VZCZCXRO1647
PP RUEHIK
DE RUEHBS #0011/01 0051622
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 051622Z JAN 10 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9875
INFO RUCNMUC/EU CANDIDATE STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNMEU/EU INTEREST COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 000011 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
EUR/PGI FOR JKUYKENDALL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KWMN XG PHUM BE
SUBJECT: BELGIUM: EUR ENGAGEMENT ON WOMEN'S ISSUES 
 
REF: STATE 124579 
 
BRUSSELS 00000011  001.4 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (U)  SUMMARY:  Embassy Brussels' Public Diplomacy (PD) 
office has been working with the Washington, D.C.-based Non 
Governmental Organization "Karamah: Muslim Women Lawyers for 
Human Rights" (http://www.karamah.org/) since 2004 in order 
to empower Belgian Muslim women and improve their health and 
well-being.  END SUMMARY 
 
¶2.  (U)  In 2004, post invited Dr. Azizah Y. Al-Hibri, 
Professor of Law, University of Richmond, and 
Founder/Director of "Karamah," to Belgium for the first time. 
 The main purpose was for Professor Al-Hibri to participate 
in a one-day conference on the status of Muslim women and to 
meet with various Belgians (Muslims and non-Muslims working 
on minority integration and minority women's issues) to learn 
from the U.S. experience in dealing with these issues.  By 
doing so, post hoped to strengthen ties with moderate Muslims 
and Muslim organizations in Belgium as well as continue to 
create a climate of trust and understanding of U.S. society 
and values within the Belgian Muslim community at large, away 
from international political crises.  The overall purpose was 
to present a positive image of the U.S. as a pluralistic 
society with respect for all religions and all minorities. 
 
¶3.  (U)  While it was extremely difficult at the time, 
(shortly after the Iraq war), for the Embassy and any U.S. 
speaker to be accepted as a credible interlocutor within 
Belgium's Muslim communities (the organizers suffered severe 
criticism within their community for associating with U.S. 
government personnel), the conference was a resounding 
success.  While most of the conference speakers addressed 
Muslim women's issues in terms of the clash of civilizations 
-  "modernizing" Islam or "islamizing" modernity (a theme 
that did not seem to resonate with the audience, more than 
half of which consisted of Muslim women) - Dr. Al-Hibri 
struck a chord with the audience by arguing in a scholarly 
fashion that the tenets of Islam itself prescribe a de facto 
affirmative action for women.  She asserted that in most 
Islamic cultures around the world, cultural practices that 
suppress women are represented as principles of faith.  What 
is needed, she said, are more (female) Islamic scholars able 
to refute these modern perversions of Islam in Europe and 
everywhere  they are found.  The areas of family law, 
religion and civil statutes frequently conflict, but the 
answer is not to ignore one or other set of rules, but to 
reconcile the two (that is, civil law and Islamic law).  In 
the U.S. this is commonly done by means of advice to the 
court by Islamic scholars.  The possibility of establishing a 
system of Islamic jurisprudence in the West based on the 
traditional Qu'ran was a real revelation to the audiences 
here.  There are no real Islamic experts in Belgium and all 
efforts to reconcile what are perceived to be the tenets of 
Islam and the requirements of civil law have been directed at 
forcing individuals to choose between them. 
 
¶4.  (U)  The conference organizers reported afterwards that 
Dr. Al-Hibri had made a very positive impression, especially 
on young Muslim girls.  Even the more conservative Muslims, 
mainly those representing mosques, began to realize that they 
have more to gain than to lose by not letting international 
politics get in the way of their own emancipation process. 
The sentiment that came out of the conference was that 
working together with American Muslims (even with the help of 
the U.S. Embassy) may be OK after all, adding that they were 
especially hopeful for the next generation of young Muslim 
women. 
 
¶5.  (U)  Building on this success, PD Brussels invited Dr. 
Al-Hibri back for more meetings and lectures, including a 
speech before the Belgian parliament in March 2005 and a 
hearing before the European parliament in April 2008.  In 
2005, post invited a young Belgian Muslim woman to 
participate in Karamah's annual "Law and Leadership Summer 
Program (LLSP)," an intensive three-week seminar on Islamic 
Jurisprudence, Comparative Law, Conflict Resolution, and 
Leadership Development, held in Washington, D.C. 
 
¶6.  (U)  The feedback on the LLSP was so positive that in 
2006 post selected (and financed) five Muslim women coming 
from all parts of Belgium, and another six every year since 
then.  Today, post has a pool of 25 Belgian Karamah LLSP 
alumni, several of whom are now part of a steering committee 
that was created in October 2009, to establish a "Karamah EU" 
in Brussels which will be focusing on specific issues facing 
Belgian (and ultimately European) women and their communities. 
 
EASON 
 
 
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