Friday, February 23, 2018

#MeToo in the Mosque

by Giulio Meotti • February 23, 2018 at 5:00 am

"While the brave Iranian women protested against hijab laws, Western feminists celebrated hijab". — Rita Panahi, Herald Sun, Australia.
Instead of a celebration of Islamist discrimination against women, the West should promote a #MeToo in the mosque, the idea of an Egyptian, Mona Eltahawi. She would like to raise the issue of rape and sexual abuse suffered by Muslim women during the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.
Will the Western advocates of women's rights also stand for the rights of Muslim women, or, in the name of "multiculturalism", the will they keep appeasing those who persecute them instead?

In Berlin, Germany, the first mosque to welcome unveiled women and gays opened last year, co-founded by Turkish-German human-rights activist Seyran Ates. In contrast to traditional mosques, males and females worship together in the new mosque. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

While the march for women's rights in Washington this year took place under the banner of #MeToo against sexual harassment, in Iran dozens of women were taking to the streets to protest against theocracy and compulsory wearing of the hijab. The Iranian women waved white flags to fight against the mullahs' obligation to veil. But the white flag was not a surrender; it was apparently a symbol of Western feminists. As the Australian Rita Panahi wrote, "while the brave Iranian women protested against hijab laws, Western feminists celebrated hijab".