An Evening to Discuss Women's Rights Abuses in the Arab Gulf

On Thursday night, GW's Project Nur, a student-led initiative of the American Islamic Congress, and the Al Waref Institute hosted three women activists to discuss women's rights abuses in the Arab Gulf.
It was a time to express "the voice for the girls who are oppressed in my country," said Maliha Ahmed Alshehab, one of the night's speakers and a Saudi feminist and activist, "To educate what they see as oppressive nature onto women in our countries."
Held in the Marvin Center, young female students made up a majority of the audience along with a sprinkle of those who came, ranging one from George Mason University to the Iraq Embassy.
Each speaker spoke about her particular country's situation with its women population.
Alshehab told of women's harsh reality in Saudi Arabia. Being there is no minimum age for girls to be married in Saudi Arabia, exploitation and abuse of young women is common in these marriages. The relationship between a man and a woman is solely "guardianship." The "guardian system," which Alshehab argues, handicaps Saudi Arabian women, is "the woman needing a male shadow in all stages of her life or losing her personhood."
The societal condition of women in Oman is a "better situation than in Saudi Arabia," but women do not have the freedoms that women have in the United States. There is currently no law dealing with domestic violence, which is difficult when living in a male-dominated society such as those in the Arab Gulf.
The speakers opened up the floor for Q & A after the lecture where discussion of the politics and future of women in the Arab Gulf region took place.

This Weekend on the Vern

You don't want to miss what's going on this weekend on GW's Mount Vernon campus.

As the last installment of this year's Vern Cup competition--a series of contests and events to distinguish the "best" residence hall on Mount Vernon--the Anything but Clothes Run will take place on Friday, March 26 from 4:30 to 6:30 pm.

For this challenge, the competing teams, divided by each house proctor, are tasked with making a creative set of clothing that is to be made out of any material except clothes. Then, the teams will walk or run on a set course on the campus. Points will be awarded to the first, second, and third place finishers of the course and to the team that has the most participants wearing "anything but clothes" or attending the event.

Prior to this contest, there were the Iron Chef competition, video game competition, and food-eating contest.

Then, on Saturday, March 27, Vern residents may attend the third annual Mount Vernon Semiformal from 8:30 pm to 1 am in Post Hall. The Semiformal attendees are encouraged to turn off their dorm lights during the world-wide Earth Hour from 8:30 to 9:30 pm while they dance and celebrate Earth Hour together. In the spirit of Earth Hour and the on-going efforts of RecycleMania and Green GW, green living will also be promoted at the event.

Points will also be awarded to the team with the most attendees at the Semiformal.

The team that collects the most points at the end of the weekend will win the Vern Cup, gaining a money prize and bragging rights.

Mount Vernon residents have much to look forward to this weekend. Those who live on Foggy Bottom and still have not made a visit to the Vern this semester may want to hop on the shuttle and check out one of the two or both events.

Student Org. Project Nur Hosts Egyptian Human Rights Activist

“It’s not easy to be an activist in the Middle East. Especially if you’re a woman,” Dalia Ziada told the audience Monday night.

The George Washington University chapter of Project Nur, a student-led initiative of the non-governmental organization American Islamic Congress interested in fostering dialogue and understanding between Muslim and non-Muslim students, sponsored a reception honoring Egyptian blogger and human rights activist Dalia Ziada to mark its fresh start as a re-established student organization on campus.

Ziada is the director of the American Islamic Congress’s Cairo branch and advocates the freedom of expression in nonviolent action. Though she lives in a society that restricts total freedom of expression, her blog is her outlet, in which she speaks out against discrimination impacting Muslim women and discusses Middle Eastern politics and Islamic society.

In an e-mail to WRGW News, Amanda Sawit, a Project Nur intern this semester and a member of the executive board of the GW chapter of Project Nur, wrote, "We want people out there to know that this organization is immensely helpful for networking, researching, and learning about Islam and the societies/countries that are grounded in its teachings."

Though there are currently five students in GW's Project Nur, the new student organization is looking to expand. For GW students interested in Middle Eastern studies, politics, foreign policy, communication, Project Nur provides the opportunity for students to apply their interest and studies outside the classroom.

GW's Project Nur will continue to host a variety of events, lectures, films, and other kinds of forums between Muslim and non-Muslim people to promote interfaith dialogue and understanding.

GW vs. GU Snowball Fight

If not the Dupont Circle snowball fight, come represent for the Colonials against the Hoyas in a George Washington vs. Georgetown snowball fight at Rose Park on 26th and O St at 6:00 p.m.

On the evening of the school's record third snow day in a row, students from both schools will duke it out in the snow to gain school bragging rights during this unforgettable week of D.C. Snowmageddon.

Already more than 500 students plan to attend as word has spread through Twitter and Facebook of the crosstown snowball battle. Colonials and Hoyas alike have been trading trash talk before tonight's snowball fight via Facebook. Even the Washington Post, NBC D.C., and the Los Angeles Times have caught on to the snow showdown between the schools.

If interested in representing the Buff and Blue, meet fellow Colonials in Kogan Plaza at 5:30 p.m.

Jefferson Memorial Dancer's Lawsuit Dismissed

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit involving the arrest of a woman who danced at the Jefferson Memorial in April 2008. The woman filed a lawsuit against the National Park Service in March, alleging that her arrest violated her right of freedom of expression.

However, in a 26-page opinion, U.S. District Judge John Bates decided that the Jefferson Memorial is a not a public forum where its “atmosphere of calm, tranquility, and reverence” may be disturbed by “expressive dancing.”

Around midnight on April 13, 2008, Mary B. Oberwetter and her friends assembled at the memorial to dance while wearing earphones to commemorate Jefferson’s birthday, 265 years after his birth. Soon after, U.S. Park Police Officer Kenneth Hillard found them and told them to stop, but Oberwetter refused. When she began asking why she had to stop dancing, Hillard arrested her on charges of demonstrating without a permit and interfering with agency function. Those charges were eventually dropped.
Oberwetter commented on the outcome of the lawsuit as “disappointing.” Yet, she said, “I still feel like this has been well worth the effort.”