BRUSSELS, March 4, 2006 (IslamOnline.net)
– Holding a maiden meeting in the Belgian capital
Brussels on Saturday, March 4, more than 90 European
Muslim woman activists are seeking to wash away
Western misconceptions about the role of women in
Islam and the prestigious status they enjoy under
the Muslim faith.
"The forum is an ample
opportunity to project the true image of Muslim
women and remove media-circulated stereotypes of
Muslim women as being inferior to men and oppressed
under Islam," Nur Gaballah, the coordinator of the
European Forum of Muslim Women, told IslamOnline.net.
Gaballah, who represents the
French League of Muslim Women, said the forum will
tackle a host of pressing issues facing Muslim women
in Europe, chiefly racism.
"We are giving special
attention to the second and third generations of
Muslim girls in Europe, who suffer from racism due
to their religious and cultural backgrounds."
The meeting is hosted by the
Free University in Brussels and themed "Muslim
Women's Contributions to European Societies."
It brings together up to 90
Muslim woman activists from across Europe.
They will elect a 45-member
administrative committee and board members, who will
in turn choose a chairwoman.
Chief among the participants
are British Salam Yaqoob, from Respect Party; Nura
Rami, the spokeswoman for the French pro-Hijab March
15 Committee and Hilina Bin Ouda, the president of
the Islamic Council in Swede.
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The forum brings together up to 90
Muslim woman activists from across
Europe.
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Gaballah said the
forum will give due attention to the man-woman
relationship under Islam and how Muslim women are
treated on equal terms with men.
"It is a very
important issue as a point of fact given that the
West misbelieves that Islam treats women as inferior
to men," she noted.
The activist said some
Muslim women in Europe, like Iranian-born Chahdorff
Djavann and Somali-born Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali,
have helped entrench stereotypes on women under
Islam.
Ali achieved notoriety
after she wrote the scripts of a short film called
"Submission" in which she highlighted what she said
mistreatment of women under Islam.
She said in November
that the second part of the film focused on
homosexuality in Islam.
When asked whether
non-veiled women were welcomed, Gaballah said the
forum is open for all.
"They all defend their
Islamic and cultural identity," she said.
The issue of hijab has
taken center stage in Europe after it has been
banned in state schools in several European
countries.
Muslim woman activists
in Europe have frequently blasted Western media and
governments for not practicing what they preach.
They maintain that
media parrot about the alleged oppression of women
under Islam, but they turn a blind eye to the racism
and oppression Muslim women face in the labor
market, universities and public life.
