Those watching the Democratic National Convention this week were subjected to a feedback loop of angry denunciations of Republicans for what we were told was their “war on women.” But if you want to see what a real war on women looks like as opposed to a political disagreement about abortion or whether Catholic institutions should be forced to pay for services, like contraception, that offend their faith, you need to look elsewhere. As the New York Times reports, despite their reassurances given to gullible Western reporters and the Obama administration, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood is going full speed ahead with its campaign to impose its Islamist social agenda on the nation. And that agenda isn’t abortion or free contraceptives but a full-blown attempt to reverse the tenuous advances women made toward equality under the Mubarak regime.
Given the Muslim Brotherhood’s increasingly tight grip on the reins of power in Cairo this is not a theoretical question but one of vital importance for the future of the most populous Arab country. The Brotherhood says its priority is reviving the country’s economy and has convinced the Obama administration to forgive $1 billion in debt that they owe the United States and Western nations. As Max wrote earlier this week, this makes sense from the point of view of encouraging stability and seeking to encourage prosperity that will make the country less vulnerable to extremists. But we shouldn’t underestimate the Brotherhood’s determination to eventually wipe out secularism. Even more to the point, it seeks to gain political strength by promoting female subservience.
As the Times reports:
Those broader efforts at shaping a conservative religious society, played out over decades by the Brotherhood, were seen as partly responsible for helping elect Mohamed Morsi president in June. At the time, Mr. Morsi, who resigned from the Brotherhood after taking office, gave assurances that he would protect the rights of women and include them in decision-making. Less than three months into his presidency, though, Mr. Morsi has not fulfilled a campaign promise to appoint a woman as a vice president. …
Many analysts and critics of the Brotherhood see that kind of philosophy, one that gives women independence so long as they maintain their traditional obligations, as effectively constraining women to established gender roles. …
Free from the restrictions of the government of Hosni Mubarak, which outlawed the Brotherhood, the movement’s social outreach programs have mushroomed since Mr. Morsi’s election. In less than a year, Family House expanded from a single office to 18 branches around Egypt and is developing a plan to encourage all couples to attend.
Though they may be moving cautiously, it should be remembered that the Brotherhood is a movement with social goals for transforming Egyptian society as well as the political system. As was the case in Iran over 30 years when the Islamic revolution stifled secularism, women’s rights will be sacrificed along with political freedom.
Though Washington has no good options in Egypt these days, the irony of the Obama administration’s embrace of an Egyptian government that is waging a real war on women while it runs for re-election accusing Republicans of the same charge should not be lost on the nation.
80-90% of Egyptian women are walking around minus an important bit of their anatomy. These are the NYTIMES own numbers. Foreign women who still have theirs are legitimate targets for harrassment and rape. n nHow come this never gets talked about? It is not only symbolically important of the repression of women, but a true crime against humanity. n nOther than that, Egypt is a great place.
For all his other warts, Mubarek worked fairly hard and fairly successfully to end this.
I don't know if he made a real dent in it. Apparently though the laws were on the books, they were never enforced. n nGranted Mubarak had warts. but I think, by comparison, Morsi will be the Elephant Man.
The US can't be bothered with that. They're too obsesses with whether there are Jews in Israel who want to have separate seating areas on buses.
Yes, the hard racism of zero expectations. n nThey don't even expect them, beyond lip service, to not crucify Christians. n nI am always struck by the tolerance for barbarity we see in Sudan, Syria, Egypt and other places, exhibited by our government, and wonder what they would really do were Israel being overrun and her population being exterminated by Arabs. n nGiven that the world and the US is quite content to let Israel bleed out slowly by refusing her the right to respond militarily to Arab attacks they classify as 'terrorism', I suspect the response would be slow and partial, at best.
The Muslim Brotherhood is open about its goals: It wants to establish an Islamic state in Egypt and across the Middle East, even further if it could. That state will be run under Shariah which is an all-encompassing approach to government and religion seen as one entity. There would be no separation of state and religion as Islam dictates the operations of the state. Likewise, Islam will dictate social constructs and life in the broadest sense. n nWe in the West seem to see this as an issue beyond our control and influence. In truth, if we paid more attention and held their leaders accountable for their actions and policies then we might see a change. As it is, we leave these peoples to their miserable lives and go about our lives happy that we aren't them. Our silence is an indictment on ourselves.
"Though Washington has no good options in Egypt these days…" n nSorry, this is intellectual laziness and moral capitulation. Why should the United States support, via debt forgiveness and military aid in the billions, the rise of a regressive, misogynistic and antisemitic government that will likely, as the commenter above notes, push to see the same across the Middle East and possibly initiate war against a neighboring democracy? n nJonathan Tobin, Max Boot and others should pay attention to those like Jabotinsky who recognized decades ago that the Arabs could not be bribed into accepting Western mores — or Jews for that matter. n
To this very second I have NEVER understood why the left hates christians hates Jews but they seem to love Muslims whether they are extremist or not! Of course I do not expect the MSM to cover this but when Egypt shut down 50 of their newspapers for not following the party line I thought"OK they will have to go crazy over this and…SILENCE" So I guess as long as a muslim tells women they may no longer go to college..which just happened in Egypt ..it no big deal!Well sharia law has already won in 50 Cases RIGHT HERE IN THE US..SO HOLLYWOOD GET READY TO COVER UP!