So, I am waiting on my new passport and contemplating heading East in a few months.
I was worried about the processing backlog, but I called this morning and was told my renewal application was moving along well. The man on the phone was actually very nice (even wished me a happy day before my birthday), but I suppose I'll believe him when the passport is in my hand, hopefully soon. In my procrastinating glory I waited until the beginning of July to apply for my renewal.
The U.S. government changed the old rules for travel, which permitted travel by land, air, and sea to Mexico, the Caribbean, and Canada and subsequent re-entry to the U.S. with only valid photo i.d. or a birth certificate. Unfortunately, they didn't bother to adequately set up the infrastructure to process all these new applications, leading to waits of up to three months. My, I feel safer already. And, human nature here being what it is, Americans are shocked to find out about all this after a year of notices in the media and from travel professionals. When I turned in my materials, the woman behind the counter had all sorts of horror and humor stories such as people applying a week before their date of departure under the assumption they'd get their passport overnight. It says a lot, to me, about this country that only about %25 of Americans hold valid passports.
I am looking into CELTA certification programs in Istanbul, Beirut, Cairo, Oman, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and Morocco. There are several that begin in October. I would love to make use of my Arabic, but also wouldn't mind building up my Turkish. If anyone has any feedback (positive or negative) on the programs, please let me know. Other than Istanbul and Beirut, the courses are all through the British Council. Or, if you would like to sell me on a particular city, offer to pick me up at your airport, or buy me a beverage, feel free to speak up as well.
Salaam.
30 July, 2007
28 July, 2007
Tributes
I often read a news article without noticing the byline or the names of those who contributed to the reporting. It's the nature of journalism, I suppose, impartiality, anonymity.
However, I noticed the names on this article from today's New York Times. Khalid W. Hassan was killed July 13. This article, about something as simple and yet complex as ice, is a tribute to his work.
Also, I was fortunate to see the photo exhibit Unembedded this week before it ended its run in Atlanta. The exhibit is headed to New York City through October. The works of photographers Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, Kael Alford, Rita Leistner, and Thorne Anderson are not to be missed. If you can see the exhibit in person, be sure to look at the images on the web site. For those of you in the U.S., this is what you aren't seeing on the news. Some of the images may be difficult, but this is reality for millions of people and those stories need to be told.
Salaam.
However, I noticed the names on this article from today's New York Times. Khalid W. Hassan was killed July 13. This article, about something as simple and yet complex as ice, is a tribute to his work.
Also, I was fortunate to see the photo exhibit Unembedded this week before it ended its run in Atlanta. The exhibit is headed to New York City through October. The works of photographers Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, Kael Alford, Rita Leistner, and Thorne Anderson are not to be missed. If you can see the exhibit in person, be sure to look at the images on the web site. For those of you in the U.S., this is what you aren't seeing on the news. Some of the images may be difficult, but this is reality for millions of people and those stories need to be told.
Salaam.
Wrenches in the gears of life
I received an email from someone noting I hadn't written anything in a while. Here is why and some rumination on it. I've been helping the friends I am staying with deal with some things, which has left us all with a serious lack of clarity. My friend was forced to move her mother into an assisted living facility due to her steepening decline from dementia. Between moving her out of the apartment and into her new room, my friend had to move her mother into her home because her mother had taken to wandering at night. In the midst of all that my friend's husband contracted a staph infection in one leg and was hospitalized for a week while I took care of her mother at home. I now have an intense respect for those who care for the elderly. I might add, and my friend would tell you herself, that her mother is not the sweetest woman in the world, to put it mildly. Suffice to say our collective karma is squeaky clean thanks to her and these last few weeks. The husband is on the mend and doing well-ish and her mother is getting acclimated to her new surroundings, obsessing and complaining about a lot of it.
A few things to note from all this...The Boomers growing older, living longer, and with "golden years" vastly different than their parents' generation. Meanwhile, Americans are saving less, faced with rising housing, food prices and gas prices (in a car-dependent country), the numerous difficulties with the health care system, etc. When you spend a majority of your paycheck on the rent, when the cost of a higher education pushes it out of some families' reach, when you have to move because you can't afford to fill your gas tank to drive to work, how do you pay to take care of mom and dad when they can no longer take care of themselves? My friend and her mother are lucky. Several years ago, in a fit of good sense, her mother bought a long term care insurance policy. If she had not, her daughter tells me, her late husband's pension and her Social Security check would not be enough to afford the facility she moved into this week; it is specifically designed for dementia care and is split between four wings to allow the residents to progress through the stages until such a times as they need invasive nursing care. Her room, including meals, management of her medications, activities, and housekeeping will cost about $4000 a month. My friend looked at several facilities, some less expensive. She noted that one $1000 a month facility smelled terrible and that even one $2000 a month facility was simply not acceptable to her. There were some within each price range that were more than adequate in general, but this was the best for her mother. However, what about those without insurance, pensions, or adequate Social Security income? What about somebody just scraping by? I can only guess they take their parent home and hope for the best; hope they can manage the growing list of meds and dosages; hope they can figure out how to keep their mother or father safe and at home while they are at work; hope that their energies and sanity hold out.
A tip to those of you pursuing a law degree: elder care will be the next hot area of law that needs to be filled. My friend was referred to a lawyer who specializes in elderly issues. She has more business than she can handle. She helps families negotiate things like Veterans' Administration benefits. Speaking of the VA, they are hardly forthcoming with those benefits. My friend was lucky that the manager of the dementia care facility asked if her mother or her mother's spouse was a veteran. Turns out there is a sizable benefit for veterans and their spouses who can no longer care for themselves to pay for in-home care or assisted living. However, after months of searching for just such a benefit online, my friend hadn't come up with a thing. In addition to not being forthcoming with the existence of the benefit, everyone she has spoken to has warned her the tons of paperwork involved are ridiculously complicated. Again, luckily she can spend the $300 to hire legal help. And again, what about those who can't?
Much like the $1000 anti-biotic my friend's husband was prescribed, the world shouldn't work this way. If this is the most powerful country in the world, what does it say that we can't find a way to adequately care for our elders across the board. There are tangential issues here, sure. We are removed and, in my opinion, phobic about the aging process and death in this society. Living in Morocco, with families where three generations in a home is still common, the process of life, beautiful and ugly, is immediate and real. There is a tangible segregation of the elderly here and a generally accepted lack of respect. Instead of being seen as experienced, knowledgeable, and someone worthy of respect, and elderly person is likely to be seen as slow, dull, a dinosaur lurching toward the grave. Perhaps this will change with my mother's generation, perhaps not.
So what's to be done? Much like with the issue of child care, elder care will require changes to the broader society and issues directly related to the issue. More transparency on issues related to benefits and how to apply for them and flexible work schedules for those caring for elderly parents. The solutions will only be found when we deepen the conversation, but with about 78 million Baby Boomers set to change the face of this country as they age, we have to start now.
I remember asking people in Damascus about the then newly-opened retirement home in Mezze, the first of its kind there.
"It's for people who do not have families," I was told.
Salaam.
A few things to note from all this...The Boomers growing older, living longer, and with "golden years" vastly different than their parents' generation. Meanwhile, Americans are saving less, faced with rising housing, food prices and gas prices (in a car-dependent country), the numerous difficulties with the health care system, etc. When you spend a majority of your paycheck on the rent, when the cost of a higher education pushes it out of some families' reach, when you have to move because you can't afford to fill your gas tank to drive to work, how do you pay to take care of mom and dad when they can no longer take care of themselves? My friend and her mother are lucky. Several years ago, in a fit of good sense, her mother bought a long term care insurance policy. If she had not, her daughter tells me, her late husband's pension and her Social Security check would not be enough to afford the facility she moved into this week; it is specifically designed for dementia care and is split between four wings to allow the residents to progress through the stages until such a times as they need invasive nursing care. Her room, including meals, management of her medications, activities, and housekeeping will cost about $4000 a month. My friend looked at several facilities, some less expensive. She noted that one $1000 a month facility smelled terrible and that even one $2000 a month facility was simply not acceptable to her. There were some within each price range that were more than adequate in general, but this was the best for her mother. However, what about those without insurance, pensions, or adequate Social Security income? What about somebody just scraping by? I can only guess they take their parent home and hope for the best; hope they can manage the growing list of meds and dosages; hope they can figure out how to keep their mother or father safe and at home while they are at work; hope that their energies and sanity hold out.
A tip to those of you pursuing a law degree: elder care will be the next hot area of law that needs to be filled. My friend was referred to a lawyer who specializes in elderly issues. She has more business than she can handle. She helps families negotiate things like Veterans' Administration benefits. Speaking of the VA, they are hardly forthcoming with those benefits. My friend was lucky that the manager of the dementia care facility asked if her mother or her mother's spouse was a veteran. Turns out there is a sizable benefit for veterans and their spouses who can no longer care for themselves to pay for in-home care or assisted living. However, after months of searching for just such a benefit online, my friend hadn't come up with a thing. In addition to not being forthcoming with the existence of the benefit, everyone she has spoken to has warned her the tons of paperwork involved are ridiculously complicated. Again, luckily she can spend the $300 to hire legal help. And again, what about those who can't?
Much like the $1000 anti-biotic my friend's husband was prescribed, the world shouldn't work this way. If this is the most powerful country in the world, what does it say that we can't find a way to adequately care for our elders across the board. There are tangential issues here, sure. We are removed and, in my opinion, phobic about the aging process and death in this society. Living in Morocco, with families where three generations in a home is still common, the process of life, beautiful and ugly, is immediate and real. There is a tangible segregation of the elderly here and a generally accepted lack of respect. Instead of being seen as experienced, knowledgeable, and someone worthy of respect, and elderly person is likely to be seen as slow, dull, a dinosaur lurching toward the grave. Perhaps this will change with my mother's generation, perhaps not.
So what's to be done? Much like with the issue of child care, elder care will require changes to the broader society and issues directly related to the issue. More transparency on issues related to benefits and how to apply for them and flexible work schedules for those caring for elderly parents. The solutions will only be found when we deepen the conversation, but with about 78 million Baby Boomers set to change the face of this country as they age, we have to start now.
I remember asking people in Damascus about the then newly-opened retirement home in Mezze, the first of its kind there.
"It's for people who do not have families," I was told.
Salaam.
10 July, 2007
Disrespect
20 year-old Aniisa Karim, a Muslim woman, was denied entry into a municipal courtroom in Valdosta, Georgia earlier this month because she was wearing a headscarf.
According to the the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), contacted by Karim following the incident, "The lifelong Muslim is African-American, born and raised in Baltimore. A disc jockey for WAAC-FM Country Music Radio in Valdosta, Karim is about as apple-pie American as it gets."
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) also released a statement criticizing Valdosta court officials regarding the matter. The ADL statement reminded readers that such cases are not Muslim-specific, but rather a matter that relates to several faiths.
For those of you dealing in stereotypes: Ms. Karim is NOT Arab (85% of Muslims are NOT Arab (ADC) and not all Arabs are Muslim), she IS American (none of this 'go back to your own country' garbage), she's works (gasp!) in the music business (not everybody thinks music is evil) at a Valdosta Hip-Hop radio station.
Then there's the issue of why she was denied entry. According to the Valdosta Daily Times "Karim said one of the officers told her that the denial of entry to the courtroom was due to “homeland security reasons” and that allowing her to enter would show “disrespect” to the judge..."
Let's deal with the "security" issue first. While there are several different styles of hijab, it's not really an easy place to conceal a dangerous weapon. I actually had a farcical discussion about this with a friend who does wear hijab once. She joked that the only thing dangerous that would fit in her headscarf was her "devastatingly beautiful hair", said while miming a Pantene shake-out of her hair. While I suppose anything is possible, Ms. Karim did offer to subject her head and the rest of herself to additional security screening short of removing her head scarf and otherwise proved no threat to court officers. Was she acting inappropriately, erratically, suspiciously? No, she simply wore her hijab, which unfortunately is equated by many with the previously mentioned behaviors. She even asked court officers and a court clerk if she had any options available to her that would allow her to retain her headscarf while attending to her legal matter at the court.
As for her headscarf "disrespecting" the presiding judge, I cannot figure out how a piece of fabric worn on the head is capable of disrespecting a person. That's impressive for a piece of cloth. Would the judge be similarly disrespected by non-Muslim head wraps? A bandanna?
The Valdosta Daily Times nailed the issue in one line of a recent editorial on the issues of freedom: "Too often, these days, we are willing to trade a great deal of freedom for an uncertain level of security.Disrespect is a key word here. Barring the Muslim woman’s admittance to court because of a tenet of her religion disrespects her as an individual and her faith. It disrespects the courage of the Founding Fathers. It disrespects the sacrifices of generations of Americans both in the United States and across the world."
Indeed disrespect if the key word here. Hijab is not one of the five pillars of Islam and is, in fact, a subject of dispute with some Muslims as to whether it is required and how it should be interpreted. Not all Muslim women wear hijab. Nor are those who do meek victims. Some, admittedly not all, make the choice to wear hijab on their very own. I know professors, poets, lawyers, journalists, police officers, athletes, etc. who lead full lives with covered heads. The Founding Fathers of this nation understood the need to protect religious freedoms for all faiths, descended as they were from the bloody religious conflicts of Europe. Thanks to U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, we know Thomas Jefferson owned and read a copy of the Quran. That the image and understanding of these broadminded, yet often contradictory, men have been warped into that of narrow-minded, Christian-only zealots bent on shoring up divisive agendas disrespects them and what they believed in and fought for. As for the generations of Americans who fought wars to protect the rights and freedoms this country was founded on, any infringement of those rights and freedoms disrespects them and their sacrifices.As of July 7 neither city officials nor the nearly "disrespected" judge are talking. A Laurens County, Georgia judge issued a formal apology and amended their policy last year after a Sikh was denied entry into the courthouse due to a "no hats" policy. In the press release detailing the resolution of that case, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund President Mirin Kaur noted the importance of challenging such incidents, “The changing of the court policy will not only affect Sikh Americans but also Muslim men with skullcaps, Muslim women wearing hijab, Jewish men with yarmulkes, Christian women with religious head coverings, and all other people who wear mandatory religious attire.”
It is a remarkable privilege that we are permitted to practice or not practice a faith in this country and that this freedom is protected in our Constitution. We need to remember that all faiths are protected in this country, whether you believe in them, agree with them, or not, and that those who practice those faiths have certain forms of expression guaranteed them by law and accepted understanding of basic human rights.
People, Muslim and Non-Muslim alike, need to understand once and for all that Muslim women are far more than what they do or do not wear on their heads. For that matter, so too are Sikh men, Jewish and Christian women who cover, Jewish men wearing the yamulke, or anyone whose religious beliefs include similar outward expressions, more than what they wear. Take people for who they are, not what they wear.
Salaam.
According to the the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), contacted by Karim following the incident, "The lifelong Muslim is African-American, born and raised in Baltimore. A disc jockey for WAAC-FM Country Music Radio in Valdosta, Karim is about as apple-pie American as it gets."
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) also released a statement criticizing Valdosta court officials regarding the matter. The ADL statement reminded readers that such cases are not Muslim-specific, but rather a matter that relates to several faiths.
For those of you dealing in stereotypes: Ms. Karim is NOT Arab (85% of Muslims are NOT Arab (ADC) and not all Arabs are Muslim), she IS American (none of this 'go back to your own country' garbage), she's works (gasp!) in the music business (not everybody thinks music is evil) at a Valdosta Hip-Hop radio station.
Then there's the issue of why she was denied entry. According to the Valdosta Daily Times "Karim said one of the officers told her that the denial of entry to the courtroom was due to “homeland security reasons” and that allowing her to enter would show “disrespect” to the judge..."
Let's deal with the "security" issue first. While there are several different styles of hijab, it's not really an easy place to conceal a dangerous weapon. I actually had a farcical discussion about this with a friend who does wear hijab once. She joked that the only thing dangerous that would fit in her headscarf was her "devastatingly beautiful hair", said while miming a Pantene shake-out of her hair. While I suppose anything is possible, Ms. Karim did offer to subject her head and the rest of herself to additional security screening short of removing her head scarf and otherwise proved no threat to court officers. Was she acting inappropriately, erratically, suspiciously? No, she simply wore her hijab, which unfortunately is equated by many with the previously mentioned behaviors. She even asked court officers and a court clerk if she had any options available to her that would allow her to retain her headscarf while attending to her legal matter at the court.
As for her headscarf "disrespecting" the presiding judge, I cannot figure out how a piece of fabric worn on the head is capable of disrespecting a person. That's impressive for a piece of cloth. Would the judge be similarly disrespected by non-Muslim head wraps? A bandanna?
The Valdosta Daily Times nailed the issue in one line of a recent editorial on the issues of freedom: "Too often, these days, we are willing to trade a great deal of freedom for an uncertain level of security.Disrespect is a key word here. Barring the Muslim woman’s admittance to court because of a tenet of her religion disrespects her as an individual and her faith. It disrespects the courage of the Founding Fathers. It disrespects the sacrifices of generations of Americans both in the United States and across the world."
Indeed disrespect if the key word here. Hijab is not one of the five pillars of Islam and is, in fact, a subject of dispute with some Muslims as to whether it is required and how it should be interpreted. Not all Muslim women wear hijab. Nor are those who do meek victims. Some, admittedly not all, make the choice to wear hijab on their very own. I know professors, poets, lawyers, journalists, police officers, athletes, etc. who lead full lives with covered heads. The Founding Fathers of this nation understood the need to protect religious freedoms for all faiths, descended as they were from the bloody religious conflicts of Europe. Thanks to U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, we know Thomas Jefferson owned and read a copy of the Quran. That the image and understanding of these broadminded, yet often contradictory, men have been warped into that of narrow-minded, Christian-only zealots bent on shoring up divisive agendas disrespects them and what they believed in and fought for. As for the generations of Americans who fought wars to protect the rights and freedoms this country was founded on, any infringement of those rights and freedoms disrespects them and their sacrifices.As of July 7 neither city officials nor the nearly "disrespected" judge are talking. A Laurens County, Georgia judge issued a formal apology and amended their policy last year after a Sikh was denied entry into the courthouse due to a "no hats" policy. In the press release detailing the resolution of that case, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund President Mirin Kaur noted the importance of challenging such incidents, “The changing of the court policy will not only affect Sikh Americans but also Muslim men with skullcaps, Muslim women wearing hijab, Jewish men with yarmulkes, Christian women with religious head coverings, and all other people who wear mandatory religious attire.”
It is a remarkable privilege that we are permitted to practice or not practice a faith in this country and that this freedom is protected in our Constitution. We need to remember that all faiths are protected in this country, whether you believe in them, agree with them, or not, and that those who practice those faiths have certain forms of expression guaranteed them by law and accepted understanding of basic human rights.
People, Muslim and Non-Muslim alike, need to understand once and for all that Muslim women are far more than what they do or do not wear on their heads. For that matter, so too are Sikh men, Jewish and Christian women who cover, Jewish men wearing the yamulke, or anyone whose religious beliefs include similar outward expressions, more than what they wear. Take people for who they are, not what they wear.
Salaam.
08 July, 2007
Have a Little Faith In Us
The woman seated across from me on MARTA stared at my t-shirt and squinted as she re-read the words. It was late, she looked tired, and it wasn’t the first stare my shirt had garnered that day.
This is what a Radical Muslim Feminist Looks Like.
The corners of her mouth crept up into a slight smile. “Ok then,” she said, chuckling a bit. We ended up having a great conversation – turns out she’s from just outside my mother’s hometown in Mississippi and is part of the Katrina Diaspora scattered across the country, struggling to reclaim their lives.
More importantly, she didn’t flinch at faith.
Unfortunately, it seems the organizers of the first United States Social Forum flinched. Outreach to progressives of faith regarding the Forum was insufficient. Local Muslim, Jewish and Buddhist friends said they knew of no outreach from USSF organizers or affiliates to their congregations. Other progressives of faith from around the country told similar stories.
Throughout the week I was met with bewildered looks, awkward silence, and even mild hostility if I mentioned pertinent issues of faith during some workshops. One young woman I met spoke of how uncomfortable she felt identifying herself as a Christian in any context during the week, despite being a committed and active progressive.
The experiences of others and myself at the Forum highlight what seems to be a lack of comfort with and inclusion of religion and people of faith with a certain element on “The Left” and within the progressive movement. This lack of cohesion and, sometimes, outright exclusion weakens both the faith-based and broader progressive movement denying them the benefits to be found in perhaps unexpected coalitions such as new ideas, energies, and partnerships.
These days religion is more likely associated with conservatism, extremism, even militarism and consumerism. The existence of a religious Left has been all but forgotten as the U.S. lurched towards the Right in recent years. The narrow, conservative, antagonistic view of religion is partly the fault of media misrepresentation.
Media Matters highlighted the issue in their report Left Behind: The Skewed Representation of Religion in Major News Media, which analyzed coverage beginning the day after the 2004 election through the end of 2006. According to the report, conservative religious leaders were quoted, interviewed or mentioned 2.8 times more often than progressive religious leaders when reviewing newspaper and television coverage combined. Television, which Media Matters constrained to the three major networks, three major cable news channels and PBS, provided outlets for conservative religious leaders 3.8 times more often than for progressive leaders. Major newspapers utilized the voices of conservative religious leaders 2.7 times more than those of religious progressives. The bias is remarkable given that most in the US hold what would be considered progressive views, based on a recently released report by Campaign for America’s Future and Media Matters reviewing polling data from reputable sources such as Pew Research and Gallup.
Atlanta was selected as the host city for the US Social Forum because of the city’s significance in the US civil rights struggles. Anyone who knows anything about that progressive movement knows people of faith were at its forefront.
I am not a resident of Atlanta, but I reside here temporarily. I mention this because it means my ability to engage in outreach to any community is limited given my transient status. I share the ideals espoused by organizers of the Forum and signed up to volunteer in order to make it happen. My first question to people in the local organizing office was what outreach had been made to the faith community and specifically, because they are often forgotten in such efforts, the Muslim community. I was met by polite, yet unsatisfying answers:
“We don’t have any contacts.”
“I wouldn’t know how to approach them.”
“We don’t do religion.”
I had no contacts and only a week before the start of the Forum, but I did have an Internet connection. A quick Google and Salat-O-Matic search led me to the only mosque I knew and coincidentally the largest in the area: Al-Farooq. I cold-called the director and explained what the Forum was I why I believed the Muslim community should be involved. He cautiously agreed to meet me after the Friday prayer service so I could pass along posters and fliers. I arrived early for jummah and struck up a conversation with a middle-aged women dressed in white. When I began explaining the Forum and my visit with the Director, her face lit up.
“Oh, I am so glad you came,” she said, clasping my hand in hers. “I haven’t heard anything about this. When is it?”
“Next week,” I replied. Her face registered disappointment.
“I wish I’d known about it.”
The Director proved helpful, but said because his function was mostly to oversee finances and the construction of the huge new facility I should call another member of the community who was involved in youth organizing.
When I phoned him, his enthusiasm was hugely gratifying. He was ready to bring others into the discussion and suggested a conference call. And he absolutely understood why I felt the ideals of the Forum matched the faith.
“So, when is this happening?” he asked. I cringed.
In her session description for the Building a Faith-Based Progressive Movement workshop, presented during the Forum by the Church in Society division of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, facilitator Loretta Horton, Director of Poverty Ministries Networking with ELC, illustrated the hard middle ground progressives of faith often find themselves shoved into these days.
“At many progressive gatherings, the faith community is often overlooked or completely left out of any conversation focusing on building a progressive movement for change in this country. Now is the time for progressive people of faith to step forward with conviction and be bold as we live out our theological beliefs of what a just society looks like. We have to challenge those on the religious right who would distort scripture, support public policy that is racist and sexist, and who use the rhetoric of hate as a tool to divide communities.”
During the workshop, members of the ecumenical and interfaith panel spoke of their personal struggles within the movement.
“It’s hard to be a Christian on the real radical Left, an unapologetic Christian,” said Malika M’Buze Moore or Atlanta’s 1st African Presbyterian. “I walk with my comrades and feel lonely.”
“In social movements faith is viewed with quite a bit of suspicion,” said Reverend John Selders of Amistad United Church of Christ in Connecticut, who acknowledged that religion has “hurt a lot of people”. “I am continuously amazed when people say ‘you’re from the church and you think WHAT?’”
Building a progressive movement is supposed to be about inclusion.
“The God I know speaks in an inclusive language and is a big ol’ God,” said Rev. Selders. “We gotta find partners in those spaces and places that may not be the likely ones and they may not be the comfortable ones.”
None of us are one-dimensional beings. Our multiplicities, every little quirk and contradiction that makes us who we are, are like facets on our own brilliant diamond; they make us shine. A movement that celebrates its multiplicities, including those of faith, will be stronger, more brilliant, and more valuable to the world.
Salaam.
This is what a Radical Muslim Feminist Looks Like.
The corners of her mouth crept up into a slight smile. “Ok then,” she said, chuckling a bit. We ended up having a great conversation – turns out she’s from just outside my mother’s hometown in Mississippi and is part of the Katrina Diaspora scattered across the country, struggling to reclaim their lives.
More importantly, she didn’t flinch at faith.
Unfortunately, it seems the organizers of the first United States Social Forum flinched. Outreach to progressives of faith regarding the Forum was insufficient. Local Muslim, Jewish and Buddhist friends said they knew of no outreach from USSF organizers or affiliates to their congregations. Other progressives of faith from around the country told similar stories.
Throughout the week I was met with bewildered looks, awkward silence, and even mild hostility if I mentioned pertinent issues of faith during some workshops. One young woman I met spoke of how uncomfortable she felt identifying herself as a Christian in any context during the week, despite being a committed and active progressive.
The experiences of others and myself at the Forum highlight what seems to be a lack of comfort with and inclusion of religion and people of faith with a certain element on “The Left” and within the progressive movement. This lack of cohesion and, sometimes, outright exclusion weakens both the faith-based and broader progressive movement denying them the benefits to be found in perhaps unexpected coalitions such as new ideas, energies, and partnerships.
These days religion is more likely associated with conservatism, extremism, even militarism and consumerism. The existence of a religious Left has been all but forgotten as the U.S. lurched towards the Right in recent years. The narrow, conservative, antagonistic view of religion is partly the fault of media misrepresentation.
Media Matters highlighted the issue in their report Left Behind: The Skewed Representation of Religion in Major News Media, which analyzed coverage beginning the day after the 2004 election through the end of 2006. According to the report, conservative religious leaders were quoted, interviewed or mentioned 2.8 times more often than progressive religious leaders when reviewing newspaper and television coverage combined. Television, which Media Matters constrained to the three major networks, three major cable news channels and PBS, provided outlets for conservative religious leaders 3.8 times more often than for progressive leaders. Major newspapers utilized the voices of conservative religious leaders 2.7 times more than those of religious progressives. The bias is remarkable given that most in the US hold what would be considered progressive views, based on a recently released report by Campaign for America’s Future and Media Matters reviewing polling data from reputable sources such as Pew Research and Gallup.
Atlanta was selected as the host city for the US Social Forum because of the city’s significance in the US civil rights struggles. Anyone who knows anything about that progressive movement knows people of faith were at its forefront.
I am not a resident of Atlanta, but I reside here temporarily. I mention this because it means my ability to engage in outreach to any community is limited given my transient status. I share the ideals espoused by organizers of the Forum and signed up to volunteer in order to make it happen. My first question to people in the local organizing office was what outreach had been made to the faith community and specifically, because they are often forgotten in such efforts, the Muslim community. I was met by polite, yet unsatisfying answers:
“We don’t have any contacts.”
“I wouldn’t know how to approach them.”
“We don’t do religion.”
I had no contacts and only a week before the start of the Forum, but I did have an Internet connection. A quick Google and Salat-O-Matic search led me to the only mosque I knew and coincidentally the largest in the area: Al-Farooq. I cold-called the director and explained what the Forum was I why I believed the Muslim community should be involved. He cautiously agreed to meet me after the Friday prayer service so I could pass along posters and fliers. I arrived early for jummah and struck up a conversation with a middle-aged women dressed in white. When I began explaining the Forum and my visit with the Director, her face lit up.
“Oh, I am so glad you came,” she said, clasping my hand in hers. “I haven’t heard anything about this. When is it?”
“Next week,” I replied. Her face registered disappointment.
“I wish I’d known about it.”
The Director proved helpful, but said because his function was mostly to oversee finances and the construction of the huge new facility I should call another member of the community who was involved in youth organizing.
When I phoned him, his enthusiasm was hugely gratifying. He was ready to bring others into the discussion and suggested a conference call. And he absolutely understood why I felt the ideals of the Forum matched the faith.
“So, when is this happening?” he asked. I cringed.
In her session description for the Building a Faith-Based Progressive Movement workshop, presented during the Forum by the Church in Society division of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, facilitator Loretta Horton, Director of Poverty Ministries Networking with ELC, illustrated the hard middle ground progressives of faith often find themselves shoved into these days.
“At many progressive gatherings, the faith community is often overlooked or completely left out of any conversation focusing on building a progressive movement for change in this country. Now is the time for progressive people of faith to step forward with conviction and be bold as we live out our theological beliefs of what a just society looks like. We have to challenge those on the religious right who would distort scripture, support public policy that is racist and sexist, and who use the rhetoric of hate as a tool to divide communities.”
During the workshop, members of the ecumenical and interfaith panel spoke of their personal struggles within the movement.
“It’s hard to be a Christian on the real radical Left, an unapologetic Christian,” said Malika M’Buze Moore or Atlanta’s 1st African Presbyterian. “I walk with my comrades and feel lonely.”
“In social movements faith is viewed with quite a bit of suspicion,” said Reverend John Selders of Amistad United Church of Christ in Connecticut, who acknowledged that religion has “hurt a lot of people”. “I am continuously amazed when people say ‘you’re from the church and you think WHAT?’”
Building a progressive movement is supposed to be about inclusion.
“The God I know speaks in an inclusive language and is a big ol’ God,” said Rev. Selders. “We gotta find partners in those spaces and places that may not be the likely ones and they may not be the comfortable ones.”
None of us are one-dimensional beings. Our multiplicities, every little quirk and contradiction that makes us who we are, are like facets on our own brilliant diamond; they make us shine. A movement that celebrates its multiplicities, including those of faith, will be stronger, more brilliant, and more valuable to the world.
Salaam.
28 June, 2007
Technical Issues
My reporting from the USSF may be delayed by the fact that my hard drive may be failing. I have to back everything up and have it inspected, but it's been doing frightening things. In the mean time I'll be working on things - editing video (a first for me), working on some longer pieces, and simply collecting information. If you don't hear from me in the next day then you'll know the iBook died. Why this week, I cannot say. Hopefully, this will simply encourage me to unplug in the larger sense and get back to simple pencil and paper writing.
More soon, insha'allah.
Salaam.
More soon, insha'allah.
Salaam.
27 June, 2007
Photos from USSF 2007 Opening March
The man in the blue shirt, behind the word Theft, is Faleh Abood Umara, General Secretary of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Workers’ Unions, who will be taking part in the Thursday night plenary session on War, Militarism and the Prison Industrial Complex.
...this includes me.
Salaam.
U.S. Social Forum - Day 1
It's summer in Atlanta, which means it's often cooler outside than on the MARTA trains. This morning my co-commuters and I, packed into our tin can in hamam-like conditions, rode quietly into our respective days. Wearing my Hijabman Where's the Love shirt I garnered a few wary looks. Maybe it was my messenger bag; large enough that I am more-or-less living out of it during the Forum.
"So, 'Where's the love', what does that mean?" an older man asked pointing at the English translation and then at the Arabic script. "Is that sarcasm?"
Walking from the Civic Center station I saw tiny flocks of co-conspirators on street corners waiting for pedestrian lights to change, USSF badges flapping at their chests.
Set-up is ongoing, especially here in the Ida B. Wells Media Justice Center. If you're attending USSF, or you're registered media, or simply signing up as a MJC volunteer - we truly, greatly need volunteers! - be sure to check out the MJC schedule of events. We'll be hosting some specific trainings to increase your media savvy. Should be WELL worth your time. Also, for those of you with skills, interests, specific media equipment, and/or a project in mind the MJC has a collaboration board to enable you to connect with the people and tools you need to make your vision reality.
11:30AM- Still setting up the MJC and working out kinks. The Poor Magazine group just arrived and I helped orient them. I'm sitting in one of the training/work station rooms listening to the thoughtful, raspy voice of one young woman from Poor dictating the story of their journey to the USSF.
This being a volunteer-run event, things are extremely fluid. There are complaints about many things and those of us who have jumped in are trying our best to sort things out. Some of the complaints are routine - the location of the MJC, coffee stirrers need to be bought, a certain sign needs to be created - and some are not - I hear someone in the hall saying the structure of the MJC smacks of classism and imperialism. Uh, I'll try to work on that when I finish the collaboration board......
I'll be updating as I go today. Just giving you a feel. The workshops begin tomorrow and I hope to share the information, experiences, and connections from the sessions I attend. I am also hope to craft a few specific stories relating to my own interests, which I would post after next week.
Hopefully by tonight I will be able to let you know how to access the video podcasts of the workshops and plenaries via the USSF web site. For now I am off to find passage to the parade.
Salaam.
"So, 'Where's the love', what does that mean?" an older man asked pointing at the English translation and then at the Arabic script. "Is that sarcasm?"
Walking from the Civic Center station I saw tiny flocks of co-conspirators on street corners waiting for pedestrian lights to change, USSF badges flapping at their chests.
Set-up is ongoing, especially here in the Ida B. Wells Media Justice Center. If you're attending USSF, or you're registered media, or simply signing up as a MJC volunteer - we truly, greatly need volunteers! - be sure to check out the MJC schedule of events. We'll be hosting some specific trainings to increase your media savvy. Should be WELL worth your time. Also, for those of you with skills, interests, specific media equipment, and/or a project in mind the MJC has a collaboration board to enable you to connect with the people and tools you need to make your vision reality.
11:30AM- Still setting up the MJC and working out kinks. The Poor Magazine group just arrived and I helped orient them. I'm sitting in one of the training/work station rooms listening to the thoughtful, raspy voice of one young woman from Poor dictating the story of their journey to the USSF.
This being a volunteer-run event, things are extremely fluid. There are complaints about many things and those of us who have jumped in are trying our best to sort things out. Some of the complaints are routine - the location of the MJC, coffee stirrers need to be bought, a certain sign needs to be created - and some are not - I hear someone in the hall saying the structure of the MJC smacks of classism and imperialism. Uh, I'll try to work on that when I finish the collaboration board......
I'll be updating as I go today. Just giving you a feel. The workshops begin tomorrow and I hope to share the information, experiences, and connections from the sessions I attend. I am also hope to craft a few specific stories relating to my own interests, which I would post after next week.
Hopefully by tonight I will be able to let you know how to access the video podcasts of the workshops and plenaries via the USSF web site. For now I am off to find passage to the parade.
Salaam.
26 June, 2007
Art and Consciousness
This is video, courtesy of The Nation, of a street theater performance staged by members of the group Iraq Veterans Against the War in an attempt to awaken those in the U.S. to some of the realities of the war in Iraq.
Salaam.
25 June, 2007
Who remembers these women?
More, this time from The Independent, on one of the lesser reported tragedies of the war/occupation in Iraq - the booming trade in Iraqi girls and women who have fled to Syria.
Salaam.
Salaam.
24 June, 2007
Sunday truths
For those of you here in the U.S. who still believe Shrub, Cheney, and the rest when they spout "they hate us for our freedoms" and other dangerous, fear-mongering lies....Robert Fisk breaks it things down nicely for you in this piece from the Independent.
Salaam.
Salaam.
23 June, 2007
20 June, 2007
ENOUGH!/!خلص
Where do your thoughts turn in days like these? How does a thinking person attempt to gather their thoughts in a world like ours? I keep trying to write something cohesive about the things that have grabbed my attention over the past week; trying to make sense of things or to find some way for us to move beyond this chaos. I am failing miserably.
Who are we as a species that some of us, any of us, can, with not a shred of remorse or hesitation, tether a child to a bed, naked, sell his food in the market, and leave him to starve? And what of those who knew and did nothing to stop it? The appalling condition of 24 boys miraculously, thankfully found in that orphanage in Baghdad are a stain on our entire species because this is how the world treats its children more often than not. But remember this was an Iraqi government-run orphanage; the same Iraq government backed by the U.S. PM Maliki promised an investigation, but the Iraqi Labor and Social Affairs Minister also had something to say about the horror story on Wednesday - he claimed the boys were perfectly healthy and the report was a fabrication. I would ask that the Minister tell it to these boys himself.
(photos: CBS News)
And, how dare a violently misguided -to put it mildly- group of cowards dare to talk about "morals" in the same breath as they threaten murder, disfigurement, and intimidation? "There should be no compulsion in religion." What part of NO did the members of the so-called Swords of Truth not understand? I have never understood the impulse on any faction's part to murder journalists. I have tried to grasp how any side might believe they would benefit from the loss of the countless voices that die with a journalist; the loss of their ongoing personal story and the stories of others they will never have an opportunity to tell. And there is something especially sickening about recent murders of and threats against female journalists and media workers, such as the murders of Sahar Hussein al-Haydari in Iraq, Zakia Zaki and Shokiba Sanga Amaaj in Afghanistan, and the violent threats made against female journalists and broadcasters in Gaza. Ms. Zaki was murdered while sleeping with her young children. Though I can only write, from this easy, safe and infuriating distance, about the horrors these brave women face, I stand solidly with them in the face of such madness.
The U.N./UNHCR declared June 20th World Refugee Day. There is not much cause for celebration. According to an ABC News report, 1 in 10 Iraqis now live outside Iraq. With nearly equal numbers of Iraqis displaced internally and externally (1.9mil. and 2mil - UNHCR). Of those combined numbers, 55% are under the age of 12. The effects on the wider region and the younger generation remain to be seen. "People ask me if I am Muslim," a Turkish friend in Damascus told me in December, "that's normal. But now, when I say I am, they are quick to ask 'Shi'a, Sunni, Alaouite, Alavi....' They didn't used to do that." I don't believe we can fathom what ripples radiate from the things we are seeing today. Global Voices has a good wrap-up from the blogosphere, including some important video from the Australian SBS program Dateline. "As of June 20 – World Refugee Day – the United States had resettled only 272 Iraqi refugees since October 2005." This country can do more. Even the U.S. government's goal of 7,000 Iraqis resettled by the end of 2007 is unimpressive. Sweden resettled just over 9,000 Iraqis alone last year. As with so much else related to this war, Iraqis and other people I spoke to in the region are paying attention to this ongoing story and they will not forget it anytime soon.
Let's not forget the Palestinians at the Erez crossing. The Palestinians who remain in limbo on the Iraqi border. The Palestinian non-combatants who remain in Nahr al-Bared and those who are refugees from their refugee camp.
And what about our refugees here in the U.S.: those scattered to the winds by Katrina, or the economic refugees from a broken world economy who some call "illegal"?
An eye for an eye has turned into a mosque for a mosque; both senseless, horrific, and unwinable tactics. Food prices rise, standards of living slip, and the future becomes uncertain whether you live in Damascus or Dallas. We here in the U.S. complain about the price of gas when we should be shouting for alternatives to our cars and our obsessions with a society that builds upon and feeds sprawl. I don't pretend to have all the answers, and I am well aware of how bad things are. I am sick of simply talking about how bad things are or how horrible Bush is. I am genuinely interested in sitting and talking - not yelling, not demanding, not hiding behind dogma - and actually figuring out a better way. No more wallowing. We have to get down to work for change. It is no longer a matter of choice.
Salaam.
(Thanks to Golaniya for her post on the Iraqi orphans - the first I'd heard about them.)
Who are we as a species that some of us, any of us, can, with not a shred of remorse or hesitation, tether a child to a bed, naked, sell his food in the market, and leave him to starve? And what of those who knew and did nothing to stop it? The appalling condition of 24 boys miraculously, thankfully found in that orphanage in Baghdad are a stain on our entire species because this is how the world treats its children more often than not. But remember this was an Iraqi government-run orphanage; the same Iraq government backed by the U.S. PM Maliki promised an investigation, but the Iraqi Labor and Social Affairs Minister also had something to say about the horror story on Wednesday - he claimed the boys were perfectly healthy and the report was a fabrication. I would ask that the Minister tell it to these boys himself.
(photos: CBS News)The U.N./UNHCR declared June 20th World Refugee Day. There is not much cause for celebration. According to an ABC News report, 1 in 10 Iraqis now live outside Iraq. With nearly equal numbers of Iraqis displaced internally and externally (1.9mil. and 2mil - UNHCR). Of those combined numbers, 55% are under the age of 12. The effects on the wider region and the younger generation remain to be seen. "People ask me if I am Muslim," a Turkish friend in Damascus told me in December, "that's normal. But now, when I say I am, they are quick to ask 'Shi'a, Sunni, Alaouite, Alavi....' They didn't used to do that." I don't believe we can fathom what ripples radiate from the things we are seeing today. Global Voices has a good wrap-up from the blogosphere, including some important video from the Australian SBS program Dateline. "As of June 20 – World Refugee Day – the United States had resettled only 272 Iraqi refugees since October 2005." This country can do more. Even the U.S. government's goal of 7,000 Iraqis resettled by the end of 2007 is unimpressive. Sweden resettled just over 9,000 Iraqis alone last year. As with so much else related to this war, Iraqis and other people I spoke to in the region are paying attention to this ongoing story and they will not forget it anytime soon.
Let's not forget the Palestinians at the Erez crossing. The Palestinians who remain in limbo on the Iraqi border. The Palestinian non-combatants who remain in Nahr al-Bared and those who are refugees from their refugee camp.
And what about our refugees here in the U.S.: those scattered to the winds by Katrina, or the economic refugees from a broken world economy who some call "illegal"?
An eye for an eye has turned into a mosque for a mosque; both senseless, horrific, and unwinable tactics. Food prices rise, standards of living slip, and the future becomes uncertain whether you live in Damascus or Dallas. We here in the U.S. complain about the price of gas when we should be shouting for alternatives to our cars and our obsessions with a society that builds upon and feeds sprawl. I don't pretend to have all the answers, and I am well aware of how bad things are. I am sick of simply talking about how bad things are or how horrible Bush is. I am genuinely interested in sitting and talking - not yelling, not demanding, not hiding behind dogma - and actually figuring out a better way. No more wallowing. We have to get down to work for change. It is no longer a matter of choice.
Salaam.
(Thanks to Golaniya for her post on the Iraqi orphans - the first I'd heard about them.)
United States Social Forum - 1 Week Out
Work is ongoing in preparation for the 1st EVER U.S. Social Forum, which will be held in Atlanta, Georgia from June 27 through July 1st.
I've been at my laptop reworking the volunteer database the last few days making sure everybody is accounted for. We still need volunteers and will welcome anyone and their skills in addition to those with specific skills in health care (incl. alternative healing) & 1st Aid, child care, translation, and computers/technical support. You can sign up to VOLUNTEER online. Remember if you sign up for (4) four-hour volunteer shifts your registration fees for the Forum will be waived. My eyes are a bit sore from staring at my screen, but it's so exciting to see how far people will travel to help make the Forum happen: Pakistan, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Turkey, Guatemala, Haiti, Mali, Benin, Kenya, Cameroon, Nepal...And these are just the people who signed up to volunteer!
The schedule of workshops is now available at the U.S. Social Forum website so you can find out when and where your workshops will be held. If you can't find a workshop you saw on the site earlier it has probably been withdrawn for any number of reasons. I was sad to find out the New Islamic Directions would be unable to attend and thus their Islamic-centered workshops are no longer on the schedule. However, there are more than enough workshops on a wide spectrum of topics and I suspect everybody will walk away July 1st having learned something new and made a few new allies.
Also, any of you planning to attend AND document the event in any way (blogs, photos, audio, amateur or pro, etc.) should register with the with the Ida B. Wells Media Justice Center, part of the Forum itself. I've registered myself and this blog as part of the media campaign. The media component of the Forum will include a variety of daily trainings, active partnerships, a collaborative reporting and archiving strategy, and much more:
I've been at my laptop reworking the volunteer database the last few days making sure everybody is accounted for. We still need volunteers and will welcome anyone and their skills in addition to those with specific skills in health care (incl. alternative healing) & 1st Aid, child care, translation, and computers/technical support. You can sign up to VOLUNTEER online. Remember if you sign up for (4) four-hour volunteer shifts your registration fees for the Forum will be waived. My eyes are a bit sore from staring at my screen, but it's so exciting to see how far people will travel to help make the Forum happen: Pakistan, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Turkey, Guatemala, Haiti, Mali, Benin, Kenya, Cameroon, Nepal...And these are just the people who signed up to volunteer!
The schedule of workshops is now available at the U.S. Social Forum website so you can find out when and where your workshops will be held. If you can't find a workshop you saw on the site earlier it has probably been withdrawn for any number of reasons. I was sad to find out the New Islamic Directions would be unable to attend and thus their Islamic-centered workshops are no longer on the schedule. However, there are more than enough workshops on a wide spectrum of topics and I suspect everybody will walk away July 1st having learned something new and made a few new allies.
Also, any of you planning to attend AND document the event in any way (blogs, photos, audio, amateur or pro, etc.) should register with the with the Ida B. Wells Media Justice Center, part of the Forum itself. I've registered myself and this blog as part of the media campaign. The media component of the Forum will include a variety of daily trainings, active partnerships, a collaborative reporting and archiving strategy, and much more:
"The Ida B. Wells Media Justice Center (MJC) will create a revolutionary model of media coverage, documentation, first-person storytelling, and community based news making on location at the United States Social Forum. The MJC will use a journalistic method that upends the traditional relationships dominating most media production: reporter/subject, people with class privilege/people struggling with poverty, white/people of color, documented/undocumented, able-bodied/disabled, formally educated/educated in the school of hard knocks, among others. This collaborative media training, resource, support and press relations center will be a cornerstone of this summer’s first-ever U.S. Social Forum (USSF) in Atlanta."
Again, I hope to see you next week!
Salaam.
Salaam.
15 June, 2007
Brothers
ُI was trying to decide between the maroon embroidery of simple design or the garish cotton candy pink embroidery in a more fanciful design. Though beautiful, the reason for buying the skirt annoyed me and made this trip through the souq in the medina of Rabat far from enjoyable. Someone at Peace Corps had decided we needed to "blend in" as we traveled south towards Ouarzazate, our second training base. The women in our group were directed to purchase a traditional Amazigh skirt from the souq and wear it on the train ride to Marrakech and subsequent grand taxi ride across the mountains to Ouarzazate. There was no explanation of why they felt we needed to "blend" or why they felt this was the appropriate way to handle it. Even better is that none of us thought to ask. Because nothing is as inconspicuous as 25 American women standing around Marrakech wearing Amazigh skirts, Tevas, sunglasses, and wielding gigantic backpacks with water bottles carabinered to the side, portable CD players, and cameras.
I tagged along with a trainer and a group of about ten women as we wound through the alleyways of the medina finally reaching a small courtyard with the wooden doors of the shop stalls opened wide into the spotty shade of the space, sunlight spilling through ragged holes in the flimsy roofing above our heads. These were the stalls for the tourists - Rabatians don't go to souq to buy such things - and the sellers seemed quite happy for our appearance so early in the morning.
The skirts are made of somewhat thin black nylon, like finely woven netting, never so thin as to be see-through. They are segmented into the main, ankle-length skirt and a shorter top skirt that falls to the top of the thighs with a slit cut halfway up at the center front of the skirt. The edges of both layers are trimmed with a variety of scrollwork-like patters in gold and bold colors. They are unique and lovely.
We stuffed ourselves into the stall of of one seller, sorting through colors and designs and trying to bargain with the help of the harried trainer. All of a sudden a crash erupted from one of the stalls behind us and I turned to see two men, arms locked around heads, wrestling on the ground knocking over a few small display tables full of tiny wooden boxes and brassware that lay in their way. One broke away and stood, face a tight mask of rage, only to be grabbed by the other who tried and failed to land an effective punch. The men pushed and pulled at each other, their weight as they nearly fell taking down another vendor's table. By now a crowd had gathered though no one stepped in to halt the fight. Rather we all stood and watched, a few murmurs of worry or disgust. Suddenly the two pulled apart again and this time of brandished a medium, rough-hewn knife. A woman in the crowd shrieked and the murmurs grew louder, but the courtyard was silent except for the crashing of tables and the items atop them and the scuffing of the men's shoes on the stones. The man thrust the knife wildly at the other who managed to keep several inches from the blade bowing his torso away from the blade. We had been herded deep into the shopkeepers stall and I stood in the doorway as the men battled in front of me, looking at each other as though neither would be satisfied until the other was in the ground. The knife was knocked out of his hand and the two fell to the ground again, locked in an angry embrace. Someone in the crowd shouted something in darija and I turned to ask the trainer what was said.
"He said 'It's o.k. They are brothers'," the trainer told me, shaking his head in disbelief.
I hadn't thought of this in a long time. The memory came to me this morning after reading the news from Gaza over the last few days. Of course it could have just as easily come from the news from Iraq or Lebanon or.....
Salaam.
PS: Not one Tamazight or Tashelhit woman in my villages ever wore one of those skirts, though they did love to compliment me on mine.
I tagged along with a trainer and a group of about ten women as we wound through the alleyways of the medina finally reaching a small courtyard with the wooden doors of the shop stalls opened wide into the spotty shade of the space, sunlight spilling through ragged holes in the flimsy roofing above our heads. These were the stalls for the tourists - Rabatians don't go to souq to buy such things - and the sellers seemed quite happy for our appearance so early in the morning.
The skirts are made of somewhat thin black nylon, like finely woven netting, never so thin as to be see-through. They are segmented into the main, ankle-length skirt and a shorter top skirt that falls to the top of the thighs with a slit cut halfway up at the center front of the skirt. The edges of both layers are trimmed with a variety of scrollwork-like patters in gold and bold colors. They are unique and lovely.
We stuffed ourselves into the stall of of one seller, sorting through colors and designs and trying to bargain with the help of the harried trainer. All of a sudden a crash erupted from one of the stalls behind us and I turned to see two men, arms locked around heads, wrestling on the ground knocking over a few small display tables full of tiny wooden boxes and brassware that lay in their way. One broke away and stood, face a tight mask of rage, only to be grabbed by the other who tried and failed to land an effective punch. The men pushed and pulled at each other, their weight as they nearly fell taking down another vendor's table. By now a crowd had gathered though no one stepped in to halt the fight. Rather we all stood and watched, a few murmurs of worry or disgust. Suddenly the two pulled apart again and this time of brandished a medium, rough-hewn knife. A woman in the crowd shrieked and the murmurs grew louder, but the courtyard was silent except for the crashing of tables and the items atop them and the scuffing of the men's shoes on the stones. The man thrust the knife wildly at the other who managed to keep several inches from the blade bowing his torso away from the blade. We had been herded deep into the shopkeepers stall and I stood in the doorway as the men battled in front of me, looking at each other as though neither would be satisfied until the other was in the ground. The knife was knocked out of his hand and the two fell to the ground again, locked in an angry embrace. Someone in the crowd shouted something in darija and I turned to ask the trainer what was said.
"He said 'It's o.k. They are brothers'," the trainer told me, shaking his head in disbelief.
I hadn't thought of this in a long time. The memory came to me this morning after reading the news from Gaza over the last few days. Of course it could have just as easily come from the news from Iraq or Lebanon or.....
Salaam.
PS: Not one Tamazight or Tashelhit woman in my villages ever wore one of those skirts, though they did love to compliment me on mine.
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