black community is mature enough for this.
Studying has become an insulting act and the studious student is slandered and excluded by the rest. It is a trend to be “popular” and stupid, and this can be traced back to American teen-age movies.
Obama has a burden no other candidate has: he must be what some call “a true black”.
While Obama is just a man, who doesn’t seem to think too much of his own racial specificity.
But others do. And there is nothing wrong about it.
When Obama took a bold step in criticizing the core of “blackness”, he might have done an electoral mistake.
If Obama wants to be a leader, he knows that he must deliver the speech, even if it might offend someone. Is critiquing the core of “blackness” situating him in the “acting white” label too much?
If such a criticism were posted by a white, that candidate would have been forced to abandon his dreams of becoming a president. Since, still, Obama is “black” he can criticize and point out the faults of the black community without being labeled a racist. And this is an immense gain.
Could Obama be called a racist, suggesting that the criticism comes from his white blood streams?
On the other hand, he was never explicit on his madrasa years he spent in Indonesia. He was enrolled in this type of Muslim school for two years.
Was it a wahhabist school? (Wahhabi is a member of a strictly orthodox Sunni Muslim sect from Saudi Arabia; he strives to purify Islamic beliefs and rejects any innovation occurring after the 3rd century of Islam.)
His studies at Occidental College in Los Angeles are mentioned in every single biographical note, as well as his Columbia University years in New York. He graduated with a degree in political science in 1983, and in 1991 graduated from Harvard Law School.
Baraka (Barakah) Hussein Obama is silent and not willing to clarify his views on his Muslim heritage. Obama is not being upfront about it and it makes me wonder why. Is there anything to hide, is he ashamed of this heritage?
Obama's parents -- Barack Sr. and mother -- separated when he was two. His father, his grandmothers and most of his family members in Kenya are Muslims. His father, Barrack Hussein Obama Senior, was member of the Luo tribe and a Muslim (he converted from African Christianity).

Obama and Odinga
When Obama visited Kenya in 2006, he was hosted by Raila Odinga and Obama showed his full support to him.
Raila Odinga is the one responsible for the actual crisis in Kenya since his ego didn’t let him keep his pants on and leave Mwai Kibaki do his work as elected president. Raila Odinga was upset that Kibaki (from Kikuyu, the opposite tribe) didn’t offer him the expected positions in the government, so Odinga formed an opposition party (ODM-Orange Democratic Movement, orange the symbol color of opposition).
In December 2007, Odinga lost the presidential election to Kibaki and he claimed the vote was manipulated. His fans began thus their vicious, murderous riots; on New Year’s Day, at least 37 people were burned to death in a church deliberately set on fire. African fight for personal power, using tribal vindication, is the locomotive of African political unrest and economic handicap.
Odinga’s father was a communist, supported by the Soviets.
Raila Odinga made a deal with fundamentalist Muslims as he signed a Memorandum with Sheik Abdullah Abdi, chairman of the National Muslim Leaders Forum of Kenya.
The Evangelical Alliance of Kenya has posted on its website a copy of the Memorandum of Understanding, dated and signed on August 29, 2007.
This Forum wants to implement the Sharia law in Kenya. In return to the Muslim support, Odinga Jr. agrees to 14 humiliating actions.
Raila Odinga claims to be a practicing Anglican. Kenya on the whole is Christian, with 80% of Kenyans either Protestant or Roman Catholic, while only 10% are Muslim. Though, read the requirements of those 10%. They simply want to control the Coast (with a population of 2,487,264) and the North Eastern regions (with a population of 962,143). Thus, the Kenyan Indian Ocean shoreline with the three islands would be under their administration and the Sharia law.
The prominent ethnic group in the North Eastern regions is Somali people. Bordering Somalia (the Somalis are almost entirely Sunni Muslims) and Ethiopia, the Kenyan Muslim state would control more than Odinga ignorantly agreed to sign.
Raila Odinga has, in his own words, a "close personal friendship" with Barrack/Baraka Hussein Obama Junior.
When Obama went to Kenya, he spoke in praise of Odinga at rallies in Nairobi. Obama's bias for Odinga was so obvious that a Kenya government spokesman called him Raila's "stooge."
In the end, whose stooge is Obama?

Wind of change from east?
On August 22, 2008, Barack Obama announced that Biden would be his running mate.
Biden officially accepted the nomination on August 27, 2008 at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.
Joe Biden serves as chairman in the Committee on Foreign Relations.
This CFR has been the subject of many controversies, partially due to the number of high-ranking government officials in its membership, its secrecy clauses, and the numerous aspects of American foreign policy that its members have been involved with.
The CFR wants to create “one world” and David Rockefeller admitted it proudly. The CFR would like to secure the borders on the entire North America, asking for full mobility of labor among the three countries within five years. In their internationalist fervor, they try to impose a new concept of sovereignty, cataloging the actual one as “outdated”.
During Biden’s speech, the audience would chant slogans, in a very old fashioned communist style. I also saw a few stars on a red background as part of an image on his platform.
I quickly put these elements together: CFR internationalism, Michelle Obama, staged chants and stars on a red background and I came up with one word: communism.
Is the United States slowly taking the curve eastwards?
Is this the change Obama keeps talking about?

Funny fact:
Obama- change a letter and we have Osama.
Biden-add three and we have Binladen.
What a coincidence!

February 18, 2008

The world is divided and it’s time for everyone to admit it. It was never “one world” and it can’t be.

I’ll never enjoy sharing a table with a Chinese or Korean who engulfs pieces of dog in front of my eyes. It is their table, not mine.

On February the 15th, Muslims from Denmark are re-enacting the riots of the Muslims from France in 2005. The 2005 civil unrest in France of October and November was a series of riots and violent clashes, involving mainly the burning of cars and public buildings at night starting on October 27th, 2005 in Clichy-sous-Bois. A state of emergency was declared on November 8, 2005, extended for three months a few days later. The riots were triggered by the accidental death of two teenagers, Zyed Benna and Bouna Traore, in Clichy-sous-Bois, who were chased by the police as the two refused to stop. The two later ran into a power substation where they died, electrocuted. And the police was held responsible.

February 16, 2008 - Gangs of Muslims in Denmark set fire to cars and garbage trucks in northern Copenhagen, the sixth night of rioting and vandalism, angry at the reprinting of the cartoon of Mohammad in 15 Danish newspapers. Five youths (called “Danes” by the media) were arrested in the capital on Friday after 28 cars and 35 garbage trucks were burned. Cars and several schools have been vandalized or burned in the past week. Soft weather, schools closed, what else can the “Danes” do than burning or vandalizing schools? Anyway, they don’t need them.

I thought that their parents have left their archaic homes for Denmark to “give my children a better education”.
Several hundred Muslims (or “Danes”?) gathered in central Copenhagen on Friday to protest against re-publication of the cartoon.

“I AM NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT”

October 18, 2007

CECILIA AND NICHOLAS SARKOZY: DIVORCE IN FRENCH STYLE
This is what Cecilia Sarkozy said. And we know that a non PC declaration coming from a first lady could cost a president’s destiny. She didn’t take any risks. Cecilia Sarkozy simply couldn’t accept the standard expected behaviour of a first lady. Accompanying her husband to all sorts of events was not for her. She is the woman who can’t submit her life to anything she doesn’t believe in. Politics is not her passion. In fact, it is a boring matter she found herself whirlpooled into.

She is the type of woman to lounge on a golden beach, sipping from a refreshing fruit cocktail, decorated with a pink miniature umbrella. She was a model and she keeps behaving like a model. And she made the rules from the very beginning, showing that she doesn’t want to dance according to the tune.

She left for a holiday in Florida directly before the Election Day, and also left Sarkozy alone at the G8 dinner table, heading for Paris. How else can someone display in a more direct manner a message? Today, she and her husband, President Sarkozy, separate by mutual consent. How is this going to affect the President’s political decisions, consequently France’s internal and external politics? We shall see. Nicholas Sarkozy , elected president this year, must face immense publicity and media scrutiny. Who is the next wife, if any? Is Anne Fulda, the Le Figaro journalist, who was Sarkozy’s girlfriend during his brief separation from his wife, Cecilia, in 2005? Maybe not.

On the other hand, Cecilia Sarkozy, born to a Romanian father and a Spanish mother, also had an affair in 2005 in New York with Richard Attias, a Moroccan-born French. Is there a reunion floating in the air?

Her mission to Libya and her chatting with Muammar Gadaffi left room for endless comments, suggesting that Sarkozy used her as a weapon of seduction. Hopefully, we won’t witness a Cecilia converted to Islam, advocating the “religion of peace”.

However, you never know.

November 30, 2007

WHY NOT AN ABORIGINAL, JEWISH, SOUTH AMERICAN OR EUROPEAN HISTORY MONTH TOO?

Canada did it. Canada opened a practice nobody ever thought about: to celebrate the Islamic presence in Canada under the form of the world’s first Islamic History Month (why not called Muslim History Month?). Why such a gift, you might ask? To me it doesn’t seem to be anything but a gift of fear. Our government knows very well what is happening in Europe and is hoping that Muslims in Canada might be bought with such gestures.


Such a gesture is simply questioning its timing, as it comes in the context of “offended”� Muslims by the reasonable accommodation hearings held in Quebec. I see a connection. The raising of Islam in Europe is not a distant theory or a page taken out of the history books. Such a reality, with all aspects included, can not remain unknown to our government and politicians.

Silently, with an Islamic History Month, Canada is hoping to keep the Muslims in a range of comfort given by such official events.

As some began to question the Quebec hearings, as they might trigger similar hearings in the rest of the country, this gift comes as a high level of assurance coming from the government that no matter what those people say in Quebec, Muslims are loved, wanted and their presence highly valued.

Now, a logical question comes: Is there a similar month for other religions or ethnic communities? Not quite. Official recognition of each ethic, cultural, religious or linguistic community’s contribution to Canada is undoubtedly a nice gesture. In this respect, Canada, besides the already well-established Black History Month (celebrated in February in Canada and the USA and October in the UK), has also a South Asian Heritage Month in Canada, celebrated in May. And this comes as, according to the 2001 Census, almost 10 % of Canadians are of Asian descent.

Significant Muslim population begins to move to Canada in the 1970s through emigration. The first census year in which Muslims in Canada were specially included was 1981 and they then numbered 100,000. By 1991 the number had grown to more than 250,000; in 2001, there were almost 600,000.

The Muslim community in Canada has its foundation in the West, where Al-Rashid, the first mosque in North America, was built in Edmonton, Alberta, in 1938. The Canadian Muslims come from all over the Muslim world. Many held or still hold key positions in the Canadian media.

Mohammed Azhar Ali Khan is a former Ottawa Citizen editorial writer. He retired recently after 10 years as a member of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, deciding refugee asylum cases including dozens from Somalia.

Tarek Fatah (born November 20th, 1949) is a secular Muslim Canadian political activist, writer and TV host. Founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress. Fatah’s advocacy for a separation of religion and state, opposition to Sharia law, and what he calls a “progressive” form of Islam has met with considerable controversy from other Canadian Muslim groups, such as the Canadian Islamic Congress.

Haroon Siddiqui, newspaper journalist, columnist and editorial page editor for Toronto Star, considered by many a Third World apologist. Referring to a Siddiqui column that appeared in March 2001, Robert Fulford wrote, “He found a way to look with a degree of tolerance even on the Taliban’s destruction of ancient Buddhist sculptures in Afghanistan.” Haroon Siddiqui also greets Turkey’s returning to an Islamic country.

So, if some speak about a Zionist media conspiracy, others might be entitled to speak of a Muslim one.

On the Canadian Islamic Congress site, in an article praising Ottawa’s decision to install the Islamic History Month in Canada, Mohamed Elmasry, president of the Canadian Islamic Congress, says: “ Muslim identity in Canada has been influenced in two major ways; first, there is the country itself — a nation with a comparatively young history (140 years in 2007), occupying a huge and ruggedly diverse land-mass — and secondly, by the self-perceptions of its Muslim immigrants.”
140 years only?! According to this person’s broad knowledge, Canada came into being in 1867! Yes, indeed, Canada became a self-governing country on July 1st, 1867. But this doesn’t mean that Canada’s history as a nation began 140 years ago! According to his judgment, the history of a nation begins with its independence. Thus, Iran’s history as a nation began 1979 (the day the country became a theocratic Islamic Republic state), Norway’s in 1814, and Egypt’s, to end the examples, in 1922, when the country was declared independent from the British rule and it acquired full sovereignty following World War II. So, according to Mr. Elmasry, Canada is older than his native Egypt by 55 years!

Mr. Elmasry, French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and QuebecCity in 1608. The Act of Union merged The Canadas into a United Province of Canada in 1840. Do the math. This doesn’t seem to exist in the history books Elmasry has read.

The same Dr. Mohamed Elmasry of the Canadian Islamic Council has declared in a televised interview in 2004 that Israelis over age 18 are a legitimate target for suicide bombers because adult Israelis are required to do military service, thus everyone is a soldier. “They are part of the Israeli army, even if they have civilian clothes,” Elmasry said on The Michael Coren Show. (See http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2004/10/25/muslimleaders_041025.html )

Elmasry apologized for his remarks as he considered being “misunderstood”, and kept his post as council president, as his letter of resignation was rejected by the board of directors. This was a very clear message of backing up his remarks from the part of the board. What was so multifaceted in his statement to lead to “misunderstandings”?

Certain Muslims believe that their sentences are so sophisticated that they make room to “misunderstandings”, especially when it comes to “non-believers”.

Now, back to 2007, when Ottawa officially proclaimed October to be Islamic History Month in Canada. Since the Muslim community has only a few decades presence in Canada, I was wondering if other older cultural/religious communities have anything similar: for instance, a European History Month in Canada would be a sign of recognition of the centuries old contributions made by European immigrants to the development of this country, culturally, socially and economically.

I am also thinking of the First Nations. After contacting The Assembly of First Nations, I was informed that there is no such thing as First Nations History Month in Canada. Tracy Lavallee, a First Nations woman stated, ”There is no month dedicated to the First Nations in Canada - we do have “National Aboriginal Day”, June 21st, that has been proclaimed by government. It would be nice if Canada would declare some month First Nations history month - this might prompt the various provincial governments to look seriously at having “proper” history taught which ought to include First Nations’ history, contributions, etc.”

What Canada gave the aboriginal people is one day, June 21st, as recognition of their historical presence and contribution to our society. Is it, perhaps, enough?

I have also contacted the Jewish community, and I received a prompt answer from Enza E. Martuccelli, Director of Community Relations for Canadian Jewish Congress, Quebec Region , who stated: ”We have had Yom Hashoah recognized by Parliament and from October through November the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre runs a series of programs on the holocaust. The Sephardic community also runs a month long cultural program focusing on their community in Quebec and elsewhere. However no proclamations of the kind that are found on the Muslim History Month website exist for the Jewish community.”

There has been a Jewish population in Canada since the 1700s. The 2001 census lists 370,505 Jews in Canada. In the USA, May was proclaimed in 2006 as Jewish American Heritage Month. Another significant community in Canada is the Christian Orthodox community which numbers 479,620 (2001), counting as 1.6% of the population (the Muslim community 579,640, counting2.0%).

I believe that the Orthodox community is also entitled to be honoured with a History Month. The first Orthodox Church in Canada was erected in 1898, 40 years earlier than the first mosque.

What about the Hispanic community in Canada?

During the Islamic Month, of 31 days, 10 days were without events. As for the events, they were basically a handful, shuffled during 21 days: - Free Public Performances on Qanoun By Dr. George Sawa “- Film: Damascus and the Umayyads, people of the 9th and 10th centuries “- Film: Istanbul, capital of the Ottomans in the 15th and 16th centuries “- Film: Glories of Islamic Art, Part 2; Cairo, the cockpit of the early Islamic struggles between Sunni and Shiia faiths “- Islamic History Month Canada (IHMC): Its Goals, Its Methods, Its Themes “- Cairo, traces of the 12th and 14th centuries “- Eid-ul-Fitr- Canadian Muslims celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr across Canada, ending the Islamic month of Ramadan “- Expo Islamia- Displays from around the Muslim World, books, CDs, DVDs, films on Islamic History, Arts, Architecture, Heritage, Games and Prizes “- The Ottawa Muslim Women’s Organization- Multicultural Show, Dinner & Entertainment “- A Mystical Journey - Sufi Music and other Expression of Devoton from the Muslim World- “- Islamic Civilization - A Very Short History- A presentation by Dr. Jamal Badawi, delivered by Dr. Safaa Fouda “- The Canadian Muslim Artist Ibrahim Shalaby in a Special Solo Show: Longing for the divine - an artistic tapestry “- Islamic Architecture, Science, Art and Spirituality: A Lecture in Celebration of Islamic History Month Canada- By Prof. Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Professor of Islamic Studies, George Washington University, Washington DC in his first Canadian Lecture Tour “- Friday October 26th- “National Pink Hijab Day”- to raise funds for breast cancer research “- The Canadian Islamic Congress Annual Ottawa Gala Dinner- with the speech: “Creativity in the Medical Sciences during Medieval Islamic Times”�- by Dr. Ingrid Hehmeyer, MSc, PhD.

Even cancer is opportunity for Dawah
As about the “National Pink Hijab Day”, this is not only an initiative to raise funds for breast cancer, but also a method of advertizing the religion itself. The organizers of this specific are hoping to also raise awareness about Islam and hijab. They have used it as an opportunity for Dawah, considered to be an obligation on Muslims to invite others to Islam. Dawah is often referred to as the act of “preaching Islam”.

It is, undoubtedly, an activity of proselytizing. In some cases, Dawah can also be seen as preaching to non-Muslims to convert to Islam. (The Encyclopeadia of Islam, BRILL)

The Canadian Islamic Congress has announced it was giving away pink hijabs to 200 Canadian women across the country who would volunteer to wear them on October 26th, to raise funds for breast cancer research. To request a free pink hijab, those interested were supposed to send a message to an e-mail address before October 22nd and include name, phone number, postal address and “a short personal biographical statement”. Why this ”biographical statement”?

And this is how the Muslims have decided to enlighten us about their history.

Call for a Canadian year

If the Canadian government decides to offer one month to every single ethnic, religious, linguistic group, there is only one tiny problem: the length of the year. Since there are only 12 months and more than 20 large ethnic groups and over 100 of “smaller” groups, I suggest the creation of the Canadian year, so that every single community gets a celebration! The Canadian week would become 3, 04 days long. Thus, the 120 ethnic groups could each get an equitable representation in the Canadian calendar of official events.

KATOUCHA NIANE DEAD: ACCIDENT OR MURDER?

February 28, 2008

Some tradition-minded families have their daughters undergo FGC whilst on vacation in their home countries.
Some women take the hard road and speak out against the abuse and humiliation dictated by what some call “tradition”. Katoucha Niane was one of them. Born in Guinea, she was one of the world’s first models to have come from Africa. In the 1980s she modeled for Thierry Mugler, Paco Rabanne and Christian Lacroix and was described as Yves Saint Laurent’s “muse.”

Even if she was born to educated parents (Djibril Tamsir Niane, her father, is an author, playwright and historian, specialized in the history of the Mali Empire. In spite of his studies made in France, he has remained deeply anchored in the primitivism of the rituals dictated by his religion and agreed on his daughter to undergo the repellant procedure)at the age of nine, she had to experience one of the most barbaric rituals still practiced on Earth: female genital mutilation or cutting.

As Western governments become more aware of FGC, legislation has come into effect in many countries to make the practice of FGC a criminal offense. In the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, it is practiced mainly among foreign workers from East Africa and the Nile Valley.

In Indonesia, the practice is fairly common among the country’s Muslim women. Due to immigration, the practice has also spread to Europe, Australia and the United States. Some tradition-minded families have their daughters undergo FGC whilst on vacation in their home countries.

In 2006, Ethiopian Khalid Adem became the first man in the United States to be prosecuted for mutilating his daughter. He had personally excised his 2-year-old daughter’s clitoris with a pair of scissors, in order to preserve “her virginity”. Katoucha Niane stopped modeling in 1994 to focus on activism and has become an outspoken activist against female circumcision, a rite constantly performed in Mali, Senegal, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, Tanzania and some groups in the Arabian Peninsula.

In the Arabian peninsula, Sunna circumcision is usually performed, especially among Arabs (ethnic groups of African descent are more likely to prefer infibulation). The practice occurs particularly in northern Saudi Arabia, southern Jordan, and Iraq. Egypt recently passed a law banning FGC. She created the organization KPLCE - Katoucha pour la lutte contre l’excision (Katoucha for the battle against female circumcision).

In 2007 she published a book about her mutilation experience,”Dans ma chair,” in France. On February 1st, 2008, she returned to her houseboat from a party. This was the last time she was reportedly seen alive. Police believed that she was likely intoxicated and fell into the Seine. Her body was found in the Seine on February 28th, 2008.

While some customs and traditions must be protected and preserved, others are only remains of obsolete social realities or simply symbols of ignorance. Foot binding was a custom practiced on young girls or females for approximately one thousand years in China. In Chinese foot binding, young girls’ feet, usually at age 6 but often earlier, were wrapped in tight bandages so that they could not grow and develop normally; they would, instead, break and become highly deformed, not growing past 4-6 inches (10-15 cm). As the girl reached adulthood, her feet would remain small and dysfunctional, subject to infection, paralysis, and muscular atrophy. This mutilation requested by social status ended in the early 20th century.

FGC is the next on the list.
http://www.afrol.com/Categories/Women/FGM/netscapeindex.htm

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION IN QUEBEC- FORUMS II-III-IV-V
by Madi Lussier
October 2, 2007

FORUMS II-III-IV-V

FORUM II -September 13, 2007- Rouyn-Noranda
With over 80 people on the list, the debate gravitated more or less around the issues of language and religion vs. secularity.
Members of the first nations were also present, emphasizing the historical reality that they have helped out the first settlers with food and hunting.

The notion of family was also touched, without any clear suggestions coming from the speaker. A woman complaining that her children can not learn English, considering living in Québec as simply “frustrating”, brought into discussion what she calls “the special attention given to the fist nations”, while neglecting the needs of the others. She failed going further in her intervention, emphasizing that she loves first nations, but that she can not understand the reason for them to have territories and governmental funding. She was also revolted that their schools receive governmental funding, while “our” schools don’t.
She omitted to express her position on the religious schools that receive governmental funds.


A Lebanese living in Québec for 20 years stated that religion must be under the secular law, and not vice-versa. He also said that it is not the Québecers’ job to become Lebanese, but the immigrants’ job to become Québecers.
A senior gentleman stressed upon the fact that religion is a personal choice and each religious fraction can pray in their designated space (church, mosque, temple, synagogue), but he opposes some institution’s decision to offer special prayer rooms for Muslims.
There was also a hint that there are accommodations made for handicapped. Someone pointed it out that those accommodations are made to integrate handicapped people, and not to separate, which is the case of the religious accommodations.
Numerous speakers called attention upon the fact that this is a secular society, where men and women are equal and where we speak French. Are immigrants willing or not to adhere to these values?
A senior lady from Abitibi-Temiscamingue simply said that it is “idiot” to vote with a veil. Another gentleman continued the idea of voting and he stated that the case of a person with a burnt face who decides to cover his/her face is different from the case of these Muslim women who want to vote with covered faces.
Like in Gatineau, a speaker pointed out that the anchors in Québec are not enough racially diverse.
A difference was also made between other religious groups, like Buddhist, Taoist etc, noticing that the members of these religious communities do not ask for so many accommodations.
A female speaker pointed out that women’s rights in Québec are very recent and asked for vigilance. Forcing women to wear a veil tells them they are not in the public space, but segregated.
The language issue was again brought into public attention, someone declaring his revolt that in Montréal young people usually speak English, not French.
“Are we sleeping? Are we too accommodating”? He asked. To my surprise, someone had the courage to remind everybody of those areas inhabited by certain cultural communities where speaking French or English is simply not necessary, since they can work, live and buy in their mother tongues.
Another senior man stated that we see in our society individuals who want to implement practices inacceptable to our society.
One of the conclusions stated very clearly is that we must reject those accommodations which make a difference between a man and a woman.
A Colombian man who came to Canada in February needed an interpreter, since he couldn’t express himself neither in French or English. In parenthesis, the interpreter informed the audience that he is undertaking a course. Since February, I should say that someone can acquire a decent level of basic French.
This Colombian, having difficulties in expressing himself in Spanish too, was complaining about the lack of special programmes to help immigrants outside of the big cities.
«Ici, on vit comme Québécois» was the general conclusion.

FORUM III -September 19, 2007- Saguenay
The first striking impression was that the organizers of this third Forum were targeting teenagers as audience, since they incline to be quite favourable to “reasonable accommodations “.
The front section of the room was packed with teens, some with piercings, purple hair etc.
Probably the most important speech was held by a person of Egyptian origin, but very Québécois in his feelings. He said that many immigrants do not know anything about Québec’s history, artists, writers etc. and, at the same time, he mentioned the fact that there are no statistics on what exactly have immigrants brought to our society.
Another speaker, also a male, declared himself against those Muslims who want to impose their religious symbols in our society. He also reminded the audience that westerners are outraged that Afghani women wear burkas and we went there to “free” them, while here we have no objections against such a practice.
Another question was asked by a younger speaker who pointed out the issue of compromises required to be made by the majority in order to accommodate all sorts of minorities. “Where are the limits?” he asked.
Jean Pierre Plourde was not afraid to speak his mind and made statements like accommodations are irresponsible and that immigrants must conform to the majority.
A young speaker declared that he is in favour of such accommodations and that he is not bothered by those who wash their feet in the sinks of the institutions where they work.
Another person brought into discussion the Charter of human rights, affirming that this document pushes individualism to its limits and that the document should be revised.
A speaker of Congolese origins said that the Charter is being abused and that we need a chapter for responsibilities as well.
An Algerian immigrant said that it is not the majority who must make concessions, reminding a famous quote: “Evil triumphs because good people don’t do anything”. He also affirmed that Québec must become a country and thus have the right to decide what kind of immigrants we need.
Freedom is not disconnected from responsibilities.
Not few were those who have noticed that our society is more attentive to other religions than to Catholicism.
A Colombian speaker said that integration is a day by day process.
A speaker of German ancestry said something that could become the root of future discussions: “To keep tolerance one must sometimes be intolerant”.
The conclusions of the 3rd Forum showed the traditional gap between generations, teen age speakers supporting ReAccomms, while the other speakers brought into discussion issues like, history, language, our values, integration and respect.

Overall, immigrants proved to be more aware of the importance of preserving national identity and culture than many of those with deep roots in this land.
With a currently 46,000 immigrants a year coming to Québec, the discussions on “reasonable accommodations” are definitely only the beginning.
One solution to the problems would be a total control of immigration for each province.

FORUM IV –St. Jerome was not aired
FORUM V -September 26, 2007- Lanaudière
According to the 2006 census, the city has 429,053 inhabitants. There were many immigrants who wanted to express their position on the subject of reasonable accommodations and some of them, perfectly integrated in this society, like the case of a woman of Pakistani origin, mentioned that immigrants adapt at their pace and that we can not ask them to stop using their language or their way of dressing, since Europeans who travel in other parts of the world continue speaking their language and wearing their European clothing.
All these immigrants pointed out that in that city, immigrants are integrated.
Nobody made a difference between living in a small city and a city like Montréal, where immigrants are given the chance to live in their enclaves, isolating themselves from the mainstream society.
In a small city, immigrants have more chances to integrate than in a big city. If they do not have a community of their own, these immigrants tend to blend in the mainstream society, becoming citizens not only passport holders.
In a big city, they can spend their whole lives not speaking any of the official languages because living in a communal area makes it easy for them to stay isolated, sticking to their “home” habits/traditions, like those South Asian old women begging in Montréal for instance.
This striking image should raise questions for our authorities. Why are these women begging? What is the status of their families here? How did they get here?
People overwhelmingly proclaimed that if you came here, than respect us. If not, go back to your “home”.
With Lanaudière, people began to feel more at ease, daring to say what is obviously against the official state ideology.
And people began to question the immigration policy, even if this won’t please certain political parties.
October, 2007