Fearing Fear

I'm in the middle of writing an article on the fear of terrorism based on my research and I find myself reflecting on my own feelings here.

Just to put it into context: the project that I'm working on looks at how people are responding to the new era of increased security and global terrorism. We've found that people are adopting both preventative and protective behaviours. Preventative behaviours means that people avoid circumstances that they think are dangerous such as air travel or using public transport. Protective behaviours means that people are taking measures to protect themselves in circumstances that they are dangerous. For most this means being more wary and taking more note of their surroundings on airplanes, buses and in public places.

So I started thinking about myself. Have my behaviours changed? Do I now avoid certain situations? Am I more suspicious of people on airplanes? Do I get nervous around unattended baggage?

To be honest- I really can't say that I have done any of those things. And now I'm wondering why.

For a start, I don't believe that there is a huge terrorist threat to Australia. I guess for me that terrorism is still something that happens in other places. I often joke about the fact that if the terrorists were to launch a 9/11 style attack on my home town they would probably fly a plane into the Bell Tower and that most people here would welcome the destruction of such an ugly eyesore.
See for yourself:

Looks like a cockroach hey!

The Bell Tower is the legacy of one of our former Premiers (head of State Government) and each time I look at this phallic symbol I cannot help but think that he must have a very very small dick!

I also think that because I'm an unrecognisable Muslim (in the sense that I do not wear hijab) that I also don't have a sense of fear of backlash or vilification from some members of the broader community that some Muslims have. I know a few people who stopped going to public places because they were worried that they might be attacked after 9/11, Bali and London. Won't catch me doing that. Actually there is almost nothing in this world that would prevent me from going shopping.

But perhaps the biggest reason why I haven't changed my behaviours in any way is that I've never really been one to avoid situations that others might see as dangerous. I have a strong belief that when it is your time to go it is your time to go- whether that is in a car accident, through terminal illness, plane crash, or while bungee jumping. There's nothing that you can do about it. I was on a plane once with a friend who got really nervous and scared when we hit some turbulence. I mean she was really panicking and I just couldn't understand it. I kept thinking 'well, if this is it, this is it. No use wasting my energy on panicking about it."

I'm more worried about my kids being in a dangerous situation than myself which is I often tell them "don't try this when I'm not looking because I promise you I will find out and you will be grounded for life".

Don't know if any of that makes sense. Perhaps I need to think some more about it. Perhaps I really do have a subconscious fear that I'm not aware of. Perhaps I need to get in touch with my inner fear!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy goodbye 2006 and hello 2007 to all.
Hope you have all prepared for the new year with your resolutions.

Here are mine. Add yours if you like.

1. I will be more organised

Not really, but I always add this resolution. OK I might tidy my desk or clear out my wardrobe to make room for new clothes but those things usually last a couple of weeks before chaos sets in again!

2. I will give up smoking

OK- not really. I'll certainly try. Last year I gave up for a full 5 weeks. Twice.

3. I will control my road rage when driving

Ummmm- not really. In fact, no, I don't see this one going anywhere at all to be honest

4. I will say "no" when my boss asks me to work overtime, work from home, work on my days off, answer emails while I'm on holiday, work late, come in early, look over a document sent to my email at midnight etc etc etc.

He's gonna cry...

5. I will stop my addiction to handfuls of chocolate covered peanuts after dinner

That one's gonna hurt- really hurt

6. I will not yell at my kids and I will try to treat my 16 year old like an adult

Yeah right!

7. I will spend less money on useless items. I do not need another pair of stilletos even if they do go just perfectly with my dress/handbag/skin/eyes/mobile phone/purse/lipstick/pen/curtains.

Another one that's gonna hurt.

8. I will try to spend more time with my family even if it means that I have to do yucky boys stuff with three smelly teenagers and my husband who think that driving a car round and round in a circle is fun or that hitting a tiny ball with a club and then trying to find it in a huge field while wearing ugly clothing is sport!

I don't know why we can't all just go shopping together, then maybe have a coffee before heading off to the beauty salon for a much needed facial. Why can't we do that as a family? Why does family stuff have to involve me having to wear ugly flat shoes?

9. I will be nicer to the dog.

I am nice to him but it's just that he smells and he does that licking his balls thing and then comes yapping around my feet and sniffs my crotch and stuff. And he shits everytime I take him for a walk and I have to pick it up and carry it around in a little bag like it's something precious.

10. I will seek help to overcome my fear of chickens.

Don't laugh- it's a documented phobia OK. Lots of people have it. Trust me, a chook will peck you to death if you let it and have absolutely no remorse. They are evil, evil I tells ya (except for the roasted ones- they're yummy).

Egyptian Mum Part 1

My mother travels to Egypt much more frequently than I. Each year when she returns she spends hours lamenting the loss of values and growing immorality among Egypts youth- much to my amusement. My mother could have written the book on middle class morality, which often prompts people who meet her to turn to me and say "you're the black sheep aren't you."

I have become very good at pretending to be interested, showing surprise and nodding my head in agreement as she prattles on about the "fasad" that has overcome Egyptian youth.

But nothing could prepare me for this...

A week had passed since my mother had returned and I knew that the time was fast approaching when she would sit me down and begin her rant. She proceeded in her usual way "you would not believe what the youth in Egypt are getting up to these days". As usual I nodded my head in agreement and shook my head in dissaproval as she continued...

"Would you believe" she said, "that it has become common for the young girls and boys to perform a disgusting act where the girl actually puts the boys penis in her mouth!"

What could I do? I had to think quickly! I had to pretend that I shared her utter abhorrence of such lewdness and maintain my virginal status in my mother's eyes (yes, I have been married twice and given birth to two kids, but to our mothers we are always virgins, OK)

Meanwhile part of me was still coming to terms with the realisation that my mother had just used the "P" word, while the other part of me wanted to burst into laughter.

I feigned a look of disgust and then uttered a half arsed "ikhs" (the Egyptian equivalent of ewwww). I dared not look at my mother lest she look into my give away eyes and expose me for the fraud that I was!

All was silent.

A silence that seemed to last forever.

From the corner of my eye, I caught sight of my mother's face, her teeth clenched and her lips pursed and right then I knew exactly that she was thinking... 'the dirty little bitch has done it!'

The incident was never spoken of again and I must say that my mother's annual morality reports have never been the same!

The Year That Was

As 2007 is almost upon us, it's timely to reflect on 2006.

The year started with my marraige in crisis. I was ready to leave after almost 7 years marraige and close to 11 years together. He could not understand why and I could not tell him. It was difficult at the time to know the exact nature of my discontent, but as time passed it became much clearer and eventually I was able to accept it, embrace it and work through it.

I have never been a romantic. Fantastical notions of soul mates, star-crossed lovers, Prince Charmings and the like have never convinced me. I do not believe that there is such a thing as Mr or Ms Perfect. I am far too selfish to give wholly of myself to another human being and far too self absorbed to want the same from him. And so, any union would only ever be a coupling of our physical lives. But deep down lingers the little girl with dark skin, big eyes and dark curls, who was always the outsider and who each night dreamed of being Cinderella.

My husband and I cohabit, we fulfill eachother's physical needs very well, we provide companionship for eachother and share in the care of our respective children (we do not have children together) and our mutual assets. But I also have my own world in which he features minimally if at all and in which he has very little interest. Once I learnt to accept this, and to understand the limits of my relationship, I was able to appreciate my marraige for what it was instead of being unhappy at what it wasn't.

I went to Egypt for 5 weeks in July and used this time away to come to terms with the fact that while I love my husband deeply, I will never share with him an intellectual or soulful intimacy in the same way that we share a physical intimacy. And that's alright, that's OK, because I really don't think that I am capable of sharing more than that- I have always known this to be who I am.

In 2006, I gave 9 public lectures, 3 radio interviews and 2 television interviews. I completed 2 and a half chapters of my Doctoral Thesis (I started in 2005), started writing my book and wrote 2 major journal articles for publication. I started and almost finished my data collection amounting to over 300 pages of transcribed interviews and focus groups. Of the 9 public lectures, 5 were invatations from people or organisations who had heard about my work and the rest were conference presentations. I spoke at two anti-war rallies and a Union rally against the government's introduction of industrial reform legislation. I also continued my job with Government two days a week. I maintained my voluntary work with a community organisation. I became involved in campaigning against domestic violence, not of my own will, but by the burden of knowledge. And I started this blog!

Am I tired? Yes, yes, I am exhausted. And yet there persists this wretched yearning to do MORE, to be MORE, to achieve MORE. A sense of urgency that burns like a fire in my being and that I fear will never subside. Why am I cursed with this need to want change? Why am I burdened with an urgent and nagging desire to make things different?

2006 was a year of dreaming. Not day dreaming but sleep dreaming. I cannot recall a night when I did not have the same dream of climbing. Climbing infinite stairs, mountains, hills, rock piles, ladders, anything and everything. Each morning after these dreams I woke both physically and mentally exhausted. Why was I always climbing? When will I reach where it is I need to go?

And so, in a few short days, we will bid farewell to 2006. I think I grew 10 years in that one year (thank God for botox!). I learnt a lot about myself in 2006. And so, in light of that, I will always remember 2006 as a year of self enlightment!

Now... bring on 2007 because I can't wait to see what that has in store for me!

Darfur

Courtesy of Drima

We need to keep raising awareness of what's going on there and combatting denial and the refusal to accept that this is happening.

You can download this banner from here or from Drima.

Together we can make a difference.

Run for the Hills- She's BAAAAAACK

Oh dear, Pauline Hanson is threatening a return to politics- this time at the Federal level.

Yes, the woman whose maiden speech in Parliament referred to Australia being "swamped by Asians" who refuse to assimilate is back with a vengeance.

True to her nature, ol' Pauline is back to targetting some of the most vulnerable people in our society. This time she's decided to lay off the Asians (ofcourse since she didn't get elected last time with her ridiculous diatribe about the "yellow peril") and the Aborigines (ofcourse because her ridiculous claim that Aboriginal Australians were getting too much has been quashed by numerous reports about how they are, in fact, the most disadvantaged in Australia).

This time Pauline has decided to go for the jugular of.....

Africans and Muslims

Not one for checking up on her facts, Pauline claims that "diseased" Africans are coming into Australia with all kinds of cooties. As for Muslims, well we all know they will take over Australia by the year 2050 even though we are less than 3% of the population now. Do your maths people. It doesn't take a genius to work out that it's just impossible.

Says Ms Hanson about Africans:

"Why shouldn't Australians know that the people we bring in to this country
are there for the right reasons, and we bring them in for the right
reasons?
"We're bringing in people from South Africa at the moment, there's a huge
amount coming into Australia, who have diseases, they've got AIDS,"
"They are of no benefit to this country whatsoever, they'll never be able to work."And what my main concern is, is the diseases that they're bringing in and yet no one is saying or doing anything about it." (what disease? Does she mean the disease that turns you into a red-head, foaming at the mouth, ranting racist with the brain capacity of a gnat?)

Says Ms Hanson about Muslims:

"Our governments have bent over backwards to look after them (Muslims) and
their needs, and regardless of what the Australian people think," she
said.
"You can't have schools not sing Christmas carols because it upsets
others, you can't close swimming baths because Muslim women want to swim in
private, that's not Australian." (Newsflash Pauline, the Muslims aren't the ones complaining about Christmas carols and the government aren't the ones who ban them- do your homework)

You could take one of her fantastical rants about Asians or Aboriginal Australians from 2 decades ago and replace the words African and Muslim with Asian and Aboriginal.

Pauline, you little fiery red head you, you've had your chance and the Australian public gave you a big fat PISS OFF! You've been to jail for fraud, you've owned a fish n' chip shop, you even enjoyed a stint as an E (as in ewwww) grade celebrity when you flaunted your tush on Dancing with the Stars (stupid show that!).

So come on, just admit it. You're over. Nobody believes you. The Australian public are much smarter than you make them out to be and you just have no facts to back up your claims.

So do us all a favour and go back to making fish n' chips!

Merry Christmas

We put up our tree a couple of weeks ago. I decorated it in a theme of blue, pearl and silver (because the colour scheme goes well with my carpet) and had much fun adorning our humble tree.
As a Muslim, I've been getting a few remarks about it from other Muslims. It hasn't been too bad I have to say- most just say "well it's your house and what you do in it is your business".
I tell them that the tree signifies peace and that we are celebrating the Christmas tradition of peace on Earth- isn't that what all religions are supposed to be about? Peace and unity and good will. To me the tree symbolises an opportunity for Christians and Muslims to come together on common ground. After all, Jesus is also a prophet in Islam.
As Christmas day is a public holiday, we'll be having some friends around for lunch. A Muslim family- refugees from Iraq who have never experienced the Christmas tradition, some Catholic friends and a couple of athiests as well.
I wish everyone peace, prosperity, happiness and health. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Eid Mubarak (for Eid ul Adha coming up on 31 Dec).

THIS MADE ME ANGRY

An article about Iktimal Hage Ali drew several responses.
Among them this little gem...

The only reason she got the award is because she is an alcohol drinking Muslim that is, one who openly flouts Islam. The only acceptable face of Islam to the PM and other “civilised” Aussies as opposed to us “uncivilised” ones. She is an Alawi not a Muslim so please don't group her with us. She does not represent us practising Muslims in any way, form or manner nor do we wish to emulate her in any way, form or manner. Islam bans ALL intoxicants including tobacco. One who openly drinks does nothing wrong under Australian law but she has broken one of the leading tenets of Islam and unless she repents she forfeits all rights to represent us and even if she regrets it, there are plenty others who are more conversant with Islam fit to be a leader. There are hundreds of hijab clad Muslim ladies who toil morning, noon and night for the community and do not take intoxicants or mix with drugs. Such ladies will never get the coverage this dame gets but they are happy to be the unsung heroines of Australia. Iktimal had no reason to win the accolade. It was only a political decision to appease the non practising "Muslims" and the “civilised secular” Aussies. To fail to understand that Islam takes an abhorrent view of intoxicants and to then quite undemocratically select a traitor simply leaves me breathless. When will Anglos understand that it is alcohol that causes the most social destruction in Australia today. Numerous studies undertaken by academics, medical specialists and research groups funded by the government have disclosed REPEATEDLY that alcohol costs us well over $2 billion per annum in Australia. The same studies have proved beyond a scintilla of a doubt that alcohol is directly and indirectly linked to an alarming number of murders, rape, mayhem, streetfights, infant/toddler deaths, inter-gender disrespect, pub fights, violence generally, the vast majority of assaults, wife bashing, child bashing and teenage births. Even incest, road crashes and car deaths particularly teenage deaths are inexorably linked to alcohol. Just last week a 79 year old was "turned to marmalade" all bones broken and even security grill dislodged by the offender who left her blood dripping from 12 foot high, so savage was the totally unprovoked attack by a drunk.
Sima Rahman

Well Sima, I suppose YOU are the only valid representative of Muslims in Australia. I suppose your scarf makes you more moral, more ethical, more Muslim and hence more deserving. I suppose YOU have deemed yourself respectable enough to speak on behalf of an US.



These people really make me sick.

MUSLIM SITCOMS

Remember Little House on the Prairie? Well, now there is Little Mosque on the Prairie, a Canadian sitcom about being Muslim in the West:

Sitcom’s Precarious Premise: Being Muslim Over Here
James Estrin/The New York Times

TORONTO - The handsome, clean-cut young man of evidently Pakistani or Indian origin is standing in an airport line, gesticulating emphatically as he says into his cellphone, “If Dad thinks that’s suicide, so be it,” adding after a pause, “This is Allah’s plan for me.”

As might be expected, a cop materializes almost instantly and drags the man off, telling him that his appointment in paradise will have to wait, even though the suicide he is referring to is of the career kind; he’s giving up the law to pursue a more spiritual occupation.

The scene unrolls early in the pilot of a new Canadian comedy series called “Little Mosque on the Prairie.”Yet that fictional moment is an all-too-possible occurrence, as witnessed when six imams were hauled off a US Airways plane in Minnesota in November after apparently spooking at least one fellow passenger by murmuring prayers that included the word Allah...

“Little Mosque on the Prairie” ventures into new and perhaps treacherous terrain: trying to explore the funny side of being a Muslim and adapting to life in post 9/11 North America...

During one recent episode being filmed at a neighborhood swimming pool, two Muslim characters who are normally veiled leave the changing room to discover that a man has replaced their usual female instructor. The horrified women lunge for bath towels to use as temporary hijabs, or veils, to cover their hair.Ultimately the solution is found when, as the script describes, “Fatima comes out dressed in the Haz-Mat Islamic swimsuit.” The costume designer unearthed a swimsuit on the Internet from Jordan that covers her from scalp to ankle and had it shipped to Canada.

The struggle over what constitutes modest dress is central to the show.
When a Muslim girl flounces into her immigrant father’s presence with her navel showing, he recoils in horror, saying,
“You look like a Protestant.”
She counters, “Dad, you mean a prostitute?”
He responds, “No, I meant a Protestant.”...

Amaar is abandoning a law career to become the new imam, or prayer leader, in the small town of Mercy. His predecessor as imam preaches sermons like, “First there was ‘American Idol,’ and now there is ‘Canadian Idol.’ All idols must be smashed.”Ms. Nawaz, [the shows creator] wanted the show to look at how a native-born imam, exceedingly rare at the moment, might deal with issues differently from the standard imported imams.

Another episode focuses on the anguished debate among strict Muslim
families about allowing their children to dress up and collect candy on
Halloween, a Christian affair built atop a pagan festival. Most North American Muslims eventually compromise because the day has been drained of religion. “Little Mosque on the Prairie” turns it into “Halal-oween,” halal being the Arabic word for anything religiously permissible.

In an earnest manner not atypical of Canadians, one goal of the show is to explain Muslim behavior, or at least make Muslims seem less peculiar, much as humor about Jews, Italians or gays helped those groups assimilate.“On the news all you ever hear are voices from the extreme end of the spectrum,” Ms. Darling said. “This gives voice to ordinary people who look just like other ordinary people.”With its small-town setting and affable cast of characters - even a talk
radio host who labels Muslims as terrorists comes across as rather lighthearted - the show unrolls a bit like “Mary Tyler Moore” or some other 1970s sitcom.

Great idea? Here are a couple more...

The Bin Laden Bunch

Here's the story of a man named Ali

Who was married with three strapping teenage lads

All of them had facial hair

Just like their mother

The oldest one was being prepared for jihad

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Till the one day when Ali married Fatima

Another wife for him to secretly enjoy

What he did not know was that Fatima had children

Three daughters the same age as his three boys

When Fatima and her girls move in with Ali

Then they knew that it was much more than a hunch

That two wives, six kids and poor old Ali

Could all become the new Bin Laden Bunch

Jihad Days

Farid, a young handsome migrant from Pakistan, moves into the spare unit above the Cunningham's garage. Soon the whole town becomes smitten with this cool new stranger. Farid forms a close friendship with Richie, the Cunningham's son, and together the two get up to all sorts of adventures. Little does Richie know that Farid has come to the US undercover on a mission from a terrorist cell. Will his friendship with Richie and the Cunningham's change Farid's mind about his mission?

Iktimal gives back Young Australian of the Year Award

Well, all you whingers and whiners on Muslim Village, hope you are happy now.
Iktimal Hage Ali has had to give back her award for Young Australian of the Year and could face losing her job after being arrested on suspicion of links with drug dealers.

Even though she was not charged with anything, the poor girl may also lose her job.

I'm not usually a conspiracy theorist but I wouldn't be surprised if all those people who were so opposed to Iktimal getting the award because she does not wear hijab but does wear nail polish had something to do with this.

What a shame. What a real shame.

APPROPRIATING ATTITUDES TO THE HIJAB- TIME FOR A WAKE UP CALL

First of all, a big congratulations to Iktimal for being named NSW young Australian of the Year. Well done Iktimal.

Now a word for all those Muslims who condemned her for not wearing hijab and for taking a sip of champagne in celebration of her accomplishment on Muslim Village ...

We all know that the government and the media prefer to engage with women who "look Muslim"- ie wear the hijab. Those of us who don't wear it know very well that we are the invisible Muslims. Journalists will clamour over 10 non-hijabis just to talk to a hijabi, Government funding goes to Muslim women's groups and individuals who wear hijab or any form of the veil because it is seen to be politically correct - forget that some of these groups use their funding to enable women to stay in domestic violence situations.

If you do not wear hijab, you are somehow not considered to be "authentic" regardless of what you do or what you have to say.

At the same time, Muslim women who wear hijab are constantly lamenting the negative media portrayal that presents the hijab as evidence of gender based oppression in Islam and that equates Islam only with the spectre of the veiled woman peering helplessly from behind a black shroud.

We know this- all Australian Muslims know this. SO WHY DO WE DO IT TO OURSELVES?
Why are we taking on the attitudes of media and government that we are so ready to criticise and condemn? Why are we appropriating the very thing that we whinge about all the fucking time?

How dare anyone claim that Iktimal does not represent Muslims because she does not wear hijab? By that argument only hijabis are valid "authentic" Muslims and hence the hijab is the single most important symbol of Islam and what it means to be Muslim. Isn't that the same thing that we criticise in the media and government? Their obsession with the hijab as a symbol?

WAKE UP PEOPLE.
WAKE UP, OR ELSE SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN AND STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT YOUR NEGATIVE IMAGE WHILE YOU KEEP DOING THINGS TO REINFORCE IT.

I'm done.

THE BIKINI PROTEST- INSIDE SCOOP

Here's the story:

A Melbourne grandmother, Christine Hawkins, decided that she would organise the "Great Australian Bikini March" to protest Sheikh Hilali's infamous 'cat meat' remarks and support Pru Goward's (Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner) call for Hilali, Keysar Trad and Sheikh Omran to be deported.

The march was planned for December 9th to coincide with the anniversary of the Cronulla riots but has since been 'postponed' to Australia Day on 26 January next year.

That's the story you will read in any of the media coverage. Here's what you might not...

Ms Hawkins approached two local councils in Melbourne for permission to stage the march. Both refused. Frustrated, she then turned to the media in the hope of exposing what she saw as an unfair decision by the councils.

She spoke to Richard Kerbaj- the journalist who broke the Hilali story. Kerbaj questioned her motives and what she hoped to achieve and then flat out refused to cover her story.

In the meantime, white supremist websites had begun publicising the event and rallying people to attend. At the same time left leaning websites criticised Ms Hawkins, her motives and her idea. Ms Hawkins however, remained steadfast in her committment to showing those horrible Muslim men just what Aussie women are made of (not cat meat I hope)!

Then the shit hit the fan. A journalist decided to do some digging and found out that Ms Hawkins is in fact part owner of the True Blue clothing company that was sponsoring the event. Ooopsy!

Suddenly, Ms Hawkins is not so steadfast anymore and began to withdraw the idea of the march- closing down the website and removing her photo and any reference to her in regards to the march. According to my source, poor Ms Hawkins said she felt "victimised, persecuted and misrepresented by both the left and right wing factions and the media". She even had to change her phone number!

Hmmm- the best laid plans of mice and men will often go astray.

Aussie Hip Hop

Gotta love Aussie Hip Hop.
Here are the words from a song I heard today.

Australians all let us rejoice

For we have no idea

We go to war for wealth and oil

Our land is gripped by fear

Compare this to American Hip Hop

Shake your money maker (huh?)

or...

Bounce like you got hydraulics in your g-string (what?)

what about...

Move bitch get outta my way (ummmm?)

The Really Real

Raccoon has a fantastic post about Israeli soldiers.

If you were ever in doubt about how much power the media has to select and present a truth (not necessarily THE truth) through images then this will make you think again.

Funny email

Got this email and just had to share it....

ATTENTION
ALIENS ARE COMING TO ABDUCT ALL THE GOOD LOOKING AND SEXY PEOPLE.


YOU WILL BE SAFE, I'M JUST EMAILING TO SAY GOODBYE.

Sent it to a friend who responded with...

THIS IS AN AUTOMATIC REPLY:
B... WAS KIDNAPPED BY ALIENS YESTERDAY
APPARENTLY THEY STARTED WITH THE BEST LOOKING

To which another friend replied...

THAT'S FUNNY. I DIDN'T SEE YOU ON THE MOTHER SHIP

PERHAPS THEY JUST TOOK YOU ALONG FOR A LAUGH

The Real Borat?

This guy makes Borat look like an amateur.

http://www.istanbul.tc/mahir/mahir/

Bloody hilarious! I love the way he says "My tall 1.84 cm"- for more of the same you should visit some Middle Eastern dating sites- plenty of strapping young Borats to choose from there! Mmmmmmmmm

This is classic!

George: Condi! Nice to see you. What's happening?
Condi: Sir, I have the report here about the new leader of China.
George: Great. Lay it on me.
Condi: Hu is the new leader of China.
George: That's what I want to know.
Condi: That's what I'm telling you.
George: That's what I'm asking you Who is the new leader of China?
Condi: Yes.
George: I mean the fellow's name.
Condi: Hu.
George: The guy in China.
Condi: Hu.
George: The new leader of China.
Condi: Hu.
George: The main man in China!
Condi: Hu is leading China.
George: Now whaddya' asking me for?
Condi: I'm telling you, Hu is leading China.
George: Well, I'm asking you. Who is leading China?
Condi: That's the man's name.
George: That's who's name?
Condi: Yes.
George: Will you, or will you not, tell me the name of the newleaderof China?
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Yassir? Yassir Arafat is in China? I thought he's dead inthe Middle East.
Condi: That's correct.
George: Then who is in China?
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Yassir is in China?
Condi: No, sir.
George: Then who is?
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Yassir?
Condi: No, sir.
George: Look Condi. I need to know the name of the new leader ofChina. Get me the Secretary General of the U.N. on the phone.
Condi: Kofi?
George: No, thanks.
Condi: You want Kofi?
George: No.
Condi: You don't want Kofi.
George: No. But now that you mention it, I could use a glass ofmilk.And then get me the U.N.
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Not Yassir! The guy at the U.N.
Condi: Kofi?
George: Milk! Will you please make the call?
Condi: And call who?
George: Who is the guy at the U.N?
Condi: Hu is the guy in China
George: Will you stay out of China?!
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: And stay out of the Middle East! Just get me the guy at theU.N.
Condi: Kofi.
George: All right! With cream and two sugars.

I'm Baaaaaack

I've been away in Canberra for a conference and had no access to the internet. Australia is so badly set up for wi-fi. When I was in Cairo recently, everthing was wi-fied- even the McDonald's restaurants. Australia is nowhere near that. I can't even get wi-fi from my home!
It's quite a contradiction, Egypt. A developing country in socio-economic terms, a shaab that seems to have embraced the Islamist message and is becoming increasingly sectarian along the fault lines of religion, a heady mix of anciently old and garishly new, of traditional and modern, of oppression and liberty. I believe there is no other place like it on Earth. It's beautiful but also confusing, frustrating and, at times, downright disheartening. Where is Egypt heading? Where does she want to go? What will become of her?

Next week I'm off to Sydney for a few days. I'll be presenting at a symposium there on the Hijab. Of course I will do my usual critique of the Western feminist take on the Hijab which has reduced it to an artificial symbol and has sought to maintain a status of defiant feminism through a masculinist discourse. But I cannot now, especially after visiting Egypt, talk about the Hijab without questioning how it has become a visual weapon in the war for Muslim minds. How Muslim have also reduced it to an artificial symbol to differentiate themselves from the religious minorities in Egypt with whom they once shared a deep and treasured bond.

I don't think that some of the people at this symposium will like what I have to say- especially those women who truly do wear the Hijab for religious purposes. But they will just have to put up with me I'm afraid.

Anyway- I'll let you know how it goes!

Definitions

To make sense of things I often end up finding names for phenomena that I think succintly define or describe what they mean. Here are some of them:

THE SHADOWS: where Muslim and Arab women are expected to live. The Egyptians have a saying "Del el rajul zai del el heyt". It means "the shadow of a man is like the shadow of a wall". I've heard this saying many times from my mother. Whenever I longed for the sun on my face, whenever I yearned to spread my arms and touch the sun- she would say these words and I would slink back obediently into the shadows. It is why I stayed in an abusive marraige for so long- why I kept going back to an unhappy marraige-because without the shadows I would have shrivelled up in the harsh world. When I finally left the shadows behind, I found strength and courage and the warm glow of the sun.

ENABLER: I've posted on the enablers before. They are those Muslim women's organisations who enable women to continue to live in conditions of abuse. They are so blinded by their focus on superficial symbols of Islam that they would easily leave a woman or a child to be bashed, beaten and maybe killed by her husband because of their devotion to these symbols. They are part of the women's network


THE WOMEN'S NETWORK: These are the mothers, sisters, aunts, grandmothers who rule the lives of Muslim women. They tell you "you don't need to do this, you just need to look after your husband and do your five prayers and be a good little obedient Muslim". They are like the enablers and they want to keep you in the shadows with them because they are afraid of the sun.


TOLERATER: toleraters are those people who smile at you through gritted teeth. They're the ones who "don't mind" you being around them. They're polite enough and some may even go out of their way to be civil. That is as long as you stay silent, smile and look grateful for every lousy morsel of attention they give you. As long as you bow politely say "yes maam, no maam" then you are tolerated. But if you dare to speak up, if you dare to question, if you dare to say "hang on a minute- I have rights- I'm human too- this is not fair" then look out because the tolerators will show their true colours. They will turn and scream "how dare you? How dare you ask for more? How dare you demand respect? We have tolerated you and you don't even belong here." There are lots of toleraters in the world. They are blind to their own bigotry.


WHYDON'TYOU: The whydon'tyuos are those people who challenge Australian Muslims at every turn to speak out, but cover their ears and turn their heads when we do. Then they turn around and scream again "Why don't you speak out against terrorism, Sheikh Hilali, rape, abuse of women, FGM etc etc". The whydon'tyous are not only blind, they are deaf too. They do not hear us when we speak. They muffle our voices but ironically they hear the crazy nutters who manipulate Islam for their own purposes loud and clear.

THE FLOCK: the Muslims who bleat and baah and do not question, do not use their heads, do not apply logic to anything. They are too busy removing photos of loved ones and lost ones from their walls. They are too busy condemning other Muslims for plucking their eyebrows or not wearing hijab. They are too busy talking about Kafirs that they have become unable to think. If they have mirrors, their mirrors are clouded with the fog of their minds.


THE HOLIERTHANTHOUS: holierthanthous can be anyone but they are usually either Western feminists or niqabis. The Western Feminists think that they have achieved equality (even though they are still struggling for equal pay and equal represention on boards and in government) and hence must speak up for their poor, muffled Muslim sisters. Ironically, their attitude serves only to disempower Muslim women. They do not reach out a hand to help you out of the shadows. They push you back and speak on your behalf. The Niqabis look at your bare arms and flowing hair and from behind their black masks they declare that they are more Muslim than you.

What's wrong with Muslims

I called my last post What's wrong with Islam- scratch that- I should have called it What's Wrong with Muslims.

It is wrong to blame religion itself for the actions of those who profess to believe in that religion. I would not blame Christianity for anything a Christian person did so why would I do that to Islam- my own religion.

Since I returned from my trip to Egypt earlier this year, I have become increasingly more cynical and increasingly less tolerant of some of the actions of Muslims. I guess it's because in Egypt I saw how Islam was being practiced as a set of artificial practices and symbols of religiousity while the true meaning of Islam was being neglected. When I came back to Australia, I saw these same things and it angered me- the corruption of the religion, the reduction of Islam to a set of meaningless artificial practices, the value attached to these artificial symbols and practices as if they are all that is required to be a good Muslim.

So what's wrong with Muslims? For a start...

1. Stereotyping. For all their talk about how they are negatively stereotyped in the Western media (which is to some extent true), Muslims are the worst at stereotyping. To them Westerners are not just unbelievers but they are all sluts, painted jezebels, bastard sons of dead beat dads and mother whores, drug addicts and alcoholics. They all behave like the actors on Bold and Beautiful.

2. The Moral Highground. My pet hate. Can't stand the moral highground from anyone. And you know what? Muslims are soooo good at taking the moral highground. There are no sex, drugs and rock n roll in Islam- these are things that non-Muslims do. We are pure, they are not. We are moral, they are not. And God help you if you are a non-Hijabi because you are the bottom of the moral food chain. She who is "courageous" enough to hide her face behind a black shroud will take one scathing look at your bare arms and declare that you are not fit to call yourself a Muslim.

3. The Victim Mentality. Woe to the Muslims of the world for God is testing us and placing adversities like the global Israeli/ US conspiracy in our paths to test our Imam. Woe to us, we are victims, we are vulnerable to the evil West who want nothing more than to demonise us and make everybody hate us. We are only victims if we choose to believe we are and to identify with that.

4. Flocking, like sheep. News Flash people- Allah has given you a brain and the faculty to use it and the freedom of will to make your own decisions. Sooooo instead of just taking for granted anything that you hear is halal, haram, makrooh etc, use your head, your brain, your heart and the things that Allah has given you to make a logical and informed decision. Just because some mad man is telling you that statues are haram in the house, or some sister in niqab is telling you that photographs of people in your house are unIslamic- doesn't mean it's true. Research it and find out for yourselves instead of baa baaing like sheep.

5. Cultural influence. Get it right. There is culture and there is Islam. Now if your culture happens to be mysoginist and condones the beating of women then that's culture- it is not Islam. If in your culture, women wear ugly black robes then that's your culture- it is not Islam. Again- use your brains to think about this one.

I think that's enough for now. I'll think about it some more and get back to ya!