Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, 

Thank you for inviting me here this morning to open your conference on Arab Women Past and Present: Participation and Democratization.

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about narratives – grand narrative that shape the world, our ways of knowing, believes and acting. These differing and sometimes clashing narratives have been in forefront of political discussions and even violent street protests in recent weeks. We are indeed living in a time when it is difficult to pick up the loose thread of a prevailing narrative and trace it back to its sources. 

Yet, when I read the title of your conference, especially the terminology of Arab women and Democratization, I couldn’t resist but so a little unraveling. For there is a large narrative at the background of our current discussion and I hope you will indulge me for a few minutes while I pick up the thread and unravel the discourse with which we are framing our debate here this next few days. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

The conflict of narratives today is accentuated by the reality that the majority of the cultures of the world are under intense pressure to conform to the dominate cultures of countries that once colonized them and continue to rule them indirectly, either economically, militarily or both. Whether we frame the current crisis as a North South conflict, as Jihad versus Mc World, as Islam versus the west, or as a culture war between indigenous civilizations and cultural colonizers, the same thread runs through the discourse. One narrative is attempting to win our over the others. 

The debate, over women in the Arab World is simply one aspect of a larger debate where on narrative is struggling to assert itself over another, and women, particularly, have become the symbolic needle with which the complexity of the discourse is sewn. 

This is not a new debate. Colonial feminism, or feminism as used against other cultures in the service of colonialism, has been well researched by scholars, some of whom will attend these sessions over the next few days. And it was not unique to the Arab World, for this narrative was patterned into a variety of designs, each tailored to fit the immediate target of domination – India, the Islamic world, Asia, sub-sahara Africa. In the Arab World, particularly, when feminism behind with colonialism it already had a rich orientalist tradition of bigotry to drawn up. 

As Leila Ahmed has noted, Qasim Amin’s controversial book the liberation of women marked the entry of the colonial narrative on women and Islam into mainstream Arabic discourse. Also, the opposition it generated marked the emergencies of a counter narrative developed in the resistance of the colonialist discourse. And this discourse is very much alive today. Various symbols, especially the veil, came to represent the dignity and validity of the native customs and the need to affirm them as a means of resistance. This need to reclaim tradition has been a prominent part of the discourse in Arab societies, particularly over the last 20 years or so. Within this movement the central question has been raised as to what exactly is our tradition? 

Again the threads are intertwined but distinct. The past of the Arab world in general and Arab women especially, is a rich and varied one. Issues informing the debate for women in the Gulf are different that they are for women in the Palestine and Iraq, and the patterns of discourse prevalent in Egypt are different than those in Syria or Lebanon. Unfortunately, sometimes researches on the situation of women conducted by international bodies don’t reflect these differences and the diversity of concerns of women across the region. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

In responding to the title of your conference I would maintain that the past and present for Arab women bear little difference to the past and present for women worldwide, except for perhaps, the fact that we will live in a time when the lens through which the dominate cultures view the orient are focused assertively on the ARAB Women, or more especially on the MUSLIM Women. What is the reality? 

One reality as noted in the Arab Human Development Report of 2002 is that the Arab region shows the fastest improvement in female education of any region, with female literacy expanding three fold since 1970, and primary and secondary enrolment education. 

 I though it important to raise the issue of how we frame our discourse, yet I also maintain that this is also not a time for us in the Arab and Muslim world to revert to denial. There are problems in our societies, based on stagnation and inequality, as there are in all societies. For example, the same report I just mentioned also shows that the Arab region is weak in terms of empowering women to seek and benefit from opportunities for economic and political participation. It is not enough to assert that Islam protects the rights of women and to eulogize the great women of the past. We must be loyal to our Islamic tradition by insisting in the application of the equalities guaranteed in our religion and providing the proper environment for our young women to grow and prosper. 

It is no secret that suppression of freedom and the rights of women have prevented many countries from reaching their potential. And in order to reach our potential we have to face our mistakes and deal with our deficits. I believe education is at the center point of the tapestry. 

Education in the Arab world has been at the basis of controversy for sometime. Scholars have affirmed that the “traditional” system of education in the Arab world, built upon the absolute power of those in authority, encourages learning by rote, and blind acceptance of power. 

In such schools, girls AND boys, are taught not to question their teachers, just as individuals in society are taught not to question their rulers. In short, the type of education prominent in the Middle East sustains autocratic regimes and inequalities – racial, class AND gender. 

If we want to change this narrative we must weave new threads into the discourse – stories of discuss, hope, freedom and empowerment. In Qatar, we are trying to do this by investing heavily in education and reviving our forgotten traditions of dialogue and openness. 

I believe a nation is responsible to generate a culture of quality for its people, both men and women. And this culture needs to be firmly rooted in the infrastructure of the country: in the beliefs, values, institutions and behaviors of our citizens. Further, we recognize that in strengthening one’s own narrative; one must be open to the stories of others. Just as men and women complete each other. So do the various panels of culture on the mosaic of the world civilizations. As men and women must accept each other, nurturing their similarities as human being and valuing their differences, peoples of the world must do the same – respect the other rights to differ and value common beliefs. A strong and dynamic education provides this foundation for openness, a confident and tolerance. In Qatar, we hope to inspire such self confidence in all our citizens – men and women. 

Yet it is not enough to speak idealistically about education and the role of men and women in the global community. We cannot talk about a culture of quality without talking about massive political and social reforms throughout the Arab world, and indeed the world in general, it is useless to play at being free in schools while society squelches this freedom. Actually, it can even lead to more instability. Recent studies have shown, internationally, that extremist and violent organizations are heavily populated with educated, politically, disenfranchised, youth, whose education taught them to expect the right of participate politically, but their environment refuted this exception. 

Studies also show that the higher women’s educational status and political participation the less frequent are political and instability. This probably because educated and empowered women tend to socialize youth in ways to inhabit their susceptibility to recruitment by terrorists. Also because educated and empowered women strengthen civil society organizations that serve as alternatives to political militancy. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

In Qatar we have placed a great deal of hope in our citizens and particularly women. We have set national research and advocacy organizations to promote the study of family policy. We believe the family ought to be placed of nurturance and so the rights of children need to be protected. We also believe in that authoritarian methods of decision making and control need to be counteracted and legislation put in place to protect family members from abuse. Also, there must be a close relationship between families and schools so pedagogical changes in the school can be duplicated by attitudinal changes in the family. 

Such changes, of course, can only be successful if they are representative of large- scale social and political changes that empower both men and women. In Qatar over 70% of those enrolled in postsecondary institutions are women, and the illiteracy rate for both genders has declined steadily. But this is not enough if we are not successful in integrating more women into the work force and encouraging them to participate politically as full partner with men.

Yet, I must reassert our goal is only to focus on the empowerment of women, but to empower all members of society. I believe issues related to women’s development must be viewed in a holistic manner within the context of the family and the society at large. I will again emphatically state that lack of freedom, participation and democracy is not a problem for women alone and certainly not for Arab women alone. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

Let me turn now more directly to the second term of our discussion over the next few days – democratization. I will not ask what democracy is, or even whose democracy, but I will point to one fact. The discourse of democracy is another thread in the same tapestry as the discourse on women in this region. The term democracy is hailed as a concept foreign to Islam and Arabs and false claims are made that democracy conflicts radically with our traditions. Muslims are said to “hate” freedom of speech and democracy, democracy is said to be antithetical to women’s rights. However, a recent Gallup study of over 10.000 Muslims in 10 countries worldwide shows the flutiness of the dominate narrative. When asked what they admire most about the West, Muslims answered technology and political freedom. A majority in every Muslim country surveyed support the Shari’a as a source of legislation. And the same majority also supports freedoms of religion, speech and assembly. There were little difference between men and women’s support for Shari’a. Further, the majority of those surveyed also support a woman’s right to vote, drive and work outside the home. Majorities in almost every nation surveyed also believe it’s appropriate for women to serve at the highest levels of government in their nation’s cabinet and national council. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

We live in a time of conflicting narrative, where one culture is trying to assert its terminologies on another and the lens of the camera is zooming in on women as the subject of these debates. This places a huge responsibility on women for it presumes women alone can be the solution for such complicated conflicts. In my options, we are over estimating the role that the women can play as independent agents. And as a result women may be forced to choose sides, neither of which may have interests at heart. In the end, the women become an object of conflicting discourses, each try to win over the other.

I hope your discussion over the next few days will mend some of the broken threads in the dominate narrative ABOUT Arab women, Muslim women, and Islam and democracy. It is not easy, tracing threads back to their source, following the lines of patterns as they intertwine, but in the end, understanding the intricacy of the design makes the appreciation of the tapestry more rewarding.