Mission & Justice

Habib Toumi; 9/7/08

A group of women abandoned by their husbands have called on Bahrain’s decision-makers to help put an end to their “abominable suffering”. The women held a rally in front of the justice and Islamic affairs ministry to press for their demands to have the courts decide without further procrastination on their fate after their husbands deserted them but without divorcing them. Under the law, the women are still married to husbands whom they did not meet or see for years, a fact that prevents them from starting new lives.

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8/7/08

Gay and lesbian Christians will protest the Pope’s condemnation of homosexuality ahead of World Youth Day, labelling his beliefs as right-wing propaganda. The protest, calling for equality for gay and lesbian followers, will take place at the Pitt Street Uniting Church this Sunday, coinciding with Pope Benedict XVI’s arrival in Sydney. Catholic writer and educator Michael Kelly said gay and lesbian people had been marginalised and condemned by mainstream churches, particularly the Catholic Church. He labelled the “version of Christianity that is coming to Sydney” as propaganda.

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9/7/08

The Vatican last night regretted the decision by the Church of England to ordain women bishops, saying it would present a “new obstacle” to reconciliation between the Holy See and the Anglican communion. The vote of the General Synod earlier yesterday had sent a signal to Rome that the ecumenical goal of full visible unity had never been further away. “We learned with regret the news of the vote of the Church of England that opens the way to the introduction of legislation that would lead to the ordination of women bishops,” the Vatican said in a statement. The decision would be “a new obstacle to reconciliation between the Catholic Church and the Church of England”, it added.

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Dalya Dajani; 7/8/08

It looked like a fun-packed day at the pool for the little boy as he swam back and forth between his parents’ arms. Wearing a pair of bright orange floaters, the toddler splashed around several times, then suddenly began to struggle. “Daddy I’m getting tired,” the boy moaned. “What do mean you’re getting tired you animal! It’s only been a few minutes. Swim back now!” he roared. Obeying his father’s order, the boy swam back only to face more humiliation as his father yanked him by the arm, pinched him on the thigh and told him: “You are no good.”The boy’s mother, looking visibly distressed, tried to intervene but a silent glare from her husband signalled her to keep quiet.

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May Al-Shaie; 7/8/08

A friend of mine who contemplates leaving her husband told me, “I no longer have any feelings toward my husband. I am left without a soul.” She believes she has reached a dead end in finding a solution to their marital woes and that separation is the only solution left. She is tired of living with a man who is psychologically ill. Since her husband refuses to acknowledge he is ill in the first place, there is no treatment for him.My friend is tired of fighting with him and engaging in worthless debates on issues concerning marriage and everyday life.

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Maha Akeel;7/8/08

After more than 18 months of running around from one government office to another to get the permit, a Saudi friend of mine finally married her non-Saudi fiancé. Before a Saudi man or woman can marry a non-Saudi, they need a permit from the Ministry of Interior for the marriage contract to be officially recognized. The process of filing the form and explaining why the Saudi man is marrying a non-Saudi woman is cumbersome. For the Saudi woman it is difficult and rules are apparently meant to dissuade them from such an alliance. After my friend got the permit from the ministry she had to get another from the Makkah Principality to have the marriage certificate issued in Jeddah.

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7/8/08; http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=111595&d=7&m=7&y=2008

Being married can be like having a job, so some fathers have decided to treat prospective sons-in-law like job applicants. Namely, they’re asking for curriculum vitae before they will accept men as potential husbands for their daughters. “The CV provides me with about 60 percent of the information I need to know about the young man proposing to marry my daughter,” Abdullah Al-Salami told the Arabic daily Al-Eqtisadiah recently. Saudi marriage customs closely follow Muslim traditions and rules. As such, the father must give permission for a man to marry his daughter. So, the CV has become a useful tool for fathers like Al-Salami, who said that this requisite helps him identify young suitors who were not forthcoming about their backgrounds. He said that his daughter has been happily married to the man he approved for more than a year now, and that he intends to do the same thing when the hand of his other daughter is sought by prospective grooms. According to the report, some men are also asking for CVs from would-be wives in order to learn about their educational background.

Dan Harrison; 6/7/08

Australian researchers have discovered how a change to one gene halts the process of an embryo becoming a boy. The research could lead to improved treatment options for the one in 4500 people who suffer from a disorder of sex development (DSD) - a group of conditions which occur when the sex chromosomes do not match the genitals.Some DSD children are born with ambiguous or incomplete genitalia, making it difficult to identify gender.

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Deborah Gough; 6/7/08

Anti-family violence initiatives have failed to reduce the number of domestic abuse deaths in Australia and without a change in community attitudes, the percentage of people killed by relatives is unlikely to fall, according to Victoria Police deputy commissioner Simon Overland. Mr Overland was speaking to The Sunday Age after a spate of shocking family violence incidents in the past fortnight, which claimed the lives of 10 people including five children. He said despite a series of police and legislative measures being introduced since 2004, community attitudes towards domestic abuse had remained largely unchanged, with people still reluctant to report abuse.

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Molouk Y. Ba-Isa; 6/7/08

Marriages don’t usually generate much media attention, but when Juma Mohammed A.W. Al-Dossari was married in the spring, even Western journalists attended the celebration. Just months earlier, it had been impossible for the groom to pray at the mosque, make a phone call or even choose what to eat for dinner. Al-Dossari’s wedding seems like an improbable outcome because until last year he was a prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Seized in Pakistan in late 2001, Al-Dossari was turned over to the US, transferred first to Kandahar Airbase in Afghanistan and then in January 2002 sent to the offshore US detention facility in Cuba where he lived in a concrete cell, denied even the basic rights afforded a common criminal by the US Constitution. He was released in July 2007 to the Saudi authorities along with 15 other prisoners. No charges were ever filed against him.

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