“Veil of the mind is more dangerous than veil of the hair,” says social activist

THERE is a song in a Spanish zarzuela (operetta) which says that if women ruled the world it would be a peaceful place. But it is unlikely that award-winning Egyptian writer and social activist Nawal Al-Sa'dawi would agree with this. When asked if the world would be more peaceful if women were in power she said: “Just look at Condollezza Rice, Margaret Thatcher, the Spanish foreign minister, Loyola de Palacios, they think like men, they are for war.” Nawal Al-Sa'dawi is in Palma to give a lecture for the Club Ultima Hora tomorrow night at 8 at the Banca March lecture hall in the Calle Nuredduna. The lecture, Creativity and Dissidence, will be in English and invitations are available from the Palacio de la Prensa in Paseo Mallorca. It promises to be a mind-opening event, as the author, who is also a doctor, is outspoken, and she is no theoretician - she has been jailed, separated from her family, her life has been threatened for her views, expressed in her many books and lectures. This is her first visit to Majorca and she arrived here from Barcelona, where she has just received the prestigious Catalunya International Prize, awarded annually by the Catalan Generalitat or government. Among the reasons given by the jury (which included British historian Hugh Thomas) are: because she is the woman who has fought most and with most influence and intelligence in Egypt and the Arab countries for women's liberation, social justice and democratisation of Muslim society; her personal valour in her work, because her work and personality have had repercussions in the Western world and because in fighting against all forms of oppression and discrimination, she has done so with a clarity and realism which constitute an authentic model of ethical and civic efficiency. She is very proud of the award because it comes from the Catalans whom she describes as “very progressive, and against war.” In fact, last year, she and her husband, Sherif Hetata, were in Barcelona and took part in one of the demos there. The Prince of Asturias prize earlier this month went to Susan Sontag and Fatima Massini, and Nawal al-Sa'dawi says that such awards give a great image of women writers and artists, but “the struggle of women, my struggle is not separate from a political struggle to liberate the country.” She has always had censorship problems with books, right from the beginning and this, she believes is “because I link women's liberation with political liberation, at a global level and at a local level, and this creates problems, of course.” Everything is linked, and this is a theme to which she returns at several points. For example, she explains that both she and her husband also a writer, who has translated some of her works into English, and has also been jailed for his beliefs - are doctors and study economy, to find the causes of poverty which in turn in causes disease. Asked why dictatorships and repressive regimes seem to be afraid of sex and sexual liberation, the author replies “first of all dictatorship is universal. I consider George Bush a dictator. We (she and her husband) teach together in the US, we are professors and we haven't seen democracy or the liberation of women in the US. So women are oppressed in every country by patriarchy and capitalism and class.” And why do repressive regimes have this fear? “Because women are half of society, women are powerful if we are liberated so they are afraid of us, our power and they want to keep patriarchy and class, they want to maintain the status quo.” A recurrent theme in her books is the invisibility of women. But just what makes a woman invisible? “Economic oppression, political oppression, dictatorship at a local level, religious oppression and global neocolonialism,” comes the reply.
One of the most graphic symbols of oppression is the veil. “Yes,” the author agrees, “but the veil of the mind is more dangerous than the veil of the hair. And the veil of women is not Islamic, it began in Christianity, Judaism, in the slave society and so it has nothing to do with the Muslim identity of women.” The fundamentalist regimes are bringing back the veil with force, and Nawal Al-Sa'dawi says “Fundamentalist Islamic regimes were encouraged by the Sadat regime and Sadat was supported by the Americans so Islamic fundamentalism and American neocolonialism are two faces of the same coin.” And can women go it alone, or do they need help? “They can liberate themselves alone but they need support and cooperation because it is we who liberate ourselves but we need to work with every other group. We work with men, we work with Christians, Jews, Muslims, Americans, British, French, Spanish... with all.” Does she see literature as a weapon? “We teach dissidence, we are medical doctors, we do not separate between medicine, health, politics, we do not separate between writing and fighting, or literature, history, religion, economics. As medical doctors we study economics to see why people become poor, as when they are poor they become sick.” Spanish poet Gabriel Celaya likened poetry to a weapon loaded with future, an allusion she agreed with. “Fiction and fact are one and the imagination is the future because we imagine a better world, dreams are part of reality because we dream of another world, not this one, another world, more just, more free, more peaceful. So the same with poetry: We are novelists and novels are like poetry, they are weapons for the future.” She also agrees with Virginia Woolf who said that every woman needs a room of her own. “Yes, I cannot write except when I am quite alone. But also, we have a very unique marriage because we fight together, go to prison together, we write together and, ” she laughs, “we come to Majorca together.” She and her husband Sherif Hetata form an alliance and work closely together. He was a co-founder of the Arab Women's Solidarity Foundation.
Feminism means different things to different people. “I differ with some women, my struggle is different from that of Susan Sontag because my feminism is more political and against class. I cannot speak about violence against women alone, I connect it with global violence. I cannot speak about religious terrorism alone, I speak about economic terrorism and state terrorism, and that is why I cannot see women liberated except in a better world, not this one. And that is why we have to fight together.” It was at this point that she said that women like Condolezza Rice or Thatcher would never change the world because they are like men, patriarchal class. “It's not a matter of the woman, it's the mentality of the woman. There are many women who reach high places but speak from their own point of view, of what they have achieved, they are separated from the poor women and the working class. I'm not like that.” And is revolution of women still pending in the 21st century? “Of course, and the revolution of men, too, because we cannot be liberated if men are still patriarchal, we have to liberate the men, or men have to liberate themselves,” she says with a laugh. On a more serious note, the worst moments of her life were first, when she received death threats and had to leave the country, leaving her family and children behind, second, prison and the third, when she lost her job. She can now live in Egypt and has had no more threats, but while matters are much better, the situation is still unpredictable. But this is unlikely to silence her.