Groundbreaking events he helped set in motion reformation day talked to over thirty first on g. W. A. Little. Bit was it that it was deliberate and it will. Hold. Oh. Yes it was one. That he would take a look. At it. Yes. To Mark International womens day lebanese womens rights activists have taken to the streets theyve come to tell an every day yet tragic story their story. As in many other arab countries theyre calling for a law to stop violence against women. Over the last two months five women have been killed only yesterday a brother slit his sisters throat all Domestic Violence reflects a whole system of violence that were subjected to every day in our country. Its a man who rule who have the power and so its the women who suffer who are subjected to their laws their desires and their violence was who it. Was you i it. Was. The people who want this rallying cry was first heard during the arab spring which spread across the region in two thousand and eleven. In tunis women were in the front line of protests calling for an end to the dictatorship a few months later the election of the islamist and not a party and once again brought them out in the thousands of votes at the crime scene center we have tamed our rights fifty years ago heather has now they want to challenge them. When were not going to let this happen thats not how the whole. During the egyptian revolution women also made their presence felt in cairo but in the demonstrations against the ruling power they became the target of systematic a. Acts and sexual assaults. As the people of the arab world rose up in the name of freedom the rights and status of women became more hotly contested than ever. And yet things for arab women were very different fifty years ago. Emancipation and equality seemed within reach as the countries gained independence women enjoyed considerable freedoms. And the political leaders of the time the liberators of the people declared that by people they also meant women. Fifty years on women face increasing problems claiming or defending these hard won rights the situation of women has hardly improved or not at all what happened how can arab women shake up the society so blocked by sexist and patriarchal structures this film recounts their struggle and chance the history. Genesee it is one of the countries where arab famine is and going back over a century is most deeply rooted. Sharifs a dolly is a pioneer of ginas in feminism at the last cemetery in tunis she is taking her daughter and granddaughter to visit the grave of a man who inspired her the author and performer to her dad who died in one thousand nine hundred five. That had no time to hold our demand of womens rights how he wanted women to be part of political life to be able to study why he demanded rights for women not because they suffered in justice or women left their Fathers House to go to their husbands house then from their husbands house to go to the cemetery thats what they used to say in the olden days. But so. We must remember to her well thanks to him women are free today and he spoke about that almost a century ago there more to know what we know. How bad it gets. The more Community Must be for women could be repudiated in marriage without a court case. You see that if a husband had enough of his wife all he had to do was go and see the local solicitor at his home. He only had to say he wanted a divorce and that was it she was returned to her Fathers House and then it was her father who looked after her and her children. For leadership that a boy with a boy. According to. The liberation of tunis here in the french colony also meant the liberation of women. The freeman king for my theology student maintained that this was not at odds with islam although he had the support of an intellectual and reformist elite that god was fiercely attacked by conservatives and religious traditionalists. From the very beginning religious law and its interpretation have been at the heart of the arab feminist and modernist struggle. Egyptian jurist cousin i mean in his book the liberation of women published in one thousand nine hundred nine criticizes one of the most powerful symbols of tradition the veil. Opposite of what a fun in a preview it is only befell me this. Is a comment on the book when the market but was on the bottom of while the devil bit off his arms or got the kind of a city you. Have a lot of mustard in so that theyre afraid of us and that a family. Like the chin is into her dad because he mommy was not looking to oppose islamic south only the traditional interpretation of it by advocating womens liberation he was above all seeking to prevent his countrys decline and move it towards maternity. While those men elaborated the first feminist theories it was women who turn theory into action the egyptian who does shari is widely considered one of the first arab feminist activists. In one thousand twenty three after attending a feminist congress in europe she broke into boot. Arriving at cairo station she cast off her veil in public and showed her face after the initial shock and disapproval a crowd of women spontaneously began to applaud. The heads of syria were now lifting up her veil was symbolic the whole. To hit meant that a woman could escape her condition and become a woman with rights and duties which appear to be all the women with a real role in society who is even active and militant or not the only that you. Found in the Egyptian Feminist Union she fought for womens material independence political and social equality with men and cooperation between arab and european feminists direction sparked a Chain Reaction within egypt and far beyond its borders. In one thousand twenty four that unity and manu be aware tani removed her veil to followed in one thousand nine hundred nine by happy the men chary. The battle against the veil and polygamy inspired other tunas in women like she refers to darwin who joined the union of women of janessa in the one nine hundred forty s. The maquis for the steam and our union of women meetings we defended repudiated women. We went from door to door we wanted to distribute pamphlets to women so they would come to our meetings. Nearest to me i hauled off and the husband came out and told us to go back home we replied but were fighting against french colonialism of the sun he would say what are your the ones who are going to get rid of the french go on and on to applique emma. The union of women of china zia was established in one thousand nine hundred four and was close to the communist party. It brought together activists from different communities french women engineers in as well as muslim or Jewish Museum women. They saw the fight for womens rights as part of another battle one that would lead to the liberation of a colony and all of its people. In one hundred fifty six became independent. The first president of the tunas in republic became the architect of womens liberation he instituted the code of personal status outlawing polygamy and repudiation establishing a judicial procedure for divorce and fixing the minimum age of marriage at seventeen. He took advantage of the moment of National Consensus after independence to enact reforms even managing to sway the religious authorities of the time. Or turned into law the ideas a spouse but unity and feminists starting with time out. He was convinced that his country could only become a modern state if women were emancipation. And as a bad gesture believer left in the traditional veil and public. Although he did not establish complete equality this state feminism ten used with paternalism was to revolutionize the lives of genius in women. State schooling became free to all and to education the new on. Women and in the job market and Birth Control became widely available also market unity apart in the arab world. The planning is a good move you will hear. He dies for his examination say only that it will show his will sheesh with the beauty of it a piece of meat with crush able no. Stick. To dock area we got to yes my ass not any more back easier show me i have. A boat and was made legal in one nine hundred seventy three for all women the appearance of a real state feminism and would remain an exception in the arab world. In the majority of other countries by contrast the feminist struggle was sidelined by independent. Egypt political and cultural beacon of the arab world was led by connell. From one nine hundred fifty six. The country present to the rest of the world with a completely new image of women such as the femininity embodied by some yoga mind. The actress and dances taught in popular egyptian musicals that were exported throughout the region. The song the nerve center of cinema was in egypt it was hollywood on the nile or you would. Scantily clad seductive femme for time the movie stars transformed the image of the arab woman. These modern heroines also brought an ancient art back into fashion dunson. Can to end. Result to me the dancers represented freedom which went beyond the borders of any country. City and it was truly the symbol of womens power that. Was. And it was also a woman who embodied now says egypt the sing out. Even more famous the nasa to whom she was close in concert and sang of love and passion and forged a powerful bond throughout the arab world through her. However the liberation of egyptian women was not just a fantasy of the Silver Screen or musical underclasses regime they obtained the right to vote young female city dwellers gained access to education and public areas here too women joined the workforce they abandon the veil and relations between men and women were changing. But the conservatives retained a powerful hold on the country using the and friends to limit the scope of certain reforms especially concerning marriage. One of the most outspoken critics of womens liberation was the Muslim Brotherhood a powerful Islamist Movement founded in egypt in one nine hundred twenty eight. One of its representatives sayat hot tub called it. That if the vista article the limits so much it is government to most of us are with the family. The Muslim Brotherhood was the main opponent of nasas brand of socialism in particular they disagreed over the status of women as the speech from one thousand nine hundred sixty six shows. What i believe in most of the land of the finalists i mean. What the. Hell with. A gaffe you must. Share the list of. A lot that this. Was. Not much to alice. Now. I get that it could have. Been. Yeah. But nasa faced constraints in a country which was mainly rural and conservative the reforms he introduced on behalf of the gyptian women paled in comparison with those adopted by chinas. Masses authoritarian regime was devoted to a big dream of a different kind arab unification. In nine hundred sixty seven war dealt a blow to progress on womens rights. I will live. There live yes you are the so ideal. In the one nine hundred sixty seven war israel dealt a crushing defeat to its arab opponents in particular nasas egypt the debacle sent shock waves through the arab world tipping the political balance of power in favor of the religious leaders and conservatives. It was all said and a pilot if it is a sixty seven did not signal the defeat of the arabs but of modernity it defeated the modernizing powers and legitimized the conservative forces before school so that. You know. The modernizers were democrats they were lets say all thora tarion modernizes the mahdi but you didnt attack them for their all thora tarion character missing without risking jail. Spilt so from one thousand nine hundred sixty seven the conservative forces criticize them for their lifestyles of a visit. It is for the status that women had attained and for the meeting egyptian films in particular the films from the fiftys and sixtys it if you missed which showed men and women kissing all the way from his office on the bus. Mr ziegler all this to get the idea was to reverse something profound that was believed to have taken its revenge in sixty seven where the most modernizing regime was notably in egypt and in syria were brutally defeated by a state that had been created on a religious basis israel. And so forth so that was there legitimize ation. For the conservative forces believed that it was the hand of god punishing the arabs for betraying their own faith the brotherhood three look proper for. The oil crisis of the one nine hundred seventy s. Highlighted another major change in the balance of power in the middle east. With the oil windfall the economic and political power shifted from egypt to the arabian peninsula. Saudi arabia barely touched by modernity until men began to develop at a frantic pace. In this traditionalist country home to many of islams most holy places the economic boom only created a superficial modernity worried about the influence of western values Saudi Society tightened up restricting womens lives even further. Off it in fact it was one of womens enemies. Oil wealth helped to create a hyper monetary society. On the. One that was extreme in the modern end its hyper monetarism one part of the same time much more conservative with regard to women from their status dropped while the rest of the economy of the society was modernized. For many years saudi arabia was the only country in the world where women were banned from driving despite risking arrest some women activists defied the restrictions recently the ban was lifted by royal decree but legislation requires the approval of religious leaders who had justified the ban in this way. Our religion doesnt forbid our women to drive but it doesnt give them the right. The religious authorities have considered the pros and cons and decided that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages along. The gulf states rapidly they can using our financial power to export their social model to other arab countries. That the inherited and she faced with social difficulties and poverty and attracted to the wealth from the oil in the gulf states millions of egyptians most of them uneducated immigrated to these countries particularly saudi arabia they were influenced in these countries that had become so powerful. The saudis believe that islam was born in their country and that everything they say is true but then there will be the egyptians began to imitate them. They came back around the nicobar the full veil elaine ive been a car i do in a never been more the. More luck even their accents had changed in. The way yes. From the one thousand nine hundred armored several gulf countries started spreading their rigorous islamic ideology via Television Satellite channels broadcast the words of extremist preachers throughout the arab world such as those of egyptian side on this side of his channel. You know so low are you while it was well. Along. Show of karama the. Word here had. I g o y of the bullet deep. Deep. It is. Hello ahead in the. Now. Oh. Yeah and you move. You. In a while and assess their day nashiri have to be good then. Unfortunately we have many educated women who cannot read or write or meet off. These new t. V. Channel watch that have opened in egypt have exploited this illiteracy. Where the only means of womens ignorance is that their little berserk at them are these channels have not succeeded in influencing egyptian home to the end because women influence their husbands their children what a real mother had them in where. Women were enlisted in the fight to bring back the veil and introduce conservative religious values the followers of radical islam even succeeded in rally in some influential women to their cause such as the actress hung on to work the egyptian movie star took up the veil and ultimately quit her career not that you have been a claim we. Dont know or you get going no not one of that again. No not a michelle. And i was actually going to shrink it about an animal but thats not a. Well last hour like a big. Well it hard to. Get a lot. Of the dona dimentia here are at the minimum a lot and i mean mission here and listening to what they had a few and locked up and a lot. Little by little the islamists succeeded in engineering a comeback of the veil throughout Egyptian Society even among women who did not support their ideology. Italy. The revival of the veil went hand in hand with three years lama zation of societies as he said if they dont meet. At the beginning of this re islamization the job was unquestionably a militant fail yet he ship it was the militants of political islam who were the job hes claiming this fall he says he. Gradually with three islamisation of the societies it became an identity fail so to speak. Us in other words wearing the veil showed you belong to the religion. Of god and i see that as a remarkable victory for a political islam to have been able to transform the job from a militant veil to a general veil for all she hides. But in this paradoxical society the only presence of religious strictures does not stop some women from seeking areas of freedom within the framework of religious morality yes except alongside programs featuring extremist preaches one Satellite Channel broadcasts a popular show presented by an egyptian sex therapist played a heart or das to preach to boost subjects. But. I had one. And then. On the other course we have to take our culture and religion into account thats why i only talk about sexual problems within marriage as though it. Was your forever home but every jurors are human beings who can be right or wrong but religion doesnt get it wrong womens work is not forbidden if she talks about sex in a respectful medical and scientific way its not forbidden on the contrary it does you good if she earns money and she keeps her wages for herself its not forbidden for buying things in her name is not forbidden dressing well being elegant and having a nice car is not forbidden so why feminism what could it do for me that i can feminism bring about womens freedom my religion gives it to me. So might islam as a system of values also be emancipated. One movement known as muslim feminism thing so. It first took root in majority muslim malaysia but it also has arab proponents. Moroccan as muslim or a bat is one of the most active she believes women have the right to interpret the. Quran. When you go to indonesia malaysia or pakistan whether youre in deepest egypt or deepest algeria or morocco the same islamic rhetoric about women prevails. So rereading the holy books from a feminist and female viewpoint is very important and hold the movies because at least it restores value to the female perception and. Secondly it will open up a field that until now has been completely closed to women the interpretation of the text how can you accept readings that are fifteen hundred years old but bear no imprint of women yet they dont