For many, the hijab represents modesty, piety and devotion to God, and I truly respect that. But the hijab should not be used as a means of applying social pressure on people.
Extremism is not endemic in my region, nor is anti-Western sentiment. No doubt there is discontent and distrust. That is towards more the American and some Western policies, and not toward the American people.
I don’t believe that there is fair enough understanding of either our status as women or the total context of our lives, which is very rich and multi-faceted.
At the end of the day, the position is just a position, a title is just a title, and those things come and go. It’s really your essence and your values that are important.
When you educate a girl, you kick-start a cycle of success. It makes economic sense. It makes social sense. It makes moral sense. But, it seems, it’s not common sense yet.
