<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">From Political Islam Online</span></font><span style="font: 32.0px Times"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></font></span><span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></font></span><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span style="font: 11.0px Times"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></font></span><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></font></p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Times; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">Arab Women on the Move: Trends Countertrends</span></font><span style="font: 10.0px Georgia"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></font></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 11px/normal 'Times New Roman'; "><b><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">By: Raouf Ebeid - Editor </span></font></b></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 11px/normal 'Times New Roman'; "><b><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">Published: November 1, 2009 </span></font></b></div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span style="font: 16.0px Times"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></font></span><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></font></p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">Women in the Middle East are on the move, but in decidedly different directions, depending on </span></font><span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></font></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">where you look. In less than forty years, Cairo has gone from a city of Western fashion and </span></font><span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></font></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">tendency toward the secular to a city in which the majority of women </span></font><span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></font></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">wear the </span></font><span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></font></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">Hijab</span></font><span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></font></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"> (head scarf) and an increasing number, particularly in poor </span></font><span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></font></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">neighborhoods, are wearing the </span></font><span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></font></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">niqab</span></font><span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></font></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">, covering their face and body. Many </span></font><span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></font></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">attribute this trend to mounting Islamic radicalism, which is often blamed </span></font><span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></font></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">on the brand of Salafism imported from Saudi Arabia. Yet, in Saudi Arabia </span></font><span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></font></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">the King has just inaugurated a new university in which women will study alongside their male counterparts without being forced to wear the </span></font><span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></font></span><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">Hijab</span></font><span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></font></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">. Middle East now find it almost impossible to generalize about changing soccommunities in the region or about the causes for these transformations. </span></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"><br></span></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Times; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Optima" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">Full article at <a href="http://www.politicalislam.org/embed_doc.php?ArticleID=266">http://www.politicalislam.org/embed_doc.php?ArticleID=266</a></span></font></div></body></html>