Human Rights Issues in the Middle East - A Liberal Perspective
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Local and international press articles gathered here highlight the
dismal state of human rights in Arab and Muslim countries, but these
back page articles don't get much attention from Western media, human
rights groups and progressive organizations. Saudis don't like "Black
and Brown" people from Africa and nobody seems to like homo***uals.
Everyone loves women of course, as long as they know their place.
Repressive legislation and practices against women, homo***uals,
minorities and dissidents are the rule in most countries of the
Middle
East, with the possible exceptions of Israel and Lebanon. Turkey's
record is marred by repression of its Kurdish minority, but it claims
it is now improving the treatment of Kurds in order to gain admission
to the EU. Syria continues to persecute and disenfranchise its large
Kurdish minority, resulting in periodic riots that are repressed by
mass murder.
It would seem that these urgent human rights issues in the Middle
East
and Muslim countries should be at the top of the urgent concerns of
progressive groups and media re****ting on the Middle East.
Unfortunately that is not the case.
Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other countries have repressive legislation
against women and homo***uals. Rates of female literacy are much
lower
than male literacy in many Arab and Muslim countries, because girls
are not sent to school or are taken out early. Women cannot drive or
vote in Saudi Arabia, and their behavior is supervised by an all-male
"Virtue Commission."
Wife beating is allowed on the grounds that it is commanded by the
Qur'an.
"Honor Killings" are regular occurrences in the Arab and Muslim
world,
A woman who has "dishonored her family" by having premarital or
extramarital
*** is often killed, or in some cases, blackmailed into performing a
suicide bombing.
In countries like Iran, women are sentenced to death for adultery.
Racism and religious persecution and discrimination are rife. Adolph
Hitler's Mein Kampf is a best seller in Arab countries, as are the
forged Protocols of the Elders of Zion and other anti-Semitic
literature. Mustapha Tlass, former Syrian Defense Minister, wrote a
popular book claiming that the "Blood Libel" is true: Jews murder
Christian children and use their blood to bake Matzoth for Passover.
However, racism and religious persecution are not limited to Jews.
Converts from Islam to any other religion often face death, and
anything that might be construed as missionary activities including
possession of the New Testament are outlawed in many countries.
Very oddly, repressive legislation and blatant racism in Arab and
Muslim Middle Eastern countries get scant coverage
Below are articles from the local and international press that
reflect problems and progress in human rights. .
In "Say No to Beggars," published in Arabic in Okaz and in English in
the Saudi government Arab News Journal
(http: //www.arabnews.com/?
page=3D13§ion=3D0&article=3D69132&d=3D28&m=3D8&y=3D2005) , Abdullah
Abo=
u-
Alsamh writes:
Brown and black non-Saudi beggars will continue to roam the streets
of
our cities, posing major problems, for as long as there are those who
collude in prolonging a problem that has proved difficult to solve.
It
is true that both local government and non-governmental bodies have
made many attempts to combat the phenomenon but their efforts have
had
little impact. The only solution is in the hands of members of the
public - citizens and expatriates alike. Had we all joined together
to
address the problem by considering the root causes, we would have
succeeded in ending the vile practice that is truly a black spot on
the body of our country. The solution is very simple: Stop giving to
beggars. Don't give them a riyal or even a halala. In short, we have
to cut off their supplies...
People should immediately stop giving money to beggars. Otherwise,
even more of Africa will move into our streets.
persecution of gays is getting worse, according to a Human Rights
Watch re****t: (re****ted in http://www.afrol.com/articles/11415)
There, the re****t says, the gay men were routinely subjected to
torture. "Doctors there compel the men to strip and kneel; they
massage, dilate and in some cases penetrate the prisoners' anal
cavities, subjecting them to intrusive, abusive, and degrading
examinations to 'prove' the men have committed homo***ual acts."
Also in Egypt, a conference of Copts called for ending persecution:
Of course, this is just a tiny sample.
Remember - every time a homo***ual gets arrested in Egypt, a Kurd
gets
shot in Turkey or a disobedient wife gets beaten in Saudi Arabia,
your
tax dollars are at work.
Are you still sure that the number one problem in the Middle East is
Israel?
Copyright
Please tell people about the Human Rights violations in the Middle
East and link to this page. The above article is copyright =A9 2005 by
Ami Isseroff and may not be copied to your Web site or reprinted
without permission. Articles from the press are reproduced below with
credit for non-profit educational purposes
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