Lebanon

Lebanon is a middle-eastern country located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The language spoken is Arabic with lebanese dialect and its currency is the Lebanese pound. Lebanon gained independence from France in 1943 after its separation from Syria. Lebanon has the highest proportion of skilled labor among Arabic countries and its educational system offers high quality education programs. Even though education is good, students are encouraged to go abroad because of the lack of jobs. The main religous groups are Christians, Muslims and the Druze.

Afghanistan

Islamic country located in south-central asia. it is bordered by China, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Iran. This country has always been target of invaders, I believe because of its strategic geographic location. This country is known by its violent reality, illegal drugs production and political history, but it is also known by its proud people, Persian poetry and wide variety of tribes and cultures. Afghan population is 28, 150.000 and its capital is Kabul. the three most popular spoken languages in Afghanistan are Dari and Pashto and there are more than 30 different languages.

The Stoning of Soraya M

I have never been so shocked by people's ignorance, or like others call it, believes, like i was when i watched this movie. I respect religions. I respect people's beliefs. I even respect ignorance to a certain point. But the selfishness and hipocresy shown in this film really afect me personally. To get to understand my frustration, I am going to try to quickly narrate the story in my own words,and tell you my opinion about the movie. A French-Iranian journalist who has to stop by a small town in Iran because his car needed to be repaired. He met a woman who desperately tried to approach him with knowledge of his profession. The woman, Zhara, took him to her house and asked him to record her voice. Zhara told him the story of her niece, Soraya. Soraya was married to a man who wanted to divorce her in order to be able to marry a 14 year old girl and get rid of her and their two daughters. They also were parents of two boys, but because of the selfishness and chauvinism of the islamic culture, the man will keep the males. Soraya obviously did not want to divorce him because she would not be able to take care of her daughters without a husband. Long story short, this man in his desperate wish to get rid of her, falsely told the authorities of the town that she was commiting adultery with another man, and she got killed by stoning. And I am leaving out all the disgusting details that he went through in order to reach his goal. Besides the repulsive reality that this movie shows, i really enjoyed it.

Hijabs: style of dress or religious requirement?

The hijab, a piece of clothing used mainly by women in muslim countries, is a spatial curtain that provides privacy and shows modesty in the muslim religion. In most of the muslim countries, women are required to wear these "hijabs" in order to follow the Qur'an's instructions. Female individuals are required to wear a Hijab since they become adults. More especifically after their puberty. The enforcement of this muslim impositon varies within the country's laws. For instance, in Turkey, the worn of Hijabs in governt buildings is prohibited, same as in schools and universities. In contrast, in countries like Afghanistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia, the use of a hijab is rigorously enforced. Because of its beauty, the use of the Hijab or ohter arabic clothing, has increased in some western countries, where most of them do not have knowledge of what the hijab represents to muslim women.