From here and there: - The Nation, a distinguished American liberal magazine, urged its subscribers, and I am one of them, to support the United Nations efforts to defend women around the world. In a letter I received from the publication, I read that one third of women around the world faces daily violence and that over 70% of women will experience violence in their lifetime. Personally, I say it is “preaching to the choir”, since Arab women are more victims of violence more than any other women around the world. Indeed, while women are being subjected to violence in Europe and America, they enjoy equal rights with men. As for the Arab women, their rights are missing, and the law was written by men for men, rendering women second-class citizens or slaves in several Arab countries, while we are in the twenty first century. The Arabs will not become humans, unless equality is instated between women and men. - Arab men cannot control their governments or vanquish Israel, so persecute women, as in the Arab saying that goes: “Those who cannot beat the donkey down, pick on the saddle.” Does the reader know that the United States will host around forty international leaders on April 12-13, during the nuclear security summit conference sponsored by Obama's administration, “to enhance international cooperation to prevent nuclear terrorism”? Benjamin Netanyahu should have been among the attendees to talk about Iran's nuclear program, but he will abstain after he heard that participants will be talking about Israel's nuclear arsenal, which is threatening the Arabs and Muslims everywhere. Israel is a terrorist state, which possesses nuclear arms and rockets to reach its goals, whereas Iran does not possess nuclear weapons and the legitimacy of its existence is not the object of controversy. In the meantime, some Arabs are scared of Iran and are burying their heads in the sand in the face of Israel, while not even attempting to launch a nuclear military program, with which they could protect themselves in the balance of terror with it. These Arab men, who are powerless in front of everyone, act like champions with their wives, and thus beat them. - Notwithstanding the above, I keep looking for a positive needle in the fictional haystack, one which I might have found under a Western “civilized” appearance that we have so far missed, and which I hope we will keep our distance from. In the members' dining room of the British House of Commons, Minister of State for Europe and Consular Affairs Chris Bryant "married" his boyfriend Jared Cranney. In the United States, the Department of Defense softened the ban preventing gays (and they are now called homosexuals) from performing military service. Indeed, after they were allowed to serve, provided they did not proclaim their homosexuality, the army has stopped investigating any “third-party” complaints accusing a service member of being a homosexual. Is this progress? Is this civilization? I am not condemning anyone and I refuse the persecution of any human being, since all humans should be free from their heads to the buttocks. My only condition in this context is for them not to raise a banner declaring their gayness.. I beg your pardon, their homosexuality. - I suggest the annulment of article 76 from each and every Arab constitution, considering that it raised problems in two major Arab countries, i.e. Egypt and Iraq, and that the latter problems will undoubtedly be more difficult in a small country. In Egypt, the original Article 76 of the constitution stipulated the nomination of a president by one third of the members of the People's Assembly. The latter nominee would then be the object of a popular referendum, and if he were to fail to get the required majority, the nomination process would be staged a second time within two days. On 10/5/2005, this article was amended to elect the president via direct secret balloting in the People's Assembly and the Shura Council, provided that the candidate is supported by at least 250 figures among the elected members in the two councils, as well as the popular and local provincial councils. In other words, the article was difficult to implement to begin with and grew even more difficult in light of the amendments, almost limiting the candidacy to the candidate of the ruling National Party. For its part, Article 76 of the Iraqi constitution stipulates the nomination by the new president of the republic who is chosen by the Council of Representatives in its first session, the leader of the parliamentary bloc with the most seats to head the Cabinet. This would mean that the premiership should go to candidate Ayad Allawi whose Iraqi List bloc earned 91 seats, compared to 89 seats for the State of Law Coalition that is headed by current Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. However, following Al-Maliki's complaints, the Federal Supreme Court decided that the head of any new alliance formed by different parliamentary blocs and which enjoys the majority of the seats, should see his candidate elected as prime minister, a decision which launched a series of bazar-like deals, compromises and commissions. Let us write off Article 76 from all Arab constitutions and go straight from Article 75 to Article 77, in order to spare the voters from the wrongdoings of the deputies. [email protected]
