During the past
decade, the issue of gender relations and women’s conduct and dress has been
occupying an increasingly prominent place in the discourse of Islamist
movements.
In referring to Middle Eastern
cultures, writers and speakers often allude to the Arab, Persian, Turkish etc.
Cultures. What do these terms mean? What do they imply? Are these the true
cultural boundaries in the Middle East?
The study of women in the Middle East, now well into its second decade, has produced
an impressive corpus of papers and periodical articles. For purely practical
reasons, this review focuses on writings in English, in a selective rather than
all-inclusive manner. The analysis of women in the Middle East has not always
been undertaken with reference to Islam, but a significant body of works,
influenced partly by the Islamic resurgence, coincident with the rise of the
study of women as a separate field, does have reference to Islam.
The report of the Board of Trustees to the General Assembly of the Arab Organisation
for Human Rights -which was adopted by the General Assembly of the AOHR in
Khartoum, Sudan, on 31 January 1987 - is in two parts.
The
first part, "The Arab Organisation for Human Rights over the past three years",
details the stages of the establishment of the Organisation, describes its
activities and includes an evaluation of its efforts as well as an examination
of future prospects.
