• 10:17
  • Wednesday ,21 October 2009
العربية

Equality, a word or a meaning

By-Nadia Ghaly

Opinion

23:10

Tuesday ,20 October 2009

Equality, a word or a meaning

 When I searched for the meaning of "human rights" and "equality" in English dictionaries I found masses and loads. I found that the rights of any person, whether male or female, white or black, deaf, blind, or healthy, educated or  ignorant, Christian or Muslim, President, king or a beggar. I found that everyone has the same rights to breathe, to enjoy the warmth of the Sun just as much as his next door neighbor. I found that all human beings have the right to exercise their rights and obligations as it is regardless of what mentioned above.
However my dear reader, when I searched for "human rights" and "equality" in Arabic dictionaries I found
 that there are degrees and standards of humans a Male citizen is considered first class citizen, a women is not a citizen, she is a man's property and the cow is worth more than the woman for the Middle Eastern man that is because if the cow dies the man will not be able to afford another cow, but women are available everywhere. I found that Muslim in an Islamic country is superior to any other religion. An educated is better than an ignorant and the President or King of the Kingdom is God in his mighty and the rest of the creatures are worthless to him. I lived more than half my life outside Egypt and I saw how women were treated in the West (the infidel west as they are called by some). Some might say that women didn’t get the same rights as men in wages until the early seventies, this may be the case, but since the early twentieth century women gained the respect from all, treated as a human and not as  product. Treated with respect for her intelligence despite her beauty or her physical configuration, she was respected by her husband her sons, her father and her neighbors, - respected by her colleagues at work, even if her boss is a man. My first visit after ten years of absence to Egypt, I was shocked to witness what happens to our girls there. Luring girls and misleading them into a false relationship from a Muslim man to young Coptic girls. This is followed by raping the girl to force her into converting them into Islam and marriage after loosing their virginity by an animal in an image of a man. The number of the scandals is beyond comprehension and on the increase day after day. The shame that is caused to the family can only be blamed on the girl even though she had very little to do with it and she deserves to die.
I watched how much parents and juvenile girls suffer when they are kidnapped, abused and forced to marriage and Islam to cover her shame. Since mid nineties I have been on a mission to meet and talk to those who suffered from these nightmares without any justice. After years of re-search and until end last year, with the help of colleague  who worked in the United Nation in the" human trafficking", department, We were able to complete a comprehensive report about the forced conversion in my  beloved Egypt and the services sincerely provided  by the Egyptian  government to avoid this phenomena.. Such as tolerating 15 years old girls to convert into Islam and marry without seeking advise and consent from the parents or the church. The Egyptian government allows rape and forced conversion of young Coptic Christian girls without any punishment for the criminals or the crime .Until writing this article I have not heard or read about any Muslim man that was sentenced or punished for the crime of raping a Christian girl or woman. To fix the issue, the Egyptian government forces the perpetrator to marry the victim, and of course, heaves answered the prayers of the Muslim who doesn’t have to force the marriage but the law will do it for him and the conversion will be part of the package.
This Issue should come out to the light and the civilized world for several reasons:
First: The Egyptian government should make a move and address this humiliation to the Christians population which in turn multiplies the number of fed-up and vulnerable Copts in Egypt …The chanting government that keeps on uttering the peace and harmony in the land of the Pharos.
Second: The society has an obligation to help the victims to get back to life without the burden of what they commit although it is an act of an animal and not the fault of the young girl. These victims need to start all over again and without the help of the general public, they have no hope.
Third: The church has a commitment and responsibility to look after their own girls with hope for a better future. The church need to offer support for re-education and awareness, to help them into the life that they deserve and definitely a better life than what is on offer at the moment, un-fortunately the church and the Coptic society look at these girls with shame and put them through the guilt trip, this has to change to a hope for the future. They need support, encouragement and help to start fresh with looking forward not backward.
This report will be made available in the next few weeks from Washington. I have a wish and request at the same time, that is the true Egyptian that they consider themselves the descents   of the Pharaohs read the report without any prejudice, I wish that the Egyptians can read the report before anyone else in the world so they know what our girls are going through. I desired to let you know before the rest of the world that such a report will be published in the near future so you hear it from me, the person who investigated and wrote so we do not carry on with the old broken record that this is a Zionist scheme to smear Egypt's reputation. Dear reader let me tell you this is an Egyptian deal from an Egyptian woman who lived in Egypt and Egypt lives in her heart. Masses of cases exist in Maser, where it is heartbreaking and moving ……….These girls could be your sister, daughter, or friend, if you are a Muslim reading my article, please know in your heart that not every Muslim performs this criminal acts, but those who have no religion or conscious and hiding their brutality under the banner of Islam without any right.
I hope the report comes to you in Arabic language soon, so that you feel my suffering when I met and wrote the report; I have to warn you that you heart will melt of pain when you read it.