Middle East News Report

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Power and Sexuality in the Middle East

by Bruce Dunne
Sexual relations in Middle Eastern societies have historically articulated social hierarchies, that is, dominant and subordinate social positions: adult men on top; women, boys and slaves below. The distinction made by modern Western "sexuality" between sexual and gender identity, that is, between kinds of sexual predilections [and] degrees of masculinity and femininity, has, until recently, had little resonance in the Middle East. Both dominant/subordinate and heterosexual/homosexual categorizations are structures of power. They position social actors as powerful or powerless, "normal" or "deviant." The contemporary concept of "queerness" resists all such categorizing in favor of recognizing more complex realities of multiple and shifting positions of sexuality, identity and power...

Read complete article at: http://www.merip.org/mer/mer206/bruce.htm

The Guardian, London, England ( http://www.guardian.co.uk ) http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,945884,00.html

April 29, 2003

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Government disorientation--Widespread Middle Eastern repression of homosexuals stems from outdated ideas about the role of the state

by Brian Whitaker (Email: brian.whitaker@guardian.co.uk)
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is probably the most important document ever issued by the United Nations. It spells out in clear and uncompromising language "the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family". The word "universal" in the title is not to be taken lightly. It means exactly what it says: human rights should apply equally to everyone, everywhere, at all times.

One of the difficulties of attempting to police human rights through the UN, of course, is that its members are among the offenders and there are always governments seeking to make exceptions to the principle of universality. That the declaration exists at all is mainly due to the fact that it was approved by the UN General Assembly in 1948 - during a brief period of idealism immediately after the second world war (when the horrors of Nazi Germany were still fresh in the memory) and before the start of the cold war with the Soviet Union.

It is very doubtful that UN members would be able to agree on such a document today. Even in 1948, various governments were unhappy with the declaration. The Soviet Union said it over-emphasised "18th century rights" at the expense of economic rights. South Africa, which was just embarking on its racist apartheid system, saw nothing wrong in discriminating on the grounds of skin colour. And Saudi Arabia was unhappy with the idea of religious freedom (even though the Koran specifically states that there is no compulsion in religion).

Last week, there were more objections. At the annual session of the UN Human Rights Commission, Muslim countries blocked a resolution expressing "deep concern at the occurrence of violations of human rights in the world against persons on the grounds of their sexual orientation". The resolution was proposed by Brazil and backed by European countries but five Muslim countries - Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, Libya and Malaysia - staged a filibuster that resulted in the debate being postponed for a year. It was the first time that the UN had addressed the delicate issue of homosexual rights by name, and it proved too much for Shaukat Umer, the Pakistani ambassador. Muslim nations could not accept the proposal and in any case, he suggested, the correct term was not "sexual orientation" but "sexual disorientation".

"This is a question that concerns the fundamental values of our society," he said. "It's an attempt to impose one set of values on to people who have another. "We say: we respect your value systems, but please handle those within your own countries." To human rights organisations, these are all familiar arguments. "In many parts of the world," Amnesty International says, "being gay or lesbian is not seen as a right, but as a wrong. Homosexuality is considered a sin, or an illness, an ideological deviation or a betrayal of one's culture. "The repression that gay and lesbian people face is often passionately defended by governments or individuals in the name of religion, culture, morality or public health ... Same-sex relations are dubbed 'un-Christian', 'un-African', 'un-Islamic', or a 'bourgeois decadence'."

The president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, takes a more original line: lesbians and gay men are "less than human", therefore they are not entitled to human rights. Whatever anyone thinks of Mr Mugabe's view, it does have a certain logic. There is no point in fudging the issue with arguments about cultural traditions or religion. Either all human beings have the same "equal and inalienable rights" (as the UN declaration puts it) or they do not. Those who say their religion does not permit them to treat everyone with equal dignity and respect should stop complaining about "western values" and ask themselves what they think their religion is for, and whether they have interpreted the scriptures correctly. Much as some would like to portray the sexual orientation battle as another aspect of the supposed "crusade" against Islam, there is no reason why it should be. Britain and many other countries went through similar traumas in the last century; they not only survived but, on the whole, are better places because of it.

Throughout Europe, following a ruling by the Court of Human Rights, laws that criminalise private consensual sex between adult men are now invalid. There is also a worldwide trend towards granting legal protection against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. South Africa was the first to do this, in 1996, and it has been followed by others such as Canada, France, Ireland, Israel, Slovenia and Spain. The Arab and Islamic countries are a notable exception to this trend. In almost all of them, sexual relations between men are illegal, with penalties ranging from imprisonment to death. (The position regarding relations between women is less clear and the issue is almost never mentioned.)

By no means all of them enforce these laws stringently. In Oman, for instance, it's said that cases only get to court if "public scandal" is involved. Egypt, on the other hand, has been going out of its way during the last couple of years to track down people and prosecute them - often by using dubious entrapment methods and intimate "medical examinations" of suspects that have little or no scientific value. The most highly publicised case was the arrest of 52 men following a raid on the Queen Boat floating disco in Cairo two years ago.

More than 20 of the suspects were jailed. At a "retrial" where no evidence was heard, their sentences were increased and the case is now going to appeal. Despite the international protests caused by this, the persecution has continued and, according to activists in Egypt, may even have been stepped up. More recent prosecutions involve smaller numbers of people and attract less attention, but there are many of them. Technically, homosexuality is not illegal in Egypt, so prosecutions are usually based on the charge of "habitual debauchery" (which is legally defined as having sex with more than one person over a period of three years).

One of the favoured entrapment methods is for undercover police to make contact with their victim through a gay website or chatroom and arrange a meeting. When the victim turns up in his best clothes for the date, he gets arrested. In these cases the suspects can also be charged with immoral "advertising" on the internet. Another common practice is to arrest people at private parties. In one such case the police appear to have been tipped off by the man who was hosting the party. In justification of this policy, the Egyptian government's chief spokesman, Nabil Osman, offers the usual excuses about social norms and family values. "It's very disgusting," he told an American newspaper. "Homosexuals may be accepted in western societies, but they're not accepted in our society.

Neither are they permitted by religion, be it Islam, Christianity, or Judaism." One possible explanation is that the Egyptian government, facing challenges from the Islamists, is trying to out-do them on the public morality front. Others suggest it's merely to divert attention from the country's real problems. The morality argument might look more convincing if the government put similar effort into other issues - such as stamping out the rampant corruption. Ultimately, though, it has very little to do with morals or even sex.

It is one symptom of a far greater problem that besets the Middle East: outdated ideas about the purpose of government. Egypt has hundreds of laws governing personal behaviour. Apparently it's even illegal to smoke while driving a vehicle (though anyone who has visited Cairo will probably have got the impression that smoking at the wheel is compulsory). There are so many of these laws that the average police officer is no more aware of them than the average citizen, but it does mean that if the authorities wish to arrest someone they can always find a reason for doing so. At the same time, newspapers continue to be censored (in the fond pretence that nobody would dream of looking elsewhere for information), and non-governmental organisations which have a genuine and positive role to play in the country's development get closed down or taken over by the government. This control-freakery may help to keep up appearances and maintain the status quo, but in the long run it is doomed.

Meanwhile, the government seems incapable of applying its regulatory powers to things that would actually benefit the public - such as controlling the terrible pollution in Cairo, sorting out the buildings that regularly fall down on top of people, or making the railways safer. In terms of death and injury over the last few years, Egypt's state-owned railways are a greater menace than al-Qaida. Following one disastrous train fire in which hundreds died, the government's reaction was to increase fares in order to provide life insurance for passengers.

Relatives of anyone fortunate enough to die on a train, rather than under a collapsed building, will now receive several hundred dollars in compensation. All these issues reflect an attitude to power - its use and misuse, its abuse and non-use - that is shared to a large extent by most leaders in the Middle East. But in the modern world it cannot last, even if it shelters for a time under the umbrella of religion or cultural norms. "Sexual disorientation" is not the problem here. Government disorientation is.

Al Bawaba, The Middle East Gateway
http://www.albawaba.com/news/index.php3?sid=255866&lang=e&dir=news

8 August 2003

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Summer lovin' - Arab Gays, Lesbians coming out of the closet...?

At times, due to immense attention focused on political developments taking place in the Middle East, a variety of social and cultural phenomena fail to receive the right amount of attention they deserve. This is not to say they are ignored, but rather, not exposed properly or enough. Besides the aforesaid factor about not being "political" enough, the issue of homosexuality in the Arab world is extremely controversial, and encompasses a wide range of moral, psychological and religious dilemmas, which constitute yet another factor in the lack of media coverage it receives.

Still, by reviewing what has been published and printed in recent years by numerous media outlets, it is fair to say that slowly, but surely, homosexuals throughout the Arab world are coming out of their closets. Despite obstacles (and there are quite a few), there appears to be an increase in the coverage the issue of homosexuality receives, whether in the form of printed or electronic media. With the growth of the use of the Internet, it seems Arab gays, lesbians as well as bi-sexuals and transgenders have found new places they can call home.

Various websites deal with the explosive topic of homosexuality and it appears a new community of Arab gays has been born. For one, the LEGAL Institute Website is a non-profit private organization set up by the GayLebanon Group and serves the Lebanese Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender community. According to the group, its goal is to work for the legal, social and cultural equality of these communities in Lebanon, while providing support, social interaction, objective assessments, news updates and other services related to their cause. At GayMiddleEast.com, for example, one can meet people through the site and also find interesting and helpful country-by-country information with recent gay-related news reports.

In one of their feature articles, the site wrote about reports received last summer from Lebanon regarding an anti-gay policy of the management of the local Dunkin Donuts. According to the site, following a short period of quiet, the reports started coming back to them. The Lebanese Executive Economic magazine reported that Dunkin Donuts had reportedly decided to refuse serving "gay-looking" people. Smith, an American expatriate living in the capital of Beirut, was appalled when her gay friend was turned away from the well-known donut shop and she wrote a letter of complaint to Dunkin Donuts management.

Christine Assouad Sfeir, general manager of Dunkin Donuts Lebanon, said that this was not an instance of discrimination against gays. According to the site, its readers were kept up to date with the anti gay stand of Beirut's Dunkin Donuts. The response letter from the US's Dunkin Donuts main office to the Lebanese citizen who complained was also displayed. In the response, they said that those shops in Lebanon were locally owned and operated by the licensee who is a respected Lebanese citizen and businessperson as well as an involved member of the Beirut community. In the same site, one can also find an article about an Israeli tourist who was arrested in Cairo after chatting with someone by computer and arranging to meet him. When they eventually met, he was told that he is under arrest and was taken away.

The site also published a letter from a Syrian gay who claimed, "I think the gays in the Middle East sure need protection." In his fascinating letter, the man wrote about gay life in Syria. "These days", he wrote, "I think that it's quite open when compared to other Arab or Islamic countries. But, we do not have any rainbow flagged businesses, or special gay bars or restaurants that we can meet other gays to be social, to talk, to make friends". He explained that it is possible to meet someone "in the street, in a public place, or in a park", adding "this is only for sex - not for friendship. I really hate that". He further explained what happens when Syrian police spot these people.

"Meeting people in the street or in the park can be dangerous", he warned. "Sometimes the police come and if the guys are doing anything "out of the ordinary" like dancing to music, kissing or looking "too gay" - the police take them for a while". GLAS, which stands for Gay and Lesbian Arabic Society is a US-based organization which aims "to promote positive images of gays and lesbians in Arab communities worldwide, in addition to combating negative portrayals of Arabs within the gay and lesbian community."

They serve as a networking organization for Gays and Lesbians of Arab descent or those living in Arab countries. In addition, they provide a support network for their members while fighting for human rights wherever they are oppressed. The purpose of Ahbab site, which refers to itself as "the online community for Queer Arabs worldwide", is to help the homosexual community communicate, network and stay in touch within Arab communities all over the world. In the site, one can find a wide-range of news, articles, and other services.

According to the site, on the political level, they continue to witness and protest abuse in various Arab countries, especially in Lebanon and Egypt. It reports how gays in Beirut marched in anti-war demonstrations waving Rainbow flags and days later, a popular Gay nightclub in that city was raided. In Egypt's capital of Cairo, the site says, arrests and jailing of gays continues despite an outcry by global activist groups and members of the American congress. Homosexuality is not explicitly prohibited under Egyptian law, but statutes are based on Sharia (Islamic law), which condemn it as an immoral act. It further reports that in spite of obstacles, there is a renewed feeling of activism in the community, as people are reaching out to each other in an effort to empower one another.

The notion that Arab gays and lesbians have been trying to support one another is widely felt throughout all the Arab gay sites. In Lebanon, the law says that having sexual relations of this sort contradicts the "laws of nature" and the penalty for such behavior can be up to one year in jail. In Qatar, for instance, one can be sent to five years behind bars. In Saudi Arabia, the penalty for convicted homosexuals is death. Executions, in the form of public beheadings are carried out in the oil-rich kingdom. Iran also applies the death penalty for such cases. At gayarab.org, one can engage in live chat with other gay Arabs and friends. The owners of the site state that they have served as an inspiration for other channels to serve the homosexual community and claim that as of today, there are several IRC (Internet Relay Chat) channels, mail lists and websites which serve the gay Arab community. IRC is one of the most popular and interactive services on the Internet, which allows people from all over the world to participate in real-time conversations.

The Al-Fatiha Foundation, for its part, is dedicated to Muslims who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, questioning, those exploring their sexual orientation or gender identity and their families and friends. According to activists of the Foundation, it is a body that "advances the progressive Islamic notions of peace, equality and justice," as it envisions a world free from prejudice, injustice and discrimination. Founded five years ago, Al-Fatiha is a US-based non-profit, non-governmental organization. With all that's been said regarding the rising openness throughout the Arab gay community and the increase in media outlets homosexuals can find comfort in, it is essential to remember that gays living in the Middle East still widely suffer from persecution. Gays and lesbians living in the Arab world are fighting against their own governments' persecution, according to various human rights groups. According to the Al-Fatiha Foundation, homosexuality is seen as sinful and perverted in most Islamic countries based on Koran verses.

However, although mainstream Islam condemns homosexuality, the Al-Fatiha Foundation claims "there is a growing movement of progressive-minded Muslims who see Islam as an evolving religion that must adapt to modern-day society." According to Al-Fatiha, there is a general consensus amongst the scholars of Islam that homosexuality is a deviation of man's true (heterosexual) nature.

Thus, the act of homosexuality is considered sinful and perverted and is viewed with contempt in most Muslim societies and Islamic countries. It states that there are approximately seven verses in the Koran that supposedly refer to homosexuality and same-sex acts and there are at least four hadith in reference to homosexuality, same-sex acts, and even cross-dressing. During the time of the Prophet Muhammad, there was not one single case of a reported punishment or execution for homosexuality or same-sex acts. The first execution to ever have been carried out was in the time of the third Caliph, who ordered a homosexual to be burned while he was alive. Scholars at the time differed in opinion on this sort of punishment, arguing that no human should be burned, thus it was decided that homosexuals should be thrown off the highest building and then stoned to death.

Huriyah (freedom) magazine for homosexual Muslims also reports about gay-related issues. Recently, it reported about an Iraqi-born lesbian's life in the Arab world. The magazine's Muslim doctor, for example, dealt with the issue of gays in the military, while another lesbian wrote about homophobia. Queer Jihad, for one, offers provocative articles by writers worldwide as well as readers' comments. The site also provides numerous links to gay and Islamic cultural, legal, and political sites.

It seems that the increase in the use of the Internet in the Arab world enhances the ability to draw together members of the Arab homosexual community. However, it is important to remember that even though the World Wide Web plays a significant role in the advancement of the homosexual community's communication, goals, and interests, many Arabs still perceive members of the gay community as perverts, thus, causing their governments to keep the gays and lesbians closed in their closets.

From: Fourth annual Palestine Solidarity Movement (PSM) conference
Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA

15 October 2004

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Speech by Brigitte Gabriel, delivered at the Duke University Counter Terrorism Speak-Out--on the origins and nature of the conflict between Jews, Muslims, Christians, Israelis, Arabs, and Palestinians

I'm proud and honoured to stand here today, as a Lebanese speaking for Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East.

As someone who was raised in an Arabic country, I want to give you a glimpse into the heart of the Arabic world.

I was raised in Lebanon, where I was taught that the Jews were evil, Israel was the devil, and the only time we will have peace in the Middle East is when we kill all the Jews and drive them into the sea.

When the Moslems and Palestinians declared Jihad on the Christians in 1975, they started massacring the Christians, city after city. I ended up living in a bomb shelter underground from age 10 to 17, without electricity, eating grass to live, and crawling under sniper bullets to a spring to get water. It was Israel who came to help the Christians in Lebanon.

My mother was wounded by a Moslem's shell, and was taken into an Israeli hospital for treatment. When we entered the emergency room, I was shocked at what I saw. There were hundreds of people wounded, Moslems, Palestinians, Christians, Lebanese, and Israeli soldiers lying on the floor.

The doctors treated everyone according to their injury. They treated my mother before they treated the Israeli soldier lying next to her. They didn't see religion, they didn't see political affiliation, they saw people in need and they helped.

For the first time in my life I experienced a human quality that I know my culture would not have shown to their enemy. I experienced the values of the Israelis, who were able to love their enemy in their most trying moments. I spent 22 days at that hospital. Those days changed my life and the way I believe information, the way I listen to the radio or to television.

I realized I was sold a fabricated lie by my government, about the Jews and Israel, that was so far from reality. I knew for fact that, if I was a Jew standing in an Arab hospital, I would be lynched and thrown over to the grounds, as shouts of joy of Allah Akbar, God is great, would echo through the hospital and the surrounding streets.

I became friends with the families of the Israeli wounded soldiers: one in particular Rina, her only child was wounded in his eyes. One day I was visiting with her, and the Israeli army band came to play national songs to lift the spirits of the wounded soldiers. As they surrounded his bed playing a song about Jerusalem, Rina and I started crying. I felt out of place and started walking out of the room, and this mother holds my hand and pulls me back in without even looking at me. She holds me crying and says: "It is not your fault." We just stood there crying, holding each other's hands.

What a contrast between her, a mother looking at her deformed 19 year old only child, and still able to love me, the enemy, and between a Moslem mother who sends her son to blow himself up to smithereens just to kill a few Jews or Christians.

The difference between the Arabic world and Israel is a difference in values and character. It's barbarism versus civilization. It's democracy versus dictatorship. It's goodness versus evil.

Once upon a time, there was a special place in the lowest depths of hell for anyone who would intentionally murder a child. Now, the intentional murder of Israeli children is legitimized as Palestinian "armed struggle." However, once such behaviour is legitimized against Israel, it is legitimized everywhere in the world, constrained by nothing more than the subjective belief of people who would wrap themselves in dynamite and nails for the purpose of killing children in the name of God. Because the Palestinians have been encouraged to believe that murdering innocent Israeli civilians is a legitimate tactic for advancing their cause, the whole world now suffers from a plague of terrorism, from Nairobi to New York, from Moscow to Madrid, from Bali to Beslan.

They blame suicide bombing on "desperation of occupation." Let me tell you the truth. The first major terror bombing committed by Arabs against the Jewish state occurred ten weeks before Israel even became independent. On Sunday morning, February 22, 1948, in anticipation of Israel's independence, a triple truck bomb was detonated by Arab terrorists on Ben Yehuda Street, in what was then the Jewish section of Jerusalem. Fifty-four people were killed, and hundreds were wounded. Thus, it is obvious that Arab terrorism is caused not by the "desperation" of "occupation" but by the VERY THOUGHT of a Jewish state.

So many times in history in the last 100 years, citizens have stood by and done nothing, allowing evil to prevail. As America stood up against and defeated communism, now it is time to stand up against the terror of religious bigotry and intolerance. It's time to all stand up and support and defend the state of Israel, which is the front line of the war against terrorism.

Origins:
On 15 October 2004, the fourth annual Palestine Solidarity Movement (PSM) conference, sponsored by the student group Hiwar, was slated to begin at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. In what the television industry might call an example of "counterprogramming," Duke's largest Jewish organization scheduled a "Students Against Terror Concert and Rally" to be held on 14 October 2004, the eve of the PSM conference.

The latter rally included speakers such as an Ohio student whose father was killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a survivor of a suicide bombing in Israel, the founder of a Sudanese exile group, U.S. Representative David Price, and Durham Mayor Bill Bell, the last of whom proclaimed the day "Students Against Terror Day" in Durham.

Brigitte Gabriel, a Christian who fled Lebanon for Israel during the Lebanese civil war and who now heads the American Congress for Truth (ACT), a Virginia-based organization the Durham Herald-Sun described as a "aimed at exposing the threat of Islamic fundamentalism." Ms. Gabriel delivered the speech reproduced above, about her life in Lebanon and her observations on the origins and nature of the conflict between Jews, Muslims, Christians, Israelis, Arabs, and Palestinians in that part of the world.

WomensENews
http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm?aid=2304

22 May 2005

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Restoring Virginity Becomes Risky Business for Muslim Women and American Doctors--Many women who seek hymen-repair surgery do so under threat of death if family members in religious fundamentalist households find out they are not virgins. Now, the U.S. doctors who help them are also being intimidated.

by Sandy Kobrin, WeNews correspondent
Los Angeles - Some doctors perform these specialized surgeries on women late at night when there's no one else in the waiting room.
The patients are most often women of Middle Eastern descent, some with origins from countries such as Iran and Saudi Arabia. They frequently give false names and pay in cash. They arrive alone, faces hidden, under elaborate hats, wigs, scarves and sunglasses and, afraid, say doctors.

They are there for hymenoplasties, or the repair of hymens, which, when intact, are widely recognized as evidence of virginity. The surgeries could save their lives, noted the physicians who perform them, because, according to some interpretations of Islamic law, if a male relative suspects them of having premarital sex, the woman is a criminal. In some countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, the penalty could be death.

Although for the most part, many of the women who seek these surgeries live in the U.S. with family members or to attend school, many return to their home countries when its time to look for a husband. Doctors say that while there are no official statistics, they have seen an increase in requests for more hymen repair surgeries in recent years. In addition, more doctors are receiving threats. " While we have no concrete numbers, doctors have reported growth in the number of hymenoplasties," Dr. V. Leroy Young, chair of the emerging trends task force of the Arlington Heights, Ill., American Society of Plastic Surgeons, told Women's eNews. " Yes, there has been a degree of danger to doctors from fundamentalist groups who believe you are violating a law or culture. You can get in bit of trouble."

Young also said that it's not just women with Middle Eastern backgrounds seeking the surgeries. There has also been an increase in the number of women requesting hymen repair from both the Orthodox Jewish and Christian fundamentalist communities, as well as from women of all nationalities who want the surgery as a sexual enhancement. " Within the fundamentalist Christian population as well there has been an apparent recent movement towards 'traditional family values' and there is pressure put on women to be virgins," Young said.

The hymen is the thin, fleshy membrane found at the opening to the vagina, long treated as a sign of virginity because it is usually torn by the first experience of sexual intercourse. Hymens can also be torn by athletic activities.
Typical hymen repair surgery involves stitching the remnants of a torn hymen together and inserting a gelatin capsule that contains a blood-mimicking substance. After the hymen has been surgically repaired, a woman will bleed the fake blood the next time she has sexual intercourse. The surgery, which costs from $2,500 to $4,500, is performed on an outpatient basis. Healing can take from a few days to a few weeks.

Doctors Get Death Threats
The women who undergo the procedures are not the only ones who fear for their lives or well-being. A number of U.S. physicians who perform these surgeries have received death threats by some who identify themselves as Muslims.

Young said that some doctors have received e-mails and phone calls threatening them or their staff with physical harm.
The threats to the doctors shadow the greater danger faced by women who undergo the surgery. Many live in fear of violence or honor killing, a practice in which a woman is murdered by her family members for supposedly shaming or tarnishing the family name with "unchaste" behavior. The practice occurs in traditional communities around the world, including the United States and Europe.

A report on honor killings by the Los Angeles-based Muslim Women's League says that while sexual relationships outside of marriage are prohibited, honor killings are not a part of Islam. " The problem of 'honor killings' is not a problem of morality or of ensuring that women maintain their own personal virtue; rather, it is a problem of domination, power and hatred of women who, in these instances, are viewed as nothing more than servants to the family, both physically and symbolically," the report said. The Islamic law of chastity before marriage does not distinguish between men and women. But women are often uniformly singled out for punishment of sexual crimes.

Dr. Laila Al-Marayati, communications director for the Muslim Women's League and a gynecologist, says that women seek hymen-repair surgeries to cope with cultural pressures and not to comply with Islamic law, which does not stipulate a need to check a woman's virginity. " While Islam requires that both men and women be chaste before marriage; it doesn't require men to prove it," she said. "The need for surgery is because of the culture in some countries. Those same cultures do not require a man to prove his chasteness. It is sad that doctors are being threatened because proving chastity is not part of Islam," she added.

Fear of Reprisal
Many doctors interviewed who have heard about the threats or have been threatened themselves would only talk off the record to Women's eNews for fear of reprisal. They did not want to advertise the fact that they perform the surgeries and said they like to keep a low profile on their work with hymen repair.

Dr. David Matlock, a Beverly Hills gynecologist, was an exception. Matlock, who pioneered laser vaginal rejuvenation, said he has been performing hymenoplasties on hundreds of women for over 21 years. Most, he said, were of Middle Eastern descent. He said he recently received death threats in the mail and his office has received numerous calls from men, identifying themselves as Muslims, who threatened to kill him and his office workers if he did not stop performing hymen repair.

" They called my office numerous times and sent letters to my office with pictures of dead and bloodied people," he said. "It was unnerving to say the least. I can now better understand when these women come in and say to me: 'I must do this. I'm going back to Iran and I could be killed.'"

Southern California is home to a large number of people who have emigrated from Iran. Matlock noted that, while many of patients have lived in the U.S. for much of their lives, they still need to adhere to traditional practices and often undergo the surgery before looking for a husband. Matlock said last year he contacted the FBI, who told him to keep a low profile and to stop advertising the procedure in local papers such as the L.A. Weekly. He said he was told by the FBI that the notes were real and the people who sent them knew what they were doing.

The local Los Angeles FBI office declined to say whether it had received calls from surgeons reporting death threats for similar reasons. Dr. John Miklos has been performing hymenoplasties in Atlanta for the past five years on women ranging in age from 19 to 30. "I have had many Middle Eastern women beg me to come in at night and then ask me to destroy the records. They say they could fall into the hands of family members and both of our lives could be in danger."

More Cautious Now
Miklos says colleagues have told him about receiving threats and he has been warned by the women coming in for the procedure. In recent months, he says, he has become more cautious himself. He no longer advertises the procedure in local newspapers and he said most of his business comes from personal referral. " These kind of threats are no different than doctors getting death threats from performing abortions," said Miklos. "It's insane that the women are so scared but it is shocking and a shame that doctors too have to be nervous."

Dr. Bruce Allen, a prominent Toronto gynecologist, advertises hymen repair prominently on his Web site. When contacted by Women's eNews, however, Allen said he does not do the procedure and refused to discuss his advertising and Web site. Dr. Ronald Blatt of the Manhattan Center for Vaginal Surgery began doing hymen repair about two years ago and reports a slight increase in the number of hymenoplasties. In the first year, the center performed two of the surgeries. Blatt could not be specific about which countries the women were from, but emphasized that the center works to be discreet about the procedure. " We've only had about six and they were women who were born somewhere in the Middle East, but we try to keep a low profile. We only do it when asked."

Sandy Kobrin is a writer based in Los Angeles who frequently writes about the plastic surgery industry.

The Daily Star, Beruit

October 10, 2005

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Helem publishes region's first magazine for gay Arabs
Barra provides open forum to address issues faced by homosexuals in middle east

by Jessy Chahine, Daily Star staff
Not only has Lebanon managed to establish Helem, the first Arab non-governmental organization openly fighting for the rights of homosexuals, but it is also now publishing Barra (Arabic for Out), the region's first magazine for gay Arabs.

Published quarterly by Helem, Barra, according to one of its writers, is "a free space for all gays and lesbians in the region to express their feelings of social oppression and stigma."

Currently releasing its second issue, Barra incorporates several features and news articles written by Helem activists or independent homosexual writers from all over the region. Helem's coordinator Georges Azzi said his group tries to raise awareness by speaking at colleges.

" There are increasingly more gay-friendly bars, also, for instance the International Day Against Homophobia (last May) was observed for the first time in Lebanon," Azzi said, "with Helem marking the occasion with a gathering of about 200 people, straight and gay, at a seaside hotel in Beirut.

" It also organized a screening of 'I exist,' a documentary on homosexuals of Middle Eastern decent living in the United States, and distributed buttons and pamphlets with the slogan, 'You drink coffee, I prefer tea. Does that mean one of us is abnormal?'" Dalal al-Bizri, a Cairo-based Lebanese sociologist, says homosexuals in the region are more reviled than drug addicts "because homosexuality is seen as being exported to the region by a country whose armies and fleets have attacked Arabs: the United States, so homosexuality is widely seen as a disease spread by the United States and Israel to corrupt Arabs and undermine their religious faith."

She said that more Arabs were coming out as gays, or "at least coming to terms with their sexuality, even though in some countries they face laws that can land them in jail, and extremists who beat them up because of Islam's condemnation of homosexuality." According to Azzi, Lebanon is the only Arab country where gays can find refuge and Helem is the "first Arab non-governmental organization openly fighting for their rights."

Helem was set up last year despite a vaguely worded law punishing "unnatural sexual intercourse" with up to one year in jail. " Lebanon, with its mixed population of Muslims and Christians, has a history of religious pluralism and exposure to the West. But elsewhere, homosexuals are on their own," Azzi said.

Lebanon even has male belly dancers. One such dancer is a slim, 23-year-old bisexual who identifies himself with the stage name "Teddy." Teddy says his insistence on leading a "normal life" has come at a price: "People look at me as if I have descended from Mars." With elegant black pony tail, mascara coated eye lashes, plump lips and manicured nails, he stood out as the only man in makeup at a trendy Beirut coffee house.

He said demand for his dancing is strong, though "Sometimes, at nightclubs, people spit at me or throw drinking glasses.
" I don't respond because I don't want to make an issue out of it," he explains.

Oddly enough, he says life in some ways is harder for gays in Lebanon than other parts of the region because here boys and girls mix freely, so parents are more likely to notice those who don't. " It's easier in Saudi Arabia, where the sexes are segregated," said Teddy. " As long as boys and girls are separate, parents feel their children are safe."

Asked where he would like to be 10 years from now, Teddy said: " I'd like to become the head of a union for the protection of gays in Lebanon and the rest of the Arab world, and a very famous lawyer in the sphere of human rights. Once I have achieved that," he added, "I'd like to marry a woman and have 14 children," he said.

Indiana University
http://www.indiana.edu/~overseas/lesbigay/middleeast.html

Date ?

5
GLBT Resources in the Middle East

Middle East - General
Below are a few books and websites which provide some general resources to students on life for GLBT people in the Middle East. While there are not always information provided for college-aged students, I have tried to include what is easily accessible. Should you find any mistakes or additional resources, I encourage you to contact me at the information listed below.

Books
Islamic Homosexualities: Culture, History, and Literature. Stephen O. Murray and Will Roscoe (Editors). New York University Press, 1997.
Price of Honor: Muslim Women Lift the Veil of Silence on the Islamic World. Jan Goodwin. Penguin USA, 1995.
Sex Longing & Not Belonging: A Gay Muslim's Quest for Love & Meaning. Bedruddin Khan. Floating Lotus USA, 1997.
Sexuality and Eroticism among Males in Muslim Society. Schmitt, Arno and Sofer, Jehoeda, eds. NY: Haworth Press, 1992. ISBN#1560240474.
Sexuality in Islam. Abdulwahab Bouhdigba, Alan Sheridan (Translator). 1998

Websites
Al-Fatiha Foundation
Al-Fatiha Foundation is dedicated to Muslims who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, questioning, those exploring their sexual orientation or gender identity, and their allies, families and friends. Al-Fatiha promotes the progressive Islamic notions of peace, equality and justice. We envision a world that is free from prejudice, injustice and discrimination, where all people are fully embraced and accepted into their faith, their families and their communities.
http://www.al-fatiha.net/index.html

The Gay Lesbian Arabic Society
Established in 1988, this site “serves as a networking organization for Gays and Lesbians of Arab descent or those living in Arab countries. They aim to promote positive images of Gays and Lesbians in Arab communities worldwide, in addition to combating negative portrayals of Arabs within the Gay and Lesbian community. They also provide a support network for our members while fighting for our human rights wherever they are oppressed. They are part of the global Gay and Lesbian movement seeking an end to injustice and discrimination based on sexual orientation.” http://www.glas.org/

The International Lesbian and Gay Association
This website has the most comprehensive data on laws effecting lesbian and gays around the world. See their link off the main page for the ILGA World Legal Survey.
http://www.ilga.org

Egypt

There has been a lot of press about arrests of gay men and imprisonment of Egyptian gays.
Below are a sampling of articles and websites on the latest information.

Buried Alive in Egypt: Egyptian gay men are still being entrapped and jailed by the hundreds. This article tells the story of one imprisoned man and his American partner. The Advocate, May 13, 2003, page 26-28. http://www.advocate.com

Gay Egypt in the Dock: The Big Crackdown Might Reflect Cairo’s Own Insecurities, by Joshua Hammer. This article appeared in Newsweek International and can be found at: http://www.sodomylaws.org/world/egypt/egnews80.htm

Gay Egypt
Leading site on Egyptian gay issues, based in London. This site is no longer being maintained, but has valuable information on the state of GLBT issues in Egypt as well as other links. http://gayegypt.com

Global Gayz…Gay Egypt
This site has links to several countries in the Middle East.
The site on Egypt includes several articles and links to other sites.
http://www.globalgayz.com/g-egypt.html

Iran

Homan
Homan is a group established in 1991 in Stockholm to defend the rights of Iranian Gays and Lesbians. As a human rights group in exile, Homan strives to constitute an international advocacy, in order to protest against Gay and Lesbian human rights violations in Iran. Homan’s most essential role is to educate communities about the natural phenomenon of homosexuality. (There are some excellent links to gay and lesbian websites in the Middle East at this site.)
http://www.homan.cwc.net/

Israel

Israel probably has the most progressive stance on GLBT issues in the Middle East, even allowing gays to openly serve in the military. The laws on sodomy where repealed in 1988 and there is a current member of the K… who is openly gay. Below are some books and websites of the various organizations which exist in the various cities around the country. There are also GLBT student groups at most of the major universities accepting international students.
Between Sodom and Eden: A Gay Journey Through Today's Changing Israel. Walzer, Lee, NY: Columbia University Press, 2000. ISBN: 0231113951 (paperback).
Independence Park: The Lives of Gay Men in Israel. Fink, Amir Sumakai and Jacob Press. Stanford University Press, 1999.
Lesbiot: Israeli Lesbians Talk about Sexuality, Feminism, Judaism and Their Lives. Moore, Tracy, ed. NY: Cassell, 1995. ISBN#0304331589.
Israel (cont.)

Haifa
Information on Haifa’s GLBT community can be found at:
http://www.gay.org.il/haifa/index-e.htm

Jerusalem
The Jerusalem LGB Open House (JOH) has a good website, though it has not been updated since the summer of 2002. Many links to other organizations around Israel, including student groups at the Hebrew University, can be found at this site.
http://www.gay.org.il/joh/eng/home_eng.htm

The Other 10% - GLBT student group at Hebrew University
http://www.gay.org.il/asiron/

Tel Aviv
“ The Agudah”: the association of gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender in Israel. http://www.aguda-ta.org.il/content/english.asp

Claf: Community of Feminist Lesbians
http://www.gay.org.il/claf/

Sodomy Laws: Israel
This website has a section of news from Israel with many interesting articles which talk about the evolution of GLBT issues since the country’s founding in 1948. There is also an article on Gay Palestinians. http://www.sodomylaws.org/world/israel/israel.htm

Lebanon

In speaking with those familiar with the American University of Beirut it was learned that the university has a “fire wall” on websites with “sensitive” topics and the server thus won’t allow students to view either of the sites listed below. Students must thus go to internet cafes in the city to access the limited information listed below.

LEGAL - Lebanese Equality for Gays and Lesbians Institute
A bit outdated (last updated in August 2002), this website offers good links to Arab and Lebanese gay sites. http://www.legal.20m.com. The aim of LEGAL is to work for the legal, social, and cultural equality of the Lebanese GLBT community while providing support and social interaction to the groups members.

Gay Lebanese
This commercial site offers some information on gay life in Lebanon, but the information is written by those outside of the country and is a bit outdated.
http://www.gaylebanese.com/main.html

Jordan

From Kathy Sullivan and Sulaf Al-Zu'bi, CIEE Jordan

Resources for gay and lesbian students in Jordan
No resources that we know of but there may be websites/others of which we are unaware. There used to be a coffee shop hangout with an international/local crowd but it has changed management and no longer serves this secondary function. There used to be some gay travel websites that reported on things like that but I don't know where to access them.

Safety
It is safer (physically, socially, etc.) for gay/lesbian students not to share their orientation with others in Jordan, especially other men. All students applying for residency in Jordan (that would be those staying for the two semesters only) have to take an AIDS test for that. Otherwise, for reasons in the next point below, students should know that AIDS awareness and "safe sex" practices are likely less high than in the West or in more affected areas like Africa. Therefore, they may be at higher risk of all kinds of STDs here.

Conflicts with local laws, culture, religion where gay/lesbian issues are concerned
Practicing homosexuality is forbidden by Islam. Legally, it can also be grounds for jail. The culture remains strongly patriarchal with all of that that implies--the importance of keeping male and female roles different/separate, the dominant male ideal, etc. Despite the anecdotal stories re: more experimentation with sex between young Arab men in some countries because women are off limits before marriage, homosexuality is rarely openly admitted or discussed within families or among friends; same for lesbians. This is true even when it may be "obvious" or even known that a person has this orientation, it isn't something addressed openly with non-gay circles.

There are no known websites or printed publications that we found in English. Resident directors who we contacted did not know of any available online resources. Students are encouraged to speak with their programs should they have questions about sexual orientation in this Muslim country.

Turkey

LEGATO, named after the Turkish acronym for Lezbiyen Gay Toplulu_u, is a Lesbian and Gay Association that aims to connect and bring together homosexual Turkish college students.
http://www.e-legato.org/english.html

KAOS GL
KAOS GL is a group founded in September 1994 with the purpose of bringing Turkey's homosexuals together to struggle against discrimination. The group's underlying philosophy is that liberation of homosexuals will also free heterosexuals. KAOS GL has been publishing the journal KAOS GL (now a quarterly) since it was founded. In 2001, a monthly newspaper PARMAK (Finger) is also published. But it lasted only for 3 issues. The group owns the KAOS CULTURAL CENTER in which many cultural activities, meetings and film shows are held. Also, the first LGBT library is built in this center. http://www.kaosgl.com

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=4&article_id=23566

April 07, 2006

6
Brian Whitaker's book gives voice to gay Arabs: 'Unspeakable Love--Gay and Lesbian Life in the Middle East

by Kaelen Wilson-Goldie Daily Star staff
Interview
Beirut: When Salim, a 20-year-old Egyptian, told his family that he was gay, they packed him off for six months of psychiatric treatment. When Ali, a teenager from Lebanon, was discovered to be gay, his father broke a chair over his head and his brother threatened to kill him for tarnishing the family honor. Ali left home and no longer has any contact with his relatives.

When the family of another young Egyptian man found out their son was gay, they beat him and then sent him to a therapist. He convinced a young woman to pose as his girlfriend for a while, but once that ruse was up, his family beat him again, this time so harshly that he fled Egypt for the United States, where he applied for political asylum.

These are just a few among the many anecdotes that Brian Whitaker, the Middle East editor for The Guardian newspaper in London, relates in his new, groundbreaking book, "Unspeakable Love: Gay and Lesbian Life in the Middle East."

Launched in Beirut on Wednesday night with a book signing at Zico House and a party at Walima, "Unspeakable Love" explores the experiences of young gay men and women in several countries throughout the region, including Egypt, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. Whitaker filters their stories through the multiple lenses of social norms, cultural expressions, the media, politics and religion. To his credit, Whitaker does not shy away from but rather dives into the murky questions surrounding homosexuality in the Middle East.

Is homosexuality a Western import and a sign of modernity's moral decay? How does that square with the Orientalist fantasy of the Middle East as a lush gay paradise? How do young people today distinguish between homosexuality as a practice and homosexuality as a self-proclaimed identity? What are the various laws prohibiting homosexual behavior and how are they implemented in various parts of the region? What are the religious texts dealing with homosexuality, how have they been interpreted and - perhaps most crucially - why have they been interpreted as such?

And what, more basically, is the precise terminology at stake here in Arabic, with such expressions as shaadh (pervert or deviant), al-mithliyya al-jinsiyaa (sexual sameness) and the latter's shorthand, mithli and mithliyya, all in circulation at once?

Whitaker, 58, was motivated to write "Unspeakable Love" by the Queen Boat incident in Egypt in 2001, when police raided a Nile River boat that functioned as a floating nightclub and attracted a mainly male clientele. Not only were numerous men arrested and jailed, but the event was also one of the very few to bring issues of gay identity and practice into the mainstream Arab media.

Three things become palpably clear from reading the book.

The first is that social attitudes are the single-most mind-crushing factor for young men and women in Arab world who are trying to deal with the fact that they are attracted to members of the same sex. More so than legal statutes or religious edicts, the pressure to marry is what pushes many of these young men and women to the breaking point.

The second is that because not only homosexuality in particular but sexuality in general remain so stubbornly taboo in the Middle East, there is a dangerous dearth of reliable information, education and counseling available for gay men, lesbian women and their respective families.

Because sexuality is not discussed in the public domain, young people lack even the actual vocabulary - the words, the terms, the turns of phrase - to describe themselves and their actions in simultaneously civic and sexual terms.

A city like Beirut may have a thriving gay subculture, and it may even have a strong, impressive and unprecedented gay rights organization in Helem. But homophobia remains rampant - even among those who should know better - and homosexuality has yet to light the imagination of any prominent politician. Imagine what it would take to get gay marriage on the agenda of a Cabinet meeting or the current national dialogue in Lebanon. Lots of red flags waving and exclamation points popping there.

The third is that the push for gay rights in the region is very much tied to wider issues of social and political reform.
" It's not just about gay rights," says Whitaker. "It's about the whole issue of reform, and reform is not just about elections."
True reform will have to take a full range of factors into consideration, and "sexuality," he adds, "has to be a part of it."

Whitaker has three ideal readers in mind - Westerners interested in reform who need to look beyond voting structures, Arabs interested in reform who need to get over outmoded leftist strategies and young Arabs who are gay, ostracized and alone. For them, the book is perhaps most important because even if the names have been changed and the details have been deleted, it gives them a voice.

" I was basically trying to do a job of reporting, asking people about their lives," Whitaker explains. "There's no book that deals with the contemporary situation quite like this one." He lays a hand on the cover and pats it once. "There are literary histories and anthropological studies. But there are not books that talk to people about their daily lives."

Whitaker admits that he could spend the rest of his career researching the subject, but he says he would risk ending up being just "that guy writing those books." In fact, he hopes he doesn't ever have to write another book like "Unspeakable Love." In effect, he hopes that by its publication, the book will break the taboo.

While it is entirely conceivable that "Unspeakable Love" could have attracted the attention of a major publishing house in Europe or the U.S., Whitaker chose to go with Saqi Books because of its foothold in the region. "This is where the issue matters," he explains.

It was also important for him to launch the book in Beirut before anywhere else. "I have been apprehensive about it being seen as another Western attack." He says he recently turned down an interview with CNN because he wanted to see how the local press would cover it first.

All of which begs the question: Will "Unspeakable Love" be translated to Arabic anytime soon? Speaking on the day before the launch, Whitaker sounded hypothetically optimistic.

" Obviously, yes," he laughed. "It would be a major development, a breakthrough, if it were to be translated to Arabic. I think the situation with books is similar to the situation with the press. People writing in the English language have a bit more freedom. I hope people will read it in English and tell their friends about it in Arabic. It's a pity it's not in Arabic, but it's a start."

By the time the launch rolled around on Wednesday, Whitaker's publishers were adamant. "Yes," they said. "An Arabic translation is in the works. It will be out by the end of the year." How's that for progress?

Brian Whitaker's "Unspeakable Love: Gay and Lesbian Life in the Middle East" is out now from Saqi Books. For more information, please see www.saqibooks.com

Guardian Unlimited
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1885797,00.html

October 2, 2006

7
Coming out in Arabic--Aswat Lesbian Organization

Brian Whitaker reports on a lesbian group's struggle for acceptance in the Middle East.

When Rauda Morcos heard there was an emailing list for lesbian Palestinians, she couldn't believe it at first. " I thought it was a joke," she said. "Until then, I thought I was the only lesbian who speaks Arabic." The list was certainly not a joke but, in a society where same-sex relations are still taboo, its members guarded their privacy. The only way a newcomer could join was by personal recommendation. " Eventually I got in," Ms Morcos recalled, "and I found a lot of other [lesbian] women who couldn't be out." After corresponding by email for a few months, she thought it would be good to talk with some of the invisible women face to face, so, in January 2003, Ms Morcos and her flatmate called a meeting.

" We had no expectations," she said, "but eight women turned up. The meeting lasted eight hours and I don't think anybody wanted to go home." That, it later turned out, marked the birth of Aswat ("Voices") - the first openly-functioning organisation for Arab lesbians in the Middle East. " We realised we had a great responsibility towards other women in our community," Ms Morcos continued. "We tried to contact many organisations and sent out letters but the only reply came from Kayan ["Being"], a group of feminists in Haifa ... Many NGOs don't count it as a human rights issue or want to be associated."

Three years on, though, Aswat is firmly established with more than 70 members spread across the West Bank, Gaza and Israel (where the organisation is based). Only about 20 attend its meetings; the need to keep their sexuality secret, plus Israeli restrictions on movement, prevent others from attending but they keep in touch through email and an online discussion forum. Beyond the group itself, there are also signs of acceptance in a few places. "We do a lot of work within the community, for example with youth groups, counsellors, and so on," Ms Morcos said. "That proves to me at least that the gay/lesbian movement has started for us as Palestinians."

One of Aswat's main goals is to provide information about sexuality that is widely available elsewhere but has never been published in Arabic. This is not simply a matter of translation; it's also about developing "a 'mother tongue' with positive, un-derogatory and affirmative expressions of women and lesbian sexuality and gender ... We are creating a language that no one spoke before". If women are to find their voice, the language needs to be re-appropriated, Ms Morcos explains in an article on Aswat's website. "I have forgotten my language. I don't know how to say 'to make love' in Arabic without it sounding chauvinistic, aggressive and alien to the experience."

Recognition for Aswat's work came earlier this year when Ms Morcos won the 2006 Felipa de Souza award from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. The citation described her as "a true example of courageous and effective human rights leadership", but Ms Morcos is quick to point out that other women are also doing a lot of work behind the scenes. Speaking to a standing-room-only meeting of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign during a visit to London last week, she explained that necessity has made her the public face of Aswat. Many of the women involved do not want to be identified - often with good reason. "But if we don't want to come out as persons, let's at least come out as a movement," she said.

Ms Morcos's own coming-out was not entirely voluntary and proved particularly unpleasant. In 2003 she gave an interview to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronot about the poetry she writes. In passing, she mentioned her sexuality - only to find that the L-word turned up in the newspaper's headline. An article on Aswat's website describes what happened next: " All of a sudden, the Arab population of her home town [in northern Israel], which she generally assumed to have no interest in the literary supplements of Hebrew newspapers, seemed to have read the article and had something to say about her. Local corner shop owners made photocopies and distributed it, because, after all, everyone knew it was about the daughter of so-and-so from their own town.

" The consequences of that article were far more serious than Ms Morcos had imagined: her car windows were smashed and tyres were punctured several times, she received innumerable threatening letters and phone calls, and, to top it all, 'coincidentally' lost her job as a school teacher, since parents of pupils complained that they did not want her as a teacher."

Arab society today is riddled with the kind of anti-gay prejudices that were found in Britain half a century ago, and persecution is common. Muslim clerics condemn homosexuality in no uncertain terms, though similar statements can be heard from Arab Christian leaders too, such as the Coptic Pope in Egypt who once declared that "so-called human rights" for gay people were "unthinkable". With a few exceptions here and there, this is the prevailing attitude in all the Arab countries, but in Palestinian society the issue of gay rights is further complicated - and made much more political - by the conflict with Israel.

Israel legalised same-sex relations between men in 1988. Four years later, it went a step further and became the only country in the Middle East that outlaws discrimination based on sexuality. A series of court cases then put the theory into practice - for example, when El Al was forced to provide a free ticket for the partner of a gay flight attendant, as the airline already did for the partners of its straight employees.

These are undisputed achievements but they have also become a propaganda tool, reinforcing Israel's claim to be the only liberal, democratic society in the Middle East. At the same time, highlighting Israel's association with gay rights has made life more difficult for gay Arabs, adding grist to the popular notion that homosexuality is a "disease" spread by foreigners.

Linking the twin enemies of Israel and homosexuality provides a double whammy for Arab propagandists, as can be seen from sections of the Egyptian press. In an article to mark the 30th anniversary of the October war, a headline in the Egyptian paper Sabah al-Kheir announced: "Golda Meir was a lesbian." In 2001, following the mass arrest of more than 50 allegedly gay men, al-Musawwar magazine published a doctored photograph of the supposed ringleader, showing him in an Israeli army helmet and sitting at a desk with an Israeli flag.

Israel, however, is not quite the gay paradise that many imagine. There is still hostility from conservative Jews, and some of their blood-curdling statements are not very different from the more widely publicised remarks of Muslim clerics. In Jerusalem last year, the ultra-Orthodox mayor banned a pride march, though an Israeli court promptly overturned his decision. As the parade took place, a Jewish religious fanatic attacked three marchers with a knife and reportedly told the police he had come "to kill in the name of God". The gay rights movement in Israel also has a questionable history. Lee Walzer, author of Between Sodom and Eden, explains in an article that the first Israeli activists pursued "a very mainstream strategy" that "reinforced the perception that gay rights was a non-partisan issue, unconnected to the major fissure in Israeli politics, the Arab-Israeli conflict and how to resolve it".

" Embracing gay rights," he continues, "enabled Israelis to pat themselves on the back for being open-minded, even as Israeli society wrestled less successfully with other social inequalities."

As part of their strategy, activists sought "to convince the wider public that gay Israelis were good patriotic citizens who just happened to be attracted to the same sex". As a general principle this may be valid, but in the context of war and occupation it leads into murky territory. Should it really be a matter of pride that openly gay members of the Israeli armed forces are just as capable of wreaking havoc on neighbouring Lebanon as the next person?

The question here is whether gay rights - in Israel or elsewhere - can really be divorced from politics or treated in isolation from other human rights. Helem, the Lebanese gay and lesbian organisation, thinks not, arguing that gay rights are an inseparable part of human rights - as does Ms Morcos.

For Ms Morcos, there's a connection between nationality, gender and sexuality. She has a triple identity, as a lesbian, a woman and a Palestinian (despite having an Israeli passport) - "a minority within a minority within a minority", as she puts it. Her first concern, though, is to end the Israeli occupation, and she sees no prospect of achieving gay rights for Palestinians while it continues.

Nowadays, the more radical Israeli activists also acknowledge a linkage. In 2001, Walzer recalls, "Tel Aviv's pride parade, typically a celebratory, hedonistic affair, got a dose of politics when a contingent called 'Gays in Black' marched with a banner proclaiming, 'There's No Pride In Occupation'." Later, a group called Kvisa Sh'chora ("Dirty Laundry") sprang up and began drawing parallels between the oppression of sexual minorities and Israeli oppression of the Palestinians.

The issue was further highlighted in 2002 when Ariel Sharon became the first Israeli prime minister to formally meet a gay delegation. Activist Hagai El-Ad asked: "Is this an achievement for our community, or an example of a lack of feeling, callousness and loss of direction?" He continued: "It would be unbearable to simply sit with the prime minister and, on behalf of our minority, ignore the human rights of others, including what's been happening here in relation to Palestine for the past year: roadblocks, prevention of access to medical care, assassinations, and implementation of an apartheid policy in the territories and in Israel.

" The struggle for our rights is worthless if it's indifferent to what's happening to people a kilometre from here. " All we get by holding the meeting with the prime minister," he concluded, "is symbolic legitimacy for the community. What he gets for sitting down with us is the mantle of enlightenment and pluralism."

This mantle of enlightenment and pluralism does not, however, extend to Israel's treatment of gay Palestinians. For those who face persecution in the West Bank and Gaza, the most obvious escape route is to Israel, but this often leaves them trapped in an administrative no-man's-land with little hope of getting a proper job in Israel and constantly at risk of arrest and deportation.

Meanwhile, as far as the average Palestinian is concerned, fleeing into Israel is a betrayal of the cause, and gay men who remain in the Palestinian territories also come under suspicion - not always without good reason. There have been various reports of gay Palestinians being targeted or pressurised by Israeli intelligence to act as informers. Whether or not they actually succumb to the pressure, all inevitably come under suspicion. " Gays in Palestine are seen as collaborators immediately," said Ms Morcos.

Email:
brian.whitaker@guardian.co.uk
Aswat MIddle East Lesbian website:
http://www.aswatgroup.org/english/gallery.php?article=11

guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/oct/02/israel.gayrights

October 2 2006

7a
Middle East dispatch Coming out in Arabic

Brian Whitaker reports on a lesbian group's struggle for acceptance in the Middle East
(Article historyAbout this articleClose This article was first published on guardian.co.uk on Monday October 02 2006. It was last updated at 13:46 on October 02 2006.When Rauda Morcos heard there was an emailing list for lesbian Palestinians, she couldn't believe it at first. "I thought it was a joke," she said. "Until then, I thought I was the only lesbian who speaks Arabic.")

The list was certainly not a joke but, in a society where same-sex relations are still taboo, its members guarded their privacy. The only way a newcomer could join was by personal recommendation. "Eventually I got in," Ms Morcos recalled, "and I found a lot of other [lesbian] women who couldn't be out." After corresponding by email for a few months, she thought it would be good to talk with some of the invisible women face to face, so, in January 2003, Ms Morcos and her flatmate called a meeting. "We had no expectations," she said, "but eight women turned up. The meeting lasted eight hours and I don't think anybody wanted to go home."

That, it later turned out, marked the birth of Aswat ("Voices") - the first openly-functioning organisation for Arab lesbians in the Middle East. "We realised we had a great responsibility towards other women in our community," Ms Morcos continued. "We tried to contact many organisations and sent out letters but the only reply came from Kayan ["Being"], a group of feminists in Haifa ... Many NGOs don't count it as a human rights issue or want to be associated."

Three years on, though, Aswat is firmly established with more than 70 members spread across the West Bank, Gaza and Israel (where the organisation is based). Only about 20 attend its meetings; the need to keep their sexuality secret, plus Israeli restrictions on movement, prevent others from attending but they keep in touch through email and an online discussion forum. Beyond the group itself, there are also signs of acceptance in a few places. "We do a lot of work within the community, for example with youth groups, counsellors, and so on," Ms Morcos said. "That proves to me at least that the gay/lesbian movement has started for us as Palestinians."

One of Aswat's main goals is to provide information about sexuality that is widely available elsewhere but has never been published in Arabic. This is not simply a matter of translation; it's also about developing "a 'mother tongue' with positive, un-derogatory and affirmative expressions of women and lesbian sexuality and gender ... We are creating a language that no one spoke before". If women are to find their voice, the language needs to be re-appropriated, Ms Morcos explains in an article on Aswat's website. "I have forgotten my language. I don't know how to say 'to make love' in Arabic without it sounding chauvinistic, aggressive and alien to the experience." Recognition for Aswat's work came earlier this year when Ms Morcos won the 2006 Felipa de Souza award from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. The citation described her as "a true example of courageous and effective human rights leadership", but Ms Morcos is quick to point out that other women are also doing a lot of work behind the scenes.

Speaking to a standing-room-only meeting of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign during a visit to London last week, she explained that necessity has made her the public face of Aswat. Many of the women involved do not want to be identified - often with good reason. "But if we don't want to come out as persons, let's at least come out as a movement," she said. Ms Morcos's own coming-out was not entirely voluntary and proved particularly unpleasant. In 2003 she gave an interview to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronot about the poetry she writes. In passing, she mentioned her sexuality - only to find that the L-word turned up in the newspaper's headline. An article on Aswat's website describes what happened next:

"All of a sudden, the Arab population of her home town [in northern Israel], which she generally assumed to have no interest in the literary supplements of Hebrew newspapers, seemed to have read the article and had something to say about her. Local corner shop owners made photocopies and distributed it, because, after all, everyone knew it was about the daughter of so-and-so from their own town. The consequences of that article were far more serious than Ms Morcos had imagined: her car windows were smashed and tyres were punctured several times, she received innumerable threatening letters and phone calls, and, to top it all, 'coincidentally' lost her job as a school teacher, since parents of pupils complained that they did not want her as a teacher."

Arab society today is riddled with the kind of anti-gay prejudices that were found in Britain half a century ago, and persecution is common. Muslim clerics condemn homosexuality in no uncertain terms, though similar statements can be heard from Arab Christian leaders too, such as the Coptic Pope in Egypt who once declared that "so-called human rights" for gay people were "unthinkable". With a few exceptions here and there, this is the prevailing attitude in all the Arab countries, but in Palestinian society the issue of gay rights is further complicated - and made much more political - by the conflict with Israel. Israel legalised same-sex relations between men in 1988. Four years later, it went a step further and became the only country in the Middle East that outlaws discrimination based on sexuality. A series of court cases then put the theory into practice - for example, when El Al was forced to provide a free ticket for the partner of a gay flight attendant, as the airline already did for the partners of its straight employees.

These are undisputed achievements but they have also become a propaganda tool, reinforcing Israel's claim to be the only liberal, democratic society in the Middle East. At the same time, highlighting Israel's association with gay rights has made life more difficult for gay Arabs, adding grist to the popular notion that homosexuality is a "disease" spread by foreigners. Linking the twin enemies of Israel and homosexuality provides a double whammy for Arab propagandists, as can be seen from sections of the Egyptian press. In an article to mark the 30th anniversary of the October war, a headline in the Egyptian paper Sabah al-Kheir announced: "Golda Meir was a lesbian." In 2001, following the mass arrest of more than 50 allegedly gay men, al-Musawwar magazine published a doctored photograph of the supposed ringleader, showing him in an Israeli army helmet and sitting at a desk with an Israeli flag.

Israel, however, is not quite the gay paradise that many imagine. There is still hostility from conservative Jews, and some of their blood-curdling statements are not very different from the more widely publicised remarks of Muslim clerics. In Jerusalem last year, the ultra-Orthodox mayor banned a pride march, though an Israeli court promptly overturned his decision. As the parade took place, a Jewish religious fanatic attacked three marchers with a knife and reportedly told the police he had come "to kill in the name of God". The gay rights movement in Israel also has a questionable history. Lee Walzer, author of Between Sodom and Eden, explains in an article that the first Israeli activists pursued "a very mainstream strategy" that "reinforced the perception that gay rights was a non-partisan issue, unconnected to the major fissure in Israeli politics, the Arab-Israeli conflict and how to resolve it. Embracing gay rights," he continues, "enabled Israelis to pat themselves on the back for being open-minded, even as Israeli society wrestled less successfully with other social inequalities."

As part of their strategy, activists sought "to convince the wider public that gay Israelis were good patriotic citizens who just happened to be attracted to the same sex". As a general principle this may be valid, but in the context of war and occupation it leads into murky territory. Should it really be a matter of pride that openly gay members of the Israeli armed forces are just as capable of wreaking havoc on neighbouring Lebanon as the next person? The question here is whether gay rights - in Israel or elsewhere - can really be divorced from politics or treated in isolation from other human rights. Helem, the Lebanese gay and lesbian organisation, thinks not, arguing that gay rights are an inseparable part of human rights - as does Ms Morcos.

He continued: "It would be unbearable to simply sit with the prime minister and, on behalf of our minority, ignore the human rights of others, including what's been happening here in relation to Palestine for the past year: roadblocks, prevention of access to medical care, assassinations, and implementation of an apartheid policy in the territories and in Israel. The struggle for our rights is worthless if it's indifferent to what's happening to people a kilometre from here. All we get by holding the meeting with the prime minister," he concluded, "is symbolic legitimacy for the community. What he gets for sitting down with us is the mantle of enlightenment and pluralism."

This mantle of enlightenment and pluralism does not, however, extend to Israel's treatment of gay Palestinians. For those who face persecution in the West Bank and Gaza, the most obvious escape route is to Israel, but this often leaves them trapped in an administrative no-man's-land with little hope of getting a proper job in Israel and constantly at risk of arrest and deportation. Meanwhile, as far as the average Palestinian is concerned, fleeing into Israel is a betrayal of the cause, and gay men who remain in the Palestinian territories also come under suspicion - not always without good reason. There have been various reports of gay Palestinians being targeted or pressurised by Israeli intelligence to act as informers. Whether or not they actually succumb to the pressure, all inevitably come under suspicion.

"Gays in Palestine are seen as collaborators immediately," said Ms Morcos.

January 03, 2007

8
UNSPEAKABLE LOVE: Gay and Lesbian Life in the Middle East (Book Review)

by Doug Ireland, New York
I wrote the following book review for Gay City News -- New York's largest gay and lesbin weekly -- which publishes it tomorrow:

UNSPEAKABLE LOVE: Gay and Lesbian Life in the Middle East, by Brian Whittaker; 264 pp.; University of California Press

When Tayseer, a Palestinian from Gaza, was 18, he was found in bed with a boyfriend by an older brother -- and as a result, he was severely beaten by his family and threatened with strangulation by his father if he ever had gay sex again.

A few months later, Tayseer was invited into an orange grove for sex by an undercover police agent of the Palestinian Authority, and subsequently arrested. Police told Tayseer that the only way for him to avoid prison was to himself become a Judas goat, to lure other gay men into sex so that they, too, could be arrested.

When he refused to be police bait in this entrapment scheme, Tayseer was hung by his arms from the ceiling. “A high-ranking officer he didn’t know arranged for his release--and then demanded sex as payback.”

When Tayseer fled Gaza for Tulkarem, he was eventually re-arrested, and forced to stand in neck-high sewage water with his head covered by a feces-filled sack. During one police interrogation, Tayseer was stripped and forced to sit on a Coke bottle.

Tayseer’s story is just one of the accounts by Arab lesbians and gay men in Brian Whittaker’s new book, UNSPEAKABLE LOVE: Gay and Lesbian Life in the Middle East, just published simultaneously here and in the U.K. Whittaker (left), the Middle East Bureau Chief for the British daily The Guardian, writes that he was inspired to do this book when covering the infamous Queen Boat case in Egypt, in which 52 men were arrested in 2001 at a gay party on a disco boat, and subjected to a highly-sensationalized trial -- in a state security court normally reserved for terrorists -- for using “perverted sexual acts” as part of “satanic rituals” (one Cairo newspaper headline blared, “Perverts Declare War on Egypt.”) Thirty-five of the men received prison terms and 200 lashes each -- and 70 more men who had initially been arrested, then released, were also later sentenced to prison.

Whitaker writes that “the dearth of coverage about Arab homosexuality encourages the idea that it is almost entirely a foreign phenomenon.” It is the great merit of this book that it helps to give a fuller picture of both the wide-spread existence of same-sex love in the Arab world and of the increasing number of Arabs who are choosing to define themselves through a gay identity.

In dissecting the wide gap between portrayals of homosexuality in Arab media and official discourse, and the lived reality of Arab same-sexers, Whitaker writes that “Arab portrayals of homosexuality as a foreign phenomenon can be [plausibly] attributed to a reversal of old-fashioned Western orientalism. Western orientalism, as analyzed by Edward Said (right) in his influential book, highlights the ‘otherness’ of oriental culture in order (Said argued) to control it more effectively. Reverse orientalism -- a comparatively new development in the Arab world -- taps into the same themes but also highlights the ‘otherness’ of the West in order to resist modernization and reform. Homosexuality is one aspect of Western ‘otherness’ that can be readily exploited to whip up popular sentiment…Where symbolism of this kind applies, the sexual act must necessarily be described in terms that maximize the reader’s disgust: there is no scope for portrayals of homosexuality that are anything but negative.”

In this context, and given prevailing cultural and official attitudes toward homosexuality, the near-impossibility of being openly gay, and the absence of public spaces where same-sexers can lawfully gather and meet, it is hardly surprising that, as Whitaker writes, “a point made repeatedly by interviewees…was that to be gay and Arab is often extremely lonely.”

So great is ignorance about the real nature of the same-sex impulse in the Arab world that the semi-official Egyptian daily al-Ahram al-Arabi could run a lengthy 2001 interview with “a professor of surgical medicine” on the “most successful method” of “curing sexual perversion”: to wit, “cauterizing the anus, which, by narrowing the anus, makes it more painful for the passive homosexual to be penetrated, which makes the active homosexual unable to penetrate, and causes the sexual encounter to fail.”

Whitaker quotes the late Zaki Badawi (right), head of the Muslim College in London, as saying that, “Homosexuality has always existed and continues to exist in all Islamic countries. Many high-ranking leaders in the Islamic world are gay.” Unfortunately, Whitaker doesn’t name any of those leaders, except for the Sultan of Oman. He might well have mentioned King Mohammed VI (left) of Morocco (also the country’s chief spiritual leader as Commander of the Faithful) who was outed on his ascension to the throne in 1999 by the leading Belgian daily, Le Soir, which revealed that as a university undergraduate in Brussels, the king-to-be had spent all his free time in gay bars. Then there’s Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika (right), knowledge of whose homosexuality is widespread in his country, where he is frequently referred to as "ateka," a word-play nick-name meant to portray him as a “queen” (it can mean "old maid," and it's been chanted at him by entire football-stadiums!)

Whitaker devotes a chapter to the rare images of homosexuality in Arab cinema -- briefly touching on the work of the likes of Egyptian directors Youssef Chahine, Salah Abu Saif, and Yousri Nasrallah, and the Tunisian Nouri Bouzid -- and the relatively few portrayals of it in modern Arab fiction. Novels like the Lebanese Hoda Barakat’s 1990 “The Stone of Laughter,” Egyptian Alaa al-Aswani’s huge best-seller “The Yacoubian Building” (2002), and Nobel Prize-winner Naguib Mahfouz of Egypt’s 1947 “Midaq Alley” are discussed. But the burgeoning lesbian and gay literature written in French by Mediterranean Arab writers from former French colonies -- who cannot publish in their own countries in Arabic -- gets only a sentence: the talented Moroccan Rachid O (right), whose novels have won critical acclaim, is mentioned but not discussed; and not even mentioned at all are such interesting writers on gay themes as the Algerian Aniss A., the Egyptian Sonallah Ibrahim, the Moroccans Kasim Nasseri and Bahaa Trebelsi, or the Tunisian Eyet-Chékib Djaziri.

It’s unfortunate that, as Whittaker notes, most of his face-to-face interviews with gays and lesbians were limited to Egypt and Lebanon, and to the cosmopolitan centers of Cairo and Beirut --although there are 22 countries in the Arab League. Thus, the North African countries of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia -- with a combined population of over 80 million -- are hardly mentioned.

The particularly virulent menace to homosexuals posed by the rise of Islamic fundamentalism gets no systematic examination, although fundamentalism is evoked briefly and in passing in several different sections of the book. Whitaker does, however, dissect the anti-gay arguments of several English-language Islamist websites and the pronunciamentos of Yusuf al-Qaradawi (above left), an influential religious figure in the Arab world popularized by his regular appearances on Al-Jazeera TV.

But the book is also marred by several errors.

For example, Whitaker writes that the Lebanese gay group Helem “is the only specifically gay and lesbian organization functioning openly in an Arab country” -- thus overlooking ASWAT, the self-described “organization of Palestinian gay women,” which received an award for its work inside the Palestinian Authority from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission in March 2006.

Whittaker c