Behind the Correspondent's Curtain
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make public parades of religion." He was opposed to Zionism:
"It is not fair to divide in two a country which was held so
long by the Arabs. It is the British who caused the trouble by
making promises to both sides." He believed that Arab women
should be emancipated, and the veil done away with: "Why
should not my mother be treated as the equal of my father?"
This in itself was heretical to a devout Moslem, who considers woman his inferior. As Yusef pointed out, the native
woman walks behind her husband, works for him, offers no
protests when beaten, and must be at his disposal at all times.
The ideal wife was one who bore male children and served as
an uncomplaining maid, mistress, and scapegoat. Husbandand-wife relationship in the Western sense was largely unknown. Romantic courtship and marriage for love were rare.
Equality of the sexes was regarded as "European" and therefore corruptive of the male. It was difficult for a woman to
get a divorce. But a man could obtain one simply by proclaimin rF