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	<title>Comments on: Hamas Columnist Claims Women Must Wear Burkas Because They Spread Disease</title>
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	<item>
		<title>By: objectivefactsmatter</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/hamas-columnist-claims-women-must-wear-burkas-because-they-spread-disease/comment-page-1/#comment-4244776</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[objectivefactsmatter]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 07 Feb 2013 08:48:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=176069#comment-4244776</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Precisely. ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Precisely. </p>
]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>By: Aloysiusmiller</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/hamas-columnist-claims-women-must-wear-burkas-because-they-spread-disease/comment-page-1/#comment-4241671</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Aloysiusmiller]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 06 Feb 2013 14:48:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=176069#comment-4241671</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Islamic logic = oxymoron ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Islamic logic = oxymoron </p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
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		<title>By: kafir4life</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/hamas-columnist-claims-women-must-wear-burkas-because-they-spread-disease/comment-page-1/#comment-4237738</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[kafir4life]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Feb 2013 16:59:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=176069#comment-4237738</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[giggle-snort. ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>giggle-snort. </p>
]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>By: LibertarianToo</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/hamas-columnist-claims-women-must-wear-burkas-because-they-spread-disease/comment-page-1/#comment-4237717</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[LibertarianToo]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Feb 2013 16:52:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=176069#comment-4237717</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Yes, it&#039;s the women who do all those things. You sound like Issam Shawer.  ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Yes, it&#039;s the women who do all those things. You sound like Issam Shawer.  </p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>By: Ben Jabo</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/hamas-columnist-claims-women-must-wear-burkas-because-they-spread-disease/comment-page-1/#comment-4237229</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ben Jabo]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Feb 2013 13:36:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=176069#comment-4237229</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[How in the hell are we supposed to create kids without personal contact 
 
Test tube babies are not conducive to my personal pleasure ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>How in the hell are we supposed to create kids without personal contact </p>
<p>Test tube babies are not conducive to my personal pleasure </p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>By: Smote</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/hamas-columnist-claims-women-must-wear-burkas-because-they-spread-disease/comment-page-1/#comment-4237176</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Smote]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Feb 2013 13:18:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=176069#comment-4237176</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Laugh, for those with watery, cow-eyes know not what they do.  ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Laugh, for those with watery, cow-eyes know not what they do.  </p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>By: pinnie</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/hamas-columnist-claims-women-must-wear-burkas-because-they-spread-disease/comment-page-1/#comment-4237125</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[pinnie]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Feb 2013 12:57:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=176069#comment-4237125</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[THIS IS HYSTERICAL..HOW CAN ANYONE BE THAT IGNORANT?..Just impossibly un educated,and medevil .... soundly, mentally challenged group...Seems middle east slavery is alive and well...sssshhh dont tell them...It ruins my daily laugh!! ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>THIS IS HYSTERICAL..HOW CAN ANYONE BE THAT IGNORANT?..Just impossibly un educated,and medevil &#8230;. soundly, mentally challenged group&#8230;Seems middle east slavery is alive and well&#8230;sssshhh dont tell them&#8230;It ruins my daily laugh!! </p>
]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>By: objectivefactsmatter</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/hamas-columnist-claims-women-must-wear-burkas-because-they-spread-disease/comment-page-1/#comment-4236825</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[objectivefactsmatter]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Feb 2013 10:51:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=176069#comment-4236825</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&quot;Instead of blaming women, why don&#039;t they blame themselves for using all of that international aid money for weapons smuggling and lining their polititians&#039; pockets? They should have used at least some of it to vaccinate the population.&quot; 
 
 
Naah. ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&quot;Instead of blaming women, why don&#039;t they blame themselves for using all of that international aid money for weapons smuggling and lining their polititians&#039; pockets? They should have used at least some of it to vaccinate the population.&quot; </p>
<p>Naah. </p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: objectivefactsmatter</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/hamas-columnist-claims-women-must-wear-burkas-because-they-spread-disease/comment-page-1/#comment-4236822</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[objectivefactsmatter]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Feb 2013 10:49:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=176069#comment-4236822</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Her Islamic logic is weak. 
 
JK Mary Sue. ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Her Islamic logic is weak. </p>
<p>JK Mary Sue. </p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>By: Parenthetical Phrase</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/hamas-columnist-claims-women-must-wear-burkas-because-they-spread-disease/comment-page-1/#comment-4236390</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Parenthetical Phrase]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Feb 2013 07:55:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=176069#comment-4236390</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Sorry, I shed no tears for the women in Gaza. As they cheer the murder of Jews and Christians, murder their own daughters in honor killings, celebrate acts of terror with sweets and war cries, teach their children to be suicide bombers and dress them up as such, teach their children that Jews are apes and pigs and that gays should be killed, I can&#039;t help but think that all that hatred and negative energy has turned around and continues to bite them in the a$$. Good riddance, ladies. ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Sorry, I shed no tears for the women in Gaza. As they cheer the murder of Jews and Christians, murder their own daughters in honor killings, celebrate acts of terror with sweets and war cries, teach their children to be suicide bombers and dress them up as such, teach their children that Jews are apes and pigs and that gays should be killed, I can&#039;t help but think that all that hatred and negative energy has turned around and continues to bite them in the a$$. Good riddance, ladies. </p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Parenthetical Phrase</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/hamas-columnist-claims-women-must-wear-burkas-because-they-spread-disease/comment-page-1/#comment-4236334</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Parenthetical Phrase]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Feb 2013 07:33:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=176069#comment-4236334</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If Muslims (especially women) learn nothing else, it should be this: You cannot allow for the demonization of others, call them outrageous names (like monkeys and pigs) without giving permission for those within the &quot;group&quot; to be demonized as well. You cannot call non-Muslim women whores (and I have heard this term used by many Muslim women in the West) without giving tacit approval for all women to be thought of as whores including Muslims. If you want to be treated with humanity, you must treat others this way. You cannot call for the murder or kidnapping of &quot;dhimmis&quot; and expect your rights and life to be respected.  This is a concept almost no Muslim understands - including the women. As for Western feminists, their philosophy is basically, &quot;the enemy of my enemy is my friend.&quot; Feminists see Western civilization as cruel and unfair and they receive a great deal of money to keep this notion going. Do you think they will admit that compared to the lives of Muslim women, their complaints are ridiculous? They cannot dare say anything about Islamic misogyny - it would make their &quot;victim&quot; status look laughable. ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>If Muslims (especially women) learn nothing else, it should be this: You cannot allow for the demonization of others, call them outrageous names (like monkeys and pigs) without giving permission for those within the &quot;group&quot; to be demonized as well. You cannot call non-Muslim women whores (and I have heard this term used by many Muslim women in the West) without giving tacit approval for all women to be thought of as whores including Muslims. If you want to be treated with humanity, you must treat others this way. You cannot call for the murder or kidnapping of &quot;dhimmis&quot; and expect your rights and life to be respected.  This is a concept almost no Muslim understands &#8211; including the women. As for Western feminists, their philosophy is basically, &quot;the enemy of my enemy is my friend.&quot; Feminists see Western civilization as cruel and unfair and they receive a great deal of money to keep this notion going. Do you think they will admit that compared to the lives of Muslim women, their complaints are ridiculous? They cannot dare say anything about Islamic misogyny &#8211; it would make their &quot;victim&quot; status look laughable. </p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>By: AMorris</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/hamas-columnist-claims-women-must-wear-burkas-because-they-spread-disease/comment-page-1/#comment-4236286</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[AMorris]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Feb 2013 07:14:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=176069#comment-4236286</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Instead of blaming women, why don&#039;t they blame themselves for using all of that international aid money for weapons smuggling and lining their polititians&#039; pockets? They should have used at least some of it to vaccinate the population. ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Instead of blaming women, why don&#039;t they blame themselves for using all of that international aid money for weapons smuggling and lining their polititians&#039; pockets? They should have used at least some of it to vaccinate the population. </p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>By: Herb Benty</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/hamas-columnist-claims-women-must-wear-burkas-because-they-spread-disease/comment-page-1/#comment-4236189</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Herb Benty]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Feb 2013 06:30:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=176069#comment-4236189</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Western feminists and Lefties are &quot;Evolutionary Marxists&quot; to the core, they hate Jews and Christians so much that they embrace Islam, because Islam hates Jews and Christians also. Even though Islamists treat women like cattle, feminists will still side with Islam because they hate GOD and His children. Women in the Infantry? The socialist takeover is almost done. Canada and America were the last two GOOD countries.....Islam is merely another tool being used against us by Russia/China. WAKE UP, America, Canada, England, Australia...the rest are too far gone. ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Western feminists and Lefties are &quot;Evolutionary Marxists&quot; to the core, they hate Jews and Christians so much that they embrace Islam, because Islam hates Jews and Christians also. Even though Islamists treat women like cattle, feminists will still side with Islam because they hate GOD and His children. Women in the Infantry? The socialist takeover is almost done. Canada and America were the last two GOOD countries&#8230;..Islam is merely another tool being used against us by Russia/China. WAKE UP, America, Canada, England, Australia&#8230;the rest are too far gone. </p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>By: Mary Sue</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/hamas-columnist-claims-women-must-wear-burkas-because-they-spread-disease/comment-page-1/#comment-4236187</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Mary Sue]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Feb 2013 06:29:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=176069#comment-4236187</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(pssst, but then they can&#039;t catch anything either, too, right? RIGHT? XD ) ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>(pssst, but then they can&#039;t catch anything either, too, right? RIGHT? XD ) </p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>By: AdinaK</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/hamas-columnist-claims-women-must-wear-burkas-because-they-spread-disease/comment-page-1/#comment-4235741</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[AdinaK]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Feb 2013 03:49:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=176069#comment-4235741</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Of course, westerners (at least many) understand, wherever Islam/Sharia Law is practiced all manner of insanity prevails, even if this particular madness is not specifically mentioned in the Koran. However, the underpinnings within Sharia ensure that women, their sexuality, must be expunged. 
 
Islam &amp; Blood goes a long way in explaining many of their perverse &quot;understandings&quot;. Study it, pass it on - &lt;a href=&quot;http://adinakutnicki.com/2012/07/13/islam-blood-a-groundbreaking-policy-paper-contained-herein-the-world-stands-on-a-precipice-commentary-by-adina-&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://adinakutnicki.com/2012/07/13/islam-blood-a...&lt;/a&gt; 
 
IF anyone believes the columnist is in the minority, in his community, think again. 
 
Adina kutnicki, Israel - &lt;a href=&quot;http://adinakutnicki.com/about/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://adinakutnicki.com/about/&lt;/a&gt; 
 ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Of course, westerners (at least many) understand, wherever Islam/Sharia Law is practiced all manner of insanity prevails, even if this particular madness is not specifically mentioned in the Koran. However, the underpinnings within Sharia ensure that women, their sexuality, must be expunged. </p>
<p>Islam &amp; Blood goes a long way in explaining many of their perverse &quot;understandings&quot;. Study it, pass it on &#8211; <a href="http://adinakutnicki.com/2012/07/13/islam-blood-a-groundbreaking-policy-paper-contained-herein-the-world-stands-on-a-precipice-commentary-by-adina-" rel="nofollow"></a><a href="http://adinakutnicki.com/2012/07/13/islam-blood-a" rel="nofollow">http://adinakutnicki.com/2012/07/13/islam-blood-a</a>&#8230; </p>
<p>IF anyone believes the columnist is in the minority, in his community, think again. </p>
<p>Adina kutnicki, Israel &#8211; <a href="http://adinakutnicki.com/about/" rel="nofollow">http://adinakutnicki.com/about/</a> </p>
]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>By: Mary Sue</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/hamas-columnist-claims-women-must-wear-burkas-because-they-spread-disease/comment-page-1/#comment-4235716</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Mary Sue]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Feb 2013 03:40:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=176069#comment-4235716</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I know right! ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I know right! </p>
]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>By: Mr. Logic</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/hamas-columnist-claims-women-must-wear-burkas-because-they-spread-disease/comment-page-1/#comment-4235714</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Mr. Logic]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Feb 2013 03:39:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=176069#comment-4235714</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[You fail to get the point. Men don&#039;t have germs. ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>You fail to get the point. Men don&#039;t have germs. </p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>By: burkasrugly</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/hamas-columnist-claims-women-must-wear-burkas-because-they-spread-disease/comment-page-1/#comment-4235663</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[burkasrugly]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Feb 2013 03:21:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=176069#comment-4235663</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Mary Sue,  I was thinking the same thing! ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Mary Sue,  I was thinking the same thing! </p>
]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>By: Mary Sue</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/hamas-columnist-claims-women-must-wear-burkas-because-they-spread-disease/comment-page-1/#comment-4235624</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Mary Sue]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Feb 2013 03:07:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=176069#comment-4235624</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[OK then, why aren&#039;t men supposed to wear burkas, because by this argument, if they&#039;re not covered up they  could be spreading stuff as they&#039;re out and about, too! ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>OK then, why aren&#039;t men supposed to wear burkas, because by this argument, if they&#039;re not covered up they  could be spreading stuff as they&#039;re out and about, too! </p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>By: JacksonPearson</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/hamas-columnist-claims-women-must-wear-burkas-because-they-spread-disease/comment-page-1/#comment-4235555</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[JacksonPearson]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Feb 2013 02:43:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://frontpagemag.com/?p=176069#comment-4235555</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&lt;i&gt;&quot;Last week, Afghan girl Mah Gul was beheaded on the instruction of family because she rejected prostitution. Fifteen-year-old Malala Yousufzai was shot in the head by Pakistani Taliban gunmen in the Swat Valley because she campaigned for women&#039;s secular education. Absence of outrage by Muslim leaders is shameful, but why are so many Western feminists silent? 
 
In Swat, the Pakistani Taliban systematically restricted girls&#039; education. During 2008, they destroyed about 150 private schools and converted others into madrassas, or religious seminaries. Government schools were closed down, teachers murdered, acid was thrown on to the faces of schoolgirls and several officials were beheaded. 
 
A local Islamist leader explained: &quot;Female education is against Islamic teachings and spreads vulgarity in society.&quot; 
 
The attack on Malala and two companions on a school bus has shocked Pakistan, especially in view of the bloody war in Swat fought by the army in 2009 to unseat the Taliban and enforce national law. In Pakistan, more than half the adult population is illiterate and in rural Sindh and Balochistan, female literacy rates are less than 2 percent. &quot;Honor killings,&quot; bartering of women for land and animals, domestic violence and rape are endemic. 
 
Many intellectual feminists value cultural practice, but as Afghan women&#039;s rights activist Sima Samar asserted, this respect does not apply to traditions that oppress women and violate human rights. Some feminists have joined an unholy alliance with political Islam, disregarding the oppression of women and homosexuals in favor of overarching aims to rid the world of colonialism, neo-colonialism and capitalism. 
 
Female politicians have not always supported women&#039;s rights. When she was prime minister, Benazir Bhutto appointed women to the High Court but made no significant changes to discriminatory laws, and assisted the Taliban. In Afghanistan, women have made great strides over the past 10 years; education was established, and 3 million girls now attend school. 
 
International women&#039;s rights groups helped expose Afghan Taliban abuse and develop the new constitution for the transitional Afghan government; but the mainstream movement, with some exceptions such as the Feminist Majority Foundation, has not fought consistently for the rights of Afghan women. 
 
Today, support of the international feminist movement is particularly urgent. In Tunisia, a woman who was allegedly raped is facing an &quot;immorality&quot; charge and possible prison sentence. 
 
Salafist leaders in Egypt are calling for changes to the draft constitution, so that Article 2 will affirm Islamic sharia as the main source of legislation rather than the principle of state law. Moreover, article 36 prescribes gender equality only if it does not contravene sharia. Egyptian women activists are campaigning for removal of sharia references in the draft constitution, as well as extreme demands from Salafists. 
 
Pressing for basic women&#039;s rights in Pakistan and Afghanistan is part of a regional challenge and should be a priority for Western feminists. Instead, many tolerate sexist violence in the area and subjugation of women through customary law and religious legislation mandated by the state. While they continue to ignore Islamist misogyny, feminists are dallying while their Muslim sisters burn.&quot;&lt;/i&gt; 
 
--Ida Lichter, M.D. 
Author, &#039;Muslim Women Reformers: Inspiring Voices Against Oppression&#039; ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><i>&quot;Last week, Afghan girl Mah Gul was beheaded on the instruction of family because she rejected prostitution. Fifteen-year-old Malala Yousufzai was shot in the head by Pakistani Taliban gunmen in the Swat Valley because she campaigned for women&#039;s secular education. Absence of outrage by Muslim leaders is shameful, but why are so many Western feminists silent? </p>
<p>In Swat, the Pakistani Taliban systematically restricted girls&#039; education. During 2008, they destroyed about 150 private schools and converted others into madrassas, or religious seminaries. Government schools were closed down, teachers murdered, acid was thrown on to the faces of schoolgirls and several officials were beheaded. </p>
<p>A local Islamist leader explained: &quot;Female education is against Islamic teachings and spreads vulgarity in society.&quot; </p>
<p>The attack on Malala and two companions on a school bus has shocked Pakistan, especially in view of the bloody war in Swat fought by the army in 2009 to unseat the Taliban and enforce national law. In Pakistan, more than half the adult population is illiterate and in rural Sindh and Balochistan, female literacy rates are less than 2 percent. &quot;Honor killings,&quot; bartering of women for land and animals, domestic violence and rape are endemic. </p>
<p>Many intellectual feminists value cultural practice, but as Afghan women&#039;s rights activist Sima Samar asserted, this respect does not apply to traditions that oppress women and violate human rights. Some feminists have joined an unholy alliance with political Islam, disregarding the oppression of women and homosexuals in favor of overarching aims to rid the world of colonialism, neo-colonialism and capitalism. </p>
<p>Female politicians have not always supported women&#039;s rights. When she was prime minister, Benazir Bhutto appointed women to the High Court but made no significant changes to discriminatory laws, and assisted the Taliban. In Afghanistan, women have made great strides over the past 10 years; education was established, and 3 million girls now attend school. </p>
<p>International women&#039;s rights groups helped expose Afghan Taliban abuse and develop the new constitution for the transitional Afghan government; but the mainstream movement, with some exceptions such as the Feminist Majority Foundation, has not fought consistently for the rights of Afghan women. </p>
<p>Today, support of the international feminist movement is particularly urgent. In Tunisia, a woman who was allegedly raped is facing an &quot;immorality&quot; charge and possible prison sentence. </p>
<p>Salafist leaders in Egypt are calling for changes to the draft constitution, so that Article 2 will affirm Islamic sharia as the main source of legislation rather than the principle of state law. Moreover, article 36 prescribes gender equality only if it does not contravene sharia. Egyptian women activists are campaigning for removal of sharia references in the draft constitution, as well as extreme demands from Salafists. </p>
<p>Pressing for basic women&#039;s rights in Pakistan and Afghanistan is part of a regional challenge and should be a priority for Western feminists. Instead, many tolerate sexist violence in the area and subjugation of women through customary law and religious legislation mandated by the state. While they continue to ignore Islamist misogyny, feminists are dallying while their Muslim sisters burn.&quot;</i> </p>
<p>&#8211;Ida Lichter, M.D.<br />
Author, &#039;Muslim Women Reformers: Inspiring Voices Against Oppression&#039; </p>
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