Commentary and Responses to Nicolas Sarkozy

A French Muslim woman: Sarkozy will you wear this burka?
Nicolas Sarkozy: No.
Woman: Why not?
Sarkozy: Because I don’t agree with it.
Woman: Okay. I hope you find god.

Sarkozy: Women remove that burka?
Woman: No.
Sarkozy: Why not?
Woman: Because I personally see it as my religious commitment and wear it as a display of my modesty and devotion to my god. I want to inhibit material distractions and the gaze of strange men to focus more on the spiritual aspects of my life.
Sarkozy: Well you need to remove it or get the h*ll out of my country.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy gave a speech to the French Parliament last Monday that there is no place for the burqa in France. The burqa is a Muslim head dress that is worn by some Muslim women. It is common mostly worn by the conservative populations of Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. It is assumed by some in the west that the burqa is forced upon women but this is not so for the vast majority of Muslim women who wear the burqa by choice. However, Sarkozy and his French policy makers are working towards a full scale burqa ban. He is quoted as saying:

"We cannot accept to have in our country women who are prisoners behind netting, cut off from all social life, deprived of identity," Mr Sarkozy told a special session of parliament in Versailles. "That is not the idea that the French republic has of women's dignity.

"The burka is not a sign of religion, it is a sign of subservience. It will not be welcome on the territory of the French republic," the French president said.

What Sarkozy fails to see is, well everything. I am sure that his statement did not take into consideration the Muslim population of France which is the largest in Western Europe, estimated at 5 billion. The burka is a sign of religion as much as the veil the catholic nun wears. He will not allow the Muslim women’s dress but he condones young pubescent catholic school girl uniforms with short plaid skirts and black knee highs. Would he ask our conservative and modest daughters and sisters to unbutton their blouses and let their hair down if it made them uncomfortable? What are our values?

The veil is a choice, a part of identity and culture for a majority of Muslim women. Following the Islamic clothing guidelines reaches into the deeper desire for one’s own cultural heritage. Girls wear the veil because it is what their mothers do, and their grandmothers and great grandmothers just as I like to wear fancy scarves like my mom does. I don’t wear scarves just because I think they look good but because it is something that I identify my mum with, something she collects. I think they look beautiful on her and as most young girls I want to be like my mum. Since I was in high school or maybe younger I started looking through my mum’s scarf drawer and thinking of how I could pull them off. This also goes for girls who like to wear their mum’s heels or lipstick. It is part of our identity and connects us to our culture and family.


Veils are a fashion still prevalent in western culture. Nuns still cover their heads and bodies. Shall we ask the Vatican to unveil their female statues and images which they once cloaked out of protection for the sake of female sexuality?
When we are married in Christian communities do we not veil ourselves? It is an ancient ritual symbolizing a man taking over his wife and her giving up our virginity to our husband. It stood as a symbol for his future wife’s purity.
All traditional images of Mother Mary show her veiled.
In the 1960’s it was common for women to wear hats to church that had a sweeping piece of cloth to cover ones face, who knows maybe it will come back into fashion one day again? Let’s think of some fashions we have that might offend people like excessively tight and revealing clothing, facial tattoos, piercings, dreadlocks, leather, shoulder pads and out of style prints.


This statement by Sarkozy only marginalizes the France Muslim population and Muslim community as a whole. The women who want to wear the head covering will just not leave her home for fear of backlash from the public. They are forcing her to take the veil off in opposition to the stereotype that men are forcing her to put it on. Where are the civil liberties and tolerance? We are trying to ease tensions with the Muslim world not increase them. I am ashamed. I also fear for Morocco as it is a completely Muslim country which was colonized and still is run by the French. What will happen to them and their relationship with France?

The West wants people to give up who they are to be like them because it is easier for them then trying to except people for who they are, as if it would be no problem for them to give up their cultural identity, religious and individual freedoms. When they rebel towards this colonization of western infliction we call them tyrants and uncivilized. What a war of words, what a war of intolerance and misunderstanding. What about choice and religious freedom? Are those not our western values, is that not what we are trying to encourage?


FOLLOW UP ARTICLE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gioia-diliberto/muslim-chic_b_221382.html

You go mom!

I have to mention this because I am so proud of the work my mom and her friends have been doing. She has joined up with her two friends and has formed a new organization. The new non-profit corporation is called Project Tanzania Partnership Inc. They just recently received their non-profit status and are looking at getting projects off the ground.

Here is their mission statement:

The mission and purpose of Project Tanzania Partnership is guided by a desire to engage others through outreach, investment and partnership to meet critically important needs of the citizens of the United Republic of Tanzania (Tanzania) in Africa.
You will meet our Partners with shared values centering on building capacity at the village level in Tanzania within education, health care and economic development. Impact will be maximized by strong collaboration and confidence with organizations and groups “on the ground” in Tanzania; strategic partners who we will help to raise funds, improve their skills and further develop their program and services.

Take a look at their website and let’s send them our love and support:
www.projecttanzaniapartnership.org

Some Moroccan Proverbs

*Lightening warns not the tree it will strike.

*When it condems us, reason is wrong for it displeases us.

*Water has not yet flowed and already you raise the hem of your garment.

Ramadan in August

Ramadan will occur towards the end of August this year. Ramadan has not fallen in the middle of the summer since the 70’s. You may be wondering how this is possible. Well firstly Islam follows a different calendar which goes with the cycles of the moon. The lunar year is shorter than the solar year which we follow, therefore falling on a different time every year, drifting from season to season. Ramadan goes through all four season in a cycle of 32.5 years. Due to this seasonal sift of the holiday, Ramadan can take place during months of quaking cold or during months of liquefying heat, when the days are long and seem to go on forever. This summer, temperatures will reach up to 120 degrees in some parts of the desert. I try to imagine what it must be like to even restrain oneself from a glass of water but it happens and people do it. In order to understand this I had to take a deeper look into Ramadan.

Fasting is a month long commitment which seeks to cleanse mind, body, soul and community. It began in 662 AD after the Prophet Mohammad migrated from Mecca to Medina. “Ramadan is the month during which the revelations of the Qur’an began. The Prophet Muhammad was meditating in the Cave of Hira, near Mecca, when he “received” the first verse of the Qur’an. “Read in the name of Your Lord who created. He created men from a clinging form. Read, your Lord is the Most Bountiful One who taught by the pen, who taught man what he did not know.” So Ramadan marks the beginning of Islam. The word Qur’an literally means reading or recitation. And during Ramadan the whole Qur’an is read from cover to cover. This happens during extra evening prayers, which are held in congregation. The Imam, who leads the prayer, begins with the first chapter of the Qur’an on the first day of Ramadan, reciting the sacred text loudly. He moves on from chapter to chapter, passage to passage, each night, finishing the complete Qur’an on the last day of Ramadan. Not surprisingly, these prayers tend to be quite long, lasting for to two or three hours. In addition, more pious individuals may read the Qur’an silently at home.”

For followers of the faith, fasting is the sincerest form of worship by both the individual and the collective society. Fasting is regarded as one of the main pillars of Islam along with daily prayers, payment of zakat (obligatory giving to the poor, 2.5% of one’s annual income), and hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). While fasting is obligatory for most Muslims there are exceptions to those on medication, people with prolonged afflictions, elderly, young children and breast feeding mothers. Also, if a women is menstruating or if you are traveling you are allowed to eat but are required to make up the extra week at the end.
In the Quran, the purpose of fasting is to practice self restraint. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims are asked to restrain from food, drink, sex and all disorderly, abusive and aggressive behavior. Under this category also follows no smoking or kissing. You are to continue on with your daily affairs despite the lack of such luxuries. With the lack of these elements in your daily life one is to become more focused on daily prayer, serving humanity and serving God. Ramadan is not just the month of fasting but also the month of giving. Fasting is to help people feel the pains of hunger and thirst to better understand those less fortunate and appreciate what they have. It moves people to do more for the poor and needy. The financial giving of zakat is also a way to purify ones wealth. “In addition to zakat, most Muslims also give sadqa, or charity. Ramadan is the month when most charity is given and charitable deeds are done. In Britain, Muslim charities such as Islamic Relief and Muslim Aid collect millions of pounds in zakat and sadqa during Ramadan from the Muslim community. Some of this money is distributed to the deprived segments of British Muslim communities, but most goes to development projects in the Third World. Ramadan is also the month when many young Muslims sign up to do voluntary work overseas.”

Ramadan also acts as a social lubricator. Following sunset, families and friends gather together and break the fast (think breakfast, breaking the fast). The month of fasting ends at the sight of the first new moon. Islam places a lot of emphasis on the relationship between humans and the cosmos. The idea is to feel the ripple of time and be as close with nature as possible. The end of the fast is called Eid ul-Fitr. It is a celebration of gifts, cookies and new clothes. You cater to your family and neighbors. Ramadan and fasting is about more than just restraint from bodily desire but it is about becoming closer to God and focusing on serving him and your community with concrete deeds. It is about being the best you can be and being thankful for all that you have and realizing what it feels like for many who do not have what you do.

So while this Ramadan will be particularly challenging due to climatic circumstances it will give people a chance to really show their dedication to God and humanity. I will be supporting all going through this great challenge during the coming August. I respect dearly the commitment they will be making and will pray for good health. I think that we can all learn something from such dedication and good will. Please if you know friends that will be going through this back home be a branch of support for them and it is a great opportunity to open up dialogue and learn about this important Islamic month, a truly selfless and honest month.

Communal Elections

Voting
I witnessed my first elections here in Morocco. Every 6 years communal elections take place and this year in particular was revolutionary for Morocco. While visiting a fellow Peace Corps volunteer in her site and hanging out with our Moroccan friends we were able to participate in the preparation and aftermath of the elections. This year there was a strong push to fight against the corruption and get it out of the system. It was not easy my Moroccan friends informed to me. The days leading up to the election and the day of elections a lot of money, rocks and dirty words are thrown around as people try to convince one another to vote for their representative.

Corruption has become a norm in Moroccan life and politics. Particularly during the time of elections vast amounts of the illicit giving of money, promises, power and merchandise are used to persuade voters and vote counters. Sadly, violence also occurs on some levels.

“For instance, on Sunday, June 31, in the region of El-Attaouia, municipality of Kelaat Sraghna (south of Morocco), an electoral candidate accompanied by an authority assistant (Mqadem) were distributing money to people of the province when, suddenly, the local authorities of the Royal Gendarmerie arrested them with a sum of money estimated at 300 million centimes (approximately € 265686.29) . The detainee who is named Ennakaz L'Arbi, one of the elders and a former member of the municipal council of El-Attaouia, is a candidate belonging to The Istiqlal party whose leader is Abbas El Fassi, the Moroccan prime minister.

In the town of Mediouna, near Casablanca, violent clashes have also broken out between supporters of The Istiqlal party and those of Authenticity and Modernity, which lead to burning a barn and a house in the ownership of a candidate belonging to Authenticity and Modernity party. What is more, some people have tried to burn a fuel station in the same town
To conclude, it should be noted that the number of arrests related to elections has reached 320 accused. The majority of them are accused of using money in order to win over voters, exploiting the property of the State, and causing violence.”

Although this is slightly disturbing but surprisingly accurate a change is occurring as we speak. In this small town that I witnessed the elections in I am proud to report that the party fighting against corruption won in a few parts of town. Young people and old were chanting we need the change in opposition to some scary corrupt and powerful figures. It was reminiscent of my calls for the need for change with Obama. Corruption is not an easy thing to fight but with the support of the community, joining together and recognizing the inequalities currently in the system much can be done. This is a victory for parts of the town. While this one particular man won in a certain part of town, 8 others were also elected for different sections of town. I was told that 4 out of the 9 are not corrupt, a change they say, and a change it is even if it looks insignificantly low.

Another victory in the Moroccan communal elections is that of the progress and inclusion of women in the political system. Thousands of women ran for local council this year, an unprecedented number which is trying to fill the new female quota. The government wants to boost the current 127 women in council positions to over 3,300. This will give Moroccan the largest amount of female elected officials in any Arab country. The political spectrum has normally been an all mans club and for some women, this is their first attempt to enter the patriarchal arena.

The increased encouragement for women to enter politics is made possible by the new 2004 amendments to Morocco’s Family Law by King Mohammad VI, which granted men and women equal rights in important arenas. Not only is this good for Morocco but also boosted the King’s popularity with the International community, standing as a role model on equal gender rights for Arab countries.

The spaces reserved for women across the country were overflowing with candidates as women were embracing the opportunity to make a change in their communities, in their country. The elections in the town I viewed elected two females for seats. Victorious. The only fear that I have of women being thrown into these positions is that many are not qualified or educated which could potentially be a threat to the success of other women in future elections. It is an amazing feat that they are in these positions but it is more than just filling status quo. This is a true opportunity for change and I wish all candidates, male and female the best of luck in the battle against corruption and for changes that help empower and raise their people and country.