Shaaban: Women in Arab civilization played a key role in all walks of life in their societies
Arab women have played very effective role in the domains of work, culture and politics since old ages and their great achievements in these fields were documented in history, Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban, the Special Advisor at the Syrian Presidency, said in a statement during the 1st International Congress for Women of Influence, currently held in Tehran with the participation of influential, active and elite women from almost 90 world countries, including Syria.
“Arab women were the first to write novels. For example, Zaynab Fawwaz Al-Amiliya, a Lebanese novelist, wrote a novel in 1888, and before World War I, there were 20 magazines owned, edited and published by Arab women in different countries of the Arab world,” Shaaban added.
She clarified that Syria proposed women’s right to vote in elections, before even the United States made a federal law.
“In 1919 and after Syria was liberated from the Turkish occupation, the Syrian women began to call for getting the right to vote and to run for the parliament. At that time, only few cities in the United States recognized this right,” Dr. Shaaban said.
She pointed out that the Syrian women get their right in election before the women in countries like Turkey, Spain, Italy and even France which didn’t give this right until 1945 or Switzerland which didn’t give it until 1971.
She hailed the outstanding role of Palestinian women in defending their legitimate cause and resisting the Israeli occupation.
Shaaban went on to say that the western media considered the so-called women’s liberation movements, which started in the 70s of last century in the West, as a unique precedent, whereas in all the ancient civilizations, including the Arab, Persian, Chinese and Latin civilizations, women played a key and major natural role in all walks of life in their societies.
Shaaban made it clear that the problem with the Western women’s liberation movements in the 70s of last century was not that they had no idea about the history of other peoples and so they claimed leadership, but, the problem was that they deviated the path of liberation from its human, moral and professional track and focused only on the freedom of the body and called for dubious equality between women and men instead of celebrating their difference and capabilities and focusing on equal opportunities and justice in life, and not on imitating others.
“Today, we notice that all the claims of the West about women liberation are hollow, as they have not been accompanied by a suitable environment that actually enables women to be mothers and at the same time achieve their professional and creative career,” she said.
She stressed that discussing women issues at this high-ranking event is very important and it constitutes a national and humanitarian necessity to correct the track that has affected women’s role and national tasks.
Later, Mrs. Jamileh-Sadat Alamolhoda, wife of the Iranian President, chaired a session of talks, during which she affirmed that the aim of holding this important conference is to present the true picture of active and influential women who are able to provide ideas to address the problems currently facing the world.
“We should shed light on the family, on the active role of women in their families as mothers and educators and on the impacts of this role on their societies,” she said.
For her part, Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban, said that what we always strive for is justice and equal opportunities between men and women, which is something that President Bashar Al-Assad and Mrs. Asma Al-Assad have always affirmed.
The activities of the 1st International Congress for Women of Influence kicked off in Tehran yesterday.
Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban represents the First Lady of the Syrian Arab Republic, Mrs. Asma Al-Assad, in the conference, leading a delegation of Syrian women at the invitation of Dr. Jamila Sadat Alam Al-Huda, the wife of the Iranian President.
Hamda Mustafa
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