E.J. Dionne Jr., "Obama Hopes Israel Trip Amounts to a Fresh Start": Ignoring Women's Rights and Honor Killings in the Palestinian Authority

In a Washington Post opinion piece entitled "Obama hopes Israel trip amounts to a fresh start" (http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ej-dionne-obama-hopes-israel-trip-amounts-to-a-fresh-start/2013/03/20/327ca73e-918c-11e2-bdea-e32ad90da239_story.html?hpid=z3), E.J. Dionne Jr. writes:

"All of which brings us back to two states. The formula is tired, worn and frustrating. It is also inescapable. It’s the best solution for those who believe in a thriving, democratic Jewish state. It’s the best solution for those who believe in a thriving, democratic Palestinian state. And two thriving states offer the only long-term hope for peace."

Well, I believe in a two-state solution, but "a thriving, democratic Palestinian state" is not in the cards, owing to brutal discrimination against women throughout Gaza and the Palestinian Authority.

As reported by the Palestinian Ma'an News Agency in a December 2012 article entitled "Abbas aide: No plans to outlaw 'honor killing'" (http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=550792):

"President Mahmoud Abbas has no plans to amend laws that reduce sentences for suspects who claim an 'honor' defense for murdering women, his legal adviser says.

'Why change it? This would cause serious problems,' Hassan al-Ouri told Ma'an, adding that such a reform would 'not benefit women.'

In May 2011, the president pledged to amend the law to guarantee maximum penalties for 'honor killing' in response to protests over the killing of university student Aya Baradiya in Hebron.

The decision was announced in a phone call to a primetime show on state TV, drawing tears among crowds of mourners shown in a live link-up from the Ramallah studio to Baradiya’s hometown.

Abbas suspended Article 340, which offers a pardon for murder if the perpetrator committed the crime on finding his wife in bed with another man.

The reform was cosmetic: Article 340 had never been used in Palestinian courts since it was legislated in 1960.

'So why did we change the law? To garner public opinion,' al-Ouri said in an interview in the presidential compound in Ramallah.

'I, personally, was against the amendment because the crimes that happen in the street have no relevance to Article 340,' the legal adviser added.

Al-Ouri says the president will not change the go-to clauses for lawyers seeking leniency for clients who claim they committed murder to defend family 'honor.'

Articles 97 to 100 of the Jordanian Penal Code, in force in the West Bank, still offer reduced sentences for any act of battery or murder committed in a 'state of rage.'"

There can be no prosperity in Palestine so long as women continue to be oppressed by both Fatah and Hamas, and Dionne is blithely ignorant of the ugly realities in this corner of the world.

Do you think Obama will broach the issue of women's rights with Palestinian Authority President Abbas when they meet this week? Not a chance.

The welcome Obama should expect in the Palestinian Authority? As reported by The Jerusalem Post (http://www.jpost.com/International/Hundreds-in-Ramallah-protest-Obamas-planned-visit-307134):

"Hundreds of Palestinians gathered in the center of Ramallah on Wednesday to protest against US President Barack Obama’s planned visit to the city.

Palestinian activists vowed to step up their protests against Obama on Thursday and Friday.

The Palestinian Authority security forces plan to impose a curfew on large parts of Ramallah during Obama’s visit to the city. On the instruction of the PA leadership, schools will be closed in the city on Thursday and many streets blocked.

The protest was organized by the radical Islamist group Hizb ut Tahrir, which seeks the establishment of an Islamic caliphate.

. . . .

Declaring Obama persona non grata, the demonstrators in Ramallah chanted: 'O malicious Obama, defender of the state of the Jews,' 'We hereby declare, America is the mother of terror,' 'This nation shall not be humiliated or succumb to the Americans' and 'O Obama go back, Palestine is not for sale.'"

I fear for Obama's safety in both the Palestinian Authority and Jordan and pray that adequate precautions are being taken to protect the president.

Meanwhile, in a less than subtle message to Obama on the second day of his visit to Israel, four rockets were fired this morning at southern Israel from Gaza.

You Just Won't Believe What Obama Is Subsidizing in Egypt

I hope you didn't eat your breakfast yet.

The US currently provides Egypt, which is now controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood, with $1.5 billion in aid each year. What is this aid supporting? See what the Muslim Brotherhood says in its own words in its official English website (http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=30731):

"The 57th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), taking place from March 4 to 15 at UN headquarters, seeks to ratify a declaration euphemistically entitled ‘End Violence against Women’.

That title, however, is misleading and deceptive. The document includes articles that contradict established principles of Islam, undermine Islamic ethics and destroy the family, the basic building block of society, according to the Egyptian Constitution.

This declaration, if ratified, would lead to complete disintegration of society, and would certainly be the final step in the intellectual and cultural invasion of Muslim countries, eliminating the moral specificity that helps preserve cohesion of Islamic societies.

A closer look at these articles reveals what decadence awaits our world, if we sign this document:

1. Granting girls full sexual freedom, as well as the freedom to decide their own gender and the gender of their partners (ie, choose to have normal or homo-sexual relationships), while raising the age of marriage.

2. Providing contraceptives for adolescent girls and training them to use those, while legalizing abortion to get rid of unwanted pregnancies, in the name of sexual and reproductive rights.

3. Granting equal rights to adulterous wives and illegitimate sons resulting from adulterous relationships.

4. Granting equal rights to homosexuals, and providing protection and respect for prostitutes.

5. Giving wives full rights to file legal complaints against husbands accusing them of rape or sexual harassment, obliging competent authorities to deal husbands punishments similar to those prescribed for raping or sexually harassing a stranger.

6. Equal inheritance (between men and women).

7. Replacing guardianship with partnership, and full sharing of roles within the family between men and women such as: spending, child care and home chores.

8. Full equality in marriage legislation such as: allowing Muslim women to marry non-Muslim men, and abolition of polygamy, dowry, men taking charge of family spending, etc.

9. Removing the authority of divorce from husbands and placing it in the hands of judges, and sharing all property after divorce.

10. Cancelling the need for a husband’s consent in matters like: travel, work, or use of contraception.

These are destructive tools meant to undermine the family as an important institution; they would subvert the entire society, and drag it to pre-Islamic ignorance.

The Muslim Brotherhood urges the leaders of Muslim countries and their UN representatives to reject and condemn this document, and to call upon this organization to rise to the high morals and principles of family relations prescribed by Islam.

The Muslim Brotherhood also calls on Al-Azhar (the highest seat of learning for Muslims) to take the lead, condemn this declaration, and state clearly the Islamic viewpoint with regard to all details of this document.

Further, we urge all Islamic groups and associations to take a decisive stand on this document and similar declarations.

In conclusion, we call on women's organizations to commit to their religion and morals of their communities and the foundations of good social life and not be deceived with misleading calls to decadent modernization and paths of subversive immorality.

God Almighty says: "God wants to forgive you, but those who follow whims and desires want you to deviate far away from the Path). {Quran 4 : 27}

The Muslim Brotherhood

Cairo: March 13, 2013"

This is one of those rare instances where words escape me.

Maureen Dowd's "Their Dangerous Swagger": Her Dangerous Hypocrisy

In an op-ed in today's New York Times entitled "Their Dangerous Swagger" (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/09/opinion/09dowd.html), Maureen Dowd describes the disturbing sexist conduct of certain boys from a private school in the suburbs of Washington and concludes:

"Young men everywhere must be taught, beyond platitudes, that young women are not prey."

I wholeheartedly agree with Ms. Dowd, but as I noted in a comment that I submitted early this morning to the Times, if this is indeed the case:

"why was Ms. Dowd incapable of censuring 'honor' killings and the lashing and imprisonment of women who have been gang raped in Saudi Arabia during her recent visit to the kingdom?"

My comment has already been rejected by the Times "moderators".

Abusive? Not on point? I sent an e-mail to the Times editorial page editor, Andrew Rosenthal (this clearly falls within his responsibility - see Mr. Rosenthal's e-mail in my prior blog entry) and asked how can it be:

"that Times moderators are willing to tolerate what the public editors office says 'can be read as anti-Semitic', but are not willing to tolerate reasoned criticism?"

Let's see if there is a response.