Thursday, October 26, 2006

Searching for reason

Ok I gathered myself after being shocked for some hours after those terrible news of what had happed in Downtown Cairo last night for Mass Sexual harassments to the ladies and girls from all ages , whether veiled or non veiled ,even the ladies who wear Naqab didn't escape from their doom

I was shocked from what I read from eye witnesses' stories and I thank God on the Blog , yes Blogging changed a lot of things in the Egyptian Society at least on a small scale , but important one as I think most of the Egyptian bloggers from the different social classes represent a promising hope of new intellectuals who care much for their country and the proof on that is the Political Egyptian blogs are more than any other kind of blog in Egypt , in fact blogging now is associated directly in media whether locally or regionally as new means for opposition against the regime.Anyway back to the main topic , from this point I believe we as bloggers who succeeded in transferring the real image of Egypt with its beauty and ugliness to the outside world , we should discuss this incident and not let it go , speak about it frankly with no taboos

We got here serious social problem that is Sexual harassment in the streets

First we must discuss the Meaning of Sexual Harassment , its meaning in Wikipedia is the following :is harassment or unwelcome attention of a sexual nature. It includes a range of behavior from mild transgressions and annoyances to serious abuses which can even involve forced sexual activity, so we have here some parts of this acts must exist a harassment , a specific nature and wide range of behavior from annoyance to rape

Sexual harassment exists in every human society from the beginning of history yet it differs from a society to a society and here I mean what a society consider as a harassment another society may not consider as harassment , for example and it is simple one in Egypt whistling for a woman walking in the street is not consider sexual harassment but instead an admiration , yes in a rude way many don't accept it , but they don't consider it as harassment , annoyance based upon sexual nature. Here in Egypt I am afraid people don't understand Sexual harassment except that it is the act where a man pushes a woman to the nearest wall and explore her body against her well and that's of course is rape , but verbal sexual harassment on the phone or on the street is considered as rudeness ,only rudeness !! You know why because people tend to respect or react more with sexual physical abuse than psychological one , we don't give too much attention for it .

The society had these problems from a long time , for decades , but it had its own way to stop it when it crosses the limits , for example I always heard that boys who used to harassed ladies and girls in the streets used to caught by the police and sometimes in folk areas ,the people of the area used to arrest them by themselves and have their hair shaved to the skin , a skin head , it was some kind social punishment to those young men , who were only a minority .Also the ladies were different , in the past I believe they were much bolder that if a man just tried to come just one inch more that it is appropriate and say something unacceptable , he would hear what he didn't want to hear from insults but of course the Egyptian society from 15 years not from 50 years was completely different than now ,just like the whole world .

If I want to analyses the horrible acts of those groups of young men,why they act like hungry lions who see one dear away and thus all start running after it  , I must put in mind that are many factors I must mention and understand , of course I don't justify those acts but it is a try for understanding ,also I must put the changes in the society and its values in my mind

Yes many of them are unemployed , yes many of them want to marry but they can't afford, people in Egypt nowadays may reaches to their 40s and remain single , and of course the religious prohibition of sex relations outside the wedlock whether it is Islam or Christianity , so  with the temptations and this sexual revolution in the media especially from the song channels and new wave of songs which raise this sexual attention especially for young people and this is natural.Sexual Oppression is the result due to all those factors added to it poverty ,ignorance and the increase in violence nowadays , then you have a bomb that can explode any moment. already if you open the crimes page in any newspaper you will find that the crimes that can be classified with sexual harassment nature are exceeding more and more and they crossed a dangerous limit .Forget about thefts and robberies , they are expected in bad poor economy countries but sex crimes in a conservative society like the Egyptian one in this fearful rate !!??

May be we are not that conservative after all , may be we claim that we are conservative and we are not , we claim that we are very religious , yet we don't really act or understand our religion,morals,values and traditions very well . I feel that I see the picture so black

How we can fight this ??

Well return back to morals, having bad economy and living in poverty is not an excuse to act like this , for God Sake , in the middle ages when Salahdin went to liberate Jerusalem ,Egypt was starving ,so stop blaming everything on Poverty , ironically the Egyptians in low classes are known for their dignity and self esteem the "Ibn El-Balad" act , you know acting bravely like gentleman , I am afraid this is disappearing just many other great Egyptian values we used to read about and watch in black and white movies

Return again to my question , how can we fight this ?? is it by making marriage more easy ?? no more fancy expenses? well it is from Islamic traditions to help Muslims get married ,it is not the official expenses ,more the traditional expenses from social trends, but for God Sake , but who will help whom , we are not in Emirates

Returning back to religion ,well one thing for sure the chaotic scene in Religious role in Egypt has its part in this ethical crisis , people tend to claim their Muslims and they love Prophet Mohamed "PBUH" and they don't act according to the Quran nor the Prophet "PBUH" teachings , we tend more to care about the appearance not the essences .

I am so shocked ,ironically I spent the whole day searching in the Internet to find some incident like this,yet I couldn't ,I don't if this was the first time in modern history to have something like this, if you want to know that type of Harassment ,it is called "One of the gang" I believe it is closet thing I found in Wikipedia article

I don't know what happed , did they were taking drugs ?? but all of them were taking drugs !! a group thinking , there is no thinking at all , did they smell something ??

I don't know I am really shocked ,this is not Egypt , this is something , this is not my country ,please bring my country , please bring ethics back

14 comments:

  1. The funny thing is that the crowds that practice sexual Harassment in egypt as a daily life element aren't just summoned up of over excited , emotionally disturbed teenagers ...but amongest them there are many middle aged , grown up men . who are supposed to be ..you know ( a little less flairy )

    and that's what makes it unique cause we all look to sexual Harassment as a teenager's act .

    that's a point ... another point is that the tensity of anger and hatered among ordinary people ( whome i like to call neutral civilians )has been growing extremely fast through the last decade ...

    i've been to many Foreign countries myself .. and some of them were even poorer than egypt , but still i couldn't find that enormous stock of hatered and anger within their hearts .

    in any ( so called ) political conversation you keep on hearing words like ( our enemies ) and (the devilish conspiracy ) on and on and on till you get them leaking out of your ears in your way home ...

    the dominant concept that's been prospering in egypt is the concept of anger and hatered ..

    there are apsolutely No Acceptance to the other ( one that differs by any mean )..

    SO eventually i came up with this conclusion ... that these acts aren't ( at least entirely ) the bitter fruit of poverty and the economical status , but they're rather the fruit of anger ..

    by this harassments people kinda ( get back ) ... or ( get even ) ..

    they direct it towards anybody .. it doesn't matter ..

    and what can be prettier than having them both .. anger satisfaction along with some flirting ... it sounds like the impossible equation gets solved..

    so in it i see anger .. more than anything else .. at least anger is what triggers it ..

    aha .. one more thing ... these ethics you see in black and white movies ... i guess you can classify them as science fiction nowadays

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  2. Maybe this happened because Islam not only condones but promotes mysogyny: http://www.faithfreedom.org/challenge/misogynist.htm . You yourself are are helping to keep the Muslim world in the Dark Ages by calling yourself a 'girl' when you're a full-grown woman of 24. Have you no self-respect?

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  3. Well I am sorry anonymous but in my country virgins are called girls and I am a virgin , I promise when I get married and become a woman ,I will update my profile here
    about these big words and link attacking Islam and Prophet Mohammed and Mysogny please check your unbiased real sources
    with my all respect what Pre-Islam rights the women have in Arabia when they were inherited like carpets from sons to fathers
    when they were kidnapped from their homes and forced in to slavery
    when they had no right to refuse a husband , when the son married his step mom
    when women have no right to inheritance
    Please check the books of Karen Armstrong before speaking

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  4. Yeah you're right. There's nothing degrading or undignified about a 24-year-old referring to herself as a 'girl,' and your sexual status should certainly have any real-world bearing on your self-identification as an adult. A 'woman' is grown, self-respecting, and old enought vote. Whether or not one chooses to whore her life away to some Joe is irrelevant, and if anything reflects a lack of maturity in lieu of need for a false sense of security and someone to take care of her. Furthermore, Islam does, in fact, condone and promote mysogyny, via the obsolete (in the free world) practices of female genital mutilation, polygamy, the fact that husbands have the right to rape and beat their wives, that marriage is nothing more than institutionalized prostitution in Islam (and Christianity and Hinduism, in all fairness, but not so explicitly), the fact that women's inheritance rights are half of those of a man, that her testimony in court is half that of a man, that rape kits which convict rapists on DNA evidence are unavailable in Muslim countries (wonder why), and the fact that women are in many cases denied even identification cards with their own picture in lieu of that of one of maharam (Bahrain) because they are not considered to be human beings in their own right. But there's nothing intolerably mysogynist about Islam. That's just a sampler. I cited Sina because she backs her statements with scripture and covers all her bases. Had you read it, you would know that. Nevermind that Islam also condones pedophilia, which in the free world is not only a criminal offense, but a psychiatric disorder. And torture, and genocide, and the list goes on and on.

    Yes, the world was less civilized 1500 years ago. It's also more civilized than it was 200 years ago, when progressive nations stopped being theocracies. That's why some nations are stuck in the year 500 and sexual harassment is accepted or ignored, and some are happily living in 2008, where women are recognized as the full-fledged human beings that we are. So my question is, why does Islam have no concept of 'that was then, this is now?' Seriously. It's not a rhetorical question, and you seem to be intelligent and informed enough and to have enough perspective to be able to answer my question.

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  5. @anonymous , what brought the voting right to Islam ?? this is a political right
    FYI sir Islam does not call for female genital mutilation, FGM is not an Islamic practice , it is an African Practice , you check the Arab Islamic countries in Asia , they do not practice it in Asia ,this is just to clear this misconceptation , also for your information Islam gives the right to women to divorce herself
    Islam did not order the men to rape their wives or to beat them madly , even beating has conditions and limits
    I am sorry if you want to see a real suffering go to the Christian Orthodox church and see how women suffer to get a divorce even if her husband broke her skull
    about the DNA with my all respect the DNA is taken as evidence in Egypt according to religion to Islamic rules and I do not know about other countries
    do not please tell me in country x or country y because there is something called traditions and customes ,local ones that are more powerful than religion , do not you ever think about this ??
    who told you that our islamic societies forgive pedophilia and sexual harassments
    what you consider pedophilia from early marriages was accepted in all the world from 1000 years
    now most islamic world due to the change in time , there is another rule in Islam to make Muslims flexible in their traditions , I do not know about other countries but I know about my country

    with my all respect is the freedom of women in civilized societies in the west that live in 2008 to make them porn stars , guess what women also in 2008 in societies like Europe and America , women got beaten , got raped by their husbands ,partners and boyfriend
    do you even think that men are no different whether from the east to west

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  6. Islam does, in fact, condone and encourage wife-beating, and without any just cause, since men are to rule over and own their wives' bodies. http://www.faithfreedom.org/challenge/misogynist.htm Beating and violence more generally, among civilized people, has no conditions or limits. They are intolerable and punishable practices, as they violate the Golden Rule, which is the common thread among all world RELIGIONS in the entire history of time. That's why Islam is not a religion, but rather a cult. It has no concept of the Golden Rule or morality. http://www.faithfreedom.org/debates/YaminZakariaindex.htm It has narcissism and relative morality in its place. The Golden Rule is "stealing and killing are wrong because you would not wish them upon yourself, your sister, or your brother." Islam's version is "stealing and killing are commendable behaviors when committed against non-Muslims." Morality is "stealing and killing are wrong because they hurt people." Narcissism and relative morality, which Islam practices, are "stealing and killing are wrong, when committed against Muslims, because that's how Perv Mo did it." It eliminates the need for and possibility of independent thought and morality in lieu of cult-following practices (e.g., have sex this way, clean yourself this way, go to the bathroom this way, vote for this schmo, because that's what perv Mo would do, not because it is right or wrong or because morality even enters into the equation most of the time). http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina50218.htm

    Even the Koran demonstrates the pervert's divorce from reality into the criminal profile of a cult leader, as evidenced by the fact that, at some later point, he starts talking about Allah in the first-person. That's also characteristic of the progression of schizophrenia, his experience of which he describes in textbook detail (e.g., first lights and colors, then bells and whistles, then full-on audiovisual hallucinations, then God is talking directly to him through an angel). Classic, quintessential, textbook, archetypal story of the progression of schizophrenia. BTW, guess what the single most commonly referenced audiovisual hallucination is among not only schizophrenics, but also people suffering from the advanced stages of syphilitis dementia is? Yep, Gabriel, followed by clowns, the Virgin Mary, Jesus, Elvis, and Hitler, except in Asia, where the figures in the collective unconscious are totally different and people tend to hallucinate their own ancestors.


    Secondly, rape and pedophilia are also condoned and encouraged within Islam. http://www.faithfreedom.org/challenge/rapist.htm Every instance of "sex" in the Koran is rape. There is no actual sex which takes place between consenting adults. Not one single act ot actual sex, just violence against women and little girls. 12 year-olds are universally considered grown, sexual beings in the Muslim world, http://www.faithfreedom.org/debates/YaminZakariap15.htm which is disgusting and intolerable by free-world standards and has been for over 3000 years. Mullahs quite often practice pederasty, which has been an extinct practice in the free world for 3000 years http://www.faithfreedom.org/Gallery/16.htm.

    You are the one who stated (but certainly not the only one) that a blind eye is turned to sexual harassment in your own country. Certainly it takes place elsewhere, but the difference is that men are thrown in jail for it (e.g., the Puerto Rican Day Parade in NYC a few years ago: the harassers were caught on camera, prosecuted, and jailed for their despicable actions) because treating women disrespectfully is an intolerable, punishable offense, because we're PEOPLE like that. I agree that it is sad that women choose to exploit their bodies and do porn, but that is their right and I respect the fact they have the freedom to do so. Certainly it would be preferable that they use their minds in order to make profit (and they will realize that once their looks start to fade no doubt), but I disagree that women should be ashamed of and hide their bodies. http://www.news.faithfreedom.org/gallery2/v/ffi_gallery/hijab/ That is infinitely more shameful than nudity. Furthermore, the Muslim concept of "modesty" is completely inequal between the sexes. Anytime 2 groups of people are held to different standards or believed to be structurally or genetically different, or are even just treated differently, that is HATE. It is rooted in fear and based on insecurity. Had you read the link I gave you you would realize that male Muslim fear and insecurity is an unfortunate byproduct of mysogyny and leads to the majority of the ills in the Muslim world, even the economic ones (which are certainly the easiest to measure and quantify) http://www.faithfreedom.org/challenge/misogynist.htm .

    I would never defend Christianity because it is also separatist and hateful, but where there is inequity in Christianity, it is always overridden by the Golden Rule. But don't use Christians in your country as an example of Christians worldwide, because they are in absolutely no way represenative (e.g., NO other Christians would ever, ever consider mutilating a little girl, NOwhere else, NEVER). You ARE right that FGM is a cultural and not an Islamic practice, but it IS only practiced in Muslim coutries because nobody else would ever, ever tolerate that sort of violence against women and little girls. Even in Senegal, where it is rare, it is only the Muslims who do that. Yes, women get raped and beaten by their husbands in the free world, but the difference is that those men get thrown in jail and lose all custody rights to their children, because they are intolerable practices. In the Muslim world, rape and wife-beating are accepted and condoned, with "conditions and limits." Finally, a woman in the free world is far more likely to get raped and beaten by some random Muslim guy than by her own husband: http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/Fjordman51213.htm.

    I regret having asked you a serious question, because clearly you are incapable of independent thought, common sense, morality, or even comprehending universal standards of decency and righteousness. It's just really, really sad that you have been intellectually victimized to that extent and you can't even see it, because it completely undermines your obvious intelligence. Please feel free to email me if you would like to discuss this personally: jdamn13@yahoo.com. I only use the screen name 'anonymous' because your blog software gives me the option of doing that or using my gmail account, which I never check anymore.

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  7. @J anonymous , I am sorry but you are using biased lying website full of hate ,disrespect and incorrect information , you are biased ,you came here with disrespect to my religion and you are giving me lectures with an idea you are formed

    again my dear sir why the hell the Islamic countries in Asia and they are more than in Africa do not practice the FMG including the Wahabi Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran !!??
    This is a social practice in the African countries , Ethopia also practice it
    Second I am free just like you to mention other religions to make my poin to view clear
    third do you know how to read Arabic and understand it , because I read the Holy Quran several times and I stopped at the sex in the Holy Quran and I did not find a description of rape
    I know Arabic and I have a mind to understand the meanings and metaphors
    http://www.hebakotb.net/
    please check website for a Muslim woman and if you got questions for her about Sex in Islam do not be shy
    do not be sorry for me , be sorry for being a victim for a hateful lying website

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  8. Ali Sina does not lie. He is a reformed Iranian Muslim who never makes a single statement without citing scripture, multiple sources whenever possible, and he is quite familiar with it. I too have read the Koran (and I found it infinitely more disturbing than Mein Kampf, yet similar in many ways) and there is not one single instance of sex between consenting adults. If it doesn't take place between consenting adults, it rape, pure and simple. That's what rape is, that's how it works, and Islam has no conception (within its scripture, although I would not extend that to all Muslims certainly) of consentual sex between adults, which is the the ONLY kind of sex that isn't rape, not that rape is sex anyway. It's violence, and that Islamic scripture confuses the two (hence the lack of a description of rape in the Koran, since there's apparently no such thing as rape in Islam, and what the Koran calls sex IS rape without exception) is just one example of the twisted way in which Islam contorts "morality." FGM aside (and I know that Egypt has made great strides towards eliminating it in recent years, which is fantastic), Christianity within the Muslim world simply isn't in any way representative of Christianity generally. But I'm not defending Christianity except to say that it is a legitimate religion based upon the Golden Rule, which, no argument from you, is absent from Islam, and therefore precludes it being an actual religion. It's a cult. This link is a debate between Ali Sina and Yamin Zakaria in which Zakaria attempts to defend Islam as a religion and fails. It is not one-sided, it is unmoderated, no text is edited or left out from either side, and it is quite indicative of the type of circular logic upon which Islam is based (e.g., the Koran says that women are intellectually and religiously deficient without any explanation, and then uses that proclamation to justify their mistreatment, etc. And don't tell me that menstruation is an explanation. The fact that the Koran says it is so and then uses that as justification is yet another perfect example of circular logic): http://www.faithfreedom.org/debates/YaminZakariaindex . Karen Armstrong has no concept of what is acceptable or moral in the modern world, but I will admit that she has a knack for comparative theology. She fails, however, to take into account the common thread between all true religions (the Golden Rule), which would rule out Islam as a true religion, and has an unerrig tendency to overlook immorality, amorality, and sheer evil in scripture. She also fails to take into account the fact that some scripture is purported to be fact (like the Koran), and that some is not intended to be anything other than parable (the Old Testament), hence her complete distortion of truth, logic, perspective, and acceptability.

    And the hijab IS degrading. The message it sends is that women are nothing but 100% vagina, not people, and that they should be ashamed of themselves for existing. It's a metaphorical way of forcing a woman to crawl around on all fours, with a leash around her neck and a ball gag in her mouth, and the name of the Joe she whored/was forced to whore her life away to/her maharam branded on her forehead. That's why France banned it, because nobidy should ever be subjected to it, and nobody should ever have to see someone being psychologically tortured like that.

    Given the option, and I am not saying this flippantly, I would rather die in a Nazi concentration camp than live as a "free" woman in the Muslim world. At least in a concentration camp, one knows freedom before being rounded up and shipped off to hell. AT least in a concentration camp, one has hope of either liberation or imminent death. Muslim women live without hope or freedom. At least in a concentration camp, one is penned-in with friends, rather than forced to be alone all day. Otherwise, they are equivalent. In a concentration camp, one is branded; in the Muslim world, women are mutilated. In a concentration camp, one is shipped off to hell; in the Muslim world, women are born in and die in hell, and are forced to either whore their lives away or be captive to their maharam. In a concentration camp, one's head is shaved; in the Muslim world, women are forced to wear the Medieval slave rag on their heads (in 120 degree weather, no less!). And personally, I would rather be starved and worked to death and die early than live a long life of being raped, beaten, and generally mistreated and disrespected. Hitler treated the Jews with more respect than Muslim men treat their women. Period. And you can't even see that. Again, sad.

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  9. Furthermore, while I think it's wonderful that Egyptians are in some ways acting like it's 500 years ago and not 1500 years ago and openly discussing sex, a huge improvement, Heka Kotb's work is a lost cause. First, I write her off outright as a hateful homophobe who has no conception of sex outside of institutionalized prostitution (marriage). Secondly, while education is very important, it doesn't stand to actually improve the level of sexual dissatisfaction among Egyptians. Egyptians are sexually dissatisfied because they don't talk about sex, as that is stigmatized, particularly for women. In my experience as a woman (despite the fact that you keep calling me 'sir,' which I excuse, since I do actually have a traditionally male first name and am used to that in textual environments), women are sexually idiosyncratic, moreso than men, and men will never know how to please us unless we tell them explicitly. Second, Islam has a violent conception of sex, which does not help the situation, although I'm sure that many Muslims have a healthier sexual attitude that what is proscribed for them, but it is still limited and believed to be shameful, and that's sad and unhealthy. Third, female sexual pleasure is completely absent from Islam and Muslim culture generally, hence the fact that Arab men never practice cunnilingus. Is there even an Arabic word for that? In the free world, if a man didn't practice cunnilingus frequently and comptetently, no self-respecting woman would stay with him, and could actually have a marriage annulled on the basis of fraud, since he purported himself to be a real man, and real men make women happy in bed. Fourth, unless the entire Internet is wrong, impotence is epidemic among Egyptians. Fifth, 97% of all Egyptian women of reproductive age are genitally mutilated, which absolutely precludes sexual satisfaction outright. Sixth, we all know how anatomically inadequate Arab men are, dear. I can say with some experience that the general conception that Arab men are very, very, very tiny is true to a much more extreme degree than most people even realize. In my experience, full-grown Arab men are smaller hard than any white, black, or Latin baby soft that I've ever seen. No wonder they're so insecure. Good luck wasting your life, Heka.

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  10. It`s interesting to hear what muslim-youths are thinking/saying from a westerns point-of-view...

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  11. A long time since this blog was written but I think you should revive this topic as it is now vitally important in Egypt. I am from the uk and married an Egyptian man 7 months ago. I must be really lucky as he is so open minded and willing to improve himself in every way. The problem with sex education in Egypt is terrible, I have discussed this at length with my husband who had none at all and is not afraid to admit it. Good for me too that he is eager to learn, to explore his sexuality and we have a lot of fun. We watch porn together, try new techniques and all the things a couple would normally do in more western countries. It is sad that Egyptian women have so much pressure on them to stay chaste and the men only make themselves unhappy over this in the end. Sexual techniques require practice like learning to play a piano. You cannot go from not knowingbanything to being an expert overnight. Egyptian should stop looking to the Koran for guidance, it just doesn't work does it? And start reading up on how to make a woman orgasm. Also let girls go out with boys, contraception is available so why not?

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  12. @Anonymous 05:58:00 AM "explore his sexuality... a lot of fun... watch porn together... try new techniques" Too much information, but thanks.

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  13. al Jason watch7/23/2011 03:23:00 AM

    that's good, Jason can get tips and new techniques to spend intimate quality time with his bum buddy AlNashcie.

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