Category Archives: all that muslim jazz

#KolenaLaila: From a Radical Feminist to a Liberal: You Suck

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Source Belief Net

Ever since my “teenage-hood” days, I followed the assumption that befriending writers, filmmakers, sculptures and those who’re interested in arts and revolutionary books are necessarily people with free minds, and hence, are people who won’t disrespect me as a female or the way I chose to live my life. I was not only wrong, I was also simplistic.

Today, large number of these people who used to be my friends have become/are becoming my enemies, for they, as the masses, they begin their sentences with the same line a lot of sexist people do: “A woman should/shouldn’t be/do bla bla bla….”.

First I want to give you examples of how liberal women and men prove to be sexists as they’re trying to be free from “conservative” values. Some of these people consider themselves feminists, progressives, thinkers, and activists, pro women and LGTBQ rights.

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we are what we protect

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Indeed this line is precisely right.

Take the occupation of Palestine for instance, many people blog and voice their support for Palestinians’ rights, but their very support stems from different reasons. Some defend Palestine for they see it as an Arab country, and since they define themselves as Arabs they feel that their duty is to support an Arab country against a foreign one. Those are not my friends.

Some defend Palestine for the sake of Islam, for the majority of Palestinians are Muslims and Muslims around the world feel that they should support their brothers and sisters in faith against another faith.Those are not my friends either.

Some see occupation per se, injustice, apartheid and crimes against humanity. Those do not defend nobody they relate to, those rely on no ideology or faith system to formulate their “political” stances, those oppose injustice whatever it might be on whomever it might be. Those are my family.

Hence we find the latest group blog opposing any form of injustice, be it by Zionist occupation, by capitalism, imperialism, be it by patriarchy, by homophobics, by racism against immigrants and foreign workers, you name it.

They do not “defend” certain people or oppose others, they oppose flawed thoughts that paved the way for the emergence of racists, sexists and criminals we see today and we do see tsome of them among the first two pro-Palestinian groups I presented above.

It’s not a virtue by itself to blog for Palestine really, and I do not relate to every pro-Palestinian blogger, not to every pro-LGTBQ rights blogger either, for while one might be blogging for the liberation of a certain people she might be blogging also for the marginalizing of others, and for that, its not the object one’s fighting for that interests me, but the process she’s following to reach that object. This very process, is what makes of you and me.

Justice is the only virtue I believe in. What you protect is indeed what you are.

Not So 'Good Arab Woman'

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“Born and raised in Egypt, I was brought up to be a good middle class Egyptian girl; but somehow being good did not suit my notions. Deep down I have rejected the heavy heritage of traditions and norms that made no sense to my inquisitive mind. I could not understand why girls were killed, committed suicide, or lived in eternal shame when they lost* their virginity. I failed to comprehend why such a rule applied only to girls and their male counterparts were spared. After my grand mother passed away we stopped celebrating Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Halloween, and Thanks Giving … does being a Muslim deny me all my childhood memories? Why do I have to get married? Why can’t I date? Why do men cheat? Why do I have to accept it? Why? Why? Why? And many more unanswered questions. I have come a long way from the scared little girl that I once was … I found my passion in writing, my voice in teaching & training, and my strength in marketing … I took off my mask … and I decided to speak up and loud .. as loud as loud could ever be.”

* “lost their virginity” is a sexist term. Hymen is not something that women “lose”, but something that is gladly torn away.