Never Stop Asking

Yesterday in my class on the Arab Spring, my professor brought up the fact that most of the leaders in the protests and revolutions we’ve studied are women. Of course there are many important male figures in the movements, but it is important to recognize these women in a region that historically has not had the best track record in terms of women’s rights. Asmaa Mahfouz, a twenty-six-year-old Egyptian, inspired thousands to protest in Tahrir Square with this video blog. Tawakkul Karman camped for months in peaceful protest against Saleh’s regime in Yemen. Manal al-Sharif has been arrested multiple times for driving her car in Saudi Arabia. Across the Middle East, these women and thousands of others are making their voices heard and for once people are listening. However, there are also forces working to stifle women yet again.

In Egypt, the military council, which is in charge of forming the new government, has included even fewer women in the interim government than Mubarak did. There is not a single woman on the committee in charge of revising the constitution. Before the revolution, there were 4 women in the cabinet. Today, there is only one. People are already making comparisons between Egypt and Iraq, where supposedly liberal regime change led to a decrease in women’s rights.

There is still hope, however. There is one woman, Bothaina Kamel, running for president in Egypt, and even the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood accept the possibility that a woman can become president. More changes are also taking place elsewhere. In the international arena, Tawakkul Karman is one of three female recipients of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize for her work in Yemen. On September 25 in Saudi Arabia, women earned the right to vote.

It is easy for Western women, who at least do not face much institutionalized discrimination based on gender, to forget that so many of our sisters are still fighting in other parts of the world. This video, released on International Women’s Day at the beginning of this year, reminded me that we did not get where we are today without a struggle, and that struggle still continues even in the United States. The women leaders of the Arab Spring are a symbol of hope not only for Arab women, but for all of us.

Most of the facts in this post came from this article: http://www.economist.com/node/21532256#footnote1

Tunisia's Elections

Tunisia has held its first elections since former President Ben Ali fled the country on January 14th, 2011. Tunisia has been the leader and set an example for all other states affected by the Arab Spring by being the first to oust their autocratic leader and now the first to hold elections. This article from BBC News reports on the elections, which were fair and peaceful, and preliminary results.

Although official results will not be released until tomorrow, the Ennahdha party is claiming victory and their closest rival, the PDP party, have acknowledged them. Ennahdha, a moderate Islamist group with connections to Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, was founded during President Bourguiba's rule but banned from political activity under Ben Ali. Ben Ali's regime was extremely secular (to the point of preventing women from wearing the headscarf and arresting people who prayed too often), and often falsely accused Ennahdha for acts of violence and terrorism. In reality, Ennahdha is fairly moderate, advocating for an altered system of Sharia law which protects human rights (including women's rights), permits all political parties to participate in government (including parties representing other religions), and reflects the desires of the people.

Whatever your feelings toward Islamism, Ennahdha is the most established and well-organized political party in Tunisia (over 100 participated in the election) and therefore offers some stability for the new government. The BBC article predicts Ennahdha will win the biggest share of votes but will still fall short of a majority in the assembly, which will have 217 seats. The assembly will draft a constitution and appoint a new president, who will approve the new government.

There are many reasons for optimism here, but there are also many questions to ask. As the article points out, although over 90% of the 4.1 million registered voters voted, 3.1 million people who were eligible to vote never registered. Why not? Also, if Ennahdha wins the biggest share of votes but not the majority, what implications does that have for the assembly and its duties? Will Ennahdha have to compromise, and if so will they be willing to?