October 1992, Page 59

Christianity and the Middle East

Writers Examine Varied Roles for Women in the Middle East

By the Reverend L. Humphrey Walz

In 1988 the World Council of Churches asked its constituent councils, denominations and parishes to designate the next 10 years as a special "Ecumenical Decade in Solidarity with Women." Now as it approaches the halfway mark, the Middle East Council of Churches is among regional bodies reviewing the fruits of their labors in hopes of generating momentum and innovation in the half-decade ahead.

Among English-language products are four books: Women in Church and Society; Women in the Theology of the Church; The Diaconate of Women in the Heritage of the Eastern Churches; and The Diaconate of the Church. There also is a fascinating double issue (comparable in size and format with the Washington Report) of MECC Perspectives, the Council's magazine of "in-depth analysis of important trends in the Middle East and their impact upon the future of the churches and the people of the region." Nineteen writers, most of them Christian Arab women, discuss in its pages "Women in the Middle East."

"Diversity Abounds"

As the late Rena Mus'aad Obeid, who headed the MECC Women's Program for so long and so well, told one interviewer, the women of the region are impossible to stereotype. "The Middle East is a big area," she noted. "There are differences in geographical location, economic and social structures, and cultural and religious identity as well as in regulations imposed on society in general and women in particular.

"Diversity abounds. The woman lawyer, doctor, government minister in one place and the woman peasant in another differ in dress, education and the opportunities they have. . . Professional middle-class women can be. . . compared with women of developed countries. . . There are about 2,800 women's organizations. . . in the Arab world which are actively involved in public service. . . mainly educational, health and social development. . . Around two-thirds are church-related."

Other articles supplement each other with varied perspectives. Cypriot journalist Nuha Samara warns Arab women lest, in avoiding Islamic fundamentalism, they fall for the allure of proliferating pictorial Western-style "women's" magazines in which "the concept and role of women have been degraded." For the best in Egyptian journalism, she endorses Hawa (Eve).

In a rather different vein, editor Frieda Haddad of the Lebanese Orthodox Al Raiya challenges her compatriots to keep working together amidst the suffering of civil war and foreign occupation to "build up a national entity grounded in justice, freedom and economic well-being." Such words, however, must be "enshrined in the silence of compassionate deeds" on behalf of "the destitute, the hungry and the oppressed."

Two articles by Armenian exiles Aline Papazian and Manoushag Boyadijan depict the courageous and practical heroism of the dispossessed women of Armenia who have done so much over the decades to maintain community, education and church in new lands.

Elizabeth Behr-Sigel's writing on "Women in the Orthodox Church," and Radwan as-Sayyed and Huda Lutfi's essays on "Women in Islam" and "Islamic Polemical Discourse on the Role of the Contemporary Muslim Woman" will interest the historically minded who like to trace the origins and modifications of religious thinking and practice through the ages. All recognize the lifts their faiths originally gave to women's roles and status, the subsequent infiltration of (and frequent domination by) "patriarchal principles," and the choices, obstacles and opportunities ahead today.

Hanan Ashrawi's essay on "The Pursuit of Peace" is of particular interest since it was written just before she was swept into the "international peace process" launched at Madrid. It is a contribution to the long series of serious discourses among Palestinian and Israeli women who want to live constructively together and seek to remove political and other barriers to that end. True peace "is the natural, logical outcome of freely given consent and recognition," Ashrawi writes. "It requires the preservation and enhancement of the dignity of both sides, and the affirmation of the right to self-determination."

It "should be neither partial nor temporary but comprehensive in scope and enduring in its enactment" with "the assurance of international legitimacy. . . and the promise of future support and cooperation." Her poem, "Women and Things," is printed separately on page 26.

The fine papers too lightly summarized here, and the many others not even mentioned above, comprise an outstanding anthology for all who recognize the importance of its theme. Copies are available from the MECC Publications Service at PO Box 4259, Limassol, Cyprus, for $8.00 in international money order. Mary Davies, MECC Ecumenical Travel Support Services, Stony Point Center, Stony Point, NY 10980, also has a limited supply for those who order promptly and wish to avoid the delays of trans-Atlantic mail.

The Rev. L. Humphrey Walz, D.D., retired associate executive of the Presbyterian Synod of the Northeast, is active in denominational and ecumenical peacemaking activities.

 

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