The New Middle Eastern Project: A Challenge for Many , by Zeinab Al-Rekabi

These changes suggest the potential determination that Iraq and its people are strongly willing to become part of the new Middle Eastern project that is based on justice, freedom, and peace.
However, there seems to be a lack of perceptual judgment, present in the mindset of some of the clerical leaders. Moreover, a new clerical decree has been insinuated by some clerics that stated that the present political positions granted for the Iraqi women, must be in the hands of scholarly and academic women. It seems that for the first time that we all agree with the clerics that education is highly important in constructing and governing a country, however, let us look over the past positions of the Iraqi women and how our male dominating patriarch cal society degraded and marginalized women in the political, social, economical, educational, and familial sphere.
Throughout Iraq’s brutal history, the Iraqi women suffered the greatest, under all the regimes that governed Iraq, especially during Saddam Hussein’s era. Many women were deprived of going to municipal colleges or schools in the rural and urban parts of the country, fearing from being raped or molested by Saddam’s atrocious wolves.
Furthermore, Iraq is mainly composed of Arab tribes or clans’ predominately in the south and some areas in the north of Iraq, whose roots go back to many authentic Bedouin tribes of the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen, and Nassiryia. In a tribe, power is passed down from father to son rarely would it include siblings; therefore we observe this hierarchical separation amongst our societies, which is in turn highly prevalent amongst the Arab leaders. In our present societies unlike many ancient Arab Bedouin tribes women possessed limited or absolutely no role in society. Moreover, this limitation transformed her into a fragile and domestic being, incapable of acknowledging her rights and her role in society.
The above description is common in our societies, especially the Iraqi society where the Iraqi women have suffered the greatest in all aspects. Many sociologists or psychologist would hypothesize that the solution to this deficiency lies in the reconstruction of society itself. This reconstruction involves the recreation of all the educational texts, the initiation of a social institution that protects and secures the rights of women, men, and children. Consequently, the latter can be achieved, once her political status has been raised to the equilibrium line, therefore the Iraqi women must occupy at least 40% in the political sphere, since the percentage of women exceeds that of men. This in turn will reduce famine, poverty, ignorance, fear, violence, and terrorism in Iraq and the region. All these positive aspects describes Iraq’s potential to enter into a new Middle East that can influence the neighboring regions to withhold a similar positive liberal and democratic ideology.
Furthermore, the new Middle Eastern project suggests the termination of the hierarchical societies, such that the power will not be passed on from father to son or brother to brother as in the case of many Arab leaders, and also amongst some members of the interim Governing Council. Subsequently, many of the members are talking about the importance of democracy and elections; however, when it comes to giving up their positions they decline the principals of democracy and categorize it as a Western supremacy over the East In a modern and sophisticated society the above is not present because open ballots or elections are held every electoral session. Secondly, the project includes giving rights to the minority and to the ethnic populations and granting them equal rights and opportunities in all fields. These positive objectives challenge the Arab leaders because they are certainly not willing to give their positions to a hard-working middle class citizens, and certainly they are not willing to grant rights and opportunities to other ethnic and minority groups, because these critical factors challenge their positions. For the above reasons, many Arabic countries stood against President Bush’s declaration of a new Middle Eastern project, because it certainly would confront their consciousness and positions.
In connection to all the above notions or ideas, the key to the success and sophistication of Iraq and its people lies in adhering to the principals of liberal democracy.