Wendy,
This is a very interesting problem, and I don't think it would be
culturally insensitive to "try to win the immigrant population of
Amsterdam Noord over to the cycling lifestyle". I'm currently living
in Cairo where there is a group of Egyptians who are doing bicycle
advocacy. There is nothing particularly evocative of "western
hegemony" in it (until they start talking about traffic laws, anyway),
although there might be an argument that it is somewhat classist.
Also, the truth of the matter is that it seems to be a simple matter
of mobility and freedom of movement in a place where they find it
difficult to get a drivers license and cycling is more the norm
anyway. They likely have more interest in socializing because that's
the reason for mobility in the first place: to facilitate socializing.
I think as long as you remain aware of the particular obstacles facing
the Arabic-speaking immigrant community, there is nothing insensitive
about it. You shouldn't worry about that fatwa. It was issued by a
Saudi Wahhabi cleric who, in an internet search, has nothing to his
name except the Elaph article you mention (Elaph is also a Saudi-
funded publication, it should be noted) and another media article
about that fatwa. The guy is a one-hit-wonder in the world of ultra-
conservative Islam and his "fatwawawa" should be treated with an
appropriate level of scorn.
Nevertheless, some Muslim women in Holland will take this fatwa
seriously, and the Elaph article mentions an Iraqi woman living in
Holland for 9 years who is among these. The key would be, if the
issue comes up, to simply acknowledge the fatwa and indicate where it
comes from and point out that, as that second article mentions,
neither the Quran nor the hadiths ever forbade women from riding
mules. The membership of the Egyptian cycling club/advocacy
organization I mentioned is majority female, the majority of whom are,
in turn, wearing the hijab. From a religious perspective, it should
be even less of a problem with the Moroccan immigrants you mention,
most of whom will be adherents to the Maliki school of Islamic law,
and thus paying far more attention to fatwas from the Mufti of Al-
Azhar in Cairo (I'll do some digging to see if he has anything to say
about "the sexuality of the saddle"), or even more likely to the
advice of the incredibly popular (especially in the "West") Muslim
televangelist Amr Khaled, who I'm sure would never suggest something
so idiotic (not that he doesn't suggest plenty of idiotic things).
In any case, the Elaph article focuses more on the practical (non-
religious) difficulties facing Arab immigrant women trying to learn to
ride a bike in Holland. The Google Translate version is here:
Automatic translators are pretty poor with Arabic (they confuse
"nationality" and "sexuality" for instance), so if you're interested,
I can do a proper translation (or summary anyway). The other article
about the fatwa is more intelligible through Google Translate and can
be found here:
As for the status value of a bike, I'm not sure about Morocco, but
here in Egypt, it depends quite a lot on age, class and urbanization.
Teens are less likely to be interested in bikes, as are those from
higher classes, as are those from the city. When I was in Upper Egypt
and the desert oases, kids up to the early teens had some pretty
tricked-out rigs that made it evident they took a lot of pride in
them. Even in the center of Cairo, youth of all ages, everyone in
fact, is as impressed with a little bit of old-school bike bling as
anywhere else, perhaps even more so. I'm constantly having to turn
down offers for people to buy my steel frame bike with fancy lugs.
Show kids anything other than the cheapo mass-produced Chinese and
Indian bikes that populate the streets here and they get excited. I'm
guessing it would be the same in Holland. It doesn't necessarily have
to be "boutique", just out of the ordinary.
Anyway, hope this all helps and sorry for being so verbose. When I
move to Washington DC in the summer, I'm hoping to get involved with
Arab immigrant solidarity work and helping to establish a bike
collective, so this issue sits at the nexus of my two biggest passions
at the moment.
Best of luck and keep us posted!
Fhar
On Mar 10, 2009, at 6:25 AM, Wendy Monroe wrote:
HI Christine,
Thanks for the links... they are certainly food for thought. Would
it show cultural insensitivity on my part to try to win the
immigrant population of Amsterdam Noord over to the cycling lifestyle?One thing I have personally observed... the women who show up at the
bicycle lessons are not really enthused about the cycling itself.
It is more that they get a chance to hang out and mingle together
outside their homes.This research result ( In the German study) does not surprise me: 'Even after comprehensive training and instruction, cycling is for
many of them an “uncanny,” “dangerous,” and also “weird” activity
predominantly reserved for the ethnic Dutch'Yup, that would explain a few things...
I used to think that, given the vast sums of money spent by the
Dutch government .. tens of millions of euros each year!!... to
encourage immigrant women to ride bikes, a more effective campaign
might be to instead send teams of cyclists to rove around major
cities in Holland, handing out 20 euro notes, to each woman seen
riding along with a head scarf on...every single day.I am also wondering how well an earn-a-bike program might go over in
a youth population of Moroccans,... ' where the bicycle has a bad
image and little status value..'Would they even show up for such a program?
I'm thinking an earn-a-bike program might be a tough sell, unless it
is marketed as job-training of sorts, for a future career of
repairing scooters and cars. It is a sorry state of affairs, to
those of us who came from a California-style bike culture. But it
may be the social reality here.Oh Noooo... I just started reading the second article...( thanks,
Google Translate!)"The latest controversy reported by the website Elaph.com
"(29/12/207) is a sad illustration, verging on the ridiculous, as
was the fatwa on" nursing major. "Indeed, the last discovery of a
fatwa that forbids Muslim women to practice cycling, because
according to the religion that spread, "straddle the saddle of the
bicycle engender women as sexual arousal, and the bike becomes this
point of view, a prohibited object. "My first reaction being, ' Oh damn, now Men know our
Secret!!' (Just kidding.)I don't even know what to say, after reading THAT. I guess I will
sign off and read the rest of that article...cheers,
Wendy _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit: http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...