Among the protests that erupted in Syria during the last few days, some close-minded religious figures expressed in their  “demands” the hatred they have towards women. One of them said that among the demands of the people of the coastal city of Banias is to “get the female teachers, who hide their faces by niqab, to their respective positions [after being dismissed by the ministry of education and were referred to work in other ministries]”.

It seems that this Sheikh doesn’t know anything about history except the hegemonic masculinity that dominates his and others’ minds who defended one of the most extreme kinds of violence against women, namely the niqab. We have clearly stated that the niqab is an obvious violence against women as it considers the person behind it as not a human, and treats her as a pure creature of sin and fitna that has to be avoided by hiding her completely.  

Everybody knows that the spread of niqab during the recent years has increased because of those who were raised and educated by the fundamental Wahabi ideology, who come to Syria to practice their extremism as they failed to assume their responsibilities towards themselves, families, and society. The only other way, they found, to prove themselves is to commit more and more violence towards women. 

Those same people defend the dirty killing in the name of “honor” and reject equality in justice, rights and duties. They aim at imprisoning women at their houses and ban them to work, be educated, travel, choose the husband and participate in running the affairs of the family, and of course forbidding them to assume any public position under many pretexts that expose those people’s despise of the notion of citizenship itself, arguing in fact that citizenship is something limited to “males” only.  

It has to be noted that many religious figures have proved that their own religion is one of violence, discrimination, and scorn towards women, not a religion of peace and sublimity. While other religious figures expressed their real belonging to the essence of the Islamic religion which was created in fact to serve rather than enslave the human.   

SWO reiterates its commitment to work on its stated objectives since its establishment in January 2005. We will be alert to stay one hand against any endeavor that tries either to take back what the Syrian women has already gained, or to be an obstacle in the road to get all the rights that Syrian woman still lacks to. For that sake, we will spot the light on any motto or speech that include any kind of discrimination against Syrian women.

And once again, we state quite clearly that there is no democracy, freedom or citizenship without equality. Every call for freedom, democracy or citizenship that doesn’t clearly include the equality is rights and duties, is all but another violation of the notions of humans rights, freedom, democracy and citizenship themselves. We will work, as always, against any kind of discrimination and violence against Syrian Women.   

By Syrian Women Observatory, 19/3/2011, (Syrian woman would not be a victim of some protests! )

Source in Arabic.. (Click here..)