August 2007

There are 12 marriages per 1,000 citizens in Damascus. That is what official statistics say, and yet there is also a staggering 40% divorce rate in the Syrian capital. Meaning, out of the 1,000 people who get married, 400 of them get divorced. The divorce rate is much lower in Latakia (9%), Aleppo (8%), Hama (7%)and Raqqa (3%). This shows that the Damascenes are the first ‘to fall in love’ and the first to get an early divorce.

 

It may have come at the expense of 12-year old Badour Shaker’s life on an Upper Egypt operating table, but the Egyptian government recently announced a complete ban on female circumcision, known as genital mutilation (FGM). The new ban is an amendment to a former provision that permits only qualified physicians to perform the surgery. The outdated practice, performed on girls before puberty, is believed by some more conservative families to protect a girl’s chastity and lessen her sexual desires. In a recent article, renowned Egyptian physician, writer and FGM victim Nawal al-Saadawi said the move comes far too late. “Badour, did you have to die for some light to shine in the dark minds?” she wrote in Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Yom following announcement of the ban. “Did you have to pay with your dear life a price ... for doctors and clerics to learn that the right religion doesn’t cut children’s organs.» In an interview with FORWARD Magazine from Ohio University where she is teaching a course this summer called “Dissidence and Creativity,” Saadawi related the act of genital mutilation to what she considers a “similar oppression.” “I connect female circumcision to the policies of George Bush,” she said. “There is a very clear relation between sexual oppression and political oppression.” Nawal al-Saadawi was born in the Egyptian village of Kafr Tahla. In 1951, she left to study psychiatry at Cairo University. She went on to eventually become Egypt’s Director of Public Health at a time when women’s leadership roles were few. She began a magazine called “Health” which addressed subjects relating to preventative medicine. She also began to write about women’s issues, particularly the oppression they experienced in the Arab world. As a result, she was dismissed from her post and her magazine was shut down. The experience unleashed a passion within her that Egyptians would learn cannot be silenced.

 

Future. The indefinite time yet to come; things that are yet to happen; unknown; uncertain and unpredictable— or, so we assume. The truth is, however, you can see the future by looking at its young makers, and you will surely see a bright and promising one when you find educated, dedicated and innovative people like Katia Chatta. A young and radiant woman, Katia is a senior member of the Junior Chamber International (JCI)-Damascus Branch. She holds the rank of vice-president of the Community Area and stands as JCI’s representative on the organization committee of the Arab Youth Forum. Katia is devoted to creating numerous individual, community-based, and international business opportunities for young Syrians. Through organizing seminars and conducting professional training in leadership and communication skills, Katia’s work at JCI provides young Syrians with opportunities for personal development. She believes that Syrians can maximize from international opportunities, and through her work, she exposes young Syrians to different cultures, shedding light on what is happening in other parts of the world; experiences that young Syrians can learn from. Katia became the director of JCI’s Youth and Children Commission only one year after joining the international organization and was awarded “Best Commission Director” in 2006. Apart from her involvement in community work and social development, Katia Chatta is an exceptional architect, having studied interior design at University de Montreal and obtained a diploma in architecture from Milan in Italy. She discussed her inner thoughts with Forward Magazine: Did you ever live abroad? If yes, where did you live? Yes I lived abroad for eight years. It was in Montreal, Canada. Do you consider moving out of Syria? No because the Syria of today is a land of opportunity for young and educated people. It is booming in every domain. More importantly, Syria is my home. What is the life achievement you dream of establishing? Expanding my business and contracting on an international level.

What is the one thing or thought that troubles you and keeps you awake and thinking at night?

Sarah al-Shamma, Syria’s Number One among young artists, speaks to FW.

Sarah al-Shamma is the youngest of Syrian artists, and one of the finest and most internationally acclaimed. She speaks to FW about the hardships and joy of being Syria’s Number One in the young generation of Syrian artists. Upon entering the house of world-renowned young Syrian artist, Sarah Shamma, my expectations were wildly bouncing all over the place. There I was, the fresh graduate, at the doorstep of one of the most successful Syrian women, who has surpassed all obstacles that could have held back an artist in the Arab world, nonetheless a female artist, and managed to invest her talent to the fullest. Would she be as daringly somber as her notorious self-portraits? Would she possess the mysticism and spirituality of her celebrated vibrant Soui series? Or would she leak of the surreal coolness unearthed in the cold tones of her early works of the nineties? I soon discovered that Sarah Shamma, was all the above with a touch of humble confidence that quietly radiated as soon as one set eyes on her. And Sarah Shamma had plenty to say about the current condition of art in Syria, the implementation of academia in the Faculty of Fine Arts, with a few words of wisdom to aspiring artists in this region of the world.

Rafif al-Sayyed, a charming woman and former lecturer at Damascus University, recently wrapped up a ground-breaking exhibition for the crème-de-la crème of Syrian artists in Washington. It was her show from start until curtain fall. Given the tense political situation between Damascus and Washing-ton, the art exhibition was a brilliant display of ‘artistic diplomacy’ proving that artists like Fateh al-Moudarres and Louai Kayyali, can be as much of ‘ambassadors’ for Syria as her husband, Ambassador Imad Moustapha.

The exhibition started on June 5, 2007 at the Katzen Art Center of the American University Museum in Washington DC, one of the most prestigious venues in the United States. American visitors streamed in, amazed at the beauty of paintings on display. But these were not French, German, or American artists. These were artists from Syria. These were artists from a so-called ‘rogue’ state, as US officials have been saying since relations deteriorated between Damascus and Washington back in 2003. An ordinary American watching his country’s mainstream media, or listening to the anti-Syrian rhetoric coming out of the State Department would certainly have expected something different. He would have expected images that reflect the psyche of a ‘terrorist’ mind. Instead, he found the brilliance of artists like Wahbi al-Harriri (1914-1944), the last of the Syrian classicists, the underdogs and poor characters of Louai Kayyali (1934-1978), along with the red earth and villages of Fateh al-Moudarress, the father of contemporary Syrian art, whose themes of identity, mythology, fear, and beauty are internationally recognized and can be related to by ordinary Americans. Majestically displayed were the works of contemporary artists like Ahmad Moualla, whose imagination is a wild mixture of the poetic and the insane; images of ambivalent hallucinations and spiritualities, ranging from noble men to the skeleton of a monster devouring him-self. There were also the startlingly human portraits of the young artist Sarah al-Shamma, one of the most daring and innovative artists across the generational divide in Syria. In all there were 22 artists represented in Washington at an exhibition that displayed 45 works of art from Syria. Raif al-Sayyed, the Chair of the Organizational Committee, spoke to FW about the Herculean task of planning, marketing, and executing such an event in Washington. “If it were not for the Syrian Embassy and the Syrian community in DC, this exhibition would not have happened” she said. Sayed, who holds a PhD in computer science from the University of Surrey in the UK, is an accomplished woman with talent, character, and determination. When US President George W. Bush first met her he could not hide his surprise that an Arab woman—and a Syrian—would have a doctoral degree in informatics. Before studying in the UK then residing in Washington, she used to teach at the Faculty of Computer Science at Damascus University, where she met her future husband the Ambassador, who had been Dean of the Faculty. “The idea of holding such an event in DC has accompanied me for two years” she said “but it took eight months to execute.” She recalled that the Katzen Center had previously turned down two similar exhibition requests, made by Embassies from two different Arab countries in Washington, but it wasn’t difficult for the Syrians to convince them of the quality of Syrian art. Jack Rasmussen, the director of the Katzen Center, explains: “When I was approached by the Embassy of the Syrian Arab Republic…

Many Muslim countries are endorsing gradual yet distinguished measures towards progress in various areas such as economy, technology, education, health, etc. However, one finds few remarkable attempts to resolve intricate legal practices that continue to prevent Muslim women and children from basic rights. Islam introduced its sacred book ‘The Quran’ to be applied to all nations at all times while embracing a notable level of lenity and mercy which have often been dismissed to permit profoundly prejudiced laws and practices furthering women’s inferiority. Our present times still witness frequent incidents of agonized Muslim women in courts seeking divorce and child custody despite the unambiguous teachings of a tolerant faith that established a fair treatment of wives and mothers. This article will offer progressive outlooks responsive to women’s needs in an effort to revive the benevolent spirit of Islam. Let us first acknowledge that Quran and Hadith (Prophet’s sayings) have only been read through a masculine lens which discounted women’s needs in many instances. Present-day family laws in Muslim countries have been devised based on those inadequate ‘male-dominated’ interpretations, dating back to the l0th and l2th centuries, long after the Prophet’s death. Today’s family courts are crowded with exhausted Muslim women pleading for help in getting a divorce, and claiming child custody and/or alimony. It is no surprise to anyone that countless Muslim women waste years in pursuit of their basic right to end a marital relationship while their male counterparts may terminate it with the mere utterance of an undisputed word “I divorce you.” Quranic verses and Hadiths that tackled divorce and child custody issues deserve a contemporary contemplation in an effort to propose equitable perspectives that could enhance the lives of women and children in Muslim societies. I will reflect on the unorthodox insights by a number of researchers and scholars to challenge the current immature practices in quest for a just explanation of divorce and child custody laws in Islam. Allow me first to give a concise depiction of the existing procedures. Current divorce laws vary among the major Islamic schools. Women’s rights to divorce differ significantly from nation to nation, and from one time period to another. According to all schools, men have an absolute and unilateral right to divorce, unless otherwise specified in the marriage contract. Women can only seek divorce through court proceedings by convincing the male-dominated judiciary of their claim (court decisions can be appealed by husbands inclined to prolong the process for provocative reasons). The grounds for a woman’s entitlement to divorce are more or less limited to the cases where the husband is proved to be impotent, to have a contagious disease, or a serious defect, or to be abusing her with life-threatening conduct. Other dissonances when claimed by the wife may not be persuasive reasons for separation. A wife can ask for divorce from her side, but that is generally only possible if she returns her dowry “mahr” and any supplementary property specified in the marriage contract to her husband. But when the husband demands a repudiation, the divorced wife keeps her dowry. It is worthy to note here that even in the case of a woman-requested divorce, the husband’s consent remains necessary, otherwise the divorce settlement can take years leaving the woman in legal limbo, oftentimes with no financial support, and unable to remarry until the case is decided. Following divorce, the wife is given child custody (unless she re-marries) until the child reaches a certain age, at which point the matter will be settled by the couple or by the courts. In many instances divorce is revocable until the wife completes her “Iddah” - a waiting period a wife must observe after divorce where she is prohibited from marrying another man to determine whether she is pregnant and avoid doubts of paternity. Interestingly, during this period the husband may resume marriage without the wife’s acknowledgement or consent!

 

Women’s rights seem to be occupying everybody these days; jurists, scholars, states-men, and women activists from around the globe. Every regional or international conference tack-les the issue of women’s rights, in one way or another, and so do newspapers, magazines, and academic journals. The issue is becoming increasingly important in Syria.

 

I just love women!!

 

I know, this is quite understandable— being another typical hot-blooded, Syrian man. I mean, why on earth wouldn’t I?

Poetics aside, women are the very oxygen of life. A woman gives, nurtures, and preserves life. She is a giver, she is a custodian, she is the bedrock a family is built on. Simply put, without woman life does not exist. It is a woman who first opened my eyes to the beauty of words, who inspired me to read, who opened up a well of emotions within my soul. It is a woman’s image that has made me appreciate art, it is a woman’s image on a flickering screen that gave me warmth and nurtured my imagination. It is a woman who gave me her love, and who gave me the gift of children, and who continues to light up my life, everyday.

Syria has women ministers, ambassadors, and parliamentarians, but do they have real power?

 I hear such comments every time I attend a conference, a school reunion, or work function. How many times do you hear that we, as Syrian women, are fortunate to be living in a secular society with laws that do not discriminate between men and women? How many times are we told that we are fortunate to be living in an Arab society where men and women are (ostensibly) equal. But is this indeed the case? Or is it just a convenient political “fiction” masking a very different reality? So let us examine the real facts of the matter.

She saunters into Segafredo with a subtle swing of her hips. Gucci sunglasses are perched on top of her freshly blown-out hair, and though they serve no functional purpose now that the sun has set, they complete her chic, designer outfit. Scanning the room with a flirtatiously raised and perfectly shaped brow, she finds her group of friends and heads over to start a round of air kisses before settling in to scan the room for action like a regal cat on her throne.