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Alegre's Corner
We're not finished folks - not by a long shot!

The Cairo speech: Another missed opportunity to speak out on women's rights

by: Alegre

Thu Jun 04, 2009 at 09:41:06 AM EDT


Amid all the cheers and huzzahs over BHO's speech last night, Peter Daou points out one gaping hole in this media event.  The President - in addressing Arab nations in an attempt to find "common ground" - had a chance to address the violence that is the everyday life for so many women and girls in Muslim countries.  Rather than stand up for the basic human rights of millions, he completely ignored the horrific conditions many are forced to endure and has instead chosen to focus his attention on the right of women to wear the Hijab.  Add this to the many missed opportunities to stand up for women's rights.

Daou prefaced his post with a bit of a disclosure: as an "American-Lebanese-Christian-Jew" he has a unique take on life in the Muslim world, having lived in Lebanon during a very bloody time in that nation's history.  He understands the impact of religion on this part of the world like few others - at least among those on the national / political stage here at home.  And like many of us, he thinks this speech showed a certain naiveté about the reaction he'd get among those in power.

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Alegre :: The Cairo speech: Another missed opportunity to speak out on women's rights
Let Women Wear the Hijab: The Emptiness of Obama's Cairo Speech
Yes, Obama is targeting the Arab 'street' and global public opinion - but to the corrupt regimes that dominate that region of the world, his oration means virtually nothing. Repression and suppression will go on uninterrupted. And to those whose abiding hatred of Israel (and thus America) is absolute, Obama's words will be seen as empty and hypocritical.

Daou goes on to quote part of the speech regarding women, and his response is probably more common (at least among those in the human rights arena) than people realize.  Flowery words about education and opportunity mean little when laws are passed legalizing marital rape and 13 year old rape victims are stoned to death on charges of "adultery".

With women being stoned, raped, abused, battered, mutilated, and slaughtered on a daily basis across the globe, violence that is so often perpetrated in the name of religion, the most our president can speak about is protecting their right to wear the hijab? I would have been much more heartened if the preponderance of the speech had been about how in the 21st century, we CANNOT tolerate the pervasive abuse of our mothers and sisters and daughters. ...

Enough with the perpetual campaign. True justice, true peace, these are earned through courageous decisions and bold actions. Real truth to power.

If we are to fix America's image in the world and if we are to heal the planet's myriad ills, it will not be done through contrite kumbaya speeches about how we are all one world and how we should all coexist peacefully, no matter whether the remarks are delivered in Cleveland or Cairo. It will be done by leading through example, by righting the many wrongs here at home, by seeking justice and fairness for all, by doing what is right, not saying what sounds pleasing to the media elite and the pliable punditocracy.

Add my voice to those thanking Daou for his post.  Someone had to speak out against the violence committed against women and girls in this world.  

Sadly, that person wasn't the one with the bully pulpit in Cairo last night.

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The Cairo speech: Another missed opportunity to speak out on women's rights | 11 comments
Be sure to read the whole article (0.00 / 0)
It's a must-read.

Daou also talks about the disconnect between claims of stability in Cairo etc., and the drastic measures taken (mass arrests) to secure the university and the surrounding areas.  Then there's the new law which would give the government blanket authority to withhold evidence of abuse, torture and rape of prisoners and detainees.

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Clarification re withholding evidence... (0.00 / 0)
That bit was about something being hammered out here at home - not in places like Saudi Arabia.

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[ Parent ]
Wow, must read for sure (0.00 / 0)
Thanks for linking Daou, it is excellent and I was really surprised at comments afterward,  some unusually supportive for huffpo people. The women's rights part of the speech seemed thrown in at the last minute, the shortest and most anemic part.  
[ Parent ]
Women's rights are an afterthought . . . (0.00 / 0)
He needs to read or watch Hillary's China speech and some of her other words on the subject. Perhaps also look at the exchange between Boxer and Clinton during the conformation hearings as a more recent example. That one has pictures . . .  
[ Parent ]
Hillary's China speech (0.00 / 0)
is incredibly inspiring.  That one notion that women's rights are human rights changed the world for so many and is still making a lasting difference today.

Her speech is a must-see for anyone serving in government - especially as high-up as BHO is right now.

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[ Parent ]
I know Obama's operative theory is . . . (0.00 / 0)
"every president sucked until I came along", and maybe I missed it, but I also wish he'd really hammered in on the Clinton administration's authorization of the first US military operation in Europe since WWII - - to protect the Muslims of Kosovo and Bosnia from genocide by Christian terrorists.  If we're looking to get in good with the Muslim world, wouldn't that be a good starting point (even if it required giving credit to two "pathological liars")?
And, not every Arab is Muslim, and not every Muslim is Arab (only about 1/3 of Muslims are Arabs).  European Muslims generally like us because of the Bosnian operation, Asian Muslims generally like us because they hate Russian and Chinese genocidal imperialism, and African Muslims get along with the U.S. just fine.  (In fact, it's not unknown for an African Muslim to come to the U.S. on a scholarship to study, meet an American girl, have a kid . . . LOL).  Obama seems to conflate Arab and Muslim, and that leads him to conclude "all Muslims hate us because of Israel", which is as silly a world view as any prior administration's.
P.S. - I take it that it's no longer bigoted to mention his middle name, his father's religion, or where he grew up?
That would mean giving credit to Clinton (0.00 / 0)
People conveniently forget that Arabs and Muslims generally like Clinton. They respect the fact that he at least tried to negotiate a peace deal between Israel and Palestine. And that he stepped in to stop the genocide in Kosovo and Bosnia.
[ Parent ]
What's so sad about this... (0.00 / 0)
is Hillary said as president her focus would be on womens rights because everywhere where you see extremism, terrorism, violence, etc., you find women without equal rights.  I guess he missed the memo.

Medicare for All is Civil Rights
Add this to the long list (0.00 / 0)
of memoes he missed.

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[ Parent ]
Perhaps Michelle can take up the cause? (0.00 / 0)
She needs to put her face on something other than fashion magazines :)  She could even start in her hometown:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01...

CHICAGO - After enduring seven years of beatings from her husband, a young Yemeni-American woman recently fled to a local shelter, only to find that the heavy black head scarf she wore as an observant Muslim provoked disapproval.

The shelter brought in a hairdresser, whose services she accepted without any misgivings. But once her hair was styled, administrators urged her to throw off her veil, saying it symbolized the male oppression native to Islam that she wanted to escape.

Instead the woman, who asked for anonymity because she feared further violence from her relatives, decamped to the Hamdard Center for Health and Human Services in suburban Chicago, a shelter that caters mainly to Muslim women by not serving pork and keeping prayer rugs handy. Such shelters are extremely rare nationwide, activists say, because Muslim Americans only recently began confronting the issue of spousal abuse.

Domestic violence among Muslims has long straddled a blurry line between culture and religion, but now scattered organizations founded by Muslim American women are creating a movement to define it as an unacceptable cultural practice. The problem occurs among American Muslims at the same rate as other groups, activists say, but is even more sensitive because raising the issue is considered an attack on the faith.

much more....

Isn't spousal abuse against the law in OUR country and culture?  

Yeah (0.00 / 0)
But the authorities seem to go after drug users and dealers with more venom than they do the violent pigs who beat their wives or girlfriends.

This would be a great issue for MO to tackle.  

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[ Parent ]
The Cairo speech: Another missed opportunity to speak out on women's rights | 11 comments
"Always aim high, work hard, and care deeply about what you believe in. When you stumble, keep faith. When you?re knocked down, get right back up. And NEVER listen to anyone who says you can't or shouldn't go on."
Hillary Clinton - June 7, 2008

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