Product Description

In 1993, a handwritten envelope arrived in Khalida Messaoudi's mailbox. In it was an official communique announcing that she had been condemned to death by the Islamic Salvation Front. This letter came after a series of threats and an attempt on her life

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2054578 in Books
• Published on: 2002-06-27
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .56 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 168 pages

From Publishers Weekly
One of the most courageous, vigilant and eloquent women's rights activists in Algeria, Messaouidi has lived under a fatwa, or death sentence issued by Islamic fundamentalists, since 1993. She has rather miraculously survived several assassination attempts and in 1997, was elected to the National Assembly. In 1995, the former math teacher was interviewed extensively by French journalist Schemla, and those conversationsAcompiled here in question-and-answer formAcomprise a lucid and riveting account of the recent violent upheaval in Algeria. Messaouidi supports constitutional democracy in a country currently torn by a totalitarian military regime (the National Liberation Front) on the one hand, and, on the other, a fundamentalist organization (the Islamic Salvation Front) that has killed tens of thousands of Algerians in an attempt to overthrow the government. Messaouidi proves an intelligent, candid and good-humored speaker, noting briskly that Islamic extremists view women as "evil," relying on skewed readings of the Koran. She points out that the systematic rape and murder of women who, like Messaouidi, live alone, wear makeup, and/or appear in public without a veil, are, in some way, the logical fallout of The Family Code passed by the supposedly secular FLN government in 1980. These laws state, among other things, that women are not legally considered adults, and cannot choose or divorce their husbands. Implicit throughout this important, illuminating book are the dangers of politically empowered religious extremism to the lives of real people.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"A lucid and riveting account of the recent violent upheaval in Algeria... Implicit throughout this important, illuminating book are the dangers of politically empowered religious extremism to the lives of real people."-Publishers Weekly "Messaoudi has established herself as one of Algeria's' bravest and most articulate speakers of truth... She presents a pungent, invaluable first-hand expose of the Islamist challenge in her country. Its everyday texture imbues her account with a feel for living in an Islamist tyranny... She emerges from these pages as a highly attractive intellectual, a heroine made necessary by the horrors of her country's recent history."-Middle East Quarterly "Compelling and thought-provoking."-International Journal of Middle East Studies

Ingram
UNBOWED spotlights the culture wars in the Middle East between progressive, democratic, feminist forces on the one hand and, on the other, the forces of traditional culture represented, at the extreme, by religious fanatics. Author Khalida Messaoudi has been active in Algerian politics since 1993, but due to threats to her life, now lives in hiding.