Gathering Storm

12 www.digitaldaya.com MUSLIM WOMEN AS POLITICAL ADVO- CATES Married to King Abdullah II of Jordan, Queen Rania is a strong online advocate sup- porting many programs to improve the liveli- hoods of Jordan’s citizens and the nation’s pros- pects. Queen Rania’s Facebook account enjoys over 170,000 fans and is a platform for her 1Goal campaign to make education a reality for the mil- lions of boys and girls who remain out of school across the world. Dubbed by the local press as “the Iranian Mi- chelle Obama”, Zahra Rahnavard, is married to Mir Hossein Mousavi, who was President Ah- madinejad’s strongest challenger in Iran’s recent presidential election. The 64-year-old diminutive grandmother, a political scientist and sculptress who heads a university, has been making a big impact on Iranian politics. She is a key asset in her husband’s campaign for reform and a strong women’s rights activists in Iran. Zahra’s Facebook account is home to about 43,000 ardent fans. The consort of the Emir of Qatar, HH Sheikha Mozah bint NasserAl Missned,is the chairperson of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development.She plays a leading role in education and social reforms in Qatar,and is often a spokesperson showcasing Qatar’s am- bitious development programs. She is also a ce- lebrity advocate as UNESCO’s Special Envoy for Basic and Higher Education. HH Sheikha Mozah’s Facebook account has 26,000 fans. POLITICAL CAMPAIGNING A growing political movement on Face- book with over 45,000 fans,WeWant Imran Khan To Be The Next Prime Minster Of Pakistan!, is organized to have Pakistan’s former cricket hero Imran Khan elected into office. Imran Khan maintains his own Facebook account with more than 75,000 fans and strives to bridge the gap be- tween Pakistan and the West - “They (Western- ers) do not understand Islam, and I think that is one area where perhaps I hope one day I will play a role in actually making people understand what we perceive Islam to be.” The Fan page,Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi,is devoted to about 4,500 followers of the son of Libyan leader MoammarAl Qadhafi who may one day play a part in the Libyan government. About five years ago, the Libyan government surprised the world when it was announced it would dismantle its nuclear, chemical and ballistic missile programs. Since that time, according to U.S. Congressional records, American, British, and international officials have inspected and removed or destroyed key compo- nents of those programs.The events leading up to this dramatic change had taken place behind the scenes.The man who initiated the contacts with the U.S. was not the Libyan leader himself but his son, Saif al-Islam al-Qadhafi. U.S. Congressio- nal records showed that Saiful Islam met in Lon- don with American House Representatives. Saiful Islam at the time was attending school in London, working on his Ph.D. in Economics.This was but another example of how western-educated lead- ers were reaching out to the U.S. A secular Shiite, Ayad Allawi, has returned to the center of Iraqi politics after receiving millions of votes from Sunni Arabs, a minority that has felt marginalized since Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003. Former prime minister Ayad Allawi’s political bloc recently won the most seats in Iraq’s parliamentary election. Allawi and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki are now vying to get a majority of parliamentarians on their side in order to be appointed prime minister for the next four years.Ayad Allawi is on Facebook with over 6,000 fans running on a secular campaign of“Our Future Together” and“Iraq for every Iraqi”. The Green Movement is a series of actions after the 2009 Iranian presidential election, in which protesters have demanded the removal of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from office. Green was first the symbol of Mir Hossein Mousavi’s campaign but after the election, it became the symbol of unity and hope for those asking for annulment of what they regarded as a fraudulent election. Supporters used Twitter and Facebook to spread the word.Moussavi campaign managers organized supporters, planned gatherings and garnered support of 126,000 fans through Mossavi’s Facebook pages dedicated to the Reformist candidate. Facebook: A Platform for 21st Century Politics Winning Hearts and Minds on the World Wide Web