Cairo, the 2nd November, 2009

"Unveiling the mind..."

This is a Nawal el Saadawi's expression that I couldn't pass over.It's just too good.

When discussions about religious extremism (may I remind you that there have always been religious extremism used in all religions and not ONLY in Muslim religion) erupt from all sectors of cultured life in Egypt and abroad, all that comes to my mind is not the increasing number of women wearing the "hijab" in the Middle East. What worries me the most is the "veiling" of their minds as well as the veiling of their men's mind.

Freedom means that everybody should be able to express him/herself and dress as they please. I am not against the use of the veil. Who am I to decide what's proper or not for others to wear?!

Everyone should be free to dress as they want and feel more comfortable with. As I refuse to wear the veil or cover my body as if it was the shameful proof of a crime I didn't commit, I also understand that anyone who DO wants to cover herself should be able to do so.

What scares me the most is not a fabric on or off a specific body but what lies beneath it.

Veiling the mind, the ability to think and question is much more worrying than the veiling of a face or a body (although these two are often together).

In confused times like this when my beloved Egypt seems to be turning back time and refusing to evolve (presuming that extremist Islam is the solution to all the country's problems), ALL that matters is people's inability to THINK. Their illiteracy, their blind acceptance of prejudices, tortures (like female circumcision and so many forms of repression and violence) dressed up as traditions and such.

Keep your eyes on the crime of UNVEILING the MIND, not the body.

May one be the mirror of the other.