Britannia Radio

MEMRI Daily - Women's Topics: January 2, 2011

The following are three reports from the MEMRI Women's Topics Project, focusing on the flogging of a woman in Sudan, on the dearth of women in the Iraqi government, and on Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning. For more from the MEMRI Women's Topics Project, visithttp://www.memri.org/subject/en/141.htm. Also, visit the MEMRI Reform Blog http://www.thememriblog.org/reformproject. *Special Dispatch Series Special Dispatch No. 3482 Arab Columnist on Flogging of Woman In Sudan: "Who Says That Beating Women is a 'Muslim Cultural Phenomenon' and that Working to Redress Violations of Women's Rights is... Un-Islamic" – "Respect for Women... Is a Universal Value" – Not Just a Western Value On December 12, 2010, MEMRI released a subtitled video clip of the public flogging of a Sudanese woman at the Khartoum police station. # 2722 - Footage of Woman Receiving Lashing at Khartoum Police Station; Khartoum Governor Justifies Punishment. Warning: Extremely Graphic Images http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/2722.htm Alarabiya.net published an op-ed titled "Universal Values," by Nermeen Murad, on December 20, discussing the flogging and stating that it had "given rise to an international debate and criticism of Islam's perceived treatment of women." Asking, "Who says that beating women is a 'Muslim cultural phenomenon' and that working to redress violations of women's rights is somehow un-Islamic or un-Arab...?" Ms. Murad went on to state that "respect for women, respect for individual human beings, regardless of their gender, is a universal value that is not the remit of the Western world alone." To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/4884.htm. Special Dispatch No. 3481—Iraq/Saudi Arabia Senior Saudi Columnist: Why Are There No Women in the Iraqi Parliament and Government? In a December 23, 2010 article, Subhi Zu'aytar, editor of the political section at the Saudi dailyAl-Watan, lamented the absence of women from the Iraqi parliament, and criticized the Iraqi politicians, and in particular Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, for failing to appoint any women to the Iraqi government, saying this is evidence of the poor state of Iraqi democracy. The absence of female ministers was condemned by the Iraqi prime minister himself, who said, in his December 21, 2010 speech upon the approval of the new government, that he had asked the parties to appoint women to ministerial positions, but this had not been done. Zu'aytar pointed out that Al-Maliki's criticism was somewhat ironic, since his party had been among the offenders. It should be noted that Subhi Zu'aytar's own country, Saudi Arabia, has one of the poorest records in the Arab world in terms of women's rights and equality To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/4883.htm. *MEMRI TV Project MEMRI TV Clip No. 2720 Iranian TV Report on Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the Iranian Woman Sentenced to Death by Stoning – Including An Interview With Her On December 10, Iran's Press TV aired a report about the case Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, an Iranian women sentenced to death by stoning. The report acknowledged the international condemnation of the sentence, but said it aimed to present a fuller picture than the international community had thus far seen. The report included interviews with both her supporters and those who support the sentence, and with Ashtiani herself. To view the clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/2720.htm