REFLECTION: Why she des not wear hijab or burkha?
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=9§ion=0&article=68533&d=16&m=8&y=2005 Tuesday, 16, August, 2005 (11, Rajab, 1426) Rania Al-Baz to Host Show on Al-Arabiya Maha Akeel, Arab News Saudi host Rania Al-Baz seen on the set of Al-Arabiya's morning show, Sabah Al-Arabiya, in Dubai recently. (Courtesy of Al-Arabiya) JEDDAH, 16 August 2005 - Rania Al-Baz, the TV presenter who became the poster face for abused women in Saudi Arabia after her ex-husband beat her almost to death last year, is starting a new chapter in her life. Rania is co-hosting Al-Arabiya satellite news channel's morning program "Sabah Al-Arabiya" for ten days until Aug. 24. Although she still has two more major plastic surgeries to do on her face to repair the multiple fractures she suffered from having her face brutally smashed by her ex-husband Mohammed Fallata, she is putting on a brave new face for the audience she loves. "Al-Arabiya invited me to guest host this program. It will be a valuable learning experience for me even if it is just for a short period," Rania told Arab News from Dubai in a phone interview. She described the new program as a combination of news and general information targeting a new segment of the audience. She appears with a new look and without a veil, which some have criticized, but she feels that there will always be those who support and those who criticize. "Before, I appeared on religious channels and I was expected to wear the hijab, but I normally don't do that when I travel even though I'm proud of the hijab," she said. She is eagerly anticipating the release of a French book in September entitled "The Disfigured", which showcases the lives of women in Saudi Arabia. Written by a French journalist as told to him by Rania, the book will be distributed in France and other European countries and later translated into Arabic. "There is only one chapter about the abuse experience I suffered. The book is a window for the French people on Saudi Arabia, life here and our culture. There has been a lot of misrepresentation and distortion about Saudi women and their lives here and I wanted to present a balanced view of the positives and negatives," Rania told Arab News. She recently appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show that raised much criticism by writers and the public here because of the way it portrayed Saudi women. The interview with Rania was aired on Oprah recently as part of an episode on women from different parts of the world, but people here considered it unfair and biased because they said while other women were presented in a positive way, the woman chosen to represent Saudi women was an abused and oppressed woman. "I'm satisfied with the episode, I don't think that Oprah and her producers were mistaken," said Rania. "I think we are too sensitive about anyone criticizing us and this is our problem. Oprah has presented many episodes before on abused women in the US and other parts of the world. The US is more advanced than us in terms of human rights. Yes, they have higher rates of crime but they accept criticism. Those of us who have traveled to the US, studied there or worked there, know that the American people are very warm and friendly and not biased, so we should not make judgments of people just because we don't agree with their government's policies." [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> <font face=arial size=-1><a href="http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=12h2bubrb/M=362335.6886444.7839734.2575449/D=groups/S=1705796846:TM/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1124194335/A=2894362/R=0/SIG=138c78jl6/*http://www.networkforgood.org/topics/arts_culture/?source=YAHOO&cmpgn=GRP&RTP=http://groups.yahoo.com/";>What would our lives be like without music, dance, and theater?Donate or volunteer in the arts today at Network for Good</a>.</font> --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
