In
a politically sizzling region, the governments of four Arab
countries — Palestine, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria — which range
from repressive to moderate, are responding uniquely to the
challenges posed by women and Islamists; two previously marginalized
groups.
A
few months ago, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt — a controversial
Islamist group tolerated by former President Anwar Sadat, but banned
by his successor Hosni Mubarak — swept 88 seats: 20 percent of the
total number of seats. Independent secular parties lost almost all
their support: They gained one seat and socialists gained two.
This
happened despite the fact that the 2005 election was the first time
that the Brotherhood was allowed to participate in the electoral
process in a significant, if informal, way. Observers, including
American officials, have attributed this victory to a vacuum in
political leadership on the part of the current regime and have
argued that the Brotherhood’s welfare activities were an electoral
asset.
It
is not difficult to understand why the Muslim Brotherhood’s work
and messages resonate in a country with a huge gap between rich and
poor, high unemployment, low wages, deep-rooted corruption and a
"government run by Ali Baba and the 40 thieves," according
to an Egyptian taxi driver.
But
how did women react? Egypt has not been progressive on women’s
involvement in politics — the new Egyptian parliament has only
nine women members.
Members
of the Muslim Brotherhood are often represented as
"saints" by Islamist supporters and as "sinners"
or "suspects" by the media and young, educated women. An
article published in Al Ahram on January 5, 2006 states that
many moderates fear the gains of the Muslim Brotherhood "will
mean an end to democracy...and the suppression of women."
So,
perhaps unsurprisingly, only one woman — Makarem El Deiry — ran
in November’s election with the support of the Brotherhood.
El-Deiry
initially won, but a judge later overturned her victory in favor of
her opponent. But, El-Deiry’s short-lived victory is only half the
story. The other half involves 24 other women from the Brotherhood
who declined to run. The Brotherhood’s effort might have changed
the gender composition of Egyptian politics significantly had the
Mubarak regime allowed.
"The Muslim Brotherhood was pushing all 25 of us and pushing us hard. All but one refused to enter the political arena because [opposition] candidates are imprisoned and treated badly." |
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Amany
Aboul Fadl, a professor of English literature and a mother of four,
was one of the 24 who declined the chance to run on the Brotherhood
slate. Involved with the Brotherhood since the 1970s, Fadl speaks
bluntly: "The Muslim Brotherhood was pushing all 25 of us and
pushing us hard. All but one refused to enter the political arena
because [opposition] candidates are imprisoned and treated badly,
including sexual assault. What dignified woman wants to subject
herself to this kind of humiliation?" El-Deiry, 55, could run
the risk of running, Fadl explained, because her age protected her.
Professor
Fadl rejects the concerns modernist Muslim women express about the
Brotherhood: "The goal of the Muslim Brotherhood is to
eradicate poverty by providing health services and school education
in the absence of government schools. But the government often
closes these schools, claiming they are a 'terrorist threat'."
Fadl
argues that the schools are closed because the Muslim Brotherhood is
popular with the Egyptian masses. She claims, "The Islamists
are strong advocates of the disenfranchised poor who, in an age of
moral chaos, are receptive to religious messages about Islamic
values of morality and social justice."
But
Nadia El-Awady — 36-year-old deputy editor-in-chief of
IslamOnline.net — sees a more nuanced relationship between the
Brotherhood and women. Born and raised in Illinois, she moved to
Cairo at 17 and got involved in student politics at the university.
During a student election, El-Awady became acquainted with the
Brotherhood and found that while they promoted the candidacies of
women, decision-making ultimately resided with the men. Still, Nadia
is not convinced that the Brotherhood, in the end, would pursue an
anti-women agenda.
Unlike
in Egypt where Islamists have long been banned, Jordan has
experimented with Islamists in parliament since the early 1990s.
Nuha Ma’aytah, the second woman to serve in Jordan’s parliament
in 2003, speaks about Jordan’s experience: "The Islamists
started out as idealists and became pragmatists. They were strategic
and included well educated and smart women in parliament, much more
so than the other parties in power."
Yet,
like El-Awady in Egypt, she is cautious: "The Islamists did not
give women their rights. They had their own exclusionary agenda and
ideology when it came to women." Jordan has only twelve women
in its own parliament — barely more than Egypt.
The
stark contrast to these three countries, where Islamists now seem
firmly entrenched within democratic politics, is Syria. In Syria,
Islamists are entirely frozen out of politics as is democracy.
Women, however, participate both within the Assad regime and in the
opposition.
However,
in repressive Syria, women constitute 12 percent of members of
parliament. Madame Houda Homsi Ajlani, a member of Syria’s
parliament, recites the government position: "There’s no
problem with gender in the Syrian parliament. Men and women work
together and negotiate on political and economic issues. When it
comes to negotiating budgets in parliament, women are better because
they are more inclined to find solutions."
Women
are divided in their views of the Islamists. But, women are
united in their confidence that as their societies open up
and democratize, more women will be at the table. |
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She
was educated as an electrical engineer and was first elected to
parliament in 1991. Ajlani, who describes herself as "born with
politics in…[her] blood," launched her career as a member of
the labor syndicate while still in college. Being a Muslim woman
with a decorated Christmas tree in her living room, she reflects the
straight Baathist, socialist party line. She extols Syria’s
compulsory education for boys and girls until sixth grade, and the
existence of nine political parties. She utters no reference to the
ruling regime’s virtual dictatorship.
At
the other end of the Syrian spectrum, is Nahed Badawie, 47, who has
spent as many years as Ajlani working for the opposition. "I am
always on the opposite side because I am against a dictator’s
authority." Badawie, who was jailed from 1987 to 1991, says:
"I hope to build another country with another regime. We miss
democracy here and we can’t express ourselves in this
country." Though Badawie, a civil engineer, says she is not a
practicing Muslim, she comes from a deeply religious family.
Ironically, her jail term overlapped with an 8-year-jail sentence
that her brother was serving for his involvement with the Muslim
Brotherhood.
Badawie
hopes that change will come with new internet based communication
technologies and with a younger generation no longer controlled by
family and authority. Most important is the role of women in a
changing society: "Without the participation of women, we
cannot construct a new democracy. Women have a lot to do to change
Syria from a dictatorship to a democracy."
In
this month’s Palestinian elections, there were two political
firsts. The press has widely reported Hamas’ stunning victory in
its first electoral opportunity. But these elections also
represented a breakthrough for women, who under a quota system had
to comprise 20 percent of the candidates of both Fatah and Hamas.
More important, one of the significant new political factions, Third
Way, is co-led by a woman, Hanan Ashrawi, a Christian Palestinian
formerly aligned with Fatah.
Professor
Amany argues that voters in Egypt and the Middle East reject
authoritarian regimes and "want a more religious system."
Commenting
on Hamas' victory in the Palestinian elections, Queen Rania of
Jordan cites in a statement the difficult "conditions
Palestinians are forced to live under" and argues that "it
is an example of how when people are frustrated and have no hope for
the future, they tend to go to the extreme end of the
spectrum."
But
the Palestinian Authority’s outgoing Minister of State for
Jerusalem, Hind Khoury — a Christian — highlighted her views
after her speech at a conference in Bethlehem in late December where
she put out a different message: "We need non-violence because
it is women who have to pick up the pieces when families are
destroyed. We (women) understand politics in a different way."
That
understanding and how Islamist and secular parties react to it
appears to be one of the major unresolved dynamics of the new
politics of the Arab world.
From
professor Fadl in Egypt, who says "Islamists deserve a
chance" to the Syrian women I spoke with, who see no support
for Islamism in their secular society, women are divided in their
views of the Islamists. But, women are united in their confidence
that as their societies open up and democratize, more women will be
at the table, inside and outside Islamist parties.
