March 7th, 2004
Islam, the “Far-Right”
I think the title says it all: “Iraqi women juggle freedom, ‘moral duty’”
And if you weren’t clear enough on what Islam is about:
It’s my moral duty to stay in the house,” Hassan says, describing the life of a traditional Shiite Muslim wife. “Going out and being seen outside the house is against tradition. People will criticize a woman who leaves her house. This will create trouble for a woman in the community and trouble with her husband.
In other news, I often wonder what the labels “far-right” and “moderate” mean when referring to foreign political movements. The NYT has some clues:
Jrg Haider, the far-right political leader, brought his party an unanticipated victory in his home province Sunday
In final results, the Freedom Party had 42.4 percent of the vote, and the Socialists 38 percent.
This implies that moderate actually means socialist and far-right is capitalist. Then the article continues:
Many blame Mr. Haider for the party’s national demise. He has been notorious for past remarks that sounded sympathetic to the Nazis and contemptuous of Jews, a visit with Saddam Hussein on the eve of the Iraq war and a friendship with Libya’s leader, Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi.
So what does far-right really mean capitalist or national socialist? I know that commie reporters think that the two are the same, but I hope that my readers will know better.