by Raymond Ibrahim • Nov 10, 2011 at 4:16 pm
Cross-posted from Jihad Watch
This picture, taken at a recent protest in Egypt, has been making the rounds on various Arabic websites. Note the rope around the women, herding them like camels; note the man to the right holding the leash, walking them.
I am told this is a common “precautionary measure” to keep women from mixing with men during protests.
Considering that certain Islamic texts describe females as “she-camels in heat,” or that it is traditional for some men to divorce their wives by saying “you are given free rein and unloosed like that camel,” or that Muslims are thought to have a mind-frame rooted in sand, camels, and ropes—this measure must surely seem natural.
At any rate, to those who think that history must always progress, take note: fifty years ago, the overwhelming majority of women in Egypt wore modern clothes, hair uncovered, and would never have condescended to being walked on a leash.
Such is “progress”—”Arab Spring” style.




RAYMOND IBRAHIM, a Middle East and Islam specialist, is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and an Associate Fellow at the Middle East Forum. A widely published author, best known for The Al Qaeda Reader (Doubleday, 2007), he guest lectures at universities, including the National Defense Intelligence College, briefs governmental agencies, such as U.S. Strategic Command and the Defense Intelligence Agency, provides expert testimony for Islam-related lawsuits, and has testified before Congress regarding the conceptual failures that dominate American discourse concerning Islam and the worsening plight of Egypt's Christian Copts. Among other media, he has appeared on MSNBC, Fox News, C-SPAN, PBS, Reuters, Al-Jazeera, CBN, and NPR.