First veiled in the Belgian Parliament

Mahinur Ozdemir

First veiled MP swears in in Brussels amidst controversy
The first veiled woman to take her seat in the Brussels parliament was sworn in amidst a growing controversy over the wearing of the Islamic dress. But she says the debate diverts attention from the real issues.

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (JUNE 23, 2009) REUTERS -
Brussels swore in its first veiled Member of Parliament on Tuesday (June 23), the same day the French next door were setting up a parliamentary mission in the Parliamentary Assembly, to decide whether or not to outlaw the full veil, burqa or niqab.
The 26-year-old Mahinur Ozdemir, a Christian Democrat (CdH) of Turkish origin, is the first veiled woman to take a seat in the regional parliament of Belgian capital Brussels.

Ozdemir says the debate that raged in the Belgian media and parliament over her veil overshadowed the main political issue: her political programme for Brussels.

Several members from the right and the liberal parties want all "religious or philosophically distinctive signs" to be banned from the realm's Assemblies.

Some schools in Flanders have already banned the veil but the decision remains in the hands of directors as it is not enshrined in the law.

The swearing in comes a day after French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the burqa was "not welcome" in France.

The National Assembly in Paris has six months to write a report which could lead to the banning of the full veil.

Sarkozy also said he believed it was a symbol of subservience, not faith.

The debate has cut France through the middle. One French deputy, Corinne Lepage, describes the full veil as a "mobile prison'. Human Rights Watch in Paris says a burqa ban would violate human rights because it is a religious choice.

In Brussels, socialist deputy Caroline Desir says Ozdemir is far from being submissive. Her wearing of the head scarf was a personal choice she made when she was 14.

"It is a personal choice and so, can we talk of submission or something that is imposed on women or an aggression for us, in this context here it is very hard to think of such a thing," Desir said.

After the swearing in, Ozdemir said she was sad of the attention the media gave to the veil and invited the press to meet her in six months time to look at her achievements instead.

"Unfortunately I was reduced to nothing more than this veil and frankly it is hard to remove yourself from it and in the end it has got to be very heavy because underneath this veil there is a personality, there is someone who is engaged, who wants things to change, who wants to move forward, who wants to carry out loads of projects for the people of Brussels and who was rather keen to talk about those projects. Now it is not the case and I hope that after this I will be judged on my work. And I give you rendez vous in six months, not even one year," Ozdemir said.

Her mother, Malak Guler, also said the veil pressure had been hard to bear sometimes.

"It is impossible to explain this moment" (Q: And is the pressure beginning to lift?) (she giggles) "yes now it's ok." (Q: Hamdulillah?) "Hamdulillah. We are breathing a little, we are breathing, because it has been two months that we are in front of the media, and the pressure about her scarf, that I won't forget it, but now, we are going to forget this case and now we need to talk about her projects and nothing else." (Q: Are you going to breathe now?) "I am going to breathe. Inshallah," Guler says.

But with the French having brought the issue to the heart of politics and government the debate is unlikely to abate and Ozdemir is most likely to be back at the front line of the Western nations' veil-and-burqa debate for at least the next six months.

More than a mother

By Kari Keshmiry

When God set the world in place,
when He hung the stars up in space,
when He made the land and the sea,
then He made you and me.

He sat back and saw all that was good,
He saw things to be as they should.
Just one more blessing He had in store;
He created a mother, but whatever for?

He knew a mother would have a special place
to shine His reflection on her child’s face.
A mother will walk the extra mile
just to see her children smile.

She’ll work her fingers to the bone
to make a house into a home.
A mother is there to teach and guide,
a mother will stay right by your side.

She’ll be there through your pain and strife,
she’ll stay constant in your life.
A mother will lend a helping hand
until you have the strength to stand.

She’ll pick you up when you are down,
when you need a friend she’ll stick around.
A mother is one who listens well,
will keep her word; will never tell.

A mother never pokes or pries
but stands quietly by your side,
giving you the strength you need,
encouraging you to succeed.

A mother is one who can be strong
when you need someone to lean on.
You’re more than a mother to me;
a reflection of Him in your face I see,

a love that knows no boundaries.
I’m glad that you chose to be
all this and more to me.
You share a love that knows no end,

you’re more than my mother,
you are my friend.

A mother is not a person to lean on, but a person to make leaning unnecessary

Mother’s Day is celebrated to honor all mothers and express gratitude for the hardships they bear in bringing up a child. Most countries including Australia, Canada, the U.S. and India celebrate Mothers Day on the second Sunday of May. Mothers Day came into being due to the efforts made by Ms Julia Ward Howe and Ms Anna Jarvis. The Resolution for having a dedicated Mother’s Day was signed by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson on May 8, 1914. Since then people across the world have been celebrating Mothers Day with joy and devotion. Celebrating motherhood is a historical tradition dating back almost as far as mothers themselves. A number of ancient cultures paid tribute to mothers as goddesses, including the ancient Greeks, who celebrated Rhea, the mother of all gods. The ancient Romans also honored their mother goddess, Cybele, in a notoriously rowdy springtime celebration and the Celtic Pagans marked the coming of spring with a fertility celebration linking their goddess Brigid together with the first milk of the
ewes. During the 17th century, those living on the British Isles initiated a religious celebration of motherhood, called Mothering Sunday, which was held on the forth Sunday during the Lenten season. This holiday featured the reunification of mothers and their children, separated when working class families had to send off their young children to be employed as house servants. On Mothering Sunday, the child servants were allowed to return home for the day to visit with their parents. The holiday’s popularity faded in the 19th century, only to be reincarnated during World War II when U.S. servicemen reintroduced the sentimental (and commercial) aspects of the celebration American counterpart. In the United States, Mother’s Day experienced a series of false starts before eventually transitioning into the “Hallmark” holiday that we celebrate today. In 1858, Anna Reeves Jarvis was the first woman to hold an official celebration of mothers, when in her home state of West Virginia, she instituted Mothers’ Work Day to raise awareness about local sanitation issues.
During the Civil War, she expanded the scope of Mothers’ Work Day to include sanitary conditions on both sides of the battlefield. Meanwhile Julia Ward Howe, author of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” attempted to institute a national celebration of mothers that honored women’s inclinations toward peace (rather than cleanliness). In 1872, she initiated and promoted a Mother’s Day for Peace, to be held on June 2, which was celebrated the following year by women in 18 cities across America. The holiday continued to be honored by Bostonian women for
another decade, but eventually phased out after Howe stopped underwriting the cost of the celebrations.
Then in 1905, Anna Reeves Jarvis passed away and her daughter, Anna Jarvis, took up her mother’s torch. Anna swore on her mother’s gravesite that she would realize her lifelong dream of creating a national day to honor mothers. In 1907, Anna launched her campaign by handing out white carnations to congregants at her mother’s church in Grafton, West Virginia. In 1908, her mother’s church acquiesced to Anna’s request to hold a special Sunday service in honor of mothers - a tradition that spread the very next year to churches in 46 states. In 1909, Anna left her job and dedicated herself to a full-time letter-writing campaign, imploring politicians, clergymen and civic leaders to institute a national day for mothers.
In 1912, Jarvis’ efforts met with success: Her home state of West Virginia adopted an official Mother’s Day; two years later, the U.S. Congress passed a Joint Resolution,
signed by President Wilson, establishing a national Mother’s Day emphasizing the role of women in their families - and not, like Julia Ward Howe’s campaign, in the public arena. Ever since, Mother’s Day has been celebrated by Americans and many other countries on the second Sunday in May. Perhaps the country’s greatest proponent of motherhood, Anna Jarvis ironically never had children of her own. Yet that didn’t stop her from making the celebration of Mother’s Day her lifelong mission. In fact, as the holiday took on a life of its own, Jarvis expressed frequent dismay over its growing commercialization. “I wanted it to be a day of sentiment, not profit,” she is quoted as saying.