Women in the Public Eye

Geraldine Ferraro passed away over the weekend. She will be remembered not only as the first woman to break the Men's Club of America's National Politics. She will also be remembered as a lifelong fighter for social justice, women's rights, children's rights, and an advocate of Human Rights around the world. Sadly, after a 12 year bout with multiple myeloma - a terrible form of blood cancer, Mrs. Ferraro died on March 26, 2011.

Even President Obama, whom she opposed in favor of Hillary Clinton for the 2008 Democratic National Convention Nomination, praised Mrs. Ferraro as a "trailblazer" whose life of civic duty and breaking through glass ceilings would make the lives of his own daughters, Sasha and Malia, a more equal one in the United States of America.

Meanwhile, in the Middle East, mistreatment, harassment, abuse, and even rape all remain part of the reality of politics, protest, civic unrest, and war.

On Saturday, March 26, 2011, in Tripoli, Libya, a woman who said her name is Eman al-Obeidy from the rebel-held town of Benghazi, burst into the international hotel where journalists and other world wide media representatives are being hosted by the government of Muamar Gaddafi, to tell her story of abuse, beatings, and rape at the hands of Gadafi loyalists. She figured that it was the only place she could tell her story where anyone of consequence might hear it. As she yelled and screamed of her horrible mistreatment, Gadhafi minders rushed her, in full sight of the onlooking media, using brute force (by both men and women) to silence her, break the CNN videographer's camera, put a bag over her head, and forcefully lead her out of the hotel and into a car, whereafter she was driven to jail. When pressed for information by reporters on the scene, the Libyan government spokesman (the Deputy Foreign Minister) said she was insane and was taken into custody and was safe. Later when the reporters asked to be taken to her to see that she was indeed safe, the Libyan government spokesman said she is actually not insane and was jailed and that she may be seen again in a few days. Following that, the government spokesman said she was being offered legal aid, and would even be able to bring charges against her accused attackers. All the same, the fact that she was the first person to speak out against Gaddafi's forces in the heart of Tripoli since the anti-Gaddafi protests were quashed in Tripoli some weeks ago, says a great deal about the Libyan propaganda's machine and the ends to which it will go to silence any voice that dares speak against Ghaddafi. Furthermore, the fact that an alleged rape victim was so brutally manhandled by men and women loyal to Khadafi, says a great deal more about how women are treated - or mistreated - in that North African desert fiefdom.

In Egypt, where relatively peaceful protests in Tahrir Square led to the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak after 18 days of protests in the heart of Cairo, a story has broken about the mistreatment and abuse of women who joined the sea of protestors. Reports that dozens of women -- local Egyptians as well as foreign journalists like CBS correspondent Lara Logan, were harassed, sexually assaulted, and in many cases taken away to police detention centers in the Egypt Museum complex, where they were questioned, beaten, electrocuted, tortured, threatened with charges of prostitution, stripped, probed, photographed, and all in plain sight of strange men, continues to raise questions about gender inequality in the heart of Araby. The detained women were subject to "virgin tests" to determine whether or not they had had sex. At least one woman who was "tested" by a male physician was determined to have had sex even though she said she had not. She was then charged with prostitution. Other detained women protestors were charged with public disturbance, destroying public property, and other trumped up charges, all in an obvious attempt to silence their outrage at the Mubarak regime and its political corruptness.

The Middle East may indeed be in the middle of an historic revolution. However, until all people in Araby are treated with equal respect, men, women and children living in those countries will not be able to live in peace, because their own leaders are tormenting them with unabashed barbarism.

This leads me to the point of this post, which is really a question: Who will be the Geraldine Ferraro of Araby?

I for one hope she will come to light as soon as possible, and that women's rights are fully established and respected across the Arab nations.

To quote John Lennon, "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope some day you'll join us, and the world will be as one."