Ayoon Wa Azan (They Cannot Do Any Worse than Our Current Leaders)

Today is 101th International Women’s Day. It seems that women’s share of the year is only one day. For this reason, there is no Men’s Day, because they have 364 days in the year, or 365 in this leap year, according to the Gregorian calendar. I want to be objective and say that the education of Arab women, especially in the Arab Peninsula and the Gulf, has advanced light years in the past two generations. Our daughters returned from Europe and America with degrees in medicine, engineering, literature and arts, and world-class Western-style universities were established in our countries. The education of Arab women was not accompanied by a similar improvement in their rights, which are lacking in every country. While these rights are best found in Kuwait, Lebanon and Tunisia, they remain incomplete, and are even coming under attack in Kuwait and Tunisia for example. Nonetheless, I believe that women in both countries will be able to defend their rights. But this is not as positive as it sounds, because it means that women will be preoccupied with defending their existing rights, rather than demanding more freedom and equality. I read on the sidelines of Women’s Day about the best places for women to live in the world, on the basis of indicators like healthcare, education, employment and politics. Iceland came first while Yemen came last. Afghanistan was considered the most dangerous country for women, and for this reason, I salute Ms. Fawzia Kofi, who is vying to become the President of Afghanistan, after leaving the Afghan mountains where her mother herded sheep to the halls of power in America and Europe, through education and by winning a seat in the parliament. I also condemn a new decision by the government of Afghanistan restricting the freedom of women in education and travel, along the lines of the Taliban’s rules. Rwanda is the best country for women to be politicians. Indeed, women there hold 45 seats out of 80 in the parliament. This is while Norway is the best country for women to be mothers, owing to the care offered to them by the state. And Lesotho is the best country for the education of women, as the rate of literate women there is about 95 percent compared to 83 percent for men. The worst country for education is Ethiopia, where the rate of literate educated is 18 percent only. Sri Lanka is the best country for women to be heads of state, since women have been occupying this post there for 23 years. Here, I don’t need to remind the Arab readers that our countries have known no women rulers since Shajarat-al-Dur, but I take solace in the fact that Spain and Sweden too have never been ruled by a woman. I was pleased to find among the top twenty ranks Qatar, at 14th place. Qatar is the best country for university education for women, following the massive investment made in female education. The credit for this effort goes to Sheikha Moza al-Missned, wife of the Emir, and the University of Qatar is in fact headed by a woman who is Dr. Sheikha Bint Abdullah al-Missned. What about our countries and women? Our magazine ‘Laha’, almost in every issue, runs a terrifying story about an Arab woman in this or that country. In Lebanon, women are protesting against rape and the sectarian system that limits their freedoms, and so are the women of Tunisia to protect the rights they have enjoyed since the days of Habib Bourguiba. Women in Egypt meanwhile protested against virginity tests and the soldiers’ assault on demonstrating women, as we saw with the girl with the blue bra. The women of Egypt took part in the revolution and were an integral part of it. But they came out empty-handed. To be sure, they occupy no leadership positions in any of the youth groups launched by the revolution. Moreover, there are less than ten women in parliament, which they reached through political parties and not personal abilities. There isn’t an active feminist movement with a program, even though we are talking here about the country of Huda Shaarawi (women in Israel are suffering, and the ultra-Orthodox Jews there are segregating them from men, and want them to only breed more Jews so that they can multiply in our country). At any rate, I started with a positive point about the education of women in our countries and I want to conclude with that. It is a clear indication of the future, and Arab women will no doubt gradually secure their rights to equality and job opportunities. If women go into politics, their success will be guaranteed, because they cannot possibly do any worse than our current brave leaders, may God protect them and protect us from them.