16 quotes found
"The Arab woman who is equal to the man in duties and obligations will not accept, in the twentieth century, the distinctions between the sexes that the advanced countries have done away with. The Arab woman will not agree to be chained in slavery and to pay for the consequences of men's mistakes with respect to her country's rights and the future of her children. The woman also demands with her loudest voice to be restored her political rights, rights granted to her by the Sharia and dictated to her by the demands of the present. The advanced nations have recognised that the man and the woman are to each other like the brain and heart are to the body; if the balance between these two organs is upset the system of the whole body will be upset. Likewise, if the balance between the two sexes in the nation is upset it will disintegrate and collapse. The advanced nations, after careful examination into the matter, have come to believe in the equality of sexes in all rights even though their religious and secular laws have not reached the level Islam has reached in terms of justice towards the woman. Islam has given her the right to vote for the ruler and has allowed her to give opinions on questions of jurisprudence and religion. The woman, given by the Creator the right to vote for the successor of the Prophet, is deprived of the right to vote for a deputy in a circuit or district election by a (male) being created by God."
"...Every woman who does not stand up for her legitimate rights would be considered as not standing up for the rights of her country and the future of her children and society. Every man who is pushed by his selfishness to trespass on the legitimate rights of women is robbing the rights of others and bringing harm to his country. He is an obstacle preventing the country from benefiting from the abilities and efforts of half the nation or more. He is impeding the advancement of his country and preventing it from being placed in the position it deserves - among the advanced nations whose civilisation was built on the shoulders of women and men together, just as Arab civilisation at the beginning of Islam was built on the co-operation and equality of the two sexes. Now after this feminist conference and the presentation of the cause of women to the public and the placing of its documents in a historical archive, it is incumbent upon man to record on his own page in the historical record that which will honour him and justify his stand before God, the nation, and future generations."
"I see myself as a foreigner in my community. This is because my thoughts do not match their thoughts, and their thoughts do not match mine. My community doesn't consider me to be a real woman because they are unwilling to accept a woman who objects or defends her gender. To them, I am not a woman because I am strong and stand against them. They believe that strength is for men and weakness for women."
"So if the traditions and culture of the Eastern community are blindly compelled to hurt a woman’s dignity, insult and degrade her in the name of cultural unity, then I am ready to burn myself. If it means facing prosecution and rejection to highlight these difficult truths, I intend to vocalize my pain and start a revolution for the silent women who faced centuries of oppression."
"the mother of the Egyptian feminist movement"
"Although I was never fortunate enough to meet her in person, the Arab feminist renaissance owes her and her achievements a great debt of gratitude. She must be counted in the very first rank of women who fought for the advancement of Arab women, their rights and progress. Her name echoed in every concourse of women, and at every social activity. She was the first to point to the nation's need to make use of cultured women, to get women used to the routine of work, to expand the circle of acquaintances among Arab women, and to call upon them to demand social reform. It must be emphasized here that Egyptian women were the first Arab women to engage in concerted national action, defying both local traditions and foreign occupation in their celebrated demonstration in 1919. Huda Sha`rawi was in their vanguard. They left their private chambers, fired by a burning desire to rid their land of foreign occupation, and raised their voices so loud that the whole world heard them with astonishment and admiration. We in Beirut closely followed news of them, our hearts filled with pride in their achievements and a great hope for their success. The world press carried pictures of them leading the demonstrations courageously and with utter determination, defying the guns of the British army, and marching onwards even after some in their ranks were killed or wounded. Their actions may be considered a historic landmark of the feminist movement, testifying to the degree of intellectual maturity and nationalist sentiment achieved by Egypt, its feminist leaders and its women in general. These actions also served as a sort of beacon, lighting the way for women throughout the Arab world, at once a refutation of those who depicted Arab women as weak and lazy, and a testimony of the potential power of Arab, and Eastern women in general."
"Hoda Shaarawi and her organization worked hard to bring women's rights to the forefront as part of the national struggle for liberation. Women started to be aware of the fact that they have to fight a double battle: not only against the British and foreign exploitation, but also against male domination or patriarchy in the family and in society."
"Doria Shafik took the liberal ideology of the EFU one step further, becoming more militant in her reformist ideas and actions than Huda Sharawi."
"Some two or three months after I arrived in prison [in 1959], I felt a desire to paint and with it came a refusal to surrender to the status quo…I would go up to the roof of the building to paint anything I could find, eventually painting the inmates."
"One of the most important subjects I painted from inside the prison was Inshirah, who had been sentenced to death, but her execution had been postponed for one year until her child was weaned. Those sentenced to be executed were placed in a cell under special guard so they wouldn’t commit suicide, and they wore red uniforms. While awaiting Inshirah’s execution, I felt the massive tragedy of her story, as she had killed and stolen under the pressure of extremely harsh conditions and overwhelming misery. When I asked to paint her, the director [of the prison] told me that it would be very depressing. I did indeed paint her and her son - this was one of the paintings that were confiscated by the Criminal Investigations Department."
"There was a small tributary of the Nile where sailboats would pass by. We would watch from inside the prison as the sails caught the wind and men climbed up the masts to tie them down. Seeing the wind in the sails stirred many sorrows in me, and sparked an uncontrollable desire for freedom.. I obtained permission from the General Manager to go up to the roof of the warehouse..[and] when the boats appeared [the other inmates] cried out ‘The boats are here!’ I painted many pictures of sailboats, depicting our immobility against the movement of the sails."
"After some time I lost the desire to paint the prison and its inmates — the whole place disgusted me. I began to paint what nature there was behind bars, as we did have some gardens, trees and flowers. I was fascinated by a tree that was near the barbed wire - I’d paint it in every season, and such meticulous attention to a single object taught me a lot. If I’d be outside the prison I never would have painted just that one tree. My fellow inmates even named the tree after me; they called it ‘Inji’s tree."
"Egypt has transformed from an influential regional actor into a global strategic partner."
"that the world was dazzled by the brilliant organization of the fourth edition of the World Youth Forum, which concluded its activities in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm El Sheikh Thursday."
"the determination of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to hold the forum, despite the global outbreak of infections by the Omicron variant of coronavirus, was strong evidence of Egypt’s ability to organize such a worldwide event"
"the WYF served as a starting point for the UN Climate Change Conference 2022 (COP 27) that will kick off in Sharm El Sheikh in November"