Coptic Bishop Tells Christians To Dress Like Their Muslim Sisters

As if women in Egypt don't have enough to worry about with an Islamist led government (and possibly president) dictating how they dress, a Christian Coptic Bishop is now jumping into the modesty bandwagon, simply as a measure of appeasement and for his own political gain. At a recent event, Bishop Bishoy (who is vying for a papal position with the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church) suggested that Christian women should dress like their Muslim sisters, which- needless to say- has them outraged.

“I call on Christian girls to learn from veiled Muslim women their modesty. Some Christian women might be displeased with me, but the Virgin Mary, St. Demiana and the nuns wore modest clothes.”

Yes, but 21st century Christian Egyptian women are not the Virgin Mary, Saints or nuns, so why should they dress like them?

Mariz Tadros, writing for the Guardian UK, says that in recent years Muslim women in Egypt have become progressively more conservative, and a large majority wear the hijab (veil). This makes it even more difficult for the minority who don't, and harassment (though problematic in the past) has become even more unbearable.

In the streets of Egypt, many Coptic women have been told "Our Lady Mariam [referring to St Mary] used to wear a tarha [long scarf covering the hear], why can't you follow her example and cover up?".

While all eyes are focused on the presidential race, on the streets of Egypt, inch by inch, bit by bit, women's rights are shrinking. Women, Muslim and Christian, who do not cover their hair or who wear mid-sleeved clothing are met with insults, spitting and in some cases physical abuse. In the urban squatter settlement of Mouasset el Zakat, in Al Marg, Greater Cairo, women told me that they hated walking in the streets now. Thanks to the lax security situation, they have restricted their mobility to all but the most essential of errands. Whereas a couple of years ago they could just inform their husbands where they were going (visiting parents, friends or going to the hairdresser for example), now they have to get their husbands or older sons to accompany them if they go out after sunset.

And the Islamists have made it worse. A Coptic Christian woman said to me "we and our Muslim friends who do not cover our hair get yelled at by men passing by telling us 'just you wait, those who will cover you up and make you stay at home are coming, and then there will no more of this lewdness'". It was, she id, as if they were gloating over the fact that we were being pushed off the streets. Another woman told me that girls and women wearing mid-sleeved clothing had been slapped on their bare arms by men on bicycles shouting slurs. Another told me she had been spat on by men telling her to cover up. Another told me that she had her hair up in a pony tail and a young man pulled it so hard that she thought her head was going to fall off. Another recounts how she was pushed and elbowed by a passerby telling her to cover her nakedness (she was wearing a mid-sleeved blouse and trousers).

Tadros is convinced that Bishoy's statement has mostly to do with wanting to "win over" the Islamists "by showing he is willing to comply with their dress code for women", and winning that papal seat, of course.

Some 50 Coptic men and women demonstrated at the papal residence in Abbasiya demanding an apology, but Tadros says many were actually in disagreement with the protest.

This was the first time in the modern history of Egypt that Coptic Christian women had risen against a member of the clergy in protest. It is the first time they had collectively raised their voice to demand their rights as Coptic Christian women. The protests did not go well with all Christians: what's wrong with modesty many said, why attack the church now? Others said that while they completely sympathised with the cause of the protesters, this was not the time.

As one of the organisers of this protest, I tried to explain why we couldn't wait. I explained that if there is talk of women's modesty today, tomorrow there is more pressure on veiling, the day after it is going to be a socially imposed ban on trousers, after that a ban on women's freedom of mobility, until bit by bit, inch by inch we are driven back home.

Mohammed Mursi, the Islamist presidential wannabe, announced this week that if he is elected president he will not enforce an Islamic dress code on either Christian or Muslim women. But promises are cheap, and politicians will blatantly lie to achieve their goals. And with a majority Islamist parliament, even if Mursi did truly intend to not force women to wear the veil, he would soon cave to the demands of the majority.

I feel very sorry for the women of Egypt. At least those who relish freedom.

Egyptian 'Veiled Women Only' TV Channel Causes A Stir

Egypt is getting a satellite TV channel that will be run "exclusively" by women.  Sheikha Safaa, the station's general manager, says  men will have no say in the choice of content or 'editorial policies'.

Wow, you might think, what other country has a female run television station? How terribly forward thinking of them, except that these women will wear not just the Islamic veil, they will take it one step further into religious fanaticism by wearing the niqab- the veil that totally de-personalizes  a woman by revealing only her eyes. Only until you discover who actually owns the channel does it actually make any sense.  Sheikh Abu Islam Ahmad Abd Allah is an ultra religious Salafist (Islamist) who decided to call his channel Marya after Mariyah al-Qibtiyyah. An odd choice of name since Mariyah was apparently a concubine, and a Christian Copt to boot. She was given to Mohammad as a gift and was the mother of his child, Ibrahim.  Since it's his channel, the Sheikh will act as a consultant.  Apparently, he has “media and scholastic expertise.”

According to Safaa, one of the main reasons for creating the channel was to counteract the marginalization of veiled women.

“The work in operations of the channel will be handled by the sisters in charge of management, especially as women are the best one to talk about their needs,” she said, adding that the channel  “aims at lifting injustice” on veiled women who suffer from marginalization.

There are those who are not too happy about it, though.

In an interview with Masrawy, veteran Egyptian TV host Tarek Habib denounced the idea of a TV channel only for veiled women, saying the niqab, has repeatedly been used in crimes.

He said it was essential to know the identity and the gender of who goes on air and speaks to millions of viewers.

Egyptian actress Athar Al Hakim, meanwhile, was also quoted by women’s magazine Majalatouki as criticizing the channel.

“I have the right to know who is talking to me on the television screen,” she said.

“The issue of niqab is a national security one and it is unacceptable in Egyptian society despite the religious diversity.”

On May 17 the channel’s owner clashed with Egyptian writer Nabil Sharf Eddine during a discussion on Dream TV.

Sharf Eddine described the Sheikh’s Marya TV as “a channel of the accursed Satan.”

The Sheikh hit back by describing him as “uncivilized."

Personally, I think it's stupid that women feel the need to wear the niqab, and one has to wonder how much sponsorship they will get for such a niche channel. Then again, the Middle East, including Egypt is becoming progressively more religiously conservative. But I suppose they have the right to do whatever they want, and people offended by it needn't switch that station on, I know I wouldn't. However, it does become a problem if the government starts to force all television stations to follow suit.

Will this set a precedent? Who knows, I hope not for their sake.

Egyptian Vice Police Arrest Belly Dancing TV Station Owner For Facilitating

When I think of Egypt I think of the Pyramids, the Nile and belly dancing. Belly dancing is a traditional, popular dance form that dates back to ancient Egypt, but it's becoming less so as the country spirals downward towards a far more conservative and less tolerant Islam.  Once an enjoyment for all, it has only been accessible (and legal) in high-end hotels and clubs. Then about a year ago Baligh Hamdy started ElTet, a satellite TV station that exclusively broadcast belly dancing for the masses, at least those with access to satellite TV. Apparently Hamdy produced the videos himself, filming the dancers in their colorful skimpy outfits undulating to live music, and would then send the files to partners in Jordan and Bahrain, They would then air those videos on the satellite TV station.  People could tune in 24/7 to watch, until some viewers filed a complaint, and now Hamdy finds himself sitting in jail facing charges on suspicion of "facilitating prostitution", "harming public decency", "inciting licentiousness" and "operating without a license". 

Facilitating prostitution?  Belly dancers are now considered prostitutes? 
Hamdy was arrested by vice police in his flat in Cairo, which subbed as his studio, and now awaits his fate.

What might have gotten Hamdy in trouble, more so than the dancing itself, were the sexual enhancement and "matchmaking" ads he was airing during the broadcasts. Whether they were your typical match.com-type ads or the "voulez-vous couchez avec moi" escort-type ads, no-one is saying. I can't even imagine how they would deal with the plethora of 'little blue pill' ads that air during dinner time on U.S. networks.  Not that I approve of those ads while young ones are eating their spaghettiOs.

But there are those in Egypt who are dreading what the Islamists in leadership will bring to the table, in terms of censorship. If it's this bad now, I can't begin to imagine what will happen in a few years.
Sources: al Arabiya,WCSC,

Mobile FGM Convoys Being Organized By Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood

China has its mobile abortion clinics, and now Egypt's enlightened Muslim Brotherhood is sending out mobile medical convoys to convince families to have their young daughters undergo female genital mutilation (FGM) for free, at least according to Bikyamasr (which isn't always trustworthy). In spite of the fact that this horrific practice is actually illegal in Egypt, it is still a common tradition among the poor and uneducated.

Naturally, human rights organizations in Egypt are in an uproar over the fact that the Brotherhood and its Freedom and Justice Party has officially sanctioned these mobile FGM units. An article on Bikyamasr isn't clear as to whether the FGM is actually being performed in those mobile units or whether they're just aggressively encouraging the practice, but either way it's reprehensible.  At least there are people trying to do something about it.

A number of Egyptian human rights groups have submitted a communication to the Attorney General against the Muslim Brotherhood`s political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) to investigate the complaints of people in the village of Abu Aziz in the Minya governorate, south of Cairo, over the existence of a large medical convoy organized by the party that wanders streets and does medical examination on people, including female circumcision, or female genital mutilation, in violation of Egyptian law, conventions and treaties signed by Egypt.

In Egypt’s legal code, Female Genital Mutilation is criminalized, as well as the inciting by doctors to convince families of the young girls of the need to agree to circumcise their daughters, “as a matter of preserving chastity.”

The communication demanded Mervat Tallawy, the head of the National Council for Women (NCW) and Major General Seraj EL Din El Rouby, the Governor of Minya, and Nasr El Sayed , Assistant Minister for primary health care, and preventive medicine, and family planning, to intervene to stop what it called “a farce propaganda for free circumcision, which was organized by one of the political parties, in Minya governorate to promote circumcision.”

Thankfully, there's an effort to educate women on how not to succumb to pressure- whether they'll have any success is questionable. And women's groups and others are attempting to get the Muslim Brotherhood and others to follow the rule of law with respect to FGM, but that too is doubtful.

The National Council for Women has criticized the FJP's stance on FGM claiming that it puts

"the person who promotes it under penalty of law because FGM is criminalized, and against human rights in general and women in particular.”

FGM was a problem under Mubarak, as well, but it wasn't sanctioned by the government.

And this is what the long, hard-earned battle against tyranny got the Egyptians after the Arab Spring, a worst kind of tyranny.

Sudanese Writer Warns Egyptians About The Danger Of Islamism

Every once in a while someone in the Arab/African Muslim world gets it right.  In a spot on interview on CBC TV (Egypt) on April 2, 2012 Al-Hajj Warraq, a Sudanese writer, discusses the inherent dangers of the rise of Islamism in Egypt, and how democracy

"..is about more than just the ballot box. Democracy is a culture engraved upon the cerebral box before it is the ballot box. One cannot talk about freedom in the absence of free minds. The tragedy of the Arab Spring is that when the tyrannical regimes fell, the fruits were reaped by movements that preach closed-mindedness, rather than free thinking. The outcome will be regimes that are worse than those that were toppled. The so-called Arab Spring countries are heading towards a hash winter. "

Transcript of snippets of his interview on MEMRI here.

People in Tunisia and elsewhere should also take note.

Egyptian Women Outraged Over Possible Sex-After-Death & Early Marriage Laws

UPDATE:  Apparently not true. Interesting story about how this rumor turned into fact.

Women in Egypt are getting quite worried about the Islamists who swept into power (overwhelmingly) after the Arab Spring. Along with their fundamentalism come some very bizarre edicts and laws, and females over there are very concerned about having them implemented.

Egypt’s National Council for Women (NCW) has appealed to the Islamist-dominated parliament not to approve two controversial laws on the minimum age of marriage and allowing a husband to have sex with his dead wife within six hours of her death according to a report in an Egyptian newspaper.

The appeal came in a message sent by Dr. Mervat al-Talawi, head of the NCW, to the Egyptian People’s Assembly Speaker, Dr. Saad al-Katatni, addressing the woes of Egyptian women, especially after the popular uprising that toppled president Hosni Mubarak in February 2011.

She was referring to two laws: one that would legalize the marriage of girls starting from the age of 14 and the other that permits a husband to have sex with his dead wife within the six hours following her death.

It's not quite clear whether the issue of  'necrophilia' ('Farewell Intercourse' draft law) is actually up for vote in Egypt, or whether the women are just afraid that it might be. Apparently Zamzami Abdul Bari, some whacked out Moroccan cleric, in 2011 was the first to encourage husbands to have one last go with their newly dead wives, adding that it was okay for women to do the same thing.  This is the same guy who claimed women could drink alcohol while pregnant. So we can assume this is just some pervert's dream, since alcohol is forbidden in Islam, and I am going to assume so is necrophilia. Then again, there are some pretty bizarre things in the Quran.

Talawi is also concerned about other issues that could negatively impact women under an Islamist-led parliament including legislation that could rid them of their right to education and employment, among other things.

Many members of the newly-elected, and majority Islamist parliament, have been accused of launching attacks against women’s rights in the country.

They wish to cancel many, if not most, of the laws that promote women’s rights, most notably a law that allows a wife to obtain a divorce without obstructions from her partner. The implementation of the Islamic right to divorce law, also known as the Khula, ended years of hardship and legal battles women would have to endure when trying to obtain a divorce.

Egyptian law grants men the right to terminate a marriage, but grants women the opportunity to end an unhappy or abusive marriages without the obstruction of their partner. Prior to the implementation of the Khula over a decade ago, it could take 10 to 15 years for a woman to be granted a divorce by the courts.

Islamist members of Egyptian parliament, however, accuse these laws of “aiming to destroy families” and have said it was passed to please the former first lady of the fallen regime, Suzanne Mubarak, who devoted much of her attention to the issues of granting the women all her rights.

Check out the responses on the alarabiya link, it's quite clear many of the Muslims who commented were equally disgusted by the sex-after-death laws.

Who voted these Islamists in?!

Bye Bye Egyptian Islamists- Salafi and Muslim Brotherhood Candidates Lose Presidential Election Appeal

The three stooges- al-Shater, Suleiman and Abu Ismail

Khairat al-Shater, the Muslim Brotherhood presidential wannabee, who claimed he would impose Shariah (Islamic) law on Egypt if elected, isn't going to have that opportunity.  Neither is Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, the Salafist preacher who said he would also force women to wear the hijab (Islamic veil) or change creed.  Those two, along with 8 other hopefuls, have been barred from running in the upcoming Egyptian presidential election this coming May. The 10, including Omar Suleiman (Mubarak's former spy chief), were given 48 hours to appeal, but lost.

Abu Ismail was ruled out because his mother held U.S. citizenship, the commission said, though he has fiercely denied this and has accused the authorities of conspiring against him. His blend of hardline Islam and revolutionary zeal has won him an enthusiastic following.

Suleiman, one of Hosni Mubarak's closest aides and his deputy in his last days in power, had been ruled out because he had too few of the voter endorsements candidates are required to present, according to the state news agency.

Shater had been disqualified because of a past criminal conviction. Like many other Brotherhood leaders, Shater had spent time behind bars for his association with a group that was officially outlawed under the Mubarak administration.

The committee also upheld its disqualification of Ayman Nour, a liberal who came a distant second to Mubarak in the 2005 presidential election.

Nobel Laureate and reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei pulled out in January, and the only female candidate, Bothaina Kamel, dropped out after failing to get enough signatures, though she has no regrets.

The Egyptians will have 23 candidates to choose from come May 23 and 24, and it's anticipated there will be a probable run-off in June. Let's hope they choose the right leader. At least the most problematic Islamist candidates have been eliminated, although I'm sure this isn't the end of them.

On July 1,  the Egyptian people will finally be under civilian rule.