Subject : RE: FW: URGENT - Votes for Kuwaiti Women -
Please
Help!

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>Subject: URGENT - Votes for Kuwaiti Women - Please Help!
>
>
>
>Please E-Mail the Prime Minister of Kuwait and the Speaker of Kuwaits
>Parliament for Womens Voting and Political Rights!
>
>
>
>Women in Kuwait do not have the right to vote. This is an
unacceptable
>situation, for many people:
>
>
>
>1. Kuwaiti women and feminists;
>
>2. Kuwaitis Emir, who wishes to grant womens voting rights;
>
>3. An insufficient number of Kuwaiti Parliamentarians;
>
>4. Women in any nation who do have the right to vote!
>
>
>
>Kuwaiti Parliament members must soon vote on this issue in order to
pass a
>law put to them by the government of Kuwait which grants women the
right to
>vote at all political levels. For the law to pass, more than half of
the
>65
>male politicians (50 Members of Parliament and 15 Cabinet Members)
must
>vote
>in favor of it.
>
>
>
>Kuwaiti feminists have been attending debates in the Kuwaiti National
>Assembly (the Parliament) and circulating petitions among the male and
>female citizens of this country. Many signatures have been gathered
from
>those who believe that women in Kuwait should have this right.
>
>
>
>Here are some of the obstacles faced by Kuwaiti feminists and women
>suffragists:
>
>
>
>1. Islamic fundamentalist politicians citing Islamic law as a bar to
>women voting;
>
>2. Statements from Islamic fundamentalists and traditionalist men that
>women are not ready for political participation, and that Kuwaiti
society
>is
>not ready for it;
>
>3. Hearing male politicians employ an old and often-used delay tactic

>that of blithely and casually announcing that womens voting rights
are
>not
>a priority.
>
>
>
>Some responses to these obstacles:
>
>
>
>1. After careful research by Islamic scholars, the Kuwait Ministry of
>Islamic Affairs  also called Awqaf  has announced that
Sharia/Islamic law
>does NOT bar Muslim women from voting;
>
>2. Being passive is the wrong response when women suffragists
>opponents and politicians attempt to brush them off  instead they
need to
>impress upon the fundamentalists and extremists that no one has the
right
>to
>control their lives;
>
>3. The absence of voting rights for Kuwaiti women is NOT a normal
>situation for female citizens of Gulf countries, nor is it common.
Women
>in
>most Gulf countries now have the right to vote, and Kuwaiti society
cannot
>now claim not to be ready to catch up to that of neighboring Islamic
>societies that share similar cultures and traditions.
>
>
>
>As people who are lucky enough to enjoy the right and privilege of
voting,
>we must remember to appreciate it. There are 2 crucial ways to do
this:
>
>
>
>1. Vote!
>
>2. Share our good fortune with women who do not also enjoy it, by
doing
>whatever we can to help them achieve the same rights that we have.
>
>
>
>This letter is a plea to women everywhere  and men  to e-mail the
Kuwaiti
>Prime Minister and the Speaker of Parliament and request that they
vote in
>favor of granting Kuwaiti women the right to vote in all elections at
all
>levels in their country.
>
>
>
>People of any nation with voting rights for women should not take
their own
>privilege and right to vote for granted. Instead, we should remember
what
>women suffragists had to endure to secure this right for us, while
>realizing
>that Kuwaiti women suffragists are now being treated with disrespect
as we
>enjoy the benefits of our ancestors efforts.
>
>
>
>Please pass this on to everyone  women and men  you know who
supports
>voting rights for women anywhere and everywhere in the world. This
right
>was fought for very hard by very courageous women in the past, and
this
>same
>fight is still being fought by other courageous women today.
>
>
>
>Please sign your name to and e-mail the attached letter to the Prime
>Minister of Kuwait and the Speaker of the Kuwaiti Parliament and ask
that
>each and every politician vote in favor of voting rights for Kuwaiti
women!
>Alternatively, you might wish to write a letter of your own to these
>political leaders.
>
>
>
>Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Sabah:
>info@dpm.gov.kw
>
>Speaker of the Kuwaiti Parliament Jassem Al-Khorafi:
> assembly_7@hotmail.com
>
>
>
>If you do, I promise that when you next go to exercise your right to
vote,
>you will feel that you have a right to enjoy your right and privilege
to do
>so.
>
>
>
>Thank you.
>
>
>
>Stephanie C. Fox, J.D.
>
>United States Citizen