Ayoon Wa Azan (Leave us alone)

We were waiting for the cure to come from Iraq, but we found ourselves sending “sedatives” down their way to calm their nerves. We expected victory to come from Egypt, but we found ourselves fearing oppression, poverty, and humiliation there. Now, we have Femen prescribing for us how to defend Arab women. Femen is a feminist group founded by Elena Shevchenko in Ukraine in 2008. Some of the readers must no doubt have heard about their latest stunts or seen them on television, for example when topless eastern European activists ambushed Russian President Vladimir Putin, as he accompanied German Chancellor Angela Merkel on a visit to Hanover. I apologize for my ignorance. I am a peasant – mentally speaking – from the third world, and I cannot understand how baring one’s breasts can further women’s rights in any country. Perhaps I would not have raised the subject, especially since Putin seemed happy to see the semi-bare woman, were it not for the fact that Femen orchestrated a worldwide campaign on April 4, from various European capitals all the way to South America, with the slogan “International Topless Jihad Day.” The storm of controversy surrounding this event in every country has yet to subside. Femen’s activists are looking for an excuse to strip. Their alleged solidarity with Arab women and their rights does a lot of harm and brings no good. I noticed in the days that followed their nudity event that Arab and Muslim women from around the world criticized Femen’s actions, and attacked the topless women and condemned what happened. Femen launched its event on April 4 because it coincided with the birthday of Amina Tyler, the young Tunisian woman who published a topless picture of herself on her Facebook page in March, and declared that her body belonged only to her. But Amina herself criticized what those Western women did, after three Femen activists, two French and one Tunisian, went the day before to the Grand Mosque in Paris and burned the flag of Islam outside the building. The flag carried the Muslim declaration of faith, and Amina said that the act was an affront to Islam and Muslims, and condemned it fully. I read in The Huffington Post a scathing response to Femen by Sofia Ahmed, an activist who is currently studying International Relations at the University of Birmingham. Ahmed said that she and Muslim women like her see in Femen’s tactics “neo-colonial elements in the West and Islamic societies” and that their aim “is not to emancipate us from our presumed slavery, but instead reinforce Western imperialism and generate consent for the ongoing wars against Muslim countries.” When Elena Shevchenko responded to the criticisms against the campaign made by Muslim women, she only ended up reinforcing the allegations against Femen. Shevchenko addressed Muslim women and claimed that she preferred to talk to the women, knowing that behind them are bearded men with knives (that’s what she said, literally). She then said that though Muslim women claim they are against Femen, her group is on their side. She referenced praying men, and Muslim women as fifth wives (that’s what she said, fifth, and not fourth) and mentioned fathers, brothers, and husbands who rape and murder. This is a neo-colonialist discourse that could take the form of invading a Muslim country based on fabricated premises, as we saw in Iraq, or the form of assaulting Muslim sanctities, family values, traditions, and inherited morals. The crimes that the Ukrainian miss is talking about exist in every country around the world, and are not necessarily bigger in number in any Islamic country. I have two examples of this: - The foreign ministers of the Group of Eight countries (G8) sponsored last week an initiative on preventing sexual violence, after British Foreign Secretary William Hague and Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie visited refugee camps in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. -About the same time, the Child Protection Fund issued a report saying that sexual violence in war zones targeted children, and spoke specifically about Colombia, Liberia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Syrian women, meanwhile, are suffering in refugee camps. We heard terrifying news about what has been happening to them. But with and without war, Arab and Muslim women have incomplete rights, and jihad to protect women and children is a duty. I see this as the most important form of jihad, but this will most definitely not be achieved at the hands of Ukrainian or Russian women baring their breasts in European capitals. It can only happen at our hands, and in our countries. The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.