Wall Street Journal

Dear editor,

As a European Muslim feminist who supports a tolerant and moderate Islam, I was really happy that the Wall Street Journal devoted so much space on its op-ed page to the question "What Is Moderate Islam?" The six "leading thinkers" were eloquent and provocative.
But seriously, WSJ, you couldn't find a single Muslim WOMAN to weigh in?
How ironic is it that ‘the West’ sometimes point at Islam and say how the religion subjugates women and yet here is a Western newspaper that completely ignores the female perspective on a very important issue. It's inexcusable especially considering that the WSJ has a former reporter who is very outspoken, Asra Nomani, a Muslim feminist.

She is not the only one who could have been included. The US counts so much more female Muslim thinkers, e.g. Irshad Manji, Mona Eltahawy, Daisy Khan, Laila Lalami and Nathalie Handal. If the West is going to criticize Islam for not being enlightened, they need to demonstrate a better example.

This article shows exactly where we are still at: the news is still being dominated by white Western males. And of course, if there had been enough female editors in the newsroom, and more preferably, multicultural diverse staff, the WSJ would not have made this gigantic mistake.

The subject of moderate Islam can’t be discussed without Muslim women thinkers. Emancipation is a huge part of the discussion if we want to create a post-patriarchal and a post-modern society in the Muslim world. Feminist standpoints, with fresh approaches to new interpretation of Islam, would have provided multi-dimensional and, above all, practical perspectives of contemporary Islam.

This article reflects the male-dominated power structure in the East and the West. This stereotyping cut both ways. It doesn't leave much for anything else. Shame on you.

Nathalie Handal

For the glossy INKT, a bimonthly Dutch magazine for 'everybody who loves to read' I interviewed the beautiful French/American poet, Nathalie Handal. Actually, the invitation for an iftar-dinner from the US Ambassador to The Netherlands inspired me.

It's a tradition that once a year, during the Ramadan, the American Ambassador organizes an iftar (a dinner). I love these rather 'informal' gatherings with people I know from several other networks. Religious, non-religious, secular friends and colleagues come to share that peaceful inner moment, that you only can experience while eating together. And this year, I was honored when I was asked for advice what to serve on the menu. Of course I suggested my lentl soup :-)

But there is another reason why this year's iftar is going to be even more special. Nathalie Handal is going to read her poems. I had heard her name several times before but never realized she would be mediterranean or Arab or even Muslim. Even though I had not met her, I strongly felt connected and she inspired me immediately. It was her intelligence, her artistic talent but most of all her 'accessibility'. I sent her an email and requested an interview. She responded immediately, warmly and with mutual respect. She had surfed to my Website and was looking forward to meet me.

I read about her, I read her poems and the questions came spontaneously.
The interview was great and the editor of INKT was super-enthusiastic. I hope that Nathalie’s work will become well-known in Holland and Belgium, that we can read her poems in Dutch soon.

But there is another thing I felt while I was doing this. In Dutch we have a saying 'in hart en nieren', translated: 'in your heart and kidneys'. It means that you are so devoted to something that it will be always there, stuck inside of you. Well, I felt that I am a true editor and realized again why I had started SEN Magazine. I want to show the infinite beauty and talent of mediterranean women. I will always be eager to get to know them better and spread their message when and where ever I can, which probably makes me also a true journalist: the urgent desire to report about people and their stories.

I am sure you will all love her. The interview tells about the person Nathalie, her background, her writing and her views about current issues. She is an interesting woman who really has something to say (which explains her numerous awards). And yes, she looks good on the cover of a magazine (and yes, in the end, I'll always be a magazine editor!)

Nathalie and I made a deal to have a drink together after the iftar; I promised that I would let her feel 'the energy of the city'(I warned her that The Hague isn't Paris, New York or Istanbul). But actually, it doesn't matter where we are, I am sure Nathalie and I will have a great time together: two cosmopolitan women from the Mediterranean discussing about all kinds of issues women face nowadays.

I'm looking forward to it and, of course, keep you posted! The interview with Nathalie Handal will be published in the October issue of INKT Magazine.

More information about Nathalie Handal is to be found on her website: http://www.nathaliehandal.com/

Pen and Sword

It was a surprise when I received an email from a friend that Forbes wrote a column about my magazine SEN. Of course I am honored, but moreso I am happy that our hard work for SEN, even after so many years, is being appreciated by leading journalists and magazines. Well, that's quite an impressive endorsement!

We have a long way to go, the emancipation of (muslim) women has just started yet. And probably you are not surprised when I tell you that my hands are itching..and that I have so many ideas.. All the responses on the article were very supportive, and almost similar. They all wish that some day SEN will find new backers, so we can be able to publish it internationally.

An English version of SEN, I think, would not be a luxurious thing to do in these times of turmoil between East and West, islamophobia, antisemitism and above all emancipation of the world.

Here is the article which was published by Forbes on July 26th.

Super healthy lentil soup made by chef Senay

My baby is sick..he really feels weak..I think he caught a virus, I'll make sure by tomorrow to find out, but first he needs a good rest, lots of mommy love and...my favorite medicine:

Lentil soup!

People tell me that I make the best lentil soup of the world..and this recipe I also shared with the popular tv-hosts Carlo & Irene when I was a guest cook in their tv-show Life 4 You. Here is the recipe (and let me remind you: this is a very good dish if your child doesn't want to eat vegetables..he will get so many vitamins with this SUPER HEALTHY soup:

Lentlsoup (for 12 big bowls)

300 gram of red lentls
3 spoons of sunflower oil
50 gram white rice
1 big carrot (250 gram)
4 small potatoes
1 big onion
3 pieces of garlic
chickenbouillon
1 lemon
1 can of tomato paste

Get a big soup pan.
Put it on low fire and add two spoons of oil.
Wash the carrot and cut it in small pieces. Add it in the pan.
Do the same with the potatoes, the onion and the garlic.
Add 3 liters of cooked water in it.
Turn the fire higher and add the washed lentils.
Add the rice.
Stir it really well and add the chickenbouillon (broth).
Add salt and pepper.
After the soup is cooking really well turn down the gas and let the soup cook for another fifteen minutes on low fire.
Don't forget to stir it now and then.
Add the can with the tomatopaste. Stir well.
Make the whole soup smooth with a mixer.
Serve the soup with a big slice of lemon.

Bon appetit!

Turkish women and the media

Did you know that:
• 15% of media managers are women, 85% are men
• 12% of columnists are women, 88% are men
• 11% of guests on political discussion programs on TV are women, 89% are men
• 18% of news sources are women, 82% are men
• 100% of "Page Three Girls" are women, 0% are men
• 0% of editors in chief are women, 100% are men.

A Dutch colleague of mine is asked to speak at the Womens Book Fair in Eskisehir, Turkey. She asked me whether I could update her about the Turkish media landscape and women’s participation in the media. I told her what I already knew from stories of my journalist friends and colleagues in Turkey. To be honest I didn’t have a real positive story for her. I told her how the media is still dominated by men and that we need a completely mentality change to increase women’s participation.

Let’s be honest: “Working in the media” has, for the most Turkish people, a negative connotation. It simply means that you are “exposing” yourself to the world, and the majority of Turkish families simply do not want their girls to be exposed to the world.
This counts not only for the jobs in front of the camera; it also applies for jobs behind the camera. Sometimes I can understand this, since “media" is an intangible concept. If you tell somebody you are a lawyer or a doctor or an engineer, everybody exactly knows what you mean, even they haven’t done it themselves. But since people associate “media” with “glamour,” “magic” and “power,” it’s something people find interesting but also scary and opaque.

What do you do, and how do you do it? For most women (particularly from patriarch and Islamic countries), it’s also less attractive because it requires one to work flexible hours. Media or journalism is not a 9-to-5 job. You have to be on standby constantly, and not every father/brother/husband (or mother!) accepts that — which is probably why you can’t find the equal number of male and female students from communication studies back on the newsroom floor. So that’s something we have to work on: the portrayal of jobs in the media. I can tell, after being there for more than 17 years myself, that it’s one of the, if not THE BEST job in the world.

Here are some statistics of Turkish women’s participation in the media, which are quite depressing since the numbers are significantly higher in European and American media.

30%: participation of Turkish women in the media.
20%: women in managerial positions
33%: women in decision making positions.
(of course the last two numbers apply to the 30% female participation)

Internet usage is more depressing, although its hopeful to know that there is an increasing trend:

In 2005 85% of Turkish women had never used a computer (against 69% of men). Ninety percent of women never used the Internet (male usage: 76%). In 2007: 76% of women never used a computer (58% of men) and 79% of Turkish women had never been on the Internet (against 61% of men).

We can be quite optimistic when we see that there is an increase over two years (there are no recent numbers for 2008 or 2009) but it depresses me when I talk to Turkish colleagues about this development.

From the 1990’s Turkey has known a huge expansion of TV broadcasters. The Internet explosion came worldwide at the end of the 90s. One could expect a huge explosion of employment in media, for both men and women, and because the communication schools are filled equally. So where does it go wrong?

Many Turkish media organizations like the Journalists Federations organize panels, conferences or programs for gender equality in the media — which is good. But they can’t do anything substantial when the government lacks the same commitment. There has to come some kind of action from the government, a series of quotas or a state allocation to fight for this issue. The position of women in the media can only change with their support. But since the reigning government has not any political aspirations as such, the problem will stay there. If the media sector stays in the same hands as now, I don’t forecast any improvements for the short term.


Source: Mediz, TC Basbakanlik Kadinin Statusu Genel Mudurlugu

Violent Extremism

Together with 34 other women from around the globe I was a founding member of SAVE in 2008 in Vienna.

The global SAVE initiative, standing for Sisters Against Violent Extremism, brought women from around the world together in Vienna for a strategy conference from November 28 to December 1st 2008 in order to engage in courageous dialogue about the importance of mobilizing women against violent extremism.

This innovative female powerbase from all walks of life discussed the vital role that women can and will play in rejecting violent extremism, all while building political, religious, and emotional bridges.

With Smart Power and courageous dialogue that transcends borders, the participants- survivors of terrorist attacks, relatives of 9/11, 7/7 and Madrid victims, and community activists from Columbia to Kosovo, Africa to Asia - developed strategies to mobilize against terror and violence.

After 3 days conference each participant of the first SAVE-conference declared:

1. I, as a woman, will use the local and global networks of women to stop the killing.

2. I will inspire a new response to prevent terror, violence and discrimination.

3. I will create awareness for not stigmatizing the families of the extremists/terrorists.

4. I will support the young generation with non-violent alternatives in their search for a better life.

5. I will engage all forms of media for spreading the message of non-violence.

6. I will insist on peaceful resolutions to prevent escalation of conflict and violence.

7. I will promote a global dialogue for a future without fear.

8. I will raise my voice against all hostile states and politics that cause suffering.

9. I recognise the urgency to create ‘SAVE’ spaces for a peaceful coexistence.

10. I will always remember those affected by violent extremism.

Shaista Gohir, one of the founding members of SAVE and whom I met at this conference wrote an op-ed in The Guardian. It's an article on child abuse and child marriage in Muslim countries—difficult subjects to tackle, but well worth discussing. You can read her article here.

And of course, as always, feel free to comment on the articles posted on this blog.

Dear Students,

Are you interested in working in international business or diplomacy but don’t know quite where to start? Are you dedicated to breaking down the boundaries that cultures and traditions have imposed on you? Do you want to learn more about leadership? Would you like to meet other students with similar interests in international issues?

If so, the Osgood Center for International Studies would like to invite you to attend their programs in the Summer. These programs will be a chance for you to hear from leaders and other students about leadership, current international issues, and international business. The Osgood Center runs short-term experiential learning programs in Washington, DC, which provide wonderful opportunities to network with high-profile Washingtonians as well as students and young professionals from all around the world. Your international career starts right here!

International Business Conference (July 18-29, 2010)

The International Business Conference (IBC) is a ten-day exploration of the international political economy. Participants will visit leading international institutions in Washington, DC such as the World Bank, the IMF, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the leading Congressional Committees on trade and international economics. They will address issues in international economics such as the international financial crisis, creeping protectionism, the rise of China and India, and the persistence of poverty in a globalized world.

Summer Symposium on Foreign Policy (August 1-12, 2010)

A two-week course in August, during which students will meet with top level government officials, members of the press, experts from prestigious think tanks such as the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the American Enterprise Institute, and the Brookings Institution to discuss and debate contemporary foreign policy issues.

Please don't hesitate to email me (senay at osgoodcenter dot org) if you have any questions about your application. Hope to see you in D.C.!

Practical information:

Both programs (10-12 days) cost $1500. This includes hotel (Homewood Suites by Hilton), breakfast and many additional meals. We have our sessions at Osgood Center and on site. We go to the World bank, State Department, IMF, Johns Hopkins University, etc. We go, go, go...