An Invitation for Danish Muslim Sporty Women

Kære Stjerner og frivillige

Projekt Stjernerne fra Vollsmose er blevet en stor succes. I har gennemført et længerevarigt træningsprogram og har cyklet Fyn rundt på blot 5 dage. Vi ønsker nu at fremlægge resultaterne for samarbejdspartnerne, Stjernerne + jeres forældre og de frivillige.

I, og jeres familie er derfor inviteret til en fælles aftensmiddag fredag d.16.sept.11 kl. 16.30 i Kulturhuset i Vollsmose. Her kommer vi til at fremlægger projektets resultater og dele diplomer ud til jer.

Pga planlægning bedes i melde tilbage senest d. 05. sept. hvor mange i kommer.

mail til: safaa_abdol@hotmail.com eller ring på: 46 40 07 41

Vi ser frem til at se dig.

Photo: From Inaam Abou Khadra

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Programmet for dagen:

16.30 Velkomst. /v. Projektleder Safaa Abdol-Hamid

16.40 Åbningstale /v. Borgmester Anker Boye

16.50 Fremlæggelse af Max-test resultaterne. /v. Institut for idræt og biomekanik, Syddansk universitet Niels Christian

17.00 Derfor støtter Odense Kommune Stjernerne fra Vollsmose /v. Odense kommune, Cyklisternes By Elsebeth Gedde og Connie Juul

17.10 Den sociale udvikling og betydningen af dette i boligsociale områder. /v. beboerkonsulent Asmaa Abdol-Hamid

17.20 Videofilm

17.30 Diplomoverrækkelse til Stjernerne /v. Borgmester Anker Boye

18.05 Buffet

19.30 Farvel og tak

Source: http://www.stjernernefravollsmose.dk/#myAnchor

"I'm probably the only one who has run Copenhagen Marathon with a veil"

Direct copy of google translation from Danish

She's spent. Well used. When she crossed the line at Islands Brygge after 5 hours and 50 minutes. But she is also proud because she was the only woman with an immigrant background and the veil did must. With only two months of training.

"I come from 'bog' (Vollsmose in Odense), and there are not many immigrants traveling with the veil there. And 42 km, at least they did not run, "said Inaam Abou-Khadra, who read Political Science at SDU in Odense.

"People think it must be mighty hot and uncomfortable, and yes, I will run more clothes than other women, but you will find the out what works for one. So the problem is not practical, it is probably more a question that many ethnic did not think of race as a sport for them. "

Pat on the back

The Nykredit Copenhagen Marathon, she has only marked positive response.

"People have patted me on the shoulder, and said that it was well done."

Inaam Abou-Khadra got even a taste for the more extreme as some girlfriends last year lured her out and bike around Denmark. 'Completely crazy', she says.

Towards new horizons

But next year she wants to ride with Team Rynkeby to Paris.

And she will have her sisters to pedaling. She is involved in a voluntary project in 'bog' where 10-15 year olds to go out and cycling to lose weight.

"It's the way to health, both for ordinary Danes and immigrants'.

Source: http://politiken.dk/tjek/sundhedogmotion/motion/ECE1288849/jeg-er-nok-den-eneste-der-har-loebet-copenhagen-marathon-med-sloer/

Documentary on Iraqi women's basketball team: SALAAM DUNK!

STORY: Two years ago, most of the women on the basketball team at the American University of Iraq - Sulaimani (AUIS) had never been running before. Many had never played sports. None had ever been on a team with other women. They came from all corners of Iraq to attend this prestigious school, but many cannot tell family back home they go to an "American" university.

Through traditional interviews and private confessional video diaries, Salaam Dunk follows the ethnically diverse AUIS women's basketball team as they discover what it means to be athletes. From the joy of their first win to the pain of losing the coach who started their team, the film gives a glimpse into an Iraq we don't see on the news.

CREW: 

DAVID FINE - director: David has worked in the film and television industry in a variety of disciplines (Camera Operator, Editor, Post Production Supervisor). After co-founding Seedwell, David has been directing the company's viral & commercial work. He loves shooting documentaries and pulling down rebounds. Salaam Dunk is David's first feature film. 

SAN SARAVAN - director of photography: San is a Kurdish-Iraqi filmmaker who has been involved in productions throughout Africa, the Middle East and Europe. Most recently, San worked as a Producer/Director for the Institute for War & Peace Reporting. He speaks Kurdish, Arabic and English, plus a bit of Farsi, Turcoman and Turkish. San's 15 year filmmaking career has taken him to every corner of Iraq.

BILL WEBER- supervising editor Bill has edited multiple documentaries for HBO including The Final Inch , one of five Oscar nominees for Best Documentary Short in 2009. Weber edited and co-directed The Cockettes, which premiered at Sundance and Berlin in 2002 and won the LA Film Critics Documentary of the Year. Most recently, Bill edited and co-directed We Were Here, another official selection at Sundance and Berlin in 2011.

Source: http://salaamdunkfilm.com/

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Saudi Women Campaign for Right to Play Soccer

by James M. Dorsey

Two Saudi women have established a women’s soccer and basketball team in the port city of Jeddah in a bid to persuade the government to allow and support women’s right to engage in competitive sports in a country that officially bans women from competitive sports.

In a rare airing of debate on the issue, soccer team captain Rima Abdallah and basketball player Hadir Sadqa appeared on a Saudi television sports program risking a confrontation with authorities that severely curtail women’s rights, according to a transcript of the program released by Washington-based Middle East Research Institute (MEMRI).

Their battle highlights the soccer pitch as a battlefield for women’s rights across the Middle East and North Africa, a part of the world where resistance to gender equality and women’s exertions in sports is deeply rooted.

Women soccer players confront the toughest obstacles in Saudi Arabia, ruled by one of Islam’s most puritanical sects. Physical education classes are banned in state-run Saudi girl’s schools and female athletes are not allowed to participate in the Olympics. Women’s games and marathons are often cancelled when the clergy gets wind of them.

Some clerics condemn women’s sports as corrupting and satanic and charge that it spreads decadence. They warn that running and jumping can damage a woman’s hymen and ruin her chances of getting married. In defiance, women have quietly been established soccer and other sports teams with the backing of more liberal members of the ruling Al Saud family as extensions of hospitals and health clubs. The International Olympic Committee has threatened Saudi Arabia with suspension if it does not create frameworks for women’s sports.

“When we first appeared in public, we were attacked. One of the most vehement attacks against me was during a Friday sermon. The entire sermon was about Rima Abdallah as if I were pushing Saudi women towards promiscuity, or something,” Ms. Abdallah said.

Saudi authorities looked the other way as long as Ms. Abdallah and Sadqa and their team mates played in secret within the confines of their walled homes or on an out-of the way sports field. Their appearance on television however is sparking renewed debate about women’s rights to engage in sports and could put them on a collision course with conservatives who appear to have gained ground as a result of fears that the Arab popular revolt sweeping the Middle East and North Africa could spread to Saudi Arabia.

The government’s recent upholding of a ban on women driving hardly bodes well for women wanting to play soccer and defend goal posts. A Saudi woman, Manal al-Sharif, was jailed for nine days in May for defying the ban on driving in the eastern town of Khobar.

Commenting on Ms. Abdullah and Sadqa’s campaign to achieve recognition and secure funding, Abdel Rahman al-Azdi quipped on the website of Al Arabiya: “What is happening to you, women of Saudi Arabia? You want to have the same lifestyle as men, something that is not appropriate for you? In Allah’s name, all that is left is that you will request to be tank drivers and pilots.”

Ms. Abdallah said the idea for their soccer team, Kings United, emerged from their playing the game as a pastime.

“We used to play soccer, and the girls were good at it. At first, we treated it as a hobby, and we would play together in our spare time. During these sessions with my friends, I realized that there was a cadre which it would be a shame to waste, as long as this could be made official and the girls could play at a young age. We decided to tackle this matter head-on and devote ourselves to it, investing all our energies into filling the void in our lives with a hobby that we love. We decided to start training three times a week, each session two or three hours long,” Ms Abdallah said.

“At first we would play in closed areas behind fences, so nobody would know. At some point, I realized that this must be developed, so I turned to the media to make the authorities see that there are women who have the right to represent the country one day, in a manner pleasing to Allah, in keeping with our traditions and the Shari’a. We kept on playing this way. We paid all the expenses out of our own pockets. We did not have our own soccer fields, so we had to rent them. We looked only for secluded soccer fields, so that men would not go there,” Ms. Abdallah said.

To adhere with Saudi rules that grant men virtual custody over their women, Ms. Abdallah said players were only admitted to the team’s training if they had been granted permission by male members of their family.

“Everything of course will be according to religious rules, modesty and accepted social customs in the kingdom” Ms. Abdullah said. “When it all began, I drew up a document, for any girl who wanted to join Kings United. She had to get her guardian to sign that he had no objection to his girl being a player in the club. That way, I absolved myself of responsibility and protected myself.”

Ms. Sadqa, captain of basketball team Jeddah United said a company sponsored her team and decided their appropriate sportswear. Saudi women are obliged to be fully covered in public. “We dress according to the nature of the audience and of the rival team. Sometimes we wear long pants and cover our heads during the games,” she said.

Ms. Abdullah said the promotion of women’s sports was not only an issue of women’s rights but also one public health. “The women of Saudi Arabia are the most obese in the world and encouraging sport is likely to help in reducing the phenomenon. But beyond that, there is no reason why the women of the kingdom should not represent the Saudi nation in exactly the same way as the men do,” she said.

“94% of Saudi women suffer from diabetes. They tell us there are gyms where women can go, but not every Saudi woman can afford to pay 5,000 ($1,300) or 10,000 ($2,600) riyals in order to train with equipment …  I hope with all my heart that one day, I will participate [in a soccer tournament] and raise my country’s flag, in a manner pleasing to Allah. There are Arab women’s teams in which they all play with hijabs and long clothing, which fully covers the body, but does not affect their performance on the field,” Ms. Abdallah said.

Ms. Abdallah suggested that the team’s prospects were limited not only because of government and conservative resistance to the notion of women’s sports but also because of lack of support by world soccer body FIFA. She said FIFA’s failure to recognize the women’s team had reinforced a decision by the Saudi football association to ban them from participating in a women’s soccer tournament last year in neighbouring Bahrain.

One reason FIFA has steered clear of the Saudi women’s teams is likely mounting problems the organization has with a minority of Muslim players who demand the right to wear the hijab, an Islamic hair dress that covers women’s hair, ears and neck. The ban led in May to the disqualification of Iran for the 2012 London Olympics after the team appeared on the pitch for a match against Jordan wearing the hijab. FIFA bans the wearing of religious and political symbols. The ban was lifted earlier this month after Iran in a meeting with FIFA president Sepp Blatter agreed to replace the hijab with a cap.

James M. Dorsey, formerly of The Wall Street Journal, is a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies and the author of the blog, The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer.

Source: http://mideastposts.com/2011/08/07/saudi-women-campaign-for-right-to-play-soccer/

Mark Dawson: Officials forced to wear change

In life, they say it's not what you know ... it's who you know.

In sport, it's not what you know, it's what you wear.

Not so long ago, banned burquas got a Muslim women's soccer team kicked out of competition and now an American weightlifter has had to go to the sport's world governing body and force a rule change after being barred from the US championships because of her attire. Kulsoom Abdullah's Muslim faith requires her to cover her arms, legs and head, violating international rules for weightlifters.

The new rule will allow her to wear a "one-piece, full-body, tight-fitted 'unitard"' - which sounds like a great marketing opportunity.

Apparently in the old clean-and-jerk, judges have to see the knees and elbows locked out to award a bona fide lift. Ms Abdullah says the new one-piece will give judges a good view of her elbows.

Less good news for Orthodox Jew and Israeli basketball player Naama Shafir who wears a T-shirt under her team top - for reasons of religious modesty, naturally. European basketball authorities have insisted all players must wear exactly the same gear, as per the rules.

In other fashion news, badminton's bosses have got their knickers in a twist after plans to make women players wear skirts or dresses were given a general down-trou amid accusations of "sexism".

Things are much simpler back home. The All Blacks unveiled their "revolutionary" new World Cup jersey by keeping it hidden. The new shirts won't be revealed until the Tri-Nations game against South Africa on July 30 but at last week's launch popular style guru Jimmy Cowan reckoned it would give them a mental edge. So that's all right then.

The big question is: Will its new enhanced black colour be a match for the latest French strip which cunningly boasts two tones of blue that featured on the shirts in the World Cup wins over New Zealand in 1999 and 2007. Sacre bleu!

War of words beats ring action

So the war of words outside the ring proved more exciting than anything that went on inside it when Vladimir Klitschko beat David Haye in the world heavyweight title fight. The verbal violence at least had entertainment value as far as who could fire off the cheapest and nastiest insults. Trash-talker Haye came out with "Bitchko", "a fraud" and "a robot" and was ahead on points on the judges' scorecards.

But, of course, then he stubbed his toe ... and hobbled to defeat. It's a lame excuse and one wonders how much we would have heard about the "Toe" had Haye actually won the fight.

Still, he wants a re-match and he's calling Klitschko "Vladimir" now, so that's all good.

The pre-bout bad-mouthing reminded me of Muhammad Ali, whose tongue was as fast as his hands, and who would tear the likes of Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier and Ken Norton to pieces with mere words.

But, of course, those people were real fighters and were actually worth seeing.

Walk just proves guilt

Latest on the football Mafia that is Fifa ...

Caribbean soccer boss and Fifa vice-president Jack Warner has resigned rather than face an ethics committee probe.

Fifa has now bestowed on him "the presumption of innocence", though just how much innocence can be presumed for a man censured for World Cup ticket scams and linked to brown envelopes each stuffed with $40,000 and allegedly handed out as Qatar's Mohamed bin Hammam made his election pitch for votes to unseat Fifa boss "Slippery" Sepp Blatter, is open to question.Finally, former Fifa president Joao Havelange, the man who showed "Slippery" Sepp how to get business done, is now on the International Olympic Committee. The IOC is investigating corruption allegations.

Source: http://www.wanganuichronicle.co.nz/news/mark-dawson-officials-forced-to-wear-change/1061401/

New Blog on Muslim Women in Combat Sports is Launched

A new blog specifically on Muslim women's involvement and success stories in combat sports is recently published. You can access to the blog from the following address: http://muslimwomencs.wordpress.com/

Experiences of Embodiment: Analysis of Muslim Women's Participation in Physical Activity

Natalie V.K Szudy, The University of Western Ontario

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Kinesiology

Supervisor

Dr. Angela J. Schneider

Abstract

This dissertation examines the relationship the „lived body‟ experiences of veiled Muslim females in sport and physical activity. When considering the relationship between religious requirements and participation in sport and physical activity, the discussion of the conflicts that have occurred with some veiled Muslim female athletes can support the examination of the articulation of sport and religion. In this dissertation, I will explore the application of logical and philosophical discussion as an analytic framework in the evaluation of social, cultural and religious discourse. The application of this framework will contribute to the evaluation of epistemological premises that have contributed to the definition of: i) the experiences of women in sport; and ii) the impact of the institutional requirements on female embodiment.

Rooted in the development and promotion of group and individual rights within a community, 'Ishraq: Safe Places to Learn, Play and Grow', currently utilizes sport and physical activity to encourage young girls and women living in rural areas to build upon their educational experience and learn about health care, citizenship rights, and seeks to encourage full participation in all aspects of public life. Through the evaluation of an applied case example, this dissertation examines the implementation of a physical activity program as a vehicle to support changes in the local community.

Recommended Citation

Szudy, Natalie V.K, "Experiences of Embodiment: Analysis of Muslim Women's Participation in Physical Activity" (2011). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. Paper 221.
http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/221

Source: http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/221/