Tag Archive

Update on Mini-Skirts and Veils

Statistics on how many women wear facial veils are usually not available in France, which is wary of surveys of people’s religious practices because of the ideal of equality. This means that until now, the issue of Islamic veils has been debated with much passion but little hard… »

Beyond Mini-Skirts and Veils

President Sarkozy’s recent declarations against the burqa have fallen out of the news headlines but his words are still ringing loudly within and outside Western Muslim communities. Opinion pieces and letters continue to flood international and local papers, tugging back and forth. While such debates may be painful and trivial to read and listen to… »

Poor Alternatives

ShareAnne Applebaum, liberal-ish Washington Post and Slate correspondent, former-USSR expert, and wife of the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, recently published the most ridiculous op-ed of all time, entitled “Morocco, an Alternative to Iran.”  On Slate, it was published as “Morocco Makes Peace With Its Past” (perhaps even more proposterous), and I perhaps wouldn’t have… »

Chaim Sends Greetings from Iran

It’s not a well-guarded secret that resident KABOBfest Arabist Chaim Sugarman has a fetish for hijab-wearing women.

Point in case: While in Iran to show his support for the country’s seventh party candidate, Koskol, he sent the KABOBfest listserv the following short email and… »

Iraqi Muhajabeh Character on ATWT

ShareHow did this ludicrous, crown jewel of a TV storyline concocted by the good people at As the World Turns (ATWT) fall under my nose? This As the World Turns storyline, which aired first aired February 22nd of this year,  focuses on a mutually beneficial relationship. Ameera Ali Aziz (AAA), an Iraqi native college student, needs… »

“I doubt more than 1 in 100 Muslim women wear hijab here. It’s probably close to the opposite in their home countries…

ShareSo if it is really all about choice, why do the same women make different choices, depending on where they live?-A frequent KABOBfest message board commentator commenting on a conversation sparked by I post I wrote concerning the Bahraini 200 meter olympic competitor (Ruqaya Al-Ghasara), who was fully covered from head to toe for her races…. »

Songs From Above (as in satellite TV)

ShareThe LA Times has an article on Syrian singer Hossam Haj and his new song “Let Us Pray Together, Sweetheart.” Haj got famous for his last jam, “Get Your Hijab On!”. Haj is the latest in a growing list of self righteous singers. While I kinda dug the work of Sami Yusuf and could tolerate… »

Turkey Almost Votes for Religious Freedom!

ShareAccording to the print issue of the International Herald Tribune on Feb 8, Lawmakers voted early Thursday to approve a constitutional amendment to allow women to enter universities wearing Islamic head scarves, a move that many secular Turks view as an attempt to impose religion on their daily lives. Lawmakers voted 401 to 110 in… »

Hijabi Fashion on the Syrian Streets

ShareHaving spent a summer in Damascus this past year, I would have to say blogger/cartoonist Puppeteer at the brilliantly titled Journal…of an Axis of Evil Citizen has hit the nail on the head with her rendition of Syrian (more like Damascene) Hijabi street wear [click on image to enlarge] The only recommendation I would have… »

Seriously, I got a problem… (and its not my overuse of rhetorical questions)

ShareI feel like such an orientalist, What can I say? I always turn my nose up at the dumb American media when it recycles the same old tropes about Muslim women: “oh my gosh, she is wearing a hijab and is a journalist/activist/marathon runner/sentient being/etc.” -MSM However, part of me is undeniably titillated by these… »