Lysistrata Revisited

Posted on July 1, 2008
Filed Under Azerbaijan, Britain, England, Freedom, Germany, Golda Meir, History, Honor killing, Human Rights, India, International, IslamoFascism, Muslims, Religion, Saudi Arabia, United Nations, economics, economy, honor killings, islam, judaism, women, women's rights | 1 Comment

A Greek playwright, Aristophanes, wrote a play – in 411 BC – named after its main Lysistrata. Under Lysistrata’s direction, the story’s female characters barricade a public building and withhold conjugal services from their husbands in order to bring about peace and put an end to the disastrous, long lasting, Peloponesian War. Lysistrata engages the support of women from Sparta, Boeotia, and Corinthia. Many of them were, at first, against her suggestion as a way to end war. Finally, they agree to swearing an oath of allegiance by drinking wine from a phallic shaped flask.

So, what brought this classic comedy to mind? Last week honoluluadvertiser.com had the following:

Muslim Women Speak With Representative Gene Ward In Azerbaijan

This first-ever high level conference on “Expanding the Role of Women in Cross-Cultural Dialogue” was sponsored by Azerbaijan’s Heydar Aliyeh Foundation and the UN’s Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) as well as UNESCO. Representative Gene Ward was asked to attend at the expense of the UN.

As tensions increase between Israel and Iran in the Middle East, the world is looking for good news between Muslim and non-Muslim countries and there are many reasons to find it in Azerbaijan. Muslims, Jews, and Christians live side-by-side in peace in Azerbaijan, they actually like each other. Situated just 2 hours north of Baghdad and Tehran, Azerbaijan sits on the path of the ancient ‘Silk Road’ and is becoming a new crossroad as one of the safest places in the world for dialogue between Muslim and non-Muslim nations. It’s ethnic, cultural, and linguistic diversity is rivaled by few places in the world and is a showcase of progressive Muslim women’s rights.

This is why over 50 countries sent 250 diplomats, scholars, and elected officials to the capitol city of Baku to take stock of where they were and where they want to be while the world is becoming increasingly described as a ‘clash of civilizations’ between Muslim and non-Muslim nations.

The Muslim women, attending the conference, stressed time and again that there was nothing wrong with their religion but the problems lies with the male-dominated traditions and the misinterpretations of the Koran that allowed such antiquated practices to exist; interpretations for the education of women in Saudi Arabia was a case in point. Sixty percent of its college graduates were women but only 5% of the Saudi workforce was female. Compared to Hawaii, where over 65-70% of women have joined the workforce, the brainpower lost by Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia is incalculable.

The event ended with a ‘Baku Declaration’ setting forth a call to all of the world’s governments to provide education and dialogue as the major ingredients for increasing understanding between East and West, Male and Female, Muslim and non-Muslim.

We all know that women in the Muslim world have been seriously mistreated and ignored. With honor killings, serious restrictions on their movements outside of the home unless accompanied by a related male, etc… they trail far behind their western sisters! Sixty percent of its college graduates were women but only 5% of the Saudi workforce was female. Compared to Hawaii, where over 65-70% of women have joined the workforce, the brainpower lost by Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia is incalculable. That is exactly what a 2000 Special Report by the United Nations Development Programme decries as one of the main reasons for the poverty and backwardness of the Arab world, in spite of its natural resources. But will the input of women, change the way Islam looks at the world at large?

At the time of Lysistrata’s first performance, Greek men firmly believed that women had no self-restraint but a rather strong addiction for wine and sex. Swearing an oath by drinking wine from a phallic shaped flask only added further to the comedy in this play. Having said that and while understanding that female brains look at things from a different and refreshing perspective from men, I welcome their input.

Throughout history many a woman has been called upon to come to the aid of her nation. These women range from the biblical heroines like Queen Esther, or Deborah the Prophetess, or Judith (from the Apocrypha) to the modern day likes of Golda Me’ir (the last honorable man in Israel’s Knesset!) to Indira Ghandi, to Margaret Thatcher, to Angela Merkel, etc. Women have proven to be strong, tough, uncompromising when needed and capable of coming up with real solutions when everything seemingly was heading for disaster.

If the Baku event was not just a feel good, meaningless, get together, more such gatherings should be encouraged. Maybe, just maybe, women can come to the rescue once again. Lord knows, this world of ours badly needs it!

Chaim

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One Response to “Lysistrata Revisited”

Julie Business Plans from Tel Aviv, Israel on July 9th, 2008 6:50 pm

All I can say is G-d is coming and boy is she mad!

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