Saturday January 17, 2009, 6:37 am
South Africa discriminated against its black population - and the world boycotted South Africa. Calls for boycotts against Israel abound in these times.

In many nations fully one-half of the population is denied legal equality with the other (male) half and often lives under the most devastating of legal and social situations.

Where are the calls for boycotts against Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and so many other nations which codify gender apartheid into the fabric of their laws?

Saturday January 17, 2009, 6:59 am
Sadly noted, Lindsey, that this is going on in our world. My heart goes out to these countries that need help...

Saturday January 17, 2009, 7:38 am
The butchering of women's genitals, a practice that is cleaned up for Westerners by being labeled female circumcision is one of the abominable and insidious things done to women. In America, we are still fighting for equity in the work place, in the majority of Muslim countries women are not even able to fight to be treated as human beings. Sheep are treated with a gentler hand and far more respect then women. The Koran in fact has a number of passages that state that a woman is to be treated as an equal. This is portrayed as a religious practice, in fact it may well be simply the insecurity of men. We should remember that if we are lead the world by example then the most important example is that of human rights. CONDEMN is vile treatment of women, allow NO excuses and keep up the pressure until such time as women are allow to interact freely in all societies.

Saturday January 17, 2009, 7:43 am
According to confirmation hearings, Hillary Clinton will be addressing these concerns. I hope this is true.

Saturday January 17, 2009, 7:46 am
I hope so as well, Tamara. I find it so sad that many who call for boycotts/economic sanctions of other nations due to civil rights violations are often, perhaps usually, silent when it comes to the astonishing number of nations which grossly violate the civil rights of their women. We protest individual atrocities but rarely insist that governments and whole societies which practice female subjugation as a legal art form be held accountable for their actions.

Saturday January 17, 2009, 8:24 am
I AM glad that the world is ready to bring MADNESS like this to an end. WE must Unite, now, and work together towards OUR salvation. there is still time(not much), WE CAN and ARE doing it. Change your SELF first and next thing you KNOW, the world will have changed. ONE person at a time, THE POWER OF ONE, you!! is a well kept secret. Lets not sell ourselves short. YOU ARE POWERFUL and effect US ALL. WE ARE ONE. Thx Lindsey


" Change, Baby, Change"- Austin Powers Its Fee!!!!!!

Saturday January 17, 2009, 8:24 am
free

Saturday January 17, 2009, 8:28 am
Many of these gental cutting, they don't even care what they use. Rusty metal,broken glass..as long as it cuts.and there isnt any anesthesia, no antibiotics, just a dirty piece of cloth shoved between the legs. Many women die from this every year. Hey what does it matter their only women.

Saturday January 17, 2009, 8:36 am
Sadly noted, Lindsey!

Saturday January 17, 2009, 8:43 am
I am sorry I didnt comment on the rest of these horrible things.but I was shown a home film of parents doing this to their own child it will be forever burned in my memory. They did this to her to save her from being evil.And as I said before...there will be no boycotts, because it IS ONLY WOMEN. Koran be damned, same as the bible people pick and chose and forget or overlook what they want.

Saturday January 17, 2009, 9:40 am
Needless to say, this goes well beyond Saudi Arabia. As terrible as it is, what do you expect from people who have no respect for human life in general.

Saturday January 17, 2009, 9:40 am
The abuse of woman worldwide gets me so pissed off, and I try to do what I can to stop these things. We all need to do this. I do care for animals and sign petitions and such, but americans seem to care more about some dog than children around the world.

Saturday January 17, 2009, 9:41 am
This is very sad, and the whole international community should put as much pressure on Saudi Arabia as possible. Unfortunately that probably won't happen any time soon, and I don't have to mention the hypocrisy of the US policy in the Mid East when it comes to SA. I think education is also a great tool to combat these oppressive and regressive regimes and organizations like the Taliban. One thing to consider, the more we alienate the whole Mid East by making it a matter of us against "them," the easier it is for extremists to gain support and the harder it is to spread any western style education.

Saturday January 17, 2009, 9:55 am
How inadequate and insecure the Saudi Arabian Muslim men must be. I'll bet they're really into S&M and BDSM too. I suppose the way they figure it, they're no match for Iraqi soldiers, have ugly fat bodies because they're too lazy to do a lick of work ( That's what foreigners are for). They're also the laughing stock of any culture which honors it's soldiers and the fighting spirit of it's country.

What else could they do but pass laws to weaken the rights of their mothers and sisters and aunts and female children so they could have someone lower on the ladder then themselves, where they can take out their aggression and feelings of adequacy. They do this, then declare that it's their "God's will"!!!

They shouldn't be very safe walking the streets here in America though. With all of the faults we may have, hitting a woman isn't one of them. Nor being disrespectful to others, especially to a woman. I was in a bar in my home town decades ago and witnessed a man slapping a woman. Before I could get to the guy another man got to him first. It was only the woman's begging that stopped the slapper from being pounded into the floor by the guy on top of him. As I said, that was decades ago and our women still are protected.

Hopefully Obama will be able to finally get America off oil, now that the Saudi's American lackeys regime was peacefully overthrown. Then the real American voice will be heard. That voice will say, "We don't do business with low life women beaters".

Saturday January 17, 2009, 10:10 am
Indeed, Tom - legal apartheid and subjugation of women does go well beyond Saudi Arabia. Pakistan, Bangladesh, Palestine, Libya, Sudan - so many others.

Saturday January 17, 2009, 12:16 pm
I have read and signed many petitions and expressed my outrage many times for human rights violations against women. It is disgusting. To many times greed out weighs humans rights especially against women. Then there is the horrid evils and brainwashing of religion! Religion wages wars on entire populations of different groups of people and it also wages war against women! I have never understood why so many places around the world want to reduce their wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, grandmothers etc., the very people who keep their populations growing and thriving, treat them lower than dirt. It makes no sense. It is pure ego centric hatred.

Saturday January 17, 2009, 12:18 pm
As long as we depend on oil there will be no pressure, as long as the EU is PC there will be no pressure and as long as there is Israel the Arabs can divert attention! How many sanctions have the UN passed against an Arab country for their behaviour & for Human Rights breaches including the hanging of children? I haven't heard of any but if you have I would be interested (& surprised).

As for the rest of what the Muslims get up to, I have signed many petitions to save young girls who have been sexually abused & raped and then hung as adultereses despite the Arabs signing the UN Childrens' Agreement not to kill a child under 18 years. I have only managed to sign 1 petiton and that helped a woman in Africa.

If a man rapes a woman, he is not charged unless 3 men come forward and say that they saw the rape - & what is the chance of that?

I am also deeply concerned about the young children - aged 5 - 8 years, that are stolen from Africa to be jockeys for camel races, I don't know what happens when they get to big to ride but they are not reunited with their family!!!

Saturday January 17, 2009, 12:27 pm
“Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.”~ Pascal

Saturday January 17, 2009, 12:38 pm
That is so true Lynne. Thank you Lindsey. Until ALL women of the world are treated as equals there is NO freedom on this planet for anyone.

Saturday January 17, 2009, 1:06 pm
I have to agree with the author of this article. Where are the Muslims protesting this treatment? The best way for us to help is to become energy independent of Saudi, they are the worst offenders. When money is gone, those in power lose their power. Maybe then they will be forced by their own people to change.

Saturday January 17, 2009, 1:32 pm
I found this very difficult to read, it must be terrible beyond words to live as a woman in a Country like that.

Thank you Lindsey I can't find the words...

Saturday January 17, 2009, 1:49 pm
We'd best look at our own 'advanced' countries/society. Abuse of a woman occurs every 2 minutes. Gender "apartheid" is not erradicated in this country. Our religious institutions still place women in a secondary 'position'to males and yet women willingly accept it, much to my amazment. (Kudos Lynne L. )Younger women especially have embraced being called b***hes in everyday wordage and song, allowing themselves to be used and portrayed aa sexual objects. The abuse in some other countries may be more profound and seemingly more disturbing, but we need to 'houseclean' also.

Saturday January 17, 2009, 1:57 pm
There's no question, Patricia, that abuse of women is still happening in the U.S. However, the difference here is that it isn't allowed (and even encouraged) by the government and the legal system. Our laws protect all citizens - including women, and give them the right to vote, to drive, to have a career of their choice, and the like. However, in countries such as Saudi or Pakistan, severe discrimination against women is part of the formal system of government.

But you're right in that even places such as the U.S. still have a long way to go to overcome sexism in some quarters.

Saturday January 17, 2009, 2:25 pm
This is horrible... but... how can I help? I'm not sure if I can do anything... :(

Saturday January 17, 2009, 2:32 pm
One way to help, Amalita, is to write letters to top women's rights groups, such as NOW here in the U.S. or whichever organizations exist in your own country, asking them to put more emphasis on helping publicize the plight of women under Sharia law and in other dreadful situations. Write letters to companies who do business with nations such as this asking them to cease their business relations. Write to your political leaders.

Writing letters isn't going to solve the problem - but it may help publicize it in a greater way.

Saturday January 17, 2009, 4:26 pm
If you make enough noise with petitions etc, it is possible to help. The 1 petition that helped was the African woman who was breastfeeding her baby unitl 18 months old and then she was to be stoned to death. Possibly because of the delay there was enough time for sufficient international pressure to be brought to bear until the woman was reprieved.

We all need to write to our foreign ministers to ask them to bring this up at the UN's meetings and to ensure that sanctions are brought against the countries that are hanging and stoning children. They also need to ensure that the UN Children's section investigate and publicly announce their results.

Saturday January 17, 2009, 5:35 pm
Abuse is everywhere. I have never met so many women that would hurt another woman just for fun and games and the verbal abuse from roommates is terrible so this comes from all places.I am going to have to go to the woman's center because where I live is so bad.Do not get me wrong,I have it great compared to these ladies. Thanks,Lindsey.

Saturday January 17, 2009, 5:48 pm
Every country and every culture has some barbaric and stupid evil law. Some are just more covert than others.

After all the US tortures people legally every day. Enforced electric shock on thousands of people is being used more and more and becoming very popular. It causes permanent brain damage and memory loss.

Before we can be an example we need to clean up our own act.

Saturday January 17, 2009, 6:28 pm
Consider that the Saudis more then anyone are aware of the limits of long term oil production. What can they do to continue the wealth and live autonomously? They have become the leaders in developing alternative energy. We currently use between 3-10% of oil from the middle east, so the improvements in alternative energy sources will not mean an end to our interactions with them. In fact we may be turning to them for assistance in alternative fuel sources. What we can do and have done in the past is public and relentless publicity of the atrocities in their countries. That requires commitment on the part of the American public and a desire to make it happen. NOW may we one of the best organizations to bring this pressure to bear on the royal family, who actually does seem to want more acceptance by western societies. We can demand they be rejected for any association other then as sellers of a product. Newspaper ads, TV campaigns, all cost money - so what we can do is think creatively about how best to combat the problem and then be a part of the solution, contribute to an effort to end the vile treatment of women. Would you be willing to do that?

Saturday January 17, 2009, 6:41 pm
Well put, Kit. I must admit it never occurred to me that developing alternative energy sources might actually increase our dependence on Saudi Arabia.

Of course, although the story itself is about Saudi, there are so many other nations involved in the denial of rights to their female citizens.

Saturday January 17, 2009, 7:03 pm
Lindsey, you're profile is fairly new. You will come to find that many of the heavy supporters for palestine and gaza here are major activists for years agasint FGM (not just defined to arab states), and the discrimination in many of the Islamic countries of women and childen and their deaths. Some of those countries many of the women are quite happy. I see several have noted this.

Saturday January 17, 2009, 7:11 pm
Women or any person that does not know any better may resign themselves to what life offers. But I think the word "happy" is abused in describing these horribly mistreated and undervalued human beings.

Saturday January 17, 2009, 7:48 pm
Cheryl Sunshine, I have just read the comments and none seem to say anything about these women being happy, other then yourself, of course. If I knew that complaining about my life could lead to being beaten or killed, then I too might tell others of how joyful my life was.

Agreed Lindsey, however as Saudi is a leader in the area, and in the abuse of women, perhaps a change in Saudi Arabia could be the beginning of change through out the area.

Saturday January 17, 2009, 8:08 pm
I am deeply saddened and hurt every time I read about these horrible acts perepetrated upon women. Cheryl Sunshine. You say some of these women are happy? How do you define happiness? If you live your life knowing only abuse, your mind learns to accept it as "normal." Not all Islamic women suffer from abuse, but those who do, could not know happiness. They know only what their experience tells them.

Saturday January 17, 2009, 8:12 pm
I didn't say all of them did I, you are knit picking, why don't you talk to Queen Noor, she's on myspace

Saturday January 17, 2009, 8:15 pm
Kit, i think you've arrived at a very creative approach to a complex problem. hit them in the financial and esoteric belt. affect them where they depend on us most.

Saturday January 17, 2009, 8:15 pm
Cheryl, Queen Noor is/was an American who married into a royal family; that's hardly a fair comparison to a normal, every day, Muslim woman and her place in family life (her husband's family/mother) and the possibility of a career position.

Saturday January 17, 2009, 8:15 pm
I myself have done alot of activism here and on myspace for them for several years btw,

Saturday January 17, 2009, 8:23 pm
To give the benefit of the doubt here. I can see while being abused and living in fear one can assume any type of happiness while they can. One can conform to the rules laid down and still find whatever happiness is available while under oppression but that still does not mean that they are in fact happy with life!

Saturday January 17, 2009, 8:23 pm
Queen Noor is an American woman who married a fairly enlightened man who also learned from her. Jordan could well serve as an example to the Middle Eastern countries for the treatment of women and many other areas. Better come up with a better example. Because one know only sadness and brutality does not mean they are happy. You did in fact use the word HAPPY, a very poor choice of words. Submission is not happiness.

Saturday January 17, 2009, 8:42 pm
I know who Noor is, I also know Delera and Reza, do hyou know those names, the real out in the field activists that were on care2 that got pushed off for they strong push against Iran and other countries killing innocents and trying to save them. I was here, I still am, while fighting for my own rights in a place called Canada.

I would be good to see strong activism here for them again, the group of activists got pushed off, and went to myspace, ning, and other sites. Mada is back, she has been gone for some time.

"Not all Islamic women suffer from abuse", I am sure Amin would agree with that, nite, and no I am not tracking this.

Saturday January 17, 2009, 9:44 pm
No one ever said that all Islamic women suffer from abuse. What the news item is about is women who live in fundamentalist societies that practice legalized discrimination and aparthaid. Which, by any definition, is abuse in and of itself.

I remember reading somewhere about an author who had claimed Sally Hemmings (Thomas Jefferson's slave) had voluntarily consented to be his mistress. As was so rightly pointed out, she did not have the ability to consent or not consent - she leglly had no right to refuse. When any woman does not have the legal right to choose her own path in life nothing she does can be considered to be of her own free will - a state hardly conducive to what we would call happiness.

Saturday January 17, 2009, 10:47 pm
Hello everyone,
I live in Saudi arabia since 1982 and i'm happy,being french and living here isnt always easy because its so different from my country,
I feel that women anywhere have to do their own march of liberation if they feel oppressed,one woman at a time and each of us can do something for a better relation with our husbands,fathers, brothers and sons and all the men we meet in our dayly life,
This society isnt like some might see it,women on one side and men on the other,its changing a lot but needs time for people to decide by themselves how they want to live.
I wish to many of you to have the opportunity to visit this country and to live here for a time long enough to appreciate the generosity of the people.:)

Sunday January 18, 2009, 7:20 am
These actions in some of the unenlightened, brutal to women, countries have been around for centuries, and I think it is time to put a stop to this brutality. Unfortunately, a lot of them are oil producing nations, therein lies the problem. We need to stop using oil altogether so we can take an honest stand against those atrocities. I think that is the key that will open the door, no more oil. Then watch us go after them!

Sunday January 18, 2009, 7:25 am
Marthe B., If I were a woman who lived and wrote from Saudi Arabia, you can well bet that I would write glowing reports about Saudi Arabia. I'll leave it at that and there's no need to respond.

There is no way I'd ever step food in Saudi Arabia. It sounds more like a sadistic religious ordained cult than a civilized country. However, out of respect for your invitation to visit where you live, allow me to invite you to visit a biker bar here in Daytona Beach. A word of advice though, wear something that has Harley Davidson printed on it. If you choose to wear anything Honda or Suzuki, well you asked for it.

Sunday January 18, 2009, 6:32 pm
Actually Vaughn I believe her. I was privileged to see a very cool documentary regarding the peoples of Saudi Arabia and it was totally different to what we are told.

Like I have said before - we are only told what they want us to be told. There is oppression in every country.
We have enough HORRORS of our own that could very well be advertised as the norm over there. I mean lets face it they never show you what happens when a person is given forced Electric Shock Treatment by the courts system for 35 weeks straight do they?

We have to remember that only the bad hits the news, they never show the good things.

Sunday January 18, 2009, 6:52 pm
When was the last time you saw a thief have a hand cut-off? Or an American woman subjected to having her genitals sewn together? I am sorry about the man that is subject to the electroshock treatments, but that in no way is a comparison to this country and the truly horrible laws of Saudi Arabia.

Sunday January 18, 2009, 7:11 pm
The laws of Saudi Arabia are well known, Sue. The Saudi government doesn't hide them from the eyes of the world:

A woman cannot take a job without her husband's permission and cannot work in a mixed-sex workplace. A woman cannot travel in a car with any man excepting a male relative. A woman cannot drive a car or ride a bicycle. Women are required to wear the abaya, which leaves only their eyes and hands visible. Women are forbidden to vote. Women cannot maintain a bank account without their husbands' permission. Women cannot leave the country without the husband's permission. The list goes on and on.

And in legal proceedings: "Women may not testify in court unless it is a personal matter that did not occur in the sight of men. The testimony of a woman is not regarded as fact but as presumption. The reasons women are forbidden to testify in proceedings are:

Women are much more emotional than men and will, as a result of their emotions, distort their testimony.
Women do not participate in public life, so they will not be capable of understanding what they observe.
Women are dominated completely by men, who by the grace of God are deemed superior; therefore, women will give testimony according to what the last man told them.
Women are forgetful, and their testimony cannot be considered reliable."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women's_rights_in_Saudi_Arabia

That is the way women are seen in Saudi Arabia.

Sunday January 18, 2009, 7:13 pm
I am not saying that they are not horrible Kit - they are!
But I do not think that it is EVERYONE of them. Just like here, our media sensationalizes they goings on. I am sure you have seen how people are more apt to sympathize with Garza than Israel? That is due to the media playing sides.

Not ALL Israelies or Palastinians want war and yet the media makes it look like it is ALL.

I actually met someone who had a family member that got their hand cut off for rape from Turkey. I could not tell you whether it was deserved or not I did not ask. It is a strong deterrent but just as criminal of a punishment.

As far as the man who got Electric Shock, he is not the only one. There are reported thousands and the situation is growing with the middle aged and elderly and guess what! The courts are ordering it! It is legal. Right here in the good old US of A!

But does that make it EVERYONE- No, it doesn't. But, it does make it just as bad of a situation. These people suffer permanent brain damage.

So, like I said EACH COUNTRY has it's own oppression. If we want to be an example we need to be able to set one.

Sunday January 18, 2009, 7:13 pm
And, of course, women may be murdered by their male relatives for breaches of family "honor", essentially with impunity.

Sunday January 18, 2009, 7:23 pm
And the punishment for honor killings? In many of the countries, none in some as much as 3 months in prison. If a woman is in fear for her life the only place the authorities have for her is to put her in prison.

Sorry Sue...just not a one to one comparison. As an American woman I get angry about some of the blatant injustice, primarily lack of fair pay, and no one will harm me for that opinion. Americans at least have tried to end oppression, and we do not encourage it in other countries.

Sunday January 18, 2009, 7:48 pm
I have never said it does not happen Kit not have I belittled the fact that it does. I am just pointing out that all countries have their own oppressions.

Some worse than others. But if I had to choose whether I was brain dead or my genitals sewn together I think the answer to that would be obvious.

People have traveled and have lived in many of these middle eastern countries, even married some of the men and live in tranquility. Again, NOT all are bad and not all should be grouped into that catergory.

Sunday January 18, 2009, 8:22 pm
Many people have traveled and lived in these countries with both good and bad experiences. They live as if the world were still in the 7th century, and that can not be helpful for the women or children of those countries. That is simply a matter of human rights, something I feel strongly about. People in the 21st century should not be subjected to laws created to control ancient tribes. Men are not wiser or better then women and I can not agree that women should ever be subjected to that treatment. Honor killings are not some strange random occurrence but happen very often, I know you do not agree with that mentality, or that to find safe haven women have to go to prison. What is good about that? Nothing.

Sunday January 18, 2009, 8:52 pm
I know you do not agree with that mentality?

Where have I said I did? I do not agree with what is going on. Never have and never will there is no excuse for Honor Killings or genital manipulation.

What I disagree with is the fact that ALL middle easterners are the same as what is happening.
They are not the law, and the law is what makes this allowed.

Just like here we have laws that are not okay. But it does not make the people here bad.

Monday January 19, 2009, 6:22 am
When I generalize on the entire population of Saudi Arabia, it's only because of the extremity of the offense the population accepts as norm. When the sexist and sadistic manner the female population are subjected to isn't addressed as battered woman syndrome and considered "cultural", then those who are silent are guilty. "If you're not part of the solution, you are part of the problem".

Today is MLK. Today in the USA, there are no longer lynchings, segregated schools, stores, drinking fountains, buses and beaches nor segregated justice. Tomorrow a racially integrated President becomes our leader and our hope. That's the difference between the American people and the Saudi Arabian people. They have oil, we have freedom and human rights. I takes a lot more to change how a country treats it's people than it does to get oil out of the ground.

I'm all for a policy similar to the "wet foot - dry foot" Cuban refugee immigration program. My suggestion is that the USA should offer sanctuary to any woman who flees a country which practices the barbarism that Saudi Arabia along with a whole lot of other countries do. If they can somehow get to one of our embassies or get to our country, they qualify for America's offer of sanctuary.

Monday January 19, 2009, 6:36 am
One more thing, I buy my gasoline from either Hess but more often Citgo. Neither company uses oil from the Middle East. My preference is Citgo because it's from Venezuela and is owned and operated by the people of Venezuela. The profits go to supporting free health care, assisted housing and free education all the way up to and through college for all Venezuelans, including women. Citgo also gives reduced rate heating fuel to portions of the USA's poor when our own assistance programs fail. I can prove everything I just wrote. Exxon last year gave retiring executive Raymond a $400,000,000 retirement nest egg in comparison.

So if you want to talk boycott and care about women's and human rights, here's one way to do just that. Buy Hess or better still, Citgo and boycott Exxon.

Monday January 19, 2009, 8:33 am
Exactly Vaughn - and I second that.

One of the more disturbing aspects of all of this is the fact that they do not live in isolation. The countries that practice this barbaric treatment of women are well aware of the outside world, have television and newspapers and fully realize that the world is disgusted by this practice. They hide behind the Koran, and yet as with the bible there are contradictory passages, some say clearly that a woman is equal to a man. We all must support some sort of international agreement to put pressure on these countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, to help to bring a change.

Monday January 19, 2009, 9:00 am
These countries we speak of would have to build a wall around their borders, similarly to what East Berlin did to prevent their citizens from escaping. The civilized world would call it the Gender Wall. The only way husbands from those Hell holes can keep their wives from leaving them would be such a wall.

On a better note, our new soon to be leader isn't in bed with the Saudi leaders like the bush family is. Hopefully none of our troops will ever again be asked to go bail them out in time of invasion. I know that if I was in the US military and ordered to go to Saudi Arabia to defend their regime, I'd disobey orders and accept my dishonorable discharge as a badge of honor.

Monday January 19, 2009, 9:16 am
I wouldn't think that you need to prove that Vaughn, it is common knowledge or I assume it is common knowledge. Too bad that Mexico is not using their oil wealth for the common good. I have often wondered if Cuba and Israel had oil what geopolitical impact that would have.

Monday January 19, 2009, 10:53 am
For those who wish to learn more about these atrocities I highly recommend the documentary "Crimes of Honor" narration by Olympia Dukakis. In the original format it was approximately a 3 hour film but could well have gone longer. I understand it was cut to an optional one hour for those who have a problem with longer movies. This story will tear your heart, and cause you to be angry as a nest of hornets. It follows the story of one young woman - but includes more then just her story to make the viewer fully aware of the situation. I believe the original release was in 2000.

Monday January 19, 2009, 11:27 am
thanks Kit for movie suggestion.

Monday January 19, 2009, 12:15 pm
you're right Vaughn, if anyone qualifies for safe harbour and sanctuary, it's these women. they are so abused and denied basic human rights they should be offered safety at our embassies and shores.

Monday January 19, 2009, 1:34 pm
Where in the Koran does it say to kill and maim women, god help the muslim men when they meet there god, if its hell down here, well god help the muslim men in heaven, and one other thing to remember.
WOMEN ARE THE GIVERS OF LIFE, WITH OUT THEM THE MUSLIM MEN WOULD NOT BE ON EARTH. MAGGIE TUTTLE www.hrtsideeffects.com

Monday January 19, 2009, 2:00 pm
That has to be the worst nightmare for those men and groups of men that practice this abomination of the Qaran. That women and maybe even "their" children can escape them. This is why they exclude them from education, from being able to participate in any organized way to share ideas, to keep them covered, fenced, contained and ignorant. If they show any independence of thought or action, they summarily kill them. After all they can easily obtain another breeder.

Monday January 19, 2009, 3:03 pm
lindsay, you suggest a boycott of pakistan?

And what is their trade level with the west? How would that be effective for a nation with little to no exports?

Methinks this is just more of your Arab-bashing disguised with crocodile tears.

Monday January 19, 2009, 3:38 pm
Actually, Walkadelic Pakistan does export to the world:

"Export goods textile goods (garments, bed linen, cotton cloths, and yarn), rice, leather goods, sports goods, chemicals manufactures, carpets and rugs
Main export partners United States 22.4%, UAE 8.3%,UK 6%, China 5.4%, Germany 4.7% (2006 est.)" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Pakistan

My point is this: I often hear cries that we should boycott a nation such as Israel because of its treatment of the Palestinians. For many years we boycotted South Africa because of its treatment of its black population.

Do you not believe that the truly horrific legal and social conditions women must live under in many countries is equally deserving of our action? When you consider that ONE-HALF of the population of those countries is living in subjugation to the other half with precious few protections under the law, does that not rank among the really large human rights violations of this world?

That isn't Arab-bashing. It's taking action against any nation, whether "Arab" or not, that treats half of its citizens in that fashion. And, by the way - Pakistan is not an Arab country.

Monday January 19, 2009, 4:28 pm
Aptly put Lindsay, perhaps Mr. W would benefit from a geography along with history lesson.

Monday January 19, 2009, 5:47 pm
Of course, Palestinian women's welfare is important - so long as the entity causing their pain is Israel. Afghan women's welfare is important - so long as the entity causing their pain is the U.S.

But if the entity causing their pain is their own government and the men in their own society - that's "Arab-Bashing" and their welfare isn't of any concern.

Simply because someone chooses to not sign a petition that addresses a cause they intellectually or morally do not agree with does not mean that the concern for others is not genuine. Your statement Sir W, would seem to imply that Lindsey's deep sensitivity to plight of women is not real, I take offense with that, in fact the women in Palestine were much better off before the intrusion of Islamic fascist radicals, and their total disregard for any life other then how that life can serve a political purpose. Not everyone is so easily taken in by the well crafted political stunts of Hamas.

Wednesday January 21, 2009, 8:17 am
Israel: Boycott, Divest, Sanction

By Naomi Klein - January 8th, 2009

It's time. Long past time. The best strategy to end the increasingly bloody occupation is for Israel to become the target of the kind of global movement that put an end to apartheid in South Africa.

In July 2005 a huge coalition of Palestinian groups laid out plans to do just that. They called on "people of conscience all over the world to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era." The campaign Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions—BDS for short—was born.

Every day that Israel pounds Gaza brings more converts to the BDS cause, and talk of cease-fires is doing little to slow the momentum. Support is even emerging among Israeli Jews. In the midst of the assault roughly 500 Israelis, dozens of them well-known artists and scholars, sent a letter to foreign ambassadors stationed in Israel. It calls for "the adoption of immediate restrictive measures and sanctions" and draws a clear parallel with the antiapartheid struggle. "The boycott on South Africa was effective, but Israel is handled with kid gloves.… This international backing must stop."

Yet even in the face of these clear calls, many of us still can't go there. The reasons are complex, emotional and understandable. And they simply aren't good enough. Economic sanctions are the most effective tools in the nonviolent arsenal. Surrendering them verges on active complicity. Here are the top four objections to the BDS strategy, followed by counterarguments.

1. Punitive measures will alienate rather than persuade Israelis. The world has tried what used to be called "constructive engagement." It has failed utterly. Since 2006 Israel has been steadily escalating its criminality: expanding settlements, launching an outrageous war against Lebanon and imposing collective punishment on Gaza through the brutal blockade. Despite this escalation, Israel has not faced punitive measures—quite the opposite. The weapons and $3 billion in annual aid that the US sends to Israel is only the beginning. Throughout this key period, Israel has enjoyed a dramatic improvement in its diplomatic, cultural and trade relations with a variety of other allies. For instance, in 2007 Israel became the first non–Latin American country to sign a free-trade deal with Mercosur. In the first nine months of 2008, Israeli exports to Canada went up 45 percent. A new trade deal with the European Union is set to double Israel's exports of processed food. And on December 8, European ministers "upgraded" the EU-Israel Association Agreement, a reward long sought by Jerusalem.*

It is in this context that Israeli leaders started their latest war: confident they would face no meaningful costs. It is remarkable that over seven days of wartime trading, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange's flagship index actually went up 10.7 percent. When carrots don't work, sticks are needed.

2. Israel is not South Africa. Of course it isn't. The relevance of the South African model is that it proves that BDS tactics can be effective when weaker measures (protests, petitions, back-room lobbying) have failed. And there are indeed deeply distressing echoes of South African apartheid in the occupied territories: the color-coded IDs and travel permits, the bulldozed homes and forced displacement, the settler-only roads. Ronnie Kasrils, a prominent South African politician, said that the architecture of segregation that he saw in the West Bank and Gaza was "infinitely worse than apartheid." That was in 2007, before Israel began its full-scale war against the open-air prison that is Gaza.

3. Why single out Israel when the United States, Britain and other Western countries do the same things in Iraq and Afghanistan? Boycott is not a dogma; it is a tactic. The reason the BDS strategy should be tried against Israel is practical: in a country so small and trade-dependent, it could actually work.

4. Boycotts sever communication; we need more dialogue, not less. This one I'll answer with a personal story. For eight years, my books have been published in Israel by a commercial house called Babel. But when I published The Shock Doctrine, I wanted to respect the boycott. On the advice of BDS activists, including the wonderful writer John Berger, I contacted a small publisher called Andalus. Andalus is an activist press, deeply involved in the anti-occupation movement and the only Israeli publisher devoted exclusively to translating Arabic writing into Hebrew. We drafted a contract that guarantees that all proceeds go to Andalus's work, and none to me. In other words, I am boycotting the Israeli economy but not Israelis.

Coming up with our modest publishing plan required dozens of phone calls, e-mails and instant messages, stretching from Tel Aviv to Ramallah to Paris to Toronto to Gaza City. My point is this: as soon as you start implementing a boycott strategy, dialogue increases dramatically. And why wouldn't it? Building a movement requires endless communicating, as many in the antiapartheid struggle well recall. The argument that supporting boycotts will cut us off from one another is particularly specious given the array of cheap information technologies at our fingertips. We are drowning in ways to rant at one another across national boundaries. No boycott can stop us.

Just about now, many a proud Zionist is gearing up for major point-scoring: don't I know that many of those very high-tech toys come from Israeli research parks, world leaders in infotech? True enough, but not all of them. Several days into Israel's Gaza assault, Richard Ramsey, the managing director of a British telecom specializing in voice-over-internet services, sent an email to the Israeli tech firm MobileMax. "As a result of the Israeli government action in the last few days we will no longer be in a position to consider doing business with yourself or any other Israeli company."

Ramsey says that his decision wasn't political; he just didn't want to lose customers. "We can't afford to lose any of our clients," he explains, "so it was purely commercially defensive."

It was this kind of cold business calculation that led many companies to pull out of South Africa two decades ago. And it's precisely the kind of calculation that is our most realistic hope of bringing justice, so long denied, to Palestine.

*On January 14, in response to Israel's aggression in Gaza, the EU called off its plans to upgrade the EU-Israel Association Agreement, a sign of growing understanding that political sanctions can be brought to bear to bring an end to the war.

This column was first published in The Nation

http://www.naomiklein.org/articles/2009/01/israel-boycott-divest-sanction

Sunday February 15, 2009, 9:25 am
This is the kind of stuff that makes me want to scream