Protect Yourself from Cyber Stalkers

Stalking preceded the 1980 murder of John Lennon, and John Hinckley Jr.’s assassination attempt on President Reagan in 1981. Such high-profile cases raised the public’s awareness of this crime. While stalking can be committed by both genders against both genders, the majority of stalking victims are ordinary women, who are being pursued, monitored or threatened by someone with whom they have had a prior relationship. Often, the stalking begins when the victim attempts to break off an intimate relationship. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that approximately 3.4 million U.S. adults were victims of stalking in 2006. Individuals who are divorced or separated are at the greatest risk for stalking. Many victims of stalking suffer financial difficulties due to missed work, having to move, or court costs.

In recent times, online stalking has become a frequent occurrence. Thus, many cyber stalking cases include elements of both computer crime and domestic violence.

Many stalkers are motivated by a desire to intimidate and exert control over their victims and engage in more than one types of behavior to accomplish this end. A cyber stalker might post offensive statements on public websites encouraging others to harass the victim, divulge sensitive information about the victim with the intention of humiliating or endangering her, or falsely claim to be married or intimate with the victim. A cyber stalker may also send manipulative, threatening, lewd or harassing emails from an assortment of email accounts. Cyber stalking is often committed in a psychological state of obsessive rage or lust, and can cause serious emotional distress to the victim who will usually feel deeply violated. Stalking can lead to an assault or even murder. 

Stalkers may also commit identity theft against victims – including taking money from bank accounts, charging purchases to a victim’s credit card, and hijacking email accounts. This can be very easy to do to a spouse, when passwords and account numbers have been shared in the past, but computer hacking or sabotage by an estranged spouse is also becoming a frequent occurrence, motivated by revenge, a desire to discover evidence of an affair, or to prevent a domestic abuse victim from getting help or support from the community. Electronic Privacy expert Frederick Lane says that about 45 percent of divorce cases involve some snooping — and gathering — of email, Facebook and other online material. For this reason it is important to change or secure all personal accounts before announcing a divorce or separation or even earlier, when domestic abuse or neglect becomes apparent.

Once a stalker has accessed your email account, he will have access to all your personal emails, past and future. He will also have access to any other accounts that are linked to that account such as Facebook, dating sites, yahoogroups and PayPal. He can send out emails or post on websites impersonating you, subscribe or unsubscribe you from mailing lists, or erase your contacts. One stalker even set up a firewall preventing his estranged wife from accessing the internet service she had paid for! A stalker may not change your password right away, in order to continue to monitor your personal life without your knowledge. But once he has changed your password, it will be nearly impossible for you to gain access to your own account unless you use a paid email service.

However, there are things you can do ahead of time to protect your privacy. Never ask anyone else to check your email for you. Install spyware software. Don’t use cyber cafes. Keep your passwords secret and change them often. Check your recovery information diligently, since this could be used to regain access to your password after you have changed it. Change the answers to your secret questions. Leo Notenboom suggests in an online advice column that the answers that you choose don’t have to match the questions (you might say your mother’s maiden name is “Microsoft”, for example). All that matters is that the answers that you give match the answers that you set here if you ever need to recover your account.

In 2011, a Michigan woman, Clara Walker brought felony charges against her ex-husband, Leon Walker for hacking into her private emails during their marriage, but in most cases cyber stalking is not treated as a criminal offense unless it includes threats of violence or sexual coercion, or is in violation of a previously existing restraining order.

Because of the difficulty of protecting citizens from stalking, police detectives strongly encourage spouses to seek a restraining order at the first sign of alarming behavior rather than waiting to see if things will calm down. However, divorce lawyers often advise otherwise, since resentment over restraining orders can get in the way of profitable negotiations and parental visits. It is often hard to predict how low someone would go to harass you and how long it will continue. 11% of victims are stalked for 5 years or more, according to US Bureau of Justice Statistics. However, the longer a victim waits after the first credible threat the harder it is to demonstrate immediate danger in order get a restraining order.

If harassment continues after you have asked the person to stop, contact the harasser’s Internet Service Provider (ISP). Most ISP’s have clear policies prohibiting the use of their services to abuse another person. Often, an ISP can try to stop the conduct by closing their account. If you receive abusive e-mails, identify the domain (after the “@” sign) and contact that ISP. Most ISP’s have an e-mail address such as abuse@(domain name) or postmaster@(domain name) that can be used for complaints.

Should We Boycott Israeli Art?

Sarah Gillespie started an interesting debate on deliberation.info with her article, “The BDS Cultural Boycott and Integrity.” BDS stands for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel. She opposes the call by the BDS to sabotage or ban any mode of expression delivered by state-enforced Israeli artists, musicians and thinkers because “art has the capacity to transcend the binary world of ‘placard politics’ (‘for’ this or ‘against’ that) and deliver the transforming might of pathos, spirit, sadness and beauty… We should boycott Israeli products, not art, spirit and ideas.”

While I share her reservations about why only Israeli-born Zionists are being boycotted, the inevitable ethical inconsistencies that arise in trying to avoid supporting any type of organized violence, especially when that would include boycotting one’s own country, and the funding by George Soros of the BDS movement, I disagree with her that “Art” is something that should never be boycotted.

Art is a luxury product. Jewish gift stores give a lot of legitimacy to Israel’s folk narrative by selling Israeli made handicrafts and clothes. People who shop there are usually buying those products in order to help support the financial existence of illegal settlers in Occupied Palestine.

Likewise, the Israeli government purposely promotes Israeli artists and musicians, considering them ambassadors for the legitimization of the Zionist State of Israel. The Shakespeare play shown in London, which Gillespie opposed boycotting, was not only funded by the State of Israel but was rewritten in order to generate more sympathy for the Jewish character, transforming it into a standard work of propaganda.

Boycotters make exceptions for those Jewish Israelis who are openly opposing Zionism, yet it would be ridiculous not to assume that all Israelis who are selling us products whether art or plastic storage boxes are participating in Zionism. In any case, they are paying taxes to the Israeli government and are at the very least in that way participating in genocide.

If we apply the same morals to Jews as we do to others, all Jews as a group, if they do not consciously defect from the Zionist racist movement, are guilty of participating in Zionist aggression, preventing public comment, or letting racist violence happen without comment.

It is quite standard to revile an artist or academic if he has ever been a member of any other racist organization.

For example, mainstream media consistently refers to former Congressman David Duke without his Doctor title as a way of belittling him, even though he has claimed that the KKK in his town was nothing more than a neighborhood organization. Nobody starts jumping up and down fuming at the mouth when someone condemns or boycotts a former member of the KKK, insisting, “But not all KKK members are violent!” Most people simply accept that the KKK is a purveyor of racist violence and try to avoid supporting it, even indirectly.

Yet we are asked to distinguish carefully between a non-violent Zionist and Zionism as a movement, even though all Israelis are required to serve in the Israeli military and are thus guilty of participating in organized crime.

The question of whether or not boycotting a theater production would ever end the Israeli state needs to be looked at in context of the American Jewish lobby. Any Palestinian poet who tried to book a show in New Jersey would automatically find himself canceled and playing outside the cafe in the street due to a deluge of angry phone calls from Zionist Jews, even if his poster had a picture of a dove on it.

It would probably be wise for more Americans to become similarly aggressive about getting Zionist performances cancelled. That way, the theater will learn to either avoid all controversial performances OR they will be forced to adopt a more balanced approach (for example showing both Palestinian and Israeli art productions). What happens when only Jews protest, the Jews get what they want while others just stew.

It is impossible to boycott entirely a country in which you live, but you can still make wisest choices about how to spend your money. I would only encourage a foreigner to spend money on American artists if I knew for sure that this artist’s world view supported something that person could morally accept. Paintings are a dime a dozen. If all you want is a pretty picture, frame a calendar photo. You should buy a painting because you are supporting a revolutionary movement – you want to give money to a particular artist because you want them to continue in their struggle for truth and beauty.

There are Israeli musicians and writers I support because they are outspoken anti-Zionists. But if some random Israeli musician was playing at my children’s elementary school I would oppose it, because that would be giving a public message that Israelis are cute and cuddly, that we should bond with them emotionally and give them our tax dollars and feel sorry for them because they are such good musicians.

The main idea behind a boycott is to delegitimize the fake Zionist narrative. There were a couple kids in my elementary school whose parents forbade them to participate in Israeli folk dances and it made long lasting impressions on their fellow students. At first we did not understand why these students opposed Israel, but eventually we figured it out.

One can only imagine with trepidation a world where no one ever spoke truth in the face of power and privilege.

Boston’s School Bussing Policy Unsustainable

Growing up in Ann Arbor, Michigan I often felt like I had a hard time making and keeping friendships. My immigrant parents who worked more than full time had no close community ties and were not particularly social, so I was basically on my own when it came to finding a group of peers to “hang out” with. However, due to the relatively small size of the town and neighborhood school placement, by Junior High, even without much parental supervision I was quite familiar to the neighborhood kids and had developed relationships that, thanks to Facebook, continue to this day.

My children growing up in Boston, Massachusetts are having a very different childhood.

I try to make an effort to get to know the parents of any child my children take a shine to, but keeping up the relationship however requires driving the children to and from play-dates, because the way Boston Public Schools are set up, students are chosen from remote neighborhoods to attend school. I have at times found myself in despair because even after four children, I have hardly any personal contact with neighborhood parents, while my children do not know anyone from school within walking distance to play with, despite the large number of children living in our area.

Personal alienation is a profound side effect of Boston’s historical bussing program that was instituted as a result of the Civil Rights movement. Instead of automatically going to a nearby school, all students regardless of family income are entered in a lottery to try for their “top choice” schools. Failing that, students are assigned almost randomly to schools throughout the city. While students within walking distance of a school receive some priority status there is no guarantee. I cannot even imagine the waste in gasoline costs. Not only are poor kids getting bussed into wealthier areas for school but wealthier kids are being bussed into poorer neighborhoods. There are even programs such as METCO, where children are bussed out into the suburbs in the interest of diversity.

In a Dorchester Reporter article entitled “School policy casts our children adrift,” Gintautas Dumcius describes a recent Committee on Education hearing at Boston City Hall. It included several families disgruntled with the current system. They all live within blocks of each other, but their children go to different schools. “I don’t, frankly, know many of them,” said Michael Harrington, a Dorchester parent of two, with a tinge of sadness. Parents reported that they must take their children each morning to several different bus stops to be brought to various schools many miles away. The situation is so intensely irritating that parents who can afford it have been moving to the suburbs or putting their children in private schools.

Karen Johnson, who relocated her family from Pittsburgh to Boston, said if she had a chance to do it all over again, she would probably not have moved into the city. “I’m unhappy with the structure of the system and that children have to move [between schools] so often.”

“I think all of this testimony spoke to the need for massive reform,”

City Councillor At-Large John Connolly said after the five hour hearing. “…The current system leaves parents greatly frustrated and the Dorchester panel also spoke to the fact that it leaves neighbors not knowing each other or not able to bond together the way they’d like to.”

Mayor Thomas Menino has pledged to launch a “radically different” school placement system, with students being able to go to schools in their neighborhood, by next year.

There is a task force assigned to the duty of overhauling the school assignment policies.

My own personal experience with Boston Public Schools has actually been quite positive. Placement in Kindergarten for my youngest can be expected to take up to three years in Boston due to not enough available seats for willing students, but one wonderful new development, part of the School Readiness program, is the parent-child Playgroups opportunity for parents and children 1 and up. Another great thing for my family is the expansion of my children’s elementary school into a middle school, thus enabling my children to keep their friendships through eighth grade.

But the best policy of all for my children so far has been the Exam School policy of Boston Public Schools. Students on the Honor Roll in third and fourth grade are put into the “Advanced Work Program,” special class assignments likely to result in placement at one of three prestigious public prep schools. Boston Latin School, where my son now attends seventh grade, is actually the oldest public school in America, and was attended by the likes of Benjamin Franklin and other founders of the United States.

So, although the general state of Boston Public Schools remains perhaps not much more than a government-funded daycare center for working parents, for those students who want to learn, and are willing to work, there are very real opportunities, and I am deeply grateful for that.

Neighborhood organizations like “Thrive in 5” combine the efforts of several government and donor sponsored organizations to help unite isolated parents with available aid, but ultimately I think the best way to introduce families to one another is to re-institute neighborhood school assignments so that parents can organize themselves to get the funding they need for whatever they want to see happen locally.

People’s Lawyer Goes to Jail

by TMO 

By Karin Friedemann, TMO

File:  Attorney Barry Wilson.

Boston–“The fiery attorney who represented former Boston city councilor Chuck Turner in his bribery trial is now headed to jail himself,” the Boston Globe reports.

Superior Court Judge Patrick Brady sentenced famed “people’s lawyer” Barry Wilson to 90 days in the South Bay House of Correction in Boston for contempt of court for being “loud, abusive, insulting and disruptive.”

On May 15, 2012, Wilson was escorted off to jail in front of a courthouse crowded with his supporters.

Attorney Wilson was attempting to ensure that his client, a 22-year-old African-American man on trial for his life, had a jury of his peers in a first degree murder trial. Wilson protested when the prosecutor struck off all young people and people of African-American descent from serving on the jury. Wilson then “went ballistic” after the judge then empaneled a white man who had worked many years for Homeland Security. David Boeri of WBUR reports that Wilson’s “pyrotechnics” went on for six minutes.

“You’re going to sit him. Lock me up now. Just lock me up, lock me up and declare a mistrial,” Wilson ranted. “That’s ridiculous. Fifteen years a federal agent and he’s going to be unbiased — are you kidding me?”

As Wilson strongly objected, the judge found him in contempt. The Judge then stayed the sentence until completion of the trial and ordered Attorney Wilson to proceed. As a result, Wilson said he was under the sword during the whole trial and therefore distracted from defending his client fully.

Two days after the jury found the defendant guilty of first degree murder, Judge Brady sentenced Attorney Wilson to ninety days in jail.

Barry Wilson has a 36 year long history of defending political activists, labor organizers, immigrants and minorities. He was lead counsel in the Plymouth 25, Marcus Jean and Amer Jubran cases, the first lawyer for the Boston School Bus Drivers, Steelworkers Local 8751 in the 1970s, and counsel for framed African-American City Councilor Chuck Turner. Wilson served six months in federal prison in 1985 for refusing to violate attorney-client privilege.

According to Wilson’s lawyer, Judge Brady had dropped “a nuclear bomb” without warning, “chilling the advocacy” of defense attorneys.

Associate Appeals Court Justice David Mills, in reviewing Wilson’s alleged misconduct, considered it a clear breach of decorum. “He screamed at the judge and made a scene,” Mills said.

“All I’m trying to do is stand up for my clients’ rights,” Wilson said. “You got to be in those pits to understand what you have to do.

You’re standing between your client and a jail cell. And you have an ethical, professional obligation to be a zealous advocate.”

On Thursday May 3, 2012, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court denied Attorney Wilson’s motion for further appellate review, thus upholding the Court of Appeal’s March 20, 2012 decision denying Attorney Wilson’s appeal. The Appeals Court called Wilson’s conduct “without parallel” in a 21-page rebuke.

During the contempt hearing, Wilson was defiant.

“Mr. Wilson, your behavior before me two weeks ago was atrocious,” said Suffolk Superior Court Judge Patrick Brady, calling Wilson’s conduct “the worst I’ve seen in 20 years on the bench.”

“I don’t think my conduct was egregious or out of line in terms of what occurred in court,” the criminal defense attorney replied to the judge in his well-known booming voice. “In 2011 an African-American man cannot get a fair trial.”

“Wilson has a right to his own opinions but he has no right to interrupt the proceedings and turn the courtroom into a platform from which to hurl disrespectful words at the judge and the criminal justice system because he did not agree with the judge’s ruling,” the Appeals Court concluded.

“This flagrantly reactionary repression — which comes from the same poisoned well that jailed people’s lawyer Lynne Stewart (who represented the blind Shaykh Omar Rahman) — is designed to send a threatening message to the progressive movement and to all defense lawyers who stand with it,” comments Kirshbaum in Workers World.

Larry Pinkney writes on BlackCommentator.com, “On February 10th, 2005, attorney Lynne Portia Stewart, after having been targeted for many years by the US Government for her vigorous defense of the rights of Black and other people of color, found herself convicted of a despicably and conspicuously bogus ‘conspiracy to aid and abet terrorism’ charge.”

This was “an obvious attempt by the U.S. government to silence dissent, curtail vigorous defense lawyers, and install fear in those who would fight against the U.S. government’s racism,” state her supporters.

Prior to sentencing, Stewart wrote a letter to the judge pleading for mercy: “What might have been legitimately tolerated in 2000-2001, was after 9/11, interpreted differently and considered criminal… The government disparages the idea of zealous advocacy because it has never practiced criminal defense law as I did, with heartfelt concern for my clients. I tested the limits of what the courts and law would allow for my clients because I believed I was, as criminal defense lawyers often say, “liberty’s last champion.”

Unfortunately the rules of ethics have moved away from excusing zealous or intemperate behavior and language. 90 days in the county jail for Wilson still seems quite extraordinary, when the customary penalty for an attorney’s contempt of court is normally a fine, but jail time for zealous attorneys seems to be occurring more frequently, especially in political cases.

Michigan criminal defense attorney Scott Milliard found himself in jail for four days after being held in contempt by District Court Judge Kenneth Post because he told a client at arraignment not to answer the judge’s questions about personal drug use because the client might incriminate himself.

Kentucky attorney Amelia Adams got 6 months in jail after she refused to disclose to District Judge Karem the name of her 17 year old client who had sought permission from the court to have an abortion without her parent’s consent.

Wilson told his supporters, “I’ll go do my 90 days, I’ll smile through the whole 90 days. I’ll go out the way I came in… No I don’t regret anything. I did what I was supposed to do.”
Wilson plans to retire after he does his time. “I’m gone,” Wilson says. “I don’t want any more part of this. Why would I want to do this job any more and be surrounded by judges who are idiots? I legitimized a bankrupt system, and I was very good at it. I achieved everything I ever wanted.”

2012 Olympics the Year of Muslim Women

 TMO 

By Karin Friedemann, TMO

The 2012 Olympics promises to be an exciting year for Muslim women athletes as well as anyone and  everyone who enjoys debating women’s rights issues. There is controversy, there are lovely ladies, and an observant public. We will probably be hearing a lot more from the media in the coming weeks.

Muslim women athletes are in many ways stuck between a rock and a hard place: between a religious orthodoxy that generally frowns upon young women being seen in the public eye and the West, which frowns upon the covering of women.

The pressure is on, as Human Rights Watch has suggested that if Saudi Arabia will not support the participation of women in the Olympics, the Olympics should not support the participation of Saudi Arabia. Nevertheless, Saudi Arabian newscaster Reema Abdullah has been chosen as one of the torch-bearers at the 2012 London Games.

The big fuss over Muslim women’s participation in the Olympics invites the question of why more Muslim women do not participate in sports.

Farah Jassat reports in the Guardian, UK: Cultural barriers to participation were recently highlighted in Saudi Arabia, when the country refused to allow Saudi women to compete in the Olympics. The institutional barrier, by contrast, can be seen in International Federation of Association Football ban on women wearing hijab. The Iranian women’s football team could not complete their 2012 Olympic second-round qualifying match against Jordan because they refused to remove their headscarves.

Muslim Women’s Sport Foundation, based in the UK, strongly believes that faith and sport for both genders are entirely compatible and that the culture of sport is an essential part of Islamic history. Since its establishment in 2001 MWSF has been at the forefront of encouraging physical activity amongst women from British ethnic-minority communities. Offering female only athletic sessions has helped to address cultural sensitivities and provide opportunities where more Muslim women feel comfortable in enjoying sport. MWSF even allows mothers to bring their kids along to training sessions.

This leads us to an important point: Participation of women of any age in physical fitness, regardless of religion, is often curtailed by childcare responsibilities. This is most unfortunate, since the only way for women to “reclaim” their bodies after childbirth is through regular physical exercise. American researchers report that the main obstacle to female exercise is sheer exhaustion from raising children and keeping house, in addition to earning income. There is no way for a mother to attend an aerobics class, run a few blocks, or even go into a private room to do some stretches unless at least one family member is willing to step up to take care of the children for some time to support the desire of the mother to get some exercise. Even those families who cite their total dependence on the mother as their reason for her lack of privacy should be aware that she is likely to be around a lot longer if she has access to some free time to work out.

Salma Bi, a cricketer and umpire believes “the main challenge is the support of the family.”

“It is much harder to excel in anything if your loved ones don’t understand why it’s important to you,” notes Jassat.

MWSF’s International Sportswoman of the Year, Ibtihaj Muhammad is an American sabre fencer who has made the last two US World Championship teams and ranked second in the US. She hopes to be the first Muslim woman representing the US in the Olympics in any sport whilst wearing hijab. Although she has said it is “extremely difficult being different in the sports world – be it for religion or race…” she also concludes, “I would never fence if it compromised who I am and my religion – I love that the two work together.”

Another bright shining star hopeful is the Malaysian rifle shooter Nur Suryani Mohamed Taibi, who will be well into her pregnancy at the time of her Olympic competition. She will be the fourth woman to compete in the Olympics while pregnant. The first was Swedish figure skater Magda Julin in 1920, the second was German skeleton racer Diane Sartor in 2006 and the third was Kristie Moore, a Canadian curler in 2010.

Suryani told Reuters, “I feel I am strong and my husband says ‘as long as you feel like that, energized to do that, it seems like that is your baby talking to you so you go.’” Malaysia’s best shooter will however not be competing in the 50m competition, even though she achieved the qualifying marks. “Yeah, I cannot do a prone position with this big stomach,” she said.

The accomplishments of Muslim women athletes are guaranteed to be a source of inspiration for the wider community, states David Bernstein, President of Level Playing Field and Chair of the Centre for Access to Football in Europe.

The world is watching, regardless of anyone’s opinion on the matter.

The best we can hope for is that our sisters will make us proud with their excellent performances at the 2012 Olympics, because no matter how they rank in their sport, they are showing us what is possible in this decade of history.

Methodists Vote on Israel-Palestine Question

On May 2, 2012, the United Methodist Church held their annual General Assembly in Tampa, Florida, where they voted on the issue of divestment from the State of Israel for its treatment of Palestinians by boycotting companies such as Caterpillar, Hewlett Packard, and Motorola, who profit from the Israeli Occupation. The New York Times reported that:

“After an afternoon of impassioned debate and several votes, the delegates overwhelmingly passed a more neutral resolution calling for ‘positive’ investment to encourage economic development ‘in Palestine.’

“However, the Methodists also passed a strongly worded resolution denouncing the Israeli occupation and the settlements, and calling for ‘all nations to prohibit the import of products made by companies in Israeli settlements on Palestinian land.’”

Susanne Hoder, a Methodist from Rhode Island and a spokeswoman for a group for divestment, the United Methodist Kairos Response said that even though at the General Assembly,  divestment was defeated by a 2-to-1 ratio in two separate votes, four geographic regions of the Methodist Church — Northern Illinois, California Pacific, New York and West Ohio — had already voted to pull out their own investments. “We expect that more United Methodist conferences will do this,” she said.

The Presbyterian Church USA will also hold a similar vote at their upcoming conference in June. In 2004, the Presbyterians voted for divestment but voted against it at their next general assembly two years later.

Many are disappointed and frustrated by such wishy-washy positions and watering down of perfectly reasonable, non-violent approaches to defeating injustice, resulting in statements of support without any meaningful action towards supporting justice.

Sadly and predictably, 2 out of 3 Methodists succumbed to the twisted logic of 1,200 rabbis accusing them of “singling out” Israel for criticism, warning that supporting divestment would “damage the relationship between Jews and Christians.” This overused lobbying tactic nearly always triggers instant shame and self-questioning in White Christians, for cultural reasons that have long passed their time of relevancy.

Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who was a leader of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa responded strongly to the pro-Israel rabbis’ tainting of the divestment efforts in an article published in the Tampa Bay Times:

“While they are no doubt well-meaning, I believe that the rabbis and other opponents of divestment are sadly misguided. My voice will always be raised in support of Christian-Jewish ties and against the anti-Semitism that all sensible people fear and detest. But this cannot be an excuse for doing nothing and for standing aside as successive Israeli governments colonize the West Bank and advance racist laws.

“I recall well the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail in which he confesses to his “Christian and Jewish brothers” that he has been “gravely disappointed with the white moderate … who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: ‘I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action;’ who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom. …”

On a brighter note, the resolution that passed voiced support to “end all military aid to the region.”

Jewish Voices For Peace was unsurprisingly the most active group pushing for divestment, along with the interfaith group Fellowship of Reconciliation. While they failed to convince the Methodists that “divestment from the Israeli occupation is neither anti-Semitic nor anti-Jewish,” important lessons were learned by the outreach experience.

One thing that became clear to activists was that the targeted companies are fully aware and unrepentant of their role in aiding Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people. Thus, they can move forward now with clear certainty that there is no point in further negotiating with these corporations.

JVP reported that the General Secretary of the General Board of Church and Society of the UMC, Jim Winkler, recently stated:

“As someone who has been involved in the discussions by UM agencies and ecumenical partners with Caterpillar for six years, I would like to share critical issues we have repeatedly raised with the company.

Regrettably, in all of these meetings, including one last week, Caterpillar has told us it has no intention to change any of its business practices relating to the occupied Palestinian territories.”

Another important development in the struggle for justice is that what was once considered “unthinkable” is now being spoken. Tutu writes:

“If we do not achieve two states in the near future, then the day will certainly arrive when Palestinians move away from seeking a separate state of their own and insist on the right to vote for the government that controls their lives, the Israeli government, in a single, democratic state.”

There are still those who would recoil from the idea of Palestinian and Israeli sharing a land in equality as “antisemitism,” but within the American political context this is a pretty uncomfortable position to maintain. For this reason, opponents of equality have worked hard to stifle debate by reframing the issues using emotional language and veiled threats.

White churches have a lot to lose by upsetting the status quo, while Black churches usually have more pressing local concerns. Church involvement in the divestment movement, even if totally supportive, would be more symbolic than effective for major change. However, it is vital to continue to bring the debate into the general American public in these and various other ways.

Decisive Muslim Voting in France

The Muslim Observer

President Sarkozy Voted out, 93% of Muslims vote for Hollande

By Karin Friedemann, TMO

Outgoing French President Nicolas Sarkozy (R) and newly-elected President Francois Hollande attend a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe to commemorate the end of World War II in Paris May 8, 2012. REUTERS/Lionel Bonaventure/Pool

France: Via La Vie:According to a poll by Opinion Way and Fiducial for Le Figaro, 93% of Muslims voted for Hollande.  7% voted for Sarkozy.

The poll was conducted May 6th among 1000 voters. According to the polling agency, there are about 2 million Muslim voters. 59% of Muslims voted for Hollande in the first round.  23% voted for  Jean-Luc Melenchon (Left Front) and 7% voted for François Bayrou (Democratic Movement).  Sarkozy got 4% of the Muslim vote in the first round.

Socialist challenger Francois Hollande defeated incumbent Conservative Nicolas Sarkozy by a relatively narrow margin on Sunday, May 6 to become the next French president for a five-year term. It was the first election where French Muslims, who comprise over 5% of the population, were called out to vote. Therefore, it is assumed that Sarkozy’s anti-Muslim rhetoric cost him the election. Hollande got 51.8 percent of votes compared with 48.2 percent for Sarkozy. Hollande’s election campaign bears similarities to the Obama election campaign in the US, where the winning candidate shrugged off Muslim support while antagonists painted him with sinister accusations of being in league with Muslims.

Tareq Ramadan, an imam in Geneva, Switzerland, became a topic of debate for his opinion on the French elections, and was accused of influencing the Muslim vote. Ramadan replied: “When I attack Nicolas Sarkozy, I’m taking on the government, the establishment. As for the Socialist Party, I also regret that it has abandoned its ideals. I hold both the mainstream French political parties responsible for the rise of the National Front.

”Canada’s Globe and Mail reports: “Imams and Islamic associations are calling on Muslims to do their duty as citizens and go to the polls.

And while they’re not officially endorsing anyone, the call itself is a bold move in a country where statistics on religious affiliation are formally banned and where secularism is enshrined in the constitution.

Experts say that Muslims in poor neighborhoods and Muslim youth tend to vote for the left. But the Muslim vote is diverse, and Muslims have tended in the past to avoid politics. Kamel Kabtane, the rector of the Lyon mosque, who was among a group of imams at some 30 mosques in southeast France pressing Muslims to vote, said, “By this initiative, we want to show that Muslims aren’t citizens of the second zone … They can vote for whom they want but be present in the voting booth.”

“I want to condemn the conniving and irresponsible attitude of the Socialist Party and its candidate after religious leaders belonging to a network of 700 mosques called on followers to vote for Francois Hollande,” Eric Ciotti, lawmaker of Sarkozy’s Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party, said in a press release cited by The National newspaper on Sunday, April 29. In the first round of elections, the most extreme right-wing candidate, the National Front’s Marine Le Pen, won over 25% of the vote, “sending shock-waves around France.” The National Front platform is comparable to the American Tea Party, with its platform against globalism, immigrants, and government social services. Incumbent President Nicholas Sarkozy adopted these right-wing attitudes in an effort to win NF votes for his re-election but was perceived as hypocritical by the truly conservative. Therefore Sarkozy won neither the left nor right, but he did win the hearts of the Israelis. 92.8% of French Jews in Israel with dual citizenship voted for Sarkozy.

The whole concept of Muslims voting as a block was so inflammatory that the head of the Grand Mosque of Paris, Dalil Boubakeur said such calls to vote are dangerous because they risk dragging a religion into politics, and “I refuse it.” However, other Paris imams encouraged Muslims to vote, including Mohamed Saleh Hamza who heads the northern Paris mosque where, until last fall, the faithful spilled into the street to pray because crowds had grown too big to fit inside. Muslims “have a tendency not to vote. Now, we’re telling them that they are full citizens,” Mr. Hamza said.“ They’re not organized yet, but that will come.”The election was highly contentious and often bitter, but the newSocialist president is expected to take office May 15. Hollande says he will make the rich pay more tax and will improve the lot for workers and the less well-off. He also says he will take initiatives on a number of social issues, but it is still unclear how far he can go and how these will be financed. The new president has also vowed to withdraw French troops from Afghanistan before the end of 2012.

Policy in the Middle East is unlikely to change radically with Hollande, as this is an area where there are no major disagreements between right and left. Like the Conservatives, the Socialists have close ties with Israel and these are likely to be unaffected by the new regime. By American standards, Hollande is unlikely to be perceived as minority-friendly. He says he would not allow separate menus in public cafeterias or separate hours in swimming pools for men and women to satisfy demands of the Muslim community. Hollande had said that if he is elected president, “I will apply the law” on face veils. In a country where horse pate is standard fair in supermarkets, the French indignation against halal meat may seem extreme to the casual observer.

Americans may take note of the drama and decide for themselves, but in general,  American norms of civil rights and religious freedom far exceed the existing situation for Muslims in France.

Iraq’s Radiation: Not Going Away

By Karin Friedemann, The Muslim Observer

A depleted Uranium shell

According to Al Jazeera, the Pentagon used more than 300 tons of depleted uranium in Iraq in 1991. In 2003, the US military used more than 1,000 tons. In 2010, depleted uranium contamination was reported to be the highest on record, yet by 2012 continuing documentation has still not resulted in any action by the US or any other responsible party towards environmental clean-up.

An April 13, 2012 article by Karlos Zurutuza published by Global Research quotes hospital spokesman Nadim al-Hadidi saying:

“At Fallujah hospital they cannot offer any statistics on children born with birth defects – there are just too many. Parents don’t want to talk. Families bury their newborn babies after they die without telling anyone. It’s all too shameful for them.”

Relief organizations such as LIFE for Relief and Development escorted several US Congressmen on a tour of Iraqi hospitals in 2002, which often had no electricity nor sterile equipment, where women too weak from hunger to give birth had to receive C-sections by candlelight without anesthetic on beds without sheets. The horror show often reached its climax when the baby was born looking grotesque. When the sympathetic Congresspeople spoke up, the US government arrested relief workers and peace activists from several organizations for the crime of breaking US sanctions.

Back then, there was already documentation of Iraqi babies being born with bizarre deformations such as hands growing out of shoulders without arms, which were also found to occur in the offspring of US veterans who had served in Iraq. None of this came as a surprise to the US Army.

In a report published in 1990, before Operation Desert Storm, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) reported that:

“Short-term effects of high doses can result in death, while long-term effects of low doses have been implicated in cancer,” and

“Aerosol DU exposures to soldiers on the battlefield could be significant with potential radiological and toxicological effects.”

None of this is new information, but a recent photo circulated on Facebook shows infant deformations in Iraq that are so horrific that I was asked to stop “traumatizing” my friends after I posted the photo.

Many babies born dead in Iraq today do not even resemble a human being. My Facebook friend told me she doesn’t want to see it and doesn’t want to think about it ever again. This was the first time she had ever heard of this problem.

My outrage, if fully expressed, would be a howling scream filling every corner of the earth. How dare anyone do this to women? Or refuse to care? How come, after over 20 years, no one is working to fix this problem? I have lost so many friends over the years, trying to educate them, and yet our popular culture continues to condemn Nazi Germans as the worst people who ever lived, because they went about their normal lives, oblivious to the atrocities of their government. The Nazis are accused of having performed scientific experiments on humans. Yet when I spoke up in college German history class, saying, “You ask, ‘How could they?’ How could you?” I just received a roomful of blank stares.

After WWII, the victorious party (America) took responsibility for rebuilding the defeated party (Germany). This was considered vital for preserving the world economy. Projected temperature for Wednesday in Baghdad is 103 degrees. Before we discuss universal health care for Americans, we need to discuss the clean-up of Iraq.

The radioactivity situation in Iraq is much worse than in Japan after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Each atomic bomb created a huge blast that killed over 100,000 people within eight weeks, one third of them dying within one day. Infants conceived within that eight week period were found with birth defects but no genetic damage was discovered after the blasts.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The Physical, Medical and Social Effects of the Atomic Bombings, an exhaustive Japanese study, published in English in 1981 claims that most of the radioactive debris was carried off in the mushroom cloud and not embedded in the earth. By contrast, the relatively low-level radiation caused by the use of depleted uranium artillery and tanks has become part of the air, rain and dust, sickening the Iraqi people without killing them immediately. Because the victims die one at a time, there are no headline news stories. Yet even in the early 1990’s there were reports of farmers’ fields strewn with bullets where nothing would grow, and children dying after playing with bullet casings. Relief organizations’ concerns were casually dismissed by Hillary Clinton at a meeting during her husband’s presidency. Like Madeleine Albright, she felt that the deaths of Iraqi children were “worth it.”

The way the US treats Iraqi people is worse than they treated the Black slaves, who at least were considered useful. The US has intentionally destroyed the future of more than one country. This is why getting our government to make the reparations necessary for a true peace will be difficult. The good news is that we now have Facebook, Twitter, and alternative news websites to bring the horrible news to people’s bedrooms and living rooms. In the 1990’s, political activists had to rely on subscription-only email lists and photocopied flyers. We now have the technology to go beyond preaching to the choir.

Many of us are exhausted from the relentlessness of international news reports of evil in the world. After subjecting ourselves to twenty or more years of sleepless nights, some of us are ready to say, “I tried,” and hand the heavy responsibility of knowledge to the next generation. Yet, our children cannot save the world without our guidance.

The problem of radioactive contamination is not going to go away by itself. Those who are interested in scientific experiments should embrace the very real challenge of cleaning up Iraq’s depleted uranium. It’s something no human generation has ever had to do before, and will require some very smart thinking individuals to come up with a plan.

Understanding and Dealing With Homosexuality

Across America, gay marriage is becoming a legalized practice, leading to general societal acceptance of the practice. In many Muslim countries, homosexual relationships are practiced secretly, often by men with wife and children. In Kuwait, a judge reportedly ruled that two co-wives were obliged to sleep with their husband as a group if that is what their husband wanted. Apparently the women felt strongly enough about their desire not to see each other naked that they took this issue to court and lost! The issue is so complex that there are even western homosexual men who migrate to Muslim countries because they prefer the privacy to the politics, and because they do not actually wish to disturb the tranquility of the heterosexual family unit and the society that is built upon such stability. They recognize that their behavior is an aberration to the norm and thus threatening to the majority.

Most Muslims feel extremely squeamish about the topic of homosexuality and many have in the past voted Republican in order to support “family values.” However, Republican politicking against Muslims has led to the vast majority of Muslims supporting President Obama and becoming active in liberal circles where Muslims and homosexuals are lumped together as “oppressed people.” Yet Islam is one of the last American religions to uphold the law against homosexual practices.

In the context of “live and let live,” politically active Muslims could choose to push for an even wider acceptance of the concept of marriage to include polygamous marriages. Gay marriage laws could even be used to help co-wives migrate to the United States, perhaps. But ultimately, the debate over gay marriage could probably be ended immediately with universal or perhaps preferably, state-wide health insurance. There is no real practical reason that a person who wishes to engage in a monogamous sexual relationship with someone else would need to get a government-certified piece of paper requiring it, except in order to provide someone else with health insurance coverage.

While genetic theories abound regarding inborn homosexual urges, Islam views homosexuality as something you choose to do, not something you are. A human being is able to find release in various ways, but I've never heard of anyone called a “vegesexual” (for example). One can choose to lead a hedonistic lifestyle, or one can choose the route of procreation and lifelong responsibility. In cases where a person insists on living a homosexual lifestyle, the question is legitimate whether a person should be free to openly confess it – since it might prevent the sorrow of a wife whose husband is not interested in her but is just using her as a smokescreen against society while exposing her to diseases.

Hadith seem to require excluding homosexuals from Muslim society. However, basic politeness also forces us to wonder how to deal with homosexual co-workers, neighbors, and even beloved friends who have chosen to take that path. Many of these people have many positive qualities.

One way to approach the situation is empathy. Most male homosexuals I have been acquainted with have in their early years been molested by an older man. Most female homosexuals that I know have had some bad experience with men or marriage. From an economic standpoint, it makes sense not to procreate, at least in the short-term. This is why the Gay Lobby has become so powerful, because people have money to donate to political causes. There is also some evidence of the Jewish Lobby and mass media producers promoting homosexuality as a way to undermine Christianity.

Another approach is avoidance. Many Muslims will simply avoid dealing with homosexuals the same way as they avoid dealing with alcoholics, and that is a perfectly sane choice to make as well.

The main question remaining is what we are going to tell our children. In my experience when my children observe same sex couples holding hands, the best thing to do is to say nothing. The kids may not even notice. If the question of gay marriage comes up, I explain that this is something other people might do, but Muslims don't do that. So far they seem satisfied with that. Ultimately, it boils down to the concept of premarital chastity. Those young people who give themselves permission to experiment can be drawn down all kinds of paths, while those who choose to wait until the time is right will have time to think about the pros and cons of any given relationship.

Those of us who feel motivated to actively promote heterosexuality should probably focus on the predatory nature of many heterosexual relationships and why some might choose to avoid them.

In Western society, there is an intense need for an increase in same sex bonding. Since the 1970's, it is very difficult for someone to find themselves in a group composed entirely of their own gender. Other than converting to Islam, becoming a lesbian is one of the only ways for women to find themselves in an emotionally supportive group of other women. My friend's husband, who is non-Muslim, attended an evening prayer during Ramadan and exclaimed that he had never been so physically close to other men before.

There is probably a true human need to socialize and be close to people who share our gender. People deprived of such human contact may develop intense emotional needs that could easily be misinterpreted as sexual in some contexts.

Increased Sun Intensity Requires Vigilance

Facial redness has always been a problem for me. When I was a kid my friends used to call me Rudolph because my nose would get so red in the Michigan winter cold. In summer, I was always freckled and pink-faced. It didn’t cause me any discomfort, just mild embarrassment. In fifth grade, I remember thinking I better marry a darker man because I wanted to protect my future descendants from ozone layer depletion. Probably a wise idea, since the sun is so much stronger now than when I was a kid. I have no idea what’s in those chemtrails either but I don’t think it’s good for my skin. Our skin is the only thing protecting us from this world.

I noticed a huge shift in skin health between youth and adulthood. Before age 20 I used to spend a lot of time in the sun outdoors and would attain a bronze color on my arms without any problem. As an adult, the combination of hijab and the housewife lifestyle made my skin extremely sensitive. At first I really liked the effect. No longer mousy brown, my hair went a shade darker while my skin became white like the moon. I looked like Snow White! But I also developed vitamin deficiency and became weak. If a family member forced me to enjoy a nature trail and a waterfall, I’d find myself covered with moles and would seriously regret it.

Around the time of the first Gulf War, it seemed like the sun got really bright. I remember being in college 20 years ago. I left my classroom and walked a couple blocks to the bus stop. By that time, my face was quite red and sunburned and stayed that way for a few days! The intensity of sunlight has continued to be much brighter than what I feel comfortable with. It is physically painful to me to go outside without sunglasses on a sunny day. My son, who has dark eyes, has similar complaints.

Now that I am a mother of four, we are still struggling over skin problems. When my son was a baby, he’d get a red face rash just from touching a soft polyester fleece blanket. Now at 13, he has some kind of acne rash caused by dry inflamed skin. The winter cold makes everybody’s cheeks red and sore, especially the baby. I suffer from rosacea in the nose and cheeks, which comes from my German side of the family. It can sometimes become quite painful and had kept me up at night feeling my capillaries exploding until I discovered a French ointment that costs $40 for 2 oz. I seem to have an allergy to the antibiotic cream that the doctor had prescribed.

Whether we blame genetics or the environment, facial redness is incurable. All you can do is regulate it, avoid triggers like extreme temperatures or caffeine and alcohol, and try to eat a good diet and drink lots of water. I am so thankful that there are so many choices of skin products out there. One of the most beautiful things about capitalism. My personal favorite is a Chamomile Primrose salve marketed online by Common Sense, a Christian hippie community-based business. I often meditate upon the suffering of women in Afghanistan or Native People anywhere, as their faces turn to leather in the wind, sun and rain. As I understand, the early Muslims used olive oil as a skin salve. There is even a commonly accepted religious ruling that applying olive oil to the skin does NOT break the Ramadan fast. That’s how important it is to moisturize!

Like prayer, the most important thing about any healthcare regime is that it needs to be applied regularly. No dermatologist in the world can help you if you don’t actually apply the prescribed lotion. Likewise, we know the importance of eating avocados and carrots, but the knowledge doesn’t help you. Eating in abundance the good food from Mother Earth helps you and your children to enjoy a better life!

Yet, I think we need to take the issue of moles caused by sunlight seriously. Hijabi women should find some way to privately expose their neck and shoulder area to sunlight on a regular basis. In my experience, this is the part of the body most sensitive, even more so than the face. I have read that people who are infrequently exposed to the sun, such as office workers, are more likely to experience skin cancer than construction workers who work in the sun without a shirt.

By the time I was thirty, I had developed a brown spot the size of a quarter on my left cheek. My mother had the same spot in the exact same place, although she was at least forty when it happened. The only thing I can think of is that it was caused by driving a car. Another argument against women driving cars LOL!!! But it’s true, that intense sunlight pouring in through one window will age your skin.

One of the blessings of living in an informed culture is that we can learn from our elders, and we can apply what we learned to future generations. I have learned from the mistakes of my youth the importance of sunscreen. We are so blessed to live in a country where sunscreen is available. Otherwise, all women would have to wear a burqa to preserve their beauty.

Tarek Mehanna Gives Rousing Speech at Sentencing

On April 12, 2010 Tarek Mehanna was sentenced to over 17 years in prison. It was a sad moment for his supporters, who packed the Boston courthouse, but they were rewarded with an historical, moving speech, as Mehanna described how he came to view it as his duty to defend the oppressed.

“I couldn’t see these things beings done to my brothers & sisters – including by America – and remain neutral... [T]his trial was not about my position on Muslims killing American civilians. It was about my position on Americans killing Muslim civilians, which is that Muslims should defend their lands from foreign invaders – Soviets, Americans, or Martians,” stated Mehanna, who compared Muslim fighters overseas to American Revolutionary Minutemen fighting invading British occupation soldiers.

 

Mehanna's speech was on point and delivered very well. He gave a detailed analysis of his youthful intellectual processes, as he learned about American history and painful current events. One news report was particularly shocking to the young teenager: 

“I learned about Abeer al-Janabi, a fourteen-year old Iraqi girl gang-raped by five American soldiers, who then shot her and her family in the head, then set fire to their corpses.”

I'm sure most of us have gone through a similar educational process when we were young, realizing at some point that the world can be a violent and unfair place. Last night, my five-year-old daughter saw a nature show on TV where whales were eating fish swimming under the sea. She was so horrified that she cried, “I'll never eat fish again!” Imagine how she will feel when she learns about Abeer al-Janabi. 

 

True leadership inspires people to transcend fear and to make sacrifices for the sake of others. This author recalls that when I was in fifth grade, a documentary about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. inspired me to pray to God right then and there at my school desk to make me among the martyrs. I asked Him to purify me, to fortify me, and to make me worthy.

Mehanna spoke of the examples of true leadership that inspired him to commit the “crime” of translating online Arabic documents related to jihad:

 

“When I was six, I began putting together a massive collection of comic books. Batman implanted a concept in my mind, introduced me to a paradigm as to how the world is set up: that there are oppressors, there are the oppressed, and there are those who step up to defend the oppressed. This resonated with me so much that throughout the rest of my childhood, I gravitated towards any book that reflected that paradigm - Uncle Tom's Cabin, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, and I even saw an ethical dimension to The Catcher in the Rye.”

Mehanna listed among his heroes Paul Revere, Tom Paine, Harriet Tubman, Nat Turner, John Brown, Emma Goldman, Eugene Debs, Anne Frank, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Ho Chi Minh, and Nelson Mandela. He said he still has all his notes from history class! Malcolm X in particular made him dig deeper into his Islamic roots, to read the Quran and to learn about the Prophet Mohammed (s).

Mehanna testified, “the more I learned, the more I valued Islam like a piece of gold. This was when I was a teen, but even today, despite the pressures of the last few years, I stand here before you, and everyone else in this courtroom, as a very proud Muslim...”

He continued: “I wasn't tried before a jury of my peers because with the mentality gripping America today, I have no peers. Counting on this fact, the government prosecuted me - not because they needed to, but simply because they could...

“In your eyes, I'm a terrorist, and it's perfectly reasonable that I be standing here in an orange jumpsuit. But one day, America will change and people will recognize this day for what it is. They will look at how hundreds of thousands of Muslims were killed and maimed by the US military in foreign countries, yet somehow I'm the one going to prison for 'conspiring to kill and maim' in those countries - because I support the Mujahidin defending those people. They will look back on how the government spent millions of dollars to imprison me as a 'terrorist,' yet if we were to somehow bring Abeer al-Janabi back to life in the moment she was being gang-raped by your soldiers, to put her on that witness stand and ask her who the 'terrorists' are, she sure wouldn't be pointing at me,” Mehanna declared.

“It was made crystal clear at trial that I never, ever plotted to "kill Americans" at shopping malls or whatever the story was...

"The government says that I was obsessed with violence, obsessed with 'killing Americans.' But, as a Muslim living in these times, I can think of a lie no more ironic.”

Mehanna's appeal process has already been set in motion. His defense will take this to appellate and Supreme Court if necessary.

You can read Mehanna's entire sentencing statement at http://freetarek.wordpress.com/

Shariah Could Improve Women’s Health

In the national debate regarding healthcare coverage, “folks are getting up in arms about the idea that the pill could set uninsured women back about $1000 a year, but in the grand scheme of things, that’s nothing,” Tracie Egan Morrissey writes in Jezebel, an online feminist magazine, which estimates the total cost of personal feminine hygiene and health maintenance to amount to $2,667 to $4,232 a year for a non-pregnant woman.

This itemized list tabulates the regular expenses involved with being specifically a human female – birth control, menstrual pads and tampons, PMS remedies like Midol, increased toilet paper use compared to men, and regular hair removal, as well as over-the-counter and prescription remedies for yeast infections, feminine itching, urinary tract infections, and the doctor-recommended yearly Pap screening for cervical cancer. Not included in the list are the costs of pregnancy tests, emergency contraception, and abortion, which if not utilized would result in exponential additional costs related to pregnancy, childbirth and daycare.

I’ll leave it to the politicians to debate about which healthcare items should be covered by taxpayers, keeping in mind that most insurance companies prefer to provide free contraception rather than dish out tens of thousands for pregnancy, childbirth, and the cost of the future children’s medical care. 

Costs related to treating infections could be easily reduced

If both men and women followed Islamic norms, women’s general health maintenance costs would likely decrease. Let’s set aside the pre-marital chastity discussion and just focus on Islamically married women. The cost of birth control and preventative doctor exams would remain the same as would menstrual expenditures, unless she is one of those Earth Mamas who make their own pads out of worn out T-shirts or have a baby every year (which is great). Female camaraderie among Muslim sisters can save a lot on salon costs, I have heard. 

Male circumcision can also play a huge role in bettering future wives’ long-term health, reducing rates of sexually transmitted infections, cervical cancer, and even AIDS. Scientific trials have shown that male circumcision can reduce a man’s risk of becoming infected with HIV during heterosexual intercourse by up to 60 percent. These findings have led to the decision by UNAIDS and the World Health Organization (WHO) to recommended circumcision as an important new element of disease prevention. Isn’t it amazing that modern medicine is catching up with the Muslims?

Yet the most notable Islamic contribution to women’s health is without question the increased use of water for personal hygiene. In Europe, washroom fountains for rinsing off one’s personal areas are associated with prostitution, while in America, such bathroom fixtures do not even exist. There is not even a word in the English language for something you use to wash yourself after using the toilet. 

It baffles me that, in this day and age, when people scientifically understand the close relationship between cleanliness and health, there is no concept in the modern Western world of rinsing off. A woman’s risk of urinary tract infections, yeast infections, and general personal discomforts are greatly reduced by the Islamically-recommended regular use of water by both herself and her husband.

Granted, in many Muslim countries where toilet paper is not readily available, the bathroom situation can still be quite alarming even when there is some kind of fixture providing water. But there is no reason that modern man and woman cannot combine the use of toilet paper, water, and occasional soap to provide the freshest feeling.

The persistent problem of yeast and urinary infections exists also in girl children who are not sexually active. Therefore I do not understand why every medical doctor does not at least suggest to his or her patients the importance of washing with water beyond hand-washing. Perhaps it is more profitable to keep humans in a constant state of low-level infection that requires regular medication.

It is my hope that as more Muslims enter society as fully participating members, we could spread our knowledge of personal hygiene among the general population. Even those Americans who have zero interest in religion or spirituality would benefit from the disease prevention aspects of Shariah. I too, like the feminists at Jezebel, used to consider yeast and urinary tract infections a normal part of life. Then I discovered water, thanks to a Muslim penpal who decided to school me on Islamic practices. 

For some reason, discussion of the advantages of improved hygiene is often censored. It is almost as if the medieval European Christian taboo against bathing with water remains; it is as if the mere mention that bacteria exist is in itself an obscenity. Women are kept in a state of shame about their “odor” while being exposed to the advertisements of chemical companies selling them products.

Yet there is no more beautiful smell than a clean woman, to which the Prophet’s (s) hadith can attest.