A STEP FORWARD

Kuwaiti Women Join Parliament
Kuwait elects women MPs
First Filipino woman envoy to Bahrain gets support
US Muslim woman appointed Adviser to Obama
An unassuming role model for village women
Iran presidential hopeful vows to promote women's rights
Razia Sultana to translate Quran into Sanskrit
Muslim woman ranked 20 in Indian Civil Service Exam
Calling ones wife ugly may soon be an offence in Malaysia

STRUGGLE CONTINUES 

Women can’t vote in this Afghan village in KashmirMajid Jahangir

 

 

A STEP FORWARD

Kuwaiti Women Join Parliament

Published: May 17, 2009

KUWAIT CITY (AP) -- Kuwaitis elected female parliament members for the first time and rejected a number of Islamic fundamentalist candidates in a weekend vote that many hoped would bring stability to the country's rocky political scene.

Women gained the right to vote and run for office in 2005 but failed in two previous elections to win seats in the 50-member parliament. Four women were elected in Saturday's vote, according to official results read out by judges on state-owned TV on Sunday. Kuwait has led the region in giving its people democratic rights. It has an elected parliament that wields considerable power, but the Cabinet is still chosen and led by a ruling family that holds ultimate power.

Radical religious politicians have fought against extending political rights to women. And at the same time, they have pushed for full implementation of Islamic law, or Sharia, in the oil-rich U.S. ally.
''This is a message that the Kuwaiti society has started to move away from such movements that are based on hatred,'' said political commentator Sámi al-Nisf.

Many voters also said they were tired of years of political upheaval sparked by parliament's frequent attacks on Cabinet members, which often lead to attempts to impeach ministers. Saturday's election was the outcome of one such confrontation, which prompted Kuwait's ruler, or emir, to dissolve parliament and call the vote, the second time that has happened in a year.

Al-Nisf said the roughly 40 percent turnovers in the election, which produced 21 new faces in parliament, was a sign that voters were tired of the confrontational style of some lawmakers. Two of the roughly half a dozen lawmakers who have often sparked instability by attempting to publicly question Cabinet members lost their seats.
''There is a signal from voters that grilling has lost their glitter,'' said al-Nisf.

Such instability has virtually frozen development at a time when Kuwait is grappling with the global financial crisis and falling oil revenues, which account for 90 percent of government income.
''Frustration with the past two parliaments pushed voters to seek change. And here it comes in the form of this sweeping victory for women,'' said one of the women elected, Massouma al-Mubarak, who was also the country's first female Cabinet minister.

Her supporters celebrated with fireworks and drove her home in a motorcade of honking cars like Kuwaitis normally do after weddings. The 62-year-old political science teacher, who once complained that she could not vote while her male students could, scored the most votes in her district. All of the female winners have Ph.D's from the United States. Among them is economist and women's rights activist Rola Dashti, who battled in court for political rights for Kuwaiti women years before the legislature approved the suffrage bill.

The other two women are education professor Salwa al-Jassar and philosophy professor Aseel al-Awadhi. Newspaper columnist Al-Nisf said the win by female candidates was an achievement to be proud of not only in Kuwait but around the region.
''They made it without organized political parties supporting them or a quota system. This is a huge leap forward for Kuwait's democracy,'' he said.

The poor results for fundamentalist Muslims, he said, represented a rejection of their efforts to push for social restrictions. They have succeeded in banning coeducation at universities and clamping down on public entertainment. Those politicians won 16 seats on Saturday down from the 24 seats they held in the previous house. While Islamists from the country's Shiite minority kept their five seats, Sunni religious groups lost eight seats in a sizable rejection by voters.

Meanwhile, liberal politicians who call for economic reform, more openness to the West and more freedoms gained one seat for a total of five. Kuwait has no officially recognized parties. Candidates belong to political groups, run independently or represent their tribes.

 

Kuwait elects women MPs

Atul Aneja

DUBAI: Kuwaiti voters have for the first time elected women to the country’s Parliament following the national election held on Saturday. The four women who have been elected are Aseel al-Awadhi, Rola Dashti, former Health Minister Massouma Al-Mubarak, who was appointed as Minister in 2005, and Salwa al-Jassar.

“It’s a victory for Kuwaiti women and a victory for Kuwaiti democracy,” Ms. Awadhi was quoted as saying.

Women got the right to vote and stand for Kuwait’s parliamentary elections in 2005. According to Kuwaiti electoral regulations, the 50 seat Parliament is filled by 10 leading candidates from each of Kuwait’s five electoral districts.

The country’s Emir dissolved the previous Parliament in March because of a standoff with Parliament, which wanted to question his nephew, the Prime Minister, over alleged corruption.

  

First Filipino woman envoy to Bahrain gets support

by Habib Toumi, Bahrain Bureau Chief

Manama: The Philippine community has hailed news that a woman ambassador will be the next head of mission in Bahrain following her confirmation by the Commission on Appointments.
Corazon Yap-Bahjin made history in the diplomatic service by becoming the first Filipino Muslim woman to serve as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary.

She will replace Eduardo Pablo Maglaya, also a career diplomat, in Manama. She served in Cairo, Amman, Bangkok and Xiamen where she was consul general.
"This is great news and we all look forward to strong and rewarding relations with the embassy. We are a big community and as we struggle with the challenges confronting us, we can feel more secure when we have an ambassador who is supporting us," said Tumibay, a Filipino working in Bahrain.

Rose, a saleswoman in Manama, said that she was not interested in politics and had little contact with the embassy.
"However, I do welcome the appointment of a woman ambassador as a clear indication of our government’s deep commitment to empowering women in all fields," she said.

Evelyn, another saleswoman, said that she looked forward to the consolidation of relations between the community and the embassy.
"I know that at times they are overwhelmed because of the large number of people here, but there are serious issues that need special attention and there are humane considerations that must never be overlooked," she said.

Thirty years ago, Yap-Bahjin also made history by becoming the first Filipina Muslim to pass the Foreign Service Officers exam, considered as one of the toughest examinations in the Philippines as prerequisite to joining the Philippine Foreign Service. According to the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs, Yao-Bahjin joins the short list of Filipino Muslim career diplomats, which includes Bahnarim Guinomla, former ambassador to Turkey and now assistant secretary for Mindanao, Usop Kadatua, consul general and deputy chief of mission in Dhaka, Candidate Gutoc, former ambassador to Oman and Mukhtar Muallam, former ambassador to Libya.

Other Filipino Muslims who were not career diplomats but were appointed to serve as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary include Alunan Glang (Kuwait), Abraham Rasul (Saudi Arabia) and Mauyag Tamano (Kuwait).

  

US Muslim woman appointed Adviser to Obama

 Dalia Mogahed, a hijab-clad American Muslim, has made history being the first Muslim woman appointed to a position in President Barack Obama's administration.

Washington:The US administration has appointed a Muslim woman as adviser to its interfaith advisory board, a media report said Monday.  Dalia Mogahed, an Egyptian-born American, Sunday addressed the senate staff and think tanks in her first meeting after her appointment. The meeting was organized by the Congressional Muslims Staffers Association.

Mogahed, who heads the Gallup American Centre for Muslim Studies, a non-governmental research centre, became the first Muslim veiled woman to be appointed in the White House.  "I am very honored to be given this opportunity to serve my country in this way," Mogahed, who will be Obama's window into the Muslim American community, told the media.

Last month, Obama signed an executive order for setting up a new body at the White House called the Office of Religious Partnerships to support religious institutions, strengthen inter-faith dialogue and government ties.  The advisory group, consisting of 25 representatives from different religions, is to report to the president on the role of religion in resolving social problems and civil rights issues.

"The key idea of the office is to tap the energy and wisdom of religious organizations and leaders who focus on faith groups to solve common problems," explained Mogahed.

Mogahed will brief Obama on what Muslims want from the US administration.

 

An unassuming role model for village women

by Nosheen Abbasid

I was unexpectedly inspired by an unassuming woman I came across one morning at a training camp for the women of Dhok Jouri, a village near Tarnol, organised by the Pakistan Girls Guides Association, Islamabad Capital Territory (PGGA-ICT) branch. The week-long (May 14-20) training camp was set up at the Federal Government Middle School for Girls, the lone school of the village whose principal Ms Zahida Jabeen happened to be. There was nothing striking about her appearance. Like other women of the village she wore gold bangles and her dupatta was tucked behind her ears, unless one noticed her attending to the needs, queries and demands of some 80 trainees of the village and about a hundred students of the school and the senior Girl Guides team. Ms Jabeen was everywhere, wired for action.

The door of her office was open to everyone. People were walking in and out. The girl guides unceremoniously brought in a huge pot to make Rooh Afza for everyone but she was unperturbed and continued attending to her numerous tasks: addressing teachers’ issues, attending phone calls and even running around to find me a proper guide to show me around the village. I was amazed and couldn’t help being curious to know more about this extraordinary woman.

She sits behind her desk and tells me how she began her career as a teacher. Hailing from Fatehjhang, her parents were extremely strict, opposed to female education. ‘All of my sisters got married at an early age and I was the first out of six sisters who went to school and continued my studies. In a way I opened the door for the rest of my younger sisters,’ Ms Jabeen said. Despite her parents’ conservative views she got them around to permit her to become a teacher. ‘They allowed me to join the teaching profession because I wouldn’t be around men,’ she adds. When I asked if it was fate or her own inclination that led her towards education, she smiles broadly, her eyes almost disappearing, ‘it was my own interest to become a teacher. I love the challenge. I also got selected from all the public schools in Islamabad and received the best teacher’s award.’

Ms Jabeen got married soon after her intermediate (FA) but continued her education. Luckily her husband was not only supportive of her career but was also a teacher. ‘I took my bachelors examination right the day after my first child was delivered!’ she says laughing. She has a rare cheerful attitude that has made her life’s journey a lot easier.

The PGGA team that was running the show with their training and informative classes taking place in every classroom, spoke about her cooperation. ‘You know honestly if it weren’t for her we couldn’t have done this programme’ says Yasmin Ali, a senior guide and secretary of the PGGA-ICT.

PGGA is one of the largest voluntary organizations reaching out to village women and is working for the betterment and empowerment of young girls and women. Established in 1947 by Quaid-i-Azam Muhammed Ali Jinnah, it has 119,449 members and independent branches in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), Azad Kashmir, NWFP, Balochistan, Punjab and Sindh. The Association offers programmes for the character building of young girls, focusing on development of their personality and making them good citizens capable of serving the community and the country. The PGGA’s unique method of training is ‘learning through practical work’ by imparting training in practical skills to the girls.

Under the project PGGA-ICT’s senior guides provided training to over a hundred women and girls of the village in different skills like dress making (designing, cutting and stitching), food and nutrition, health awareness. The teams also engaged the girls of a middle school in different activities.

Dhok Jouri is identified as one of the underdeveloped villages in the Islamabad area. The PGGA-ICT approached Ms Jabeen to provide training to the women and girls of the village. ‘I said yes to the girl guides offer because learning a skill would help these women in the long run,’ says Ms Jabeen. But at first the village women were skeptical on joining, and very few women showed up for the orientation course. But Ms Jabeen’s perseverance worked. She was able to gather 300 women from the neighbouring village.

Ministry of health facilitated the Association in establishing a mobile dispensary, and provided medicines along with a doctor and an LHV from the Polyclinic Hospital. The resource persons from the Citizens’ Global Network provided training to three sections at the Children Resource Centre, and had different activities with students of classes 1-5 and 6-8; there was a day care centre for the non-school going children of women who were participating in the training programme.

As follow up of the community service camp, a pre-nursery class will be established on self help basis on the demand of the community. A lady teacher will be appointed from the community supervised by the principal of the school and PGGA-ICT. Resources will be identified for the school by PGGA-ICT.

Ms Jabeen was heading the entire project at the school — managing and cheerfully multi-tasking. It was stimulating to see a village woman who is normally marginalized, stride forth and live her dream through sheer will and courage and create new days for herself and others around her.

 

Iran presidential hopeful vows to promote women's rights

Tehran  - Moderate Iranian presidential hopeful Mir-Hossein Moussavi has vowed to promote women's rights in the Islamic state using religious leaders' ideas, the daily Kalameh Sabz (Green Word) reported on Sunday.

"We are living in a religious society. Communication between women activists and religious leaders would pave the way to improve women's status and could be effective to remove discriminations," Moussavi was quoted as telling a group of women at a cultural centre in southern Tehran on Saturday.

Women in Iran do not have the same rights as men in various fields such as divorce, child custody and inheritance, and although their social status has improved in recent years, it is still far from international standards. Moussavi highlighted a programme aimed at reaching to his goals and said: "Discriminatory and unfair laws and regulations against women must be reviewed by presenting necessary new drafts."

"Relying on preventive and supportive laws, we must prepare and operate a plan to stop violation against women," the daily owned by Moussavi himself quoted the main challenger of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying.

Moussavi's wife Zahra Rahnavard, who accompanies her husband in all campaign appearances trying to present the role of country's First Lady for the first time in Iran, also spoke to the crowd.
"We should review laws treating women unequally. We should empower women financially and Iranian women must be able to reach the highest level of decision making bodies," Rahnavard said.

Her remarks warmly welcomed by the crowd starting to chant slogans against "morality police" which is in charge of enforcing Islamic dress codes both for women and men in the public especially in the capital Tehran and other big cities. The other presidential candidates - Ahmadinejad and moderate candidate Mehdi Karroubi - have vowed to grant women more rights but have not yet presented any specific programmes, except conservative nominee Mohsen Rezaei who had promised earlier this month to pay salaries to housewives in Iran and also put women in top managerial positions.

Women form more than half of the 46.2 eligible voters and the four candidates are expected to focus more on women in their remaining election campaigns. (dpa)

 

Razia Sultana to translate Quran into Sanskrit

by RINA (Submitted by Mumtaz on 23 May 2009 - 9:59am)

Deoband: Ms. Razia Sultana, the granddaughter of eminent author Prof. Mohammad Suleiman, is all set to translate as well as annotate the Holy Quran into Sanskrit Language.

Speaking to the mediapersons 21-year-old Ms. Razia Sultana said that her grandfather Prof. Mohammad Suleiman had translated and annotated the Holy Quran into Hindi which was published by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind in two volumes. She further added that very soon she would be rendering this translation into Sanskrit Language. Ms. Razia informed the mediapersons that the very reason behind her pursuing M.A. in Sanskrit was to render Islamic literature into this classical Language of India.

 

Muslim woman ranked 20 in Indian Civil Service Exam

At Mulla Ramuji Sanskriti Bhawan a lecture was organized on Nawab Sultan Jha Begum in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh recently. This programme was organized by Muslim Education and Carrier Promotion Society. On this occasion, Sufia Farooqui and Preeti were felicitated for their achievement in Civil Services examination.

In this programme retired IAS officer Musarja and retired IAS MN Butch were present as chief guest.  While addressing the gathering Musarja said that for the development and upliftment of Muslim society education is very important. He said four percent children of Muslim community are going in various madarsas. He said qualifications of madarsas are insufficient for the children, because they are only taught about Deen, which will not fulfill the needs when these children will face the world in life. It will become difficult for the child to do something for society.  It is important that along with Deen, they should be taught other subjects, so that one day they may face the facts of life.  After completing their studies these children can serve the society in better way.

On this occasion Sufia Farooqui informed that when I preparing for Civil Services examinations, I was quite aware with my weak points and strong points.  In her address she said there are many people with us who qualified Civil Services Exam in first attempt. If you don't qualify in first attempt you should try again and then again. Students should not be demoralized with one or two attempts.  Every student should prepare and work hard with open mind, the success will come itself.  Positive and negative aspects are two different things to learn and go ahead. The maximum exposure you get, your talent will improve. She said that, no one should loose confidence in life. She also thanked the organizers for the programme.

 

Calling ones wife ugly may soon be an offence in Malaysia

Published on : Thursday 28^th 2009

Kuala Lumpur, May 28 - ANI: Malaysian Parliament has been proposed to make certain amendments to the Domestic Violence Act 1994, which may make calling ones wife ugly an offence.

Womens Development Department director-general Datuk Dr Noorul Ainur Mohd Nur has revealed that the amendments would include a clause on emotional violence against women, who are currently protected only against physical abuse. She said that the aim of proposing the amendment was to safeguard women both physically and emotionally.

According to her, emotional violence is a form of abuse that scars women deeply and lowers their self-esteem, dignity and self-confidence. It could be a case when a husband tells his wife she is ugly or humiliates her until she feels emotionally pressured, The Star Online quoted her as telling reporters at the end of a seminar on how to curb violence against women at Wisma Wanita.

She also revealed that efforts were being made to bring the proposed amendments to Parliament.

Organised by the Sabah Womens Affairs Department, the seminar was closed by State Community Development and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun.
In her speech, she stressed the need for strengthening the law to protect emotional violence against women. – ANI

 

STRUGGLE CONTINUES

Women can’t vote in this Afghan village in KashmirMajid Jahangir

Gutli Bagh (Kangan) In this Afghan village in Valley, democracy has only half meaning – women here don’t vote. This village in Ganderbal district – Gutli Bagh – in the foothills of Harmukh range is home to over 5,000 Pashtun’s who have migrated from Afghanistan around 150 years ago.

And on poll day on Thursday when the Pashtun men were casting their vote at the polling stations, their women were sitting at home. “Our women do not vote,” said Abdul Kareem, an elderly villager from Gutli Bagh. “It is not that our women didn’t vote only during this election. They have never voted.”
In fact, the Pashtuns living in the village claim that the main reason for not allowing women to vote is that it is their tradition. “How can they (women) vote when they have to prove their identity,” said another resident Bashaarat Hussain. “The women of the village usually don’t come out of their homes and they have a limited role in any decision making.”

Even the polling employees at the village were aware about the non participation of the women voters. “We know that Pashtun women don’t vote and the few women voters who turned out to vote are Kashmiris living in the village,” said a polling officer in the village.

In the polling station 57 Wuyal Wudroo out of 266 female votes just five had been polled. “Only two among them were Pashtun women,” he explained. In another polling station same number of women had voted.

The villagers say that the Pashtuns had come to this village 150 years ago and the right to vote was given to them during the period of former Prime Minister Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad. They speak in Pashtu, Urdu and Kashmiri. “We have saved our culture and speak in our mother language.”
During the assembly polls last year, the women didn’t come out to vote. But there is a change visible this time. The young generations of the Afghan clan say that there has been some change in the perception of women voting in the village.

“Some women did come today to vote, but their number was less,” said Zakir Hussain, a bank employee. “Our school in the village has co-education. The girls usually don’t study after eight or tenth standard. But the change is slowly taking place.” He said that the women participation in polls would have been encouraging if there was a separate polling station for women in the village.

The Minister of Forest Mian Altaf who represents the Kangan constituency in the assembly admits that the women from the village don’t come to vote. “The reason is purely religious as they say that there is no Purdah (veil)” he said. “Not allowing the women to cast vote is also their custom.”

 

Judge’s comments raise women’s ire
Hayat Al-Ghamdi | Arab News

ABHA: A Jeddah court judge’s approval of husbands slapping their wives on the face if they spend money lavishly on unnecessary things triggered a hue and cry during a seminar on domestic violence here recently.

“If a person gives SR1,200 to his wife and she spends SR900 to purchase an abaya (the black gown) from a brand shop and if her husband slaps her on the face as a reaction to her action, she deserves that punishment,” said Judge Hamad Al-Razine.

The judge made this comment in the presence of Princess Adila bint Abdullah, deputy chairperson of the National Family Safety Program, who attended the seminar on the role of judicial and security institutions in preventing domestic violence.

Al-Razine was explaining the causes of an increase in domestic violence in the country, adding that women were also equally responsible. “But nobody puts even a fraction of blame on them,” he said before making the controversial comment.

Al-Razine’s comment evoked an immediate reaction from the women in the audience who loudly protested. They were all the more surprised when they learned that the man who made the comment was a judge.

Al-Razine also pointed out that women’s indecent behavior and use of offensive words against their husbands were some of the reasons for domestic violence in the country.

He said cases related to preventing women from marriage topped the list of family cases that come to Saudi courts, followed by guardianship of children. Sexual assault cases came third.

“We also receive a lot of cases related to physical torture and some of them have been publicized in newspapers,” said Al-Razine. He referred to the cases of Areej from Jeddah, who was tortured to death by her father and stepmother; Ghasoon, a girl from Makkah; and Imtinan, 19, and Um Kulthoom, 7, who were tortured by their father and stepmother.

Al-Razine called for respecting the views of girls before their marriage, adding that it is better than pushing them into indulging in immoral activities.

Lt. Col. Abdullah Dhafran of Asir police also presented a paper at the seminar. “Statistics from courts and the offices of human rights societies reflect that the number of domestic violence cases are growing in the Kingdom and has drawn world attention.”

He said police have been instructed to arrest those involved in such crimes after collecting evidence, and give protection to victims of violence.

Arab News learned that 64 family violence cases were reported last year in the Asir province alone.

 

Human rights activist Hasina Kharbhih attacked in Shillong

New Delhi: Human rights activist Hasina Kharbhih was attacked on Thursday in Shillong when she was going to the District Council Court to attend hearing in her case. She was allegedly attacked by the very persons against whom she is fighting the court case. She said she was attacked to force her withdraw the case.

Giving details of the incident, Barak Human Rights Protection Committee (BHRPC), a human rights organization working in Assam, said: “Hasina Kharbhih, a human rights defender working against human trafficking in North East India was assaulted and threatened on May 28, 2009. Kharbhih, while on her way to the court for the hearing of a case, was stopped, threatened and manhandled by Ms. Bethswa Dympep, the accused in the threatening case. Kharbhih was injured in the incident and had to be taken to the local hospital for treatment.”

The rights group has alleged that the “perpetrators are receiving clandestine support from the police.”

Hasina Kharbhih runs the Impulse NGO, a local human rights organization based in Shillong, Meghalaya: http://www.impulseasia.org

Kharbhih has been fighting against human trafficking in the state. She has been involved in the social sector since 1987. BHRPC has demanded the state government and its police to ensure her protection.

 

Delhi High Court to decide on the maintenance of Muslim women

New Delhi, March 18 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Wednesday appointed an amicus curiae (friend of court) to decide whether a Muslim woman is entitled for maintenance even after divorce.    
Justice Geeta Mittal appointed advocate Nazmi Waziri, an expert on Islamic law, and asked him to examine the case.
The case deals with Mohammed Azam Ansari, a sergeant with the Indian Air Force (IAF), who married Fatima Khatoon in 1999. The couple had a baby but their marriage came apart and they got divorced in 2001.
Soon after Fatima moved a Patna court seeking maintenance and also moved a petition before the IAF authorities. Accepting the plea, the IAF started deducting the salary of Ansari and started paying Fatima, despite the matter being subjudice in another court.
Fatima's plea in the Patna court was rejected after she failed to appear regularly. Ansari challenged the IAF order in the high court stating that under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce 1986) Act, Muslim women cannot be granted maintenance after divorce. He also pleaded that the case cannot be tried in a military court.

 

Muslim rights organisation takes up case of hijab-clad mother

Washington, May 11: The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on state and national law enforcement authorities to investigate possible civil rights violations in the harassment of a Muslim mother in North Carolina whose home has been targeted repeatedly by vandals.

It said egg-throwing vandals targeted the hijab-wearing mother's home since 2005.

The 53-year-old mother of four in Greensboro, N C, who wears an Islamic head scarf (hijab), reports that vandals have been throwing eggs at her home since she moved into the neighborhood. She believes the attacks have been prompted by her Islamic attire. The last attack on her house came on April 13.

''We urge local, state and national law enforcement authorities to investigate the possible bias motive in this troubling case and to bring the perpetrators to justice,'' said CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper.

''No American of any faith should be subjected to such harassment.'' Mr. Hooper added that it is up to state and national religious and political leaders to challenge the growing level of Islam phobia in American society that can result in such incidents.

CAIR, America's largest Muslim civil liberties organisation, has 35 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada and helps enhance the understanding of Islam.

--- UNI

 

 

SPORTS

 

First Saudi Women's Team Plays in Amman

By Aline Bannayan, Jordan Times, Amman

 

Apr. 22--AMMAN -- Jeddah United (JU), the first Saudi women's club basketball team, is in Amman this week on an invitation from Riyadi Club's women's team.
Saudi Arabia and Brunei are the two countries barring women from their Olympic delegations, and women's sport is banned in Saudi public schools and there are no federations that organise women's sport.
Despite this, Lina Al Maeena and her husband set up the Jeddah United Sports Company (JUSC) in 2006, with one of the main aims being the promotion of female sport in the Kingdom, with the eventual hope of producing Olympic-standard athletes.
In an interview with The Jordan Times, JU co-founder Maeena, who is also captain of the team, said she was driven by personal passion having been lucky to have attended a private school where women can play sport. "I believe in it. Sportsmanship teaches values, and being involved in sports was a great investment for me as a teenager and I'm still at it."
The team, which arrived in Amman on Tuesday, kicked off their four-day visit with an informal meeting with Jordan Basketball Federation women's basketball committee chairperson, Taroub Khoury, and national team coach Sirsa Naghaway.
Khoury, who spearheaded the return of former national team players to the arena, and formed a team that has competed in the league, hailed JU's initiative and promotion of sports.
Riyadi Secretary General Fadi Sabbah said JU's mini training camp will include matches against Riyadi and Shabab Urdun as well as visits to religious and historic sites such as Jerash and Petra.
"It is the first time in Jordan for the first Saudi women's basketball team, the experience is beneficial for both sides," Sabbah told The Jordan Times. As they seek more exposure and experience, JU travelled to the UAE in 2007 where they played the American University of Sharjah.
While Saudi Arabia is the only Arab country officially barring women's sports, the government's stance on the issue is not as clear cut as it might seem and observers note only some segments in society oppose it. In a recent interview, The Washington Post quoted Maeena as saying: "The idea of Saudi women playing sports is socially unacceptable to some people. That's the barrier we're trying to break."
Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah reshuffled his Cabinet and chose the first-ever woman deputy minister for women's education -- the most senior ever granted to a woman in the Kingdom. The women of Jeddah United exemplify how reform is slowly coming; led by a generation who want the country to modernize in a way consistent with the teachings of Islam.
"We are not asking for something against our culture or our religion," Maeena said, adding that in Muslim countries all over the world, women play sport. "The Muslim religion teaches you to be fit. Caliph Omar Bin Al Khattab, preached that you have to teach your children swimming, archery [and] equestrian," she said, adding that those who oppose it preach a distorted interpretation of religion.
At the Olympics, Iran, the UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Indonesia and Somalia were among Muslim nations that fielded women in their delegations and observers hope possibly London 2012 will see the first ever Saudi women. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is now putting increasing pressure on countries banning women to include women in the future. JU and others have an ally in Moroccan Olympic gold medalist Nawal El Moutawakel who last year became the first Muslim woman elected to the IOC executive board. In 1984, Moutawakel became the first woman from a Muslim country to win a gold medal.
Calls to lift the ban on women's sports are coming from many high-profile officials including Saudi Prince Nawaf Bin Faisal Bin Fahd, vice president of youth welfare, the body that sponsors sports events in the country.
On Monday, Prince Nawaf was quoted by Saudi's Al Watan newspaper that starting next academic year, the organisation will permit girls' schools to provide physical education classes. That announcement has given JUSC a big boost.
The JU team, which has Saudis and expatriates on their line-up, has Aramex Jeddah as sponsor of their Amman tour. The club now has about 200 sportspeople -- male and female -- who play sport under its banner. Operations Manager Maali Al Abdali and Maeena note their tournaments have a social message behind them believing that learning through sports is an effective way to teach the youth the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle.
The highlight of the tournaments was Saudi Arabia's first ever women's street basketball tournament in which 12 teams participated. Since 2006, they also held a "Back to School Tournament", "Father and Son Tournament", "Drink Milk Tournament" the "Cancer Survivor Tournament" and the "Anti-Smoking Sports Day".
And in order to sustain teams, JUSC have age groups in football and basketball where parents attend and are part of the sporting spirit. Laila Mkayes, a Syrian national who played for Lattakia's Hittin Club and the national team, now resides in Jeddah and is coach of JU's U-14 and U-18 girls' teams.
"Everyone is so passionate and enjoys playing. I'm so happy for the kids and to be able to help out," Mkayes said.
In 2008, JU conducted two basketball clinics with the WNBA for coaches and players as part of the Sports United Friendship Basketball Programme. Forty-five players from various teams and 25 coaches of different organizations signed up for the quality training that was run by ex-WNBA players Lynette Woodard and Ruthie Bolton.

 

Italy: Muslim women allowed to swim in private

 

 

 

Bergamo, 30 April (AKI) - Muslim women in the northern Italian province of Bergamo now have private access to a local swimming pool where they can swim freely without traditional clothing. Men are not permitted to swim at the Siloe pool when the women remove their veils, or burqas, at designated times each week, according to the Italian daily, Corriere della Sera.

Maida Ziaradi, an Iranian who has lived in Italy for 17 years spearheaded the move and said many Muslim women from Tunisia, Morocco, Iran and Egypt as well as Italians can take advantage of it. The pool is owned by the diocese of Bergamo and the arrangement with the Muslim women is seen as a form of ecumenical respect for the Koran.

"At the beginning several (women) were hesitant and fearful," Ziaradi said."One had never swum before, others made a remarkable effort exposing their legs, and one was terrified of the water and now doesn't miss a lesson."

Italy is not the first country to introduce designated swimming for Muslim women. In Germany the burqa can be worn in some public swimming pools, while in Australia some public pools have specific timetables for Muslim women.

Mecca Laalaa, a 22 year-old Australian is the first Muslim woman to become a volunteer surf life saver, wearing a specially designed costume or 'burkini'.

The burkini that completely covers the body and head, leaving the face exposed.

 

In Turkey, Women Playing Soccer Vie for Acceptance

 

ISTANBUL — On a recent cold, gray Sunday, two Turkish premier league soccer teams enthusiastically ran onto the field of a small stadium on the outskirts of Istanbul.

Turks are soccer mad, with games regularly attended by tens of thousands of boisterous fans. But at this game, between host Kartalspor and Ankara’s Gazi Universitesispor, the 22 players on the field outnumbered the people shivering in the stands.
The weather was probably not to blame for the poor attendance; it was more likely because of who was playing. The two teams are part of Turkey’s new women’s soccer league, and although Turks may be soccer fanatics, there is a deep ambivalence in this socially conservative, predominantly Muslim society about women playing the game.
Halfway through its 18-game inaugural season, the league has met a combination of indifference, curiosity and occasional hostility.
“Football is seen as a man’s game in Turkey,” said Nurper Ozbar, 30, the coach of Marmara Universitesispor, the top team in the second division of the league, which also has two youth divisions.
“We’ve had men come to watch our practices and yell at our players: ‘What are you doing here? You should be at home, cooking!’ ” said Ozbar, one of the few women accredited as a soccer coach in Turkey, and the only one in Istanbul. “It’s going to take time to change this.”
Turkey has thriving professional women’s basketball and volleyball leagues. Soccer, for the most part, remains a men’s-only zone. In a country of 70 million, only 798 women and girls are registered as players with the Turkish Football Federation, soccer’s governing body. In comparison, about 230,000 male players are registered with the federation.
For the players in the women’s league, just finding their way to a team can be a monumental challenge. Deniz Bicer, a midfielder with Gazi Universitesispor, the only women’s team in the Turkish capital, Ankara, has to travel almost two hours each way to get to practice.
“In my neighborhood, because it was seen as a man’s game, there was pressure on me and my family that I not play football,” the 18-year-old Bicer said after Gazi’s 3-1 victory over Kartalspor.
“People kept telling me this is a man’s game, you should be interested in other sports, but football is a passion for me,” she said.
The new league is Turkey’s second attempt at establishing women’s soccer. An amateur league of about two dozen teams existed in Turkey for a decade until it was shut down in 2002 amid allegations of mismanagement and rumors of affairs between female players — particularly scandalous in this country.
This time around, the Turkish federation appears intent on promoting the idea of women’s and girls’ soccer to a skeptical nation.
“A lot of our work is public relations, to convince families that girls can play football,” said Erden Or, 33, the federation’s development officer for women’s soccer.
“Some believe that playing football can harm a girl’s build and make her manly,” Or said.
“They believe that it’s a man’s game, so we have to show them proof that they can play football without a problem,” added Or, whose wife chides him for kicking the ball around with their 3-year-old daughter.
Or has been crisscrossing Turkey, staging panel discussions in different cities with coaches and female players and answering questions from worried parents and resistant physical education teachers. When he finds out about a girl whose parents refuse to let her play soccer, Or said, he phones them to help ease their minds.
“If she wants to play, I will call them directly, like a father inquiring about a bride,” he said.
Selling women’s soccer also requires dolling it up. One of the new logos for the league features a slender woman’s hand with long, red-painted fingernails cupping a soccer ball. The background on Or’s computer screen is a photograph of a soccer cleat with a stiletto heel.

 

SOFTBALL POPULARITY GROWS AMONG IRANIAN WOMEN

BackSoftball campaign’s commitment to promoting the sport among women around the world has been gaining momentum as evidenced by recent school activity in Iran.
Over the past few years the Middle-Eastern state has demonstrated diverse participation levels in softball, one of the few team sports which have captured the imagination of Islamic women.
Last week, Iran Softball Federation President Hossein Sadegh Abedin and secretary general Faramarz Sangini went to Dashti city in southern Iran to watch more than 50 girls ranging from primary school to high school levels who are playing softball on a regular basis.
ISF President Don Porter said: “The BackSoftball team has shown the International Olympic Committee time and again that we are committed to extending the popularity of our sport across the world, particularly to women and young people. The fact that it is simple to learn and cheap to play and that other sports stadium can be used to stage major games underlines how accessible the sport is. I’m delighted to hear that softball is growing in Iran.”
It would have been inconceivable in the early 1980s, in the early years after the Islamic revolution when competitive sports for women were strongly discouraged, for Iranian women to play a team sport such as softball. But the sport, which is simple to learn and inexpensive to play, can be played in discreet dress and is therefore particularly important to increasing sports participation opportunities among Muslim women, a key value of the IOC.
The first women’s softball championship in Iran took place in Tehran in 2005, with five teams competing at a football (soccer) ground. There are now more than 15 cities in Iran that promote participation in softball.
This is further proof of the ISF’s commitment to extend the reach of softball after a hugely successful Beijing Olympic Games last year, which enjoyed sellout crowds. The gold medal game of the women’s fast pitch event was won by Japan, with huge television audiences around the world watching their victory over the USA.