I have good news today. It is about Arab women, not men. When I returned to London from a trip to Dubai and then to Amman, I came across a news item with colored pictures in Al-Hayat on four Kuwaiti women who bagged parliamentary seats. The ladies are former minister Masouma al-Moubarak, two university professors Salwa al-Jassar and Aseel al-Awadhi, and economist Rola Dashti. I was personally pleased to see that two of them are veiled while the other two are not, which reflects the freedom of choice in Kuwait. I respect the decision of all women worldwide, not just Muslims, to wear the veil or not, on condition that it is a personal decision driven by conviction away from pressure or coercion. Kuwaiti women have always been at the forefront of Arab women's activism. This time they outdid Egyptian and Lebanese women who got the suffrage decades ago, but are said to lag behind in light of the achievements of the Kuwaiti women over the past four years. I expect Kuwaiti female MPs to prove they are trustworthy. This is easy in Kuwait's parliament in particular where the conduct of some parliamentarians smacks of narrow-mindedness, lack of a sense of national responsibility, and narrow interests, hence the dissolution of parliament time after time. However, I will focus on positive news in today's column. In Dubai, I attended the annual conference of the Arab Media Forum under the theme “The Arab Media: Weathering a Period of Change and Crisis.” Inaugurated by Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid and Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, the conference drew some prominent Arab and foreign journalists as well as senior officials. I was pleased to see renowned American investigative reporter Simon Hersh, colleagues Talal Salman, Uthman al-Umayr, Matar al-Ahmadi, Jameel Zeyabi, among others. The Club provided guests with round-the-clock services. My special thanks go to Mona al-Marri, the Chairperson of the Dubai Press Club, and Maryam Bin Fahad, the Executive Director for their abilities and self-confidence. I found Dubai's hotels and restaurants packed. The trip from London to Dubai was also fully booked; so was the trip from Dubai to Amman. The situation is much better than what is depicted overseas. I moved to Amman, and from there to the Dead Sea to attend the World Economic Forum on the Middle East. Today I will only refer to the prominent role played by the female representatives of all Arab countries in sessions that dealt with political, economic, social, and other issues. I attended a session entitled “Women at Work,” in reference to Middle Eastern women who only represent 1.5% of the members of boards of directors. I found myself sitting next to two beautiful Arab women, Syrian lawyer Hind Aboud Kabawat, the Foreign Affairs Director of the Syrian Public Relations Association, and Moroccan Nabila Freidji, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cash One company for financial services. Right in front of me was Sheikha Lubna al-Qasimi, the UAE Minister of Foreign Trade, who had just come back from an exhausting business trip to the Far East. She and Fayza Aboul Naja, Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation, are my favorite Arab women ministers. The general debate was concluded by discussions moderated by each of the five speakers on Arab women's increased participation in the business and finance world. I joined, in solidarity, Sheikha Lubna's circle whose topic of discussion was the factors facilitating women's entry into the business world and their success. Of the points raised, family support and encouragement, equality in recruitment, laws guaranteeing this equality, equal pay for equal work with women turned into an example to follow at work. I was watching silently when Sheikha Lubna asked me to express my opinion, so I suggested crying. The women laughed at my insistence that tears can melt rocks and help women succeed where creativity, efforts, and diligence fail. Arab women represent an oasis of hope in the desert of total failure. In Jordan, Queen Rania is a very modern woman as show her Youtube blogs and the microblogging website Twitter she used to welcome Pope Benedict XVI upon his arrival in Jordan. The Independent nicknamed her “The Queen of Campaigns,” in reference to her efforts in the fields of charity, culture, and social welfare. Another equally young, beautiful, and gifted lady is Mrs. Asma Assad; The Sunday Times published a two-page report about her describing her as “Syria's savior” for her tireless efforts to modernize the country. Mrs. Susan Mubarak too is a pioneer. Her activism dates back to the 1980s. However, all-out efforts are made from the Arab Maghreb to the Gulf where Sheikha Moza al-Misnad plays a prominent role in her country's renaissance. On May 10, The Sunday Telegraph published a report headlined “If Women Ruled the World…” My question is “What?” I will not answer so as not to get involved. http://www.j-khazen.blogspot.com/
