To white feminists and their neoconservative counterparts,
Your two parties, which at once claim to be at odds yet complement each others’ ideologies in various circumstances, have made the same folly in reckoning with us Arab American women and our feminism. To those who claim to support women all over the world and yet negate the autonomy and individuality of women in some parts of the world, your advocacy is neither constructive nor useful. To those who claim to support the autonomy and individuality of people all over the world, your inability to navigate the intricacies of the intersections of geopolitics and religion precludes meaningful protection of the liberties you claim to appreciate so greatly. Your related shortcomings reflect the larger absence of legitimate representation of and respect for Arab American women as well as your respective disinterest in understanding the whole truth rather than the simple one. If possibility for reflection is not lost, then I would say this: talk to Arab American women around you–if there are any; look beyond what the media presents; and consider our collective humanity before rushing to conclusions about women whom and ideas that you clearly do not understand
Amira Jarmakani

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