The Women’s Lib Movement in Libya Sees a Surprising Twist

[tabatha]

Nov 24, 2011 6:37 PM EST

On a warm Tripoli evening, in a room overlooking the Mediterranean, a few hundred Libyan women gathered this month for the first women’s rights conference since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi. They argued about how to facilitate participation in a new government, about the role of Sharia law, about how to abolish laws discriminating against women in marriage.

At first it seemed as if the conference would remain a quiet affair, but one evening the meeting took a dramatic turn: At around 5 p.m., with very little fanfare, chairman of the governing National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdeljalil, strolled into the conference hall, accompanied by other NTC members, members of the Tripoli Council, and the Minister of Capacity Building, Farage Sayeh. There was a moment of complete silence. Then women began to applaud as Abdeljalil took the stage. This time, unlike his infamous speech on the day of the Declaration of Liberation—in which he failed to acknowledge the role of women in the revolution and stated that Libya would re-introduce polygamy—Abdeljalil took care to enumerate the many ways that women had supported and led the revolution.

Abdeljalil asserted that Libyan women can expect to have the same rights as men and to play an important role in government, stating, “We expect women to be important figures in the future of this country.”

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/11/24/the-women-s-lib-movement-in-libya-sees-a-surprising-twist.html

[Lyric]

1. Crap! I Unrecced when I meant to Rec.

Wish I could fix it. At least I can kick and apologize.

:kick:

[trumad]

2. Got your back.

[tblue37]

3. I rec'd to balance it out. nt

[Liberal_in_LA]

6. lol. I cancelled you out.

[lunatica]

4. kick'd and rec'd

[redqueen]

5. Wow.

That brings tears to my eyes. Talk about something to be thankful for. This is wonderful... let's hope their actions measure up to their words.