Letters: Islam, Women and the Law
Photo of Azizah al-Hibri by Stacy Zarin Goldberg.
ISLAM, WOMEN AND THE LAW
Thank you for publishing Kristin Choo’s astonishingly excellent article “Walking the Tightrope,” February. I have rarely seen such an accurate, thorough and in-depth article when it comes to a discussion of Muslim women. I’m an American Muslim woman who earned her law degree before many of these new groundbreaking Muslim women lawyers did (and I have an LLM in Islamic law, as well), and I understand all the issues that Choo covers in her article. She couldn’t have done a better job.
Sumbul Ali-Karamali
Mountain View, Calif.
I fully agree with Azizah al-Hibri that Islam never discourages a woman from seeking education and participation in all family, social, legal and spiritual aspects of life, no matter where she is living. Professor al-Hibri is right in her view that the United States is the best model for all Arab countries.
Zaheer Parvez
Boyds, Md.
Photo of the Stonewall Inn by Ben Hider/Getty Images.
DRAG QUEENS AND STONEWALL
The history of the Stonewall Inn riot presented in “The Stonewall Legacy,” February, erases the actual individuals who stood up to the NYPD, like Sylvia Rivera, the transgender persons who were being mistreated, who asked the bystanders—the lesbians and gays that were watching—why they were not doing anything. It was the drag queens that started the uprising.
The lesbian and gay community has been erasing that part and claiming it was the start of the “gay rights” movement, when, in fact, if the truth were told accurately, it was the match that lit the fire of the movement for human rights, including those of various gender identities and sexual orientations. The ABA Journal should be ashamed of its lazy journalism in failing to accurately report what the Stonewall Award was created to celebrate.
Alyson Dodi Meiselman
Gaithersburg, Md.
Steve Keeva
REMEMBERING KEEVA
Thank you for “The Visionary,” February, the full page devoted to Steven Keeva’s memory. Steve was my first editor at the Journal (for the technology column). He gently taught me the importance of an editor. More important than that, he was a person who saw and sensed what most overlook. His natural deep thought, simple and elegant, made everyone around him better.
David Hirsch
Des Moines, Iowa
PATENT PRICES
Regarding “New Review,” February: We are huge fans of filing observations and oppositions in the European Patent Office. However, the cost estimate in this article is simply not accurate. I have never seen one for only $20,000. I always budget at least $100,000 and they usually take two to three years, but can take longer, especially if appealed—and even longer if sent back to the opposition division after appeal.
Patrea Pabst
Atlanta
