Arab & Muslim Women Worldwide

Arab women from Jordan and Bahrain have united under the powerful leadership of Queen Rania to launch a special initiative. These women are campaigning for better education for Palestinian Children in East Jerusalem. The campaign, launched in tandem with the Arab Women's Network aims to raise funds within Arab nations for better infrastructure and facilities, and contribute to a brighter future for Jerusalem's Palestinian schoolchildren.

Not so long ago, Elham Al-Qasimi was a successful investment banker with a hunger to scale the dizzying heights of the financial world. But somewhere, deep inside this brave Arab woman, something bigger called out to be conquered. In April 2010, after an intensive training programme, Elham waved goodbye to her high-flying career to set out and charter an even greater challenge: To become the first Arab woman in history to reach the North Pole.

Beauty is such a subjective subject, especially if you start applying one culture’s ideals and standards to another’s faces. The Miss Arab World Contest, now in its second year, seeks to override imposed ideals by welcoming veiled and non-veiled Arab women from around the world to compete. The 2010 edition of Miss Arab World was held in Cairo in November 2009, and attracted considerable attention for its choice of winner: a curvaceous and striking Miss Saudi Arabia.

The now world famous Middle Eastern art of Bellydancing is known by a variety of different names. There are two forms of belly dances; In Arabic - raqs sharqi (oriental dance) or raqs baladi (dance of country.) Traditionally, women danced with women, and today, whether performed in private or public this Ancient Babylonian art form, has become a symbol of the blended tradition, exoticism, beauty and sensuality of Middle Eastern women. In fact, the beaded two-piece costume that we now associate with this art form came from the so-called Lebanese Godmother of oriental dance: a 1930’s Middle Eastern singer, actress and Cairo nightclub owner named Badia Masabni.