Creating Solidarity in Cyberspace: The Case of Arab Womens Solidarity Association United

Rita Stephan

Journal of Middle East Women's Studies, Volume 9, Number 1, Winter 2013, pp. 81-109 (Article) Published by Indiana University Press

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CREATING SOLIDARITY IN CYBERSPACE

THE CASE OF ARAB WOMENS SOLIDARITY ASSOCIATION UNITED

Rita Stephan
mn

Abstract
The Arab Womens Solidarity Association United (AWSA United) is a pluralistic, transnational, and scholastic womens advocacy group that emerged in cyberspace in 1999. Arab women in the diaspora sought cyberspace as a safe space to connect with one another in their activism for womens rights in the Arab world. Using an online survey and analysis of printed and electronic documents, this case study investigates Arab womens cyberfeminism. It explores how activists utilized AWSA United to foster collective identity, strengthen solidarity, and enrich activism.

Introduction

he Arab Women Solidarity Association United (AWSA United) was born as an outlet for Arab women in the diaspora to express solidarity and support for women in the Arab world. It pioneered transnational Arab womens groups that connect Arab women on all six continents, despite having the majority of its members in the United States. With its membership spanning the world, AWSA Uniteds activists, who felt restricted by cultural apathy and ideological irrelevance in the West and by unfavorable governmental policies, oppressive patriarchal systems, and rigid religious doctrines in the Arab world, used cyberspace to express dissatisfaction with their sociocultural fetters without directly confronting them.
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As a member of AWSA United, I was intrigued by the phenomenon, noted by Alia Malek, that the group has permitted a cadre of highly educated and motivated women to find their own voices. Malek (2004) claims that A vibrant Arab-American feminist movement is emerging in the US, and that Arab-American women have found their own space outside both the mainstream feminist movement and mainstream ArabAmerican organizations, because neither has been responsive to their needs. But what has AWSA United provided for this ideologically and politically marginalized group of women activists? My findings suggest that Arab women use AWSA United to foster their collective identity, strengthen their connectivity, and increase their activism. In light of my analysis of printed and electronic archival documents, and based on responses I collected in an online survey, I examine in this paper the construction of collective identity, connectivity, and activism using the case of AWSA United. I first explore theoretical perspectives on cyberactivism and cyberfeminism within the social movement literature. I then provide a historical overview of the development of AWSA from its birthplace in Egypt in 1982 through its migration to cyberspace in 1999. I then discuss the sociocultural obstacles that Arab women activists have had to overcome in both the diaspora and the Arab world. Finally, I investigate how Arab women activists use AWSA United to participate in collective action, solidify their individual and collective activist identities, and establish relations with each other.
Cyberactivism and Cyberfeminism

Social movement scholars emphasize the significance of social contexts and physical space in the construction of collective identity. They generally agree that the collectivization of identity is an essential part of activism (Laraa, Johnston, and Gusfield 1994, Polletta and Jasper 2001). Collective identity emerges among participants who share similar cultural characteristics (Gamson 1992, Platt and Fraser 1998). Yet, most importantly, it is constructed within an appropriate, free, and safe space (Evans and Boyte 1992, Polletta 1999). As this study shows, individuals cannot always take action within their social structures; at other times the identities and relations they encode cannot possibly be embedded in their social frameworks.

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Online environments can contribute to furthering the fragmentation of identity (Kolko, Nakamura, and Rodman 2000, 5), and their safety is often contested. Cyber-snooping and data-mining is becoming more widespread. However, the Internet does provide safety from direct violence and a greater geographical freedom. More importantly, scholars like Beth E. Kolko, Lisa Nakamura, and Gilbert Rodman (4) argue that when it comes to questions of power, politics and structural relations, cyberspace is as real as it gets. When cyberspace was tapped as an outlet for activism, people were able to further their political participation by signing petitions, writing letters, donating to groups, and publicizing and disseminating information from the comfort and safety of their own personal computers. Indeed, technology has facilitated inexpensive and extensive communications among transnational actors. Tetyana Pudrovska and Myra Marx Ferree (2004) observe the proliferation of web sites as a novel aspect of organizational practice, claiming that this virtual space constitutes a new means of creating nongovernmental intervention in the political structure. Likewise, Fisher et al. (2005, 102) concludes that an increasing number of organizations use the Internet to connect domestically grounded activists to transnational struggles and to mobilize them to participate in large-scale protest events. Recent examples, such as the 2011 Arab Spring, the 2009 Iranian revolution, the 2008 American presidential campaign, and others, signal a current and future expansion of cyberspace as a contested space for power struggles. Cyberspace has also become a contested space for gender power relations. The information superhighway has become a domain where gender relations take place, ranging from building romantic relations to marketing sexual services and products. Arab women have used cyberspace to discover, participate, interact, post information, seek answers, date, chat, share ideas, and find kindred spirits (Gavi 1999, 24). Taking the fight for gender equality online, cyberfeminism emerged as a new form of feminism. Around the world, cyberspace has allowed women to escape the patriarchal control of centralized organizations and has offered them a safe space where postmodern fragmented subjectivities can exist (Plant 1996). In fact, scholars like Christina Vogt and Peiying Chen (2001) posit that the nature of cyberspace is particularly suitable and familiar to womens activism. They argue that womens

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activism in cyberspace is not alien to womens movements in general, because its lack of institutional and cultural norms is similar to the nontraditional spaces that the womens movement has created since its beginning (371). Like beauty schools (Greene 2005), the Internet is among the few spaces outside mainstream politics that are accessible to minorities and womens activism. In this sense, cyberfeminism came into being as a political stance in relation to technology focusing on gender and the critical, political projects (Chatterjee 2002). As an emerging viewpoint within the field of feminist theory, cyberfeminism has aimed to overcome the power differences that exclude women in the masculine digital sphere (Hawthorne and Klein 1999). This point of view is important in assessing the limits and the potentials of cyberfeminism in general. But it is also significant in examining how AWSA United members view their cyber community, a question I seek to address in this study.
Arab Womens Cyberfeminism

Although little is written on Arab womens activism outside the Arab world, even less is known about the efficacy of cyberspace in fostering Arab womens activism in the Arab world and elsewhere. Nonetheless, scholars have noticed and documented how Arab women use cyberspace to create alternative discursive spaces where it is possible to redefine patriarchal gender roles while questioning the sociocultural, economical, political, and legal institutions constraining them (Skalli 2006, 36 7). Using the Internet and other media outlets, Arab women work on several fronts to raise consciousness of womens issues, engage in grassroots mobilization for improving womens conditions, and conduct and publish research on social and gender inequalities (Skalli 2006). Cyberspace has given women an additional outlet to the public sphere and the opportunity to advocate for womens rights (creating blogs, listservs, and web sites do not necessarily substitute for the womens movements). Despite the appeal of e-movements, a number of challenges limit Arab womens cyberactivism. The first challenge lies in the fact that activism for womens rights has historically occurred among educated upper-class women who sought to relieve their less fortunate sisters of legal, economic, and social injustices. In describing Tunisian feminism, for

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instance, Mounira Charrad (1997, 301) finds that activists, who were typically professional women such as those in academe, medicine, law, and journalism, have played a major role in womens associations and public debate on family law. This phenomenon persists in cyberspace, as most women activists in the diaspora and the Arab world tend to be educated with both high social and technical connectivity. By the same token, in the Arab world, womens access to cyberspace is restricted by the high female illiteracy rate and by their unfamiliarity with foreign languages (mostly English), in which most of the information on the web is available. Such limitations further the exclusiveness of cyber communities. Limited Internet connectivity poses another challenge to womens cyberactivism, although Internet usage in the Arab world has been increasing. While nearly 76 percent of the population in the United Arab Emirates uses the Internet, only 38 percent in Saudi Arabia uses it, and 17 percent in Syria.1 However, average Internet usage for all Arab countries lingers around 29.8 percent of the total population, while Internet connection among Arab-Americans was at 64.5 percent in 2002, according to Zogby International.2 Womens access to the Internet in 2006, according to Loubna Skalli (2006), was limited to about six percent of the population. In addition to these limitations, many countries exercise further restriction on Internet usage directly and indirectly by banning access to certain web sites or by not offering fast connections. Hence, diasporic Arab women are limited in their ability to connect with one another and other women in the Arab world. A third challenge to womens connectivity is the patriarchal cultural discourse that maintains rigid sexual propriety and honor as central to social structure, despite the evolution of many social norms and values. Making the Internet available for women to use in the safety of their homes has prevented some from seeking actual opportunities in the workplace. Susan Gavi (1999, 24) describes how, Everyone presupposes that the Internet will now pave the way for the Arab woman to do business safelyfrom the privacy of her home. Online, she can work within the parameters that her patriarchal culture has set for her. In this sense, some argue that the Internet has furthered rather than lessened womens seclusion. Others see a danger in allowing women free access to the Internet. About ten years ago, Al-Qabas (2004), a Kuwaiti newspaper, reported a

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new fatwa issued by two Saudi sheiks forbidding women from using the Internet unless accompanied by a knowledgeable mahrem (male guardian) familiar with the ways of promiscuous and dishonorable women. Surprisingly, some educated men support such strictures. The following is an e-mail message posted by a member on December 5, 2004, on AWSA Uniteds listserv quoting a mans response to this fatwa.3 He specifically indicates that he does not allow his fiance to access the Internet alone:
This fatwa is actually correct. If you can get past your initial feelings about it and think, youll find out that this fatwa makes perfect sense and is consistent with Islam. The point is that the internet, which we can all agree has many negatives attached to it i.e. child pornography, pornography as well as countless other examples of immoral behavior that is readily available to anyone that asks for it. The fatwa then makes sense because it helps our women, the best and purest on the face of this earth, stay away from any threat of corrupting their purity. I, for example do not allow my fianc to view the internet unless Im present. She and I both fully understand that the internet is a great invention, which offers positive aspects, but were well aware of the negatives as well

Finally, in the diaspora, marginalization, politicization, and fragmentation constitute a fourth challenge to Arab womens cyberfeminism. Arab-American feminists are marginalized and ignored by the dominant Orientalist discourse if they dissent from mainstream political circles. Likewise, they are marginalized among Arab-American men who hold a monopoly over the representation of Arab and ArabAmerican causes. More importantly, they are silenced and marginalized among other feminists. Arab-American feminist Azizah Al-Hibri claims (1994, 161), Some of us were right here, in the forefront of the U.S. womens movement in the 1960s! Oh yes; you may not have noticed, but many of us are U.S. feminists. We are part of you. We live among you, and we have invisibly struggled by your side for decades. Yet, these feminists were not accepted by mainstream American feminists as equals. Nadine Naber (2011, 88) realizes that political and feminist spaces are not available for Arab-American feminists to talk about internal issuesparticularly since we felt that most U.S. feminists spaces, as well

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as some Arab-American feminist spaceswere dominated by Orientalist perspectives about Arab women. While little is known about Arab womens activism in the diaspora, some Arab-American scholars, like Naber (2011), have reported from their personal experiences about the politicization and fragmentation they face as Arab women activists in the United States. Some speak about the politicization of Arab-American feminists who transplant political cleavages in the Arab world to the United States. Zeina Zaatari (2011, 75) for instance, points out that the solidarity that some feminist organizations expressed with women in Lebanon after the 2006 war was conditional on their rejection of Hezbollah, seen as violent and chauvinist and something that must be fought. In addition to suffering political cleavages, Arab-American feminists are fragmented internally on how much of their dirty laundry ought to be exposed to the public on the various forms of sexism and homophobia that take place in their families and communities (Naber 2011, 87 8). Feminists are tabooed if they contribute to widespread elements within American media and academia that highlight negative aspects of the Arabic culture as this is seen to further isolate and marginalize the Arab-American community and its women. In light of these challenges, womens participation in virtual forums such as AWSA United can be viewed as unfavorable. However, studies show that Arab and other Middle Eastern women activists are increasingly using the Internet to advance their activism and design their own forms of feminism. Through the Internet, they are creating identities for themselves as parts of organizations they establish not only in their countries but also online (Gavi 1999). Fereshteh Nouraie-Simone (2005), for instance, documents the emergence of an Iranian blog community known as Weblogistan. These young professional women are university students, journalists, activists, and literary and social critics who use the Internet to discuss feminism and social equality (65). Similarly, Shahrzad Mojab (2001) shows how cyberspace allowed Kurdish women living in Europe and North America to establish the International Kurdish Womens Studies Network in 1996 as a forum for the exchange of experience and knowledge among those who are interested in and work for improving the lives of Kurdish women. Thus, in todays international system, in which Kurdistan does not exist as a sovereign state, cyberspace of-

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fers its women the opportunity... to resist and reform [the] masculine, patriarchal-feudal-religious disposition [process of state-formation] (Mojab and Gorman 2007, 66). Likewise, AWSA United members used cyberspace to launch a transnational virtual forum and support one another in their commitment to Arab womens rights.
From AWSA International to AWSA United

AWSA has accomplished a great deal in its thirty years of existence.4 The Arab Womens Solidarity Association International (AWSA International) was founded in Egypt in 1982 by 120 women under the leadership of the feminist Dr. Nawal El Saadawi. Its aims are to link the struggle of Arabs for liberation and freedom from economic, cultural, and media domination to the liberation of Arab women. AWSA International was the first pan-Arab womens organization to be accorded international status by the United Nations and to have representation of both sexes. By 1985, AWSA International had 3,000 members worldwide and was granted consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. Between 1982 and 1991, AWSA International organized several international conferences, developed income-generating projects for economically underprivileged women, produced films about Arab womens lives, and published books and literary magazines. In 1991, AWSA International took a stance against the Gulf War and demanded that the United Nations take a firm position against the war. This action provoked the Egyptian government to close down the association. AWSA International brought a lawsuit against the government but lost the case. Government officials in Egypt insisted that the banning was due to so-called irregularities in AWSAs financial accounts. AWSA Internationals headquarters shifted to Algeria and then, in 1996, back to Cairo, where it continues to operate today. In the United States, a local AWSA chapter was first established in Seattle, Washington, in 1994 and remained active until 1996. The AWSASeattle American chapter held a benefit event for the victims of the Hebron massacre in 1994 and developed coalition-building projects with other women activist groups. It also organized a delegation of Arab women for the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in 1994 and the International Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995.

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In 1995, a second local chapter was established in San Francisco, California, and was active under the name of AWSA-North America (AWSA-NA) as a nonprofit, nonsectarian 501(c)(3) organization. In 1999, members of the AWSA-NA chapter established Cyber-AWSA, which later became known as AWSA United. In San Francisco, AWSA members organized several events such as benefits for women victims of war, a protest against the racist portrayal of Arab women in Israeli arts, a workshop on racist media images of Arab women and men, and empowerment-based events for Arab women and their communities (Stephan 2007). In 1997, AWSA-NA also participated in sponsoring an annual Arab film festival and published a training guide entitled, The Forgotten -ism: An Arab American Womens Perspective on Zionism, Racism, and Sexism. Eventually, the San Francisco chapter was dissolved and its last activity recorded in June 2002. As stated in its mandate, AWSA United is institutionally and logistically distinct from other AWSA chapters. The web site and e-mail listserv were launched by the San Francisco members as a springboard for activism related to Arab womens issues to provide a space for Arab women and their allies to share information and discuss issues relevant to Arab womens lives and experiences.5 Shortly after its foundation, internal conflicts arose over how much conservatism could be tolerated on the listserv. Several founding members left the listserv and launched other organizations while the few who stayed carried on its mission.6 The listserv has evolved with new members and it remains active when all other chapters in North America have folded. AWSA United has kept its focus on womens rights in the Arab world while branching out its attention and membership to other areas in the world. At present, about half of its members live in the United States, many live in Egypt, and the rest are scattered in several countries worldwide ranging from Jordan, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia to Belgium, Norway, Kosovo, and even Iran. While a transnational feminist vision inspired Arab feminists to imagine a world without oppression and think about alternatives to exclusionary heteromasculinist and xenophobic politics (Abdulhadi, Alsultany, and Naber 2011, xxxv), AWSA United allowed Arab feminists on six continents to express solidarity with other subaltern groups in order to assert their relevance to the feminist movement.

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Methodology

As of June 2012, the membership of AWSA United is about 206 members (up from 155 at the time of the study). The majority of members use the listserv as an informational medium without actively participating in posting messages or engaging in dialogues. Although membership is free, it is restricted. Membership is granted if three of the four steering committee members approve the request. Selection criteria consider the applicants sex, as well as her ideological and political beliefs, although no specific national and religious identities are required. Each potential member is admitted only after her answers to the following questions are assessed by the steering committee:
1. As a member of AWSA United, will you respect the groups mission? 2. What is your name? 3. Are you a woman? 4. Where do you live? 5. How did you hear about AWSA United? 6. What do you hope to gain from AWSA United? 7. Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

Men are admitted to the listserv only if they are referred and sponsored by a female member. This selection restriction protects members of the listserv from eligible bachelors browsing for exotic Arab wives online. In addition to approving new members, the steering committee monitors members posts and ensures the maintenance of AWSA United as a safe place for its members. Not only do steering committee members guard AWSAs progressive identity; they also strive to ensure the safety of members residing in countries, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia, that restrict individual freedoms. My encounter with the listserv came about haphazardly when I took on an assignment to write an encyclopedia entry on the Arab Womens Solidarity Association International. Suddenly, I found the intellectual refuge that I had been seeking. I joined the listserv, AWSA United, and was invited to participate in the steering committee after a year. I mention my personal involvement in the organization to establish my position as a participant-observer in this study. This is a privileged and unique, but sensitive, position.

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In order to guard the safety of AWSA United members and my objectivity as a researcher, I set up an anonymous online questionnaire and gathered information in the printed and electronic media, especially from the AWSA United web site and other feminist electronic mediums. This aspect of my research was critical because some members requested that I keep their identity anonymous. Below is an example of such a request from a lesbian woman living in the Arab world:
I would like to stay anonymous. I am a woman but I cannot disclose my name. I do not want to out myself. Sorry for being vague,the consequences of being outed are not to be taken lightly so I choose to do my activism anonymously. I am hoping though to connect to the Arab lesbians that aremembers ofAWSA as well as men and women who are interested in a positive dialogue with Arab lesbians.

The online questionnaire consisted of ten questions: Five questions touched upon AWSA Uniteds profile as an organization, while the other five addressed the demographic makeup of its membership. Two questions were open-ended, two were closed-ended, and six had an option for filling an Other category. I utilize the closed-ended format to maximize comparability and facilitate systemic analysis of the findings. However, the Other category allowed the expression of additional comments that could not be captured in the questionnaire. As with other cyber communities, membership in AWSA United normally involves expressing ones opinions and engaging in online arguments. Therefore, this method gave members the opportunity to set the parameters of their identity and activism. The questionnaire was available for input during the first two weeks of December 2004. The period was selected with the intention of drawing a sample of respondents rather than attempting to reach the entire AWSA United community. During that period thirty-four members responded to the questionnaire, representing 47 percent of the active members of AWSA United. The sample size was determined by the outcome of the convenience sample. My response rate corresponded with the level of members participation. For instance, between September 11, 2003, and November 29, 2004, I received messages from seventy-four members. Many of these members posted messages more than once. Based on their posting behavior, I considered these seventy-four as active

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participants, although I did not use the contents of their e-mail messages unless I received permission from the authors. A number of factors limit this studys scope and accessibility. Since the questionnaire was available to respondents only for a short period of time, the number, scope, and diversity in responses were limited. Furthermore, participation in the study was based on the willingness of AWSA United members to answer the questions. Therefore, this questionnaire could not deliver the voice of former members, members who are not active participants on the list, or those who chose not to answer the questionnaire. Finally, the anonymity and voluntary nature of this method did not allow me, as a researcher, to follow up with respondents to investigate particular responses or omissions.
Data and Discussion

These data provide empirical evidence on the three aspects of AWSA United membership regarding collective identity, connectivity, and activism. Touching identity, I collected data that distinguish common traits shared by most AWSA United members and the factors that influenced them the most to join AWSA United. In terms of a sense of connectivity, I examined in this study whether AWSA United members felt a certain level of affinity towards the group and other members and whether they considered other AWSA United members as a part of their social networks. Finally, I investigated how AWSA United has contributed to furthering its members virtual and physical activism.
Collective Identity

Through constructing collective identity, AWSA United challenges cultural domination and identifies a shared definition that derives from its members common interests and solidarity. Scholars classify these traits as essential to collective behavior (Gamson 1992, Taylor and Whittier 1992). In its mandate, members of AWSA United identify their organization as a progressive organization which advocates for the empowerment of Arab women against all forms of oppression. We maintain an international activism and discussion list for Arab women and their allies, providing a progressive space for debate, networking, and organizing in an atmosphere that values sexual, religious, and racial diversity.

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To examine how AWSA United fosters its members collective identity, I sought answers to two questions: First, how do individual members identify themselves? Second, how do they define the parameters of their self-selected grouping? AWSA United is a group comprised mostly of educated women aged from the early 20s to early 50s; in the survey, sixteen members identified themselves as scholars and eleven said they were activists. Although four respondents did not answer the education question, those who did were proportionally divided between those who held a bachelor degree (eleven members), those with a graduate degree (ten members), and those with postgraduate education (eight members). Members fields of work ranged mostly between social sciences, natural sciences, and the arts (a biologist, a chemist, a computer engineer, an environmentalist, a nurse, two journalists, three professors, six artists, and six students). Given Jane Mansbridges (1995) thesis that feminist identities are usually achieved through powerful personal transformative experiences and learning about other feminists, and Amal Amirehs (2000) survey, which confirmed Dr. Nawal al-Saadawis public reputation as a leading feminist,7 I was curious to know whether al-Saadawis public persona influenced AWSA United members in any way. My findings show that individuals who joined AWSA United were not necessarily motivated by al-Saadawis charisma. When I inquired about the factors that motivated members to join AWSA United, none of the respondents mentioned being inspired by al-Saadawi. Instead, the most significant factor in motivating membership in AWSA United was individuals interest in activism with and on behalf of Arab women (twenty-two members). Other factors included knowing other members and searching the Internet. Their answers are as follows:
What is the most important factor that motivated you to join AWSA? Being involved in international Arab women activist group Learning about Nawal al-Saadawi Knowing people who are members Through searching the web Frequency 22 0 5 4

Without undermining al-Saadawis impact on AWSA and Arab femi-

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nism, these results provide, I believe, a hopeful sign that feminists are breaking away from the central charismatic leader syndrome from which several Middle Eastern non-governmental organizations suffer (Joseph 1997). However, more interestingly, scholars like Amireh (2000, 215) argue that al-Saadawis work has been consumed by a Western audience in a context saturated by stereotypes of Arab culture. Because al-Saadawis books fuel negative Western stereotypes about Arab womens oppression, her writings have been criticized for contributing further to the marginalization of the difficult and often ambivalent role of third-world feminists and Arab dissident intellectuals in a transnational age (216). In examining, then, the basis upon which AWSA United members construct their personal identities, I sought to unveil the difficult and ambivalent role that transnational Arab women feel among Western feminists. Suha Sabbagh (1996, xxiv xxv) writes: Western feminism, of course, is grounded in Western thought, ideology, and values. Arab womens struggle is equally grounded in the religious, cultural, and political norms of the Arab world. Note that Sabbagh does not refer to Arab womens struggle as feminism in general, but rather distinguishes it from Western feminism. My findings suggest that Sabbaghs claim is relatively applicable to Arab women but not necessarily to the hyphenated-Arab woman in the diaspora. It is noteworthy that respondents who lived outside the Arab world were more likely to embrace a feminist identity than those living in Arab countries. Generally speaking, a feminist identity in the Middle East carries the negative connotation of embracing Western imperialism and cultural colonialism (Badran 2005, Berkovitch and Moghadam 1999). While my data do not allow further analysis of the reasons behind this identification, the following shows how AWSA Uniteds members identify themselves:
Which identity(ies) best describe you (check all that apply): Feminist Muslim Christian Activist Scholar Arab or Hyphenated-Arab Frequency 26 7 7 16 11 22

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The twenty-six respondents who identify as feminists expressed their feminism along with their religious beliefs and cultural identification. When asking respondents to check all the identities that best describe them, I specifically listed feminist and activist along with religious and ethnic identities. Feminist identity was the overwhelming collective identity among members, but an overwhelming majority perceived their ethnic identity as Arabs (twenty-two members). Interestingly, while most respondents claimed to be Arabs or hyphenated-Arabs, the majority of the respondents (twenty-four members) indicated that the United States was their place of residency or their hyphenated identity (i.e. Arab-Americans). Others resided in Australia, Canada, Egypt, Iraq, the United Kingdom, Palestine, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia. The majority of the members stated Arab countries (Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen) as their countries of origin, and a number of them listed their nationality as Australian, Canadian, German, and even Filipina. It is noteworthy that AWSA United members living outside the United States outnumbered those included in the sample. Thus, one could argue that although AWSA United is a diaspora group, with a majority of its members living in the United States, its main focus remains womens rights in the Arab world, as evident in the discussions that take place on the listserv. One respondent described AWSA United as a forum that encompasses Arab womens activism internationally:
Cyber AWSA is much more an Arab-American listserv than an Arab one, so because I live in the Arab world it was mostly helpful in terms of information provided about the organizations and activities of ArabAmerican feminists. [It] provided a productive framework through which to see my own local activism as part of a more international struggle.

In the Other category, members identified themselves as queer, liberal, pacifist, or white American, although one person found the question about identity too hard to answer because she is a descendent of a mixed heritage and has lived in many places in the world. In attempting to define Arab womens activism, I am interested in learning: Does religion play a role in determining who is an activist (and/or a feminist) and who is not? Miriam cookes (2000) study explains

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how Arab women activists gained legitimacy for their struggle in their sociopolitical environments by creating harmony between religion and rights. These strategies include associating with other disadvantaged women in patriarchal societies, linking themselves with Muslim men who were victimized by colonial policies, and increasing their political activism (cooke 2000). Women in cookes study were successful in gaining legitimacy through socially capitalizing on their Muslim identity in a modern Arabic sociopolitical context. The questionnaire revealed that religion is a prevalent component of AWSA United members identities. About half of the respondents listed religion as a part of their identity. While this questionnaire shows that religious affiliation was not a divisive factor among activists among Muslim-Christian lines, it also shows that sixteen out of thirty-four members did not feel pressured to express their identity along the dichotomy of feminist/liberal versus Christian/Muslim. My second question concerns the construction of the groups collective identity. Debra Friedman and Doug McAdam (1992) claim that individual identities are the sum total of various collective identities combined and configured in the experiences of individuals. Collectively, AWSA United members identify as feminists committed to advancing Arab womens rights. Likewise, respondents identify AWSA United as: a group of Arab and non-Arab individuals dedicated to Arab womens causes and issues, a forum that allows members all over the world to share their concerns, a group of Arab women and their allies, Arab ladies, active Arab women, liberals and feminists, and intellectual Arab feminists. One respondent described the group as an online group of transnationally based Arab women, mostly living in the West and united by the struggle for womens rights in the Arab world, for Arab rights in the West, and for freedom and democracy in the Arab regions. In sum, AWSA United members feel safe and free to proclaim and embrace their individual controversial identities for being queer, liberal, pacifist, liberal, and progressive, and their collective oppositional identity as educated feminists who are united in the fight for Arab womens rights.
Connectivity

In this section, I examine how cyberspace provides AWSA members

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with enabling social networks and enhances their experience of connectivity (Joseph 1993). Suad Joseph (452) coined this term to describe relationships in which a persons boundaries are relatively fluid so that a person feels a part of significant others. Scholars posit that collective identity is often achieved through the internalization of shared consciousness among members who belong to an organization (Gamson 1992, Friedman and McAdam 1992, Taylor and Whittier 1992). AWSA United members have been connected over time, across space, and through sentimental bonds. They have innovatively extended their connectivity with each other in response to internal and external challenges. Although the listserv often experiences low traffic with occasional surges in posts, AWSA United has existed for many years. Other groups have eventually disappeared, but AWSA United persists today despite internal conflicts, external pressure, and technological shifts to other means of mass media. Respondents recognize AWSAs significance in connecting them in a spatial context. One respondent realized that there may be a downside to the interconnectedness so often prevalent in the dynamics of the group, yet she found AWSA United members able to connect with each other because of their transnationality. Despite the high concentration of AWSA United members in the United States, women join AWSA from all over the world; they belong to many races and come from different national origins. Moreover, AWSA United members feel connected based on their Arab heritage, gender identities, and the intersection between gender and culture in what came to define them as transnational Arab feminists. This transnationality is prevalent not only in the wide geographic representation of AWSA United membership, as I demonstrated earlier, but also in the adoption of the transnational feminist stance to which members ascribe. Overall, AWSA United members not only remain connected with one another, but they extend their support to others fighting for social justice and womens rights around the world. In the questionnaire, members viewed AWSA United as a safe forum to discuss issues on culture and politics, especially those that affect women, as well as other subjects such as peace, social justice, human rights, womens liberation, and collaboration in cyberspace. Words like solidarity, support, networking, and information

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were often used by respondents to describe their connectivity through AWSA United. The most common bond that AWSA United members share is their interest in advancing the rights of Arab women. Moreover, current members, who inherited AWSA, seem committed to pursuing the goals set by the founders. When I asked AWSA United members whether they believe that they are adhering to these goals, members indicated that their listserv is mostly successful in promoting knowledge of Arab women and building solidarity among them, i.e. connectivity as shown below:
The followings are the goals listed on AWSAs web page. For each of the following, please tell me whether or not you think Cyber AWSA is fulfilling that particular goal (Mark Yes or No): Goal Creating solidarity among Arab women Encouraging Arab-American women to work with other Arab women in North America, the Arab region, and internationally Promoting knowledge regarding Arab womens pursuit for equal rights Increasing the active participation of Arab women in social, economic, cultural, and political life Promoting and sustaining a positive image of Arab culture and Arab women in North America Including the voice of Arab women in the global feminist movement Encouraging the participation of Arab women in international conferences that address human rights (including womens rights, and other issues affecting the lives of Arab women) Yes 25 19 No 7 11 No Response 2 4

29 12

4 18

1 4

18

10

15 21

17 11

2 2

The goals that AWSA United has had the most trouble achieving have been those that were most idealistic. Over half of the members did not see it as within AWSA Uniteds capability to increase womens active participation in public life or to penetrate the global feminist movement. Members saw more potential with the other goals. While twenty-nine members indicated that AWSA United has been most successful in promoting knowledge concerning Arab women and their

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movements, I suspect that most of the actions toward this end were done on an individual basis. The respondents could have meant that they have increased their knowledge about Arab womens activism through their membership in AWSA United. The majority of the respondents (twentyfive members) felt that AWSA United has succeeded in strengthening their sense of solidarity. Over half of the respondents were satisfied with AWSA Uniteds role in encouraging cooperation among Arab women in the diaspora and the homeland (nineteen members), as well as participation in international conferences (eighteen members). It is noteworthy that these connections are launched primarily on the personal level. Personal initiatives play a strong role in building connections among such a marginalized and geographically disperse group of women (Stephan 2010). Members also expressed a sense of satisfaction with AWSA Uniteds efforts to promote and sustain a positive image of Arab culture and Arab women in North America. In response to the negative portrayal of Arab women in the media, public discussions, governmental policies, and even academia, AWSA United members find a relief in this e-community. AWSA United shows an alternative image of Arab women as rational, civically engaged, and strong. One person stressed the role that AWSA United plays in creating a safe haven in a politically uncertain environment:
I joined AWSA after 9/11 in need to [experience] solidarity with other Arab women. Since then, I have met many women from the email list and have collaborated with them in a variety of waysthrough conference panels and writing. I have been less active on the AWSA list after the many disagreements among members.

In sum, what connects these women in AWSA United is their resistance to the ethnic and gender-based injustices they continue to experience despite their diverse places of residence.
Cyberactivism

Despite doubts, the case of AWSA United shows that chatting is a form of activism. AWSA United members feel that this membership is a part of their activism in the local and national politics of their countries of residence and the international politics that affects their countries

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of origin. When I asked AWSA United members about their levels of activism vis--vis their membership in AWSA United, many indicated that their online activism has increased as a result of their membership. Their answers are as follows:
How has AWSA helped you in your online activism? (check all that apply) Voicing your concerns by writing e-mails Getting informed by reading articles/news Signing petitions Taking polls Connecting to another listserv or web site Other Frequency 14 30 5 2 8 6

The highest number of respondents asserted positively that AWSA United helped them become more informed. A significant number of AWSA United members considered it a medium to express their opinions by writing e-mails to appropriate parties, signing petitions, or taking polls, while others found it a useful networking venue through the various action-related e-mails that are regularly posted on the listserv. In the Other category, one respondent stressed the role of AWSA United in validating my viewpoints and giving me confidence to voice them in other settings, and another explained how hearing other views from women around the world has helped me round out my own perspectives. Here again, this study confirms the claim that AWSA United has succeeded in promoting knowledge concerning Arab women and their movements. The getting informed responses are a great indicator that AWSA United at least contributed to its members activism by channeling their attainment of news and information from sources beyond mainstream media outlets, thus bringing them other points of view. Furthermore, almost half of the respondents indicated that they have responded to calls for action posted on the listserv by other members. Indeed, electronic action alerts have become an effective and efficient way to deliver numerous voices and signatures to decision makers. Networking with similar-minded individuals seems to be a third way that respondents utilize the listserv. This is evident in the opinions of the respondents who used the listserv to connect to another electronic

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entity. But one important piece of data provided in the answers is the fact that AWSA United members felt they needed to validate their viewpoints and round out their perspectives. This is an important point that might be sometimes overlooked in analyzing activism. How often do activists, or active members of an organization, need to validate their cause and motives? To which safe place can they go to get that sense of reassurance? While this kind of affirmation is important, entities like AWSA United do not provide further tools for carrying out the activism. Indeed, AWSA United members did not feel that their membership has impacted their non-electronic activism, as the table below demonstrates:
How has AWSA membership helped you in your activism in general? (check all that apply) Make phone calls to officials Write letters Join organization(s) Vote Make monetary contributions Attend meeting/conference Other Frequency 5 13 9 4 4 7 16

Some respondents indicated that AWSA United did not help them in their general activism, but others recognized AWSA Uniteds influence in encouraging them to write letters, join other organizations, attend conferences, make phone calls to officials, vote, and make monetary contribution to campaigns. The Other category included several answers such as staying informed or increasing information and awareness: One person indicated that the discussions have furthered awareness on the complexity of issues and the divides in the Arab-American community. Here again, promoting knowledge and awareness seems to be a major theme that reoccurs in the utility of the listserv to its members. Contextualizing their activism is another service that this entity provides, by providing a productive framework to help members understand their own local activism and relate it to global struggles. In fact, between 2000 and 2001, AWSA United members led a campaign against honor

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killings and organized efforts to lend solidarity to regional and local groups and individuals taking a stand against this traditional practice (Stephan 2007). As the founders had hoped to make AWSA United a protected forum in cyberspace, they also wanted to develop it as a tool for civic activism and political participation. In addition to being a safe space for members, AWSA was imbued with a spirit of activism and progressiveness evident in most of the discussions and information disseminated on the listserv. Calls for action are regular postings to which several members respond: They call Congress, e-mail foreign authorities, and sign petitions. In sum, the majority of the respondents felt that AWSA United adhered to most of its goals, although they found it least successful in increasing Arab womens political participation and representing the voice of Arab women in the global feminist movements. Members varied in their opinions and choices regarding the effectiveness of AWSA United in channeling their personal activism, but their answers divided into mostly four categories. The first category is comprised of participants who view AWSA United solely as a unique outlet of information. A respondent called it a phenomenal place to meet others and get more informed about issues at the center stage of the Arab World. Another person contrasted AWSA United with the New York Times, stating that from AWSA United
I get articles and stories that I wouldnt naturally get otherwise and also get a sense of the opinions and thoughts of a group of women who I much respect but who arent reflected in mainstream media.... I look to the listserv to give me a better sense of what a diverse group of people (more diverse than the NY Times op-ed page) thinks about it.

The second category of respondents was discontented with the low utility of the listserv and/or the ideological conflicts that occur occasionally on it between progressive leftists on the one hand and sympathizers with the conservative right on the other. They felt that AWSA United fell short of meeting their expectations for progressive activism. A few respondents expressed the opinion that the lack of passion and activism on AWSA United was a sign of apathy, as was its use by those who see it as a means simply to pass on information and articles. While some said that AWSA United was an objective gate for Arab women, others

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described it as a hostile environment that sometimes can be easily hijacked by loud and empty mouths. One respondent described the environment as very political and extremely partisan and intolerant on some issues. These descriptions lend a vivid picture to the dynamic on the listserv, which varies between being conflictual, merry, and calm. However, the listserv remains at all times unmoderated (i.e. messages are not monitored or blocked) and open for all members to communicate freely. The third category consists of those who yearn for a greater participation of all members, especially older members who could enrich conversations on the listserv. They expressed a strong desire to be involved in more discussions and to increase their civic engagements. They wished for a greater role for the listserv and especially its steering committee in guiding the members in that direction. One respondent said, I wish it were more personal and had more assertive/aggressive steering committee. Another respondent expressed her aspiration for the development of AWSA United globally: I think it is a worthwhile endeavorI have learned a lot from this group. I think it should expand even further worldwideperhaps it can get promoted even more to English-speaking Arab women around the world. The fourth camp represents those who include AWSA United in their activism profile. AWSA United has allowed these respondents to discover their identities as Arab women, to define their positions in the society as feminists and activists, and to participate in the global processes of social change. One respondent said, This is a wonderful group of women discussing everything from politics to underarm hair. (In fact, I remember the underarm hair story that was discussed for over a week on the listserv). In sum, cyberspace has made it possible for AWSA United members in the West to wage their ideological struggles for existence, especially after September 11, 2001, when their mere Arab identities became a threat. Similarly, the Internet has allowed Arab women in their homelands to escape patriarchal control over their quest for rights and to construct for themselves new definitions of their identities in the Arab world. The Internet has opened a gate to women even in strict Saudi Arabia to join AWSA United and access its resources. Through the transnational setting of AWSA United, Arab women offer each other support, share information, expand their networks, and validate the formation of their gendered and ethnic identities.

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Conclusion

Since 2004, when this study was conducted, AWSA United members remain active and connected with each other although activities on the listserv have decreased since the end of 2007, and especially since April 2011. These dates coincide with two global events: The first marks the rise in Facebook popularity and membership; the second is associated with the intensifying of the Egyptian Revolution and the toppling of President Hosni Mubarak and his regime. While these two events do not necessarily constitute historical markers in the lifespan of AWSA United, the decrease in postings to the listserv was significant. The increase in alternative nodes launched on other social media outlets, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, might have diverted members attention from the listserv. Nonetheless, a number of projects have recently spun off from this listserv, including a collaborative British play highlighting womens role in the Arab Spring, a book project on the veil, announcements for conferences, a call for support of the Global Coalition for Egyptian Women Unions, a petition to the Arab League to impose sanctions on Syria, and calls for papers and contributions to special issues on Arab feminism. However, members of AWSA United did not take a stance nor did they become collectively involved in any activities associated with the various uprisings of the Arab Spring. Through participation in AWSA, women created a social process of dissidence through their membership and activism. In light of transnational social and cultural challenges, I found that Arab women in the diaspora sought AWSA United as a forum for cyberactivism in three ways. First, they found AWSA United to be a safe space to claim their individual and collective Arab feminist identities. Second, the listserv connected them with other Arab feminists and activists around the world. Third, AWSA provides them with a means to disseminate information and cultivate collaborative efforts. By comprising networks, relationships, and recognitions, the data show that AWSA United provides its members with solidarity and camaraderie. In terms of identity, the data from this case study show that cyberspace allows activists to construct and express their collective identity as Christian and Muslim, Arab and feminist. Despite cultural and gender homogeneity, diversity is evident in members nationalities, religions,

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sexualities, educational backgrounds, and political views. AWSA United brings members from varied paths around the world together in a forum to discuss issues relevant to their lives without the censorship of any authority. Members maintain their association with this listserv because it is one of the few places where they feel safe to be women, Arabs, intellectuals, queers, feminists, Americans, pro-Palestinians, pacifists, and everything else. As shown in the case of AWSA United, cyberspace can be successful in strengthening members connectivity through networking and information. AWSA United gives the group a sense of trust, reciprocity, and cooperation, as well as a set of networks and an outlet for civic engagement. Members feel empowered and connected with each other, regardless of their political, national, sexual, and religious differences. While AWSA United members cannot prevent men from monitoring womens activities online or influence the outcome of womens rights, they provide women who join their forum support, camaraderie, and solidarity. Finally, this study affirms the presence of cyberfeminism as a viable expression of power struggle. In cyberspace, AWSA United members share their feminism, network with one another, and expand their activism, not only locally or nationally but also transnationally. As a cyberfeminist e-community, AWSA United is a geographically dispersed womens advocacy group that strengthens connectivity among Arab feminists around the world. It is transnational in its scope, plural in its governance, and progressive in its politics.8
Notes
1. See http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats5.htm (accessed on August 29, 2012). Note that about 77.4 percent of the United States population uses the Internet: http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats14.htm (accessed on August 29, 2012). 2. See Zogby Internationals 2002 Arab American survey: http://www.aaiusa. org/arab-americans/22/demographics (accessed on September 20, 2012). 3. The identities of the people who wrote and posted the message are kept confidential and anonymous. An AWSA United member shared this e-mail from another listserv, and she granted me permission to quote the story. Emphasis added by author. 4. For more details, see Stephan (2004), from which the following history is summarized.

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5. See http://www.awsa.net (accessed on August 29, 2012). 6. Causes and consequences of the conflict are beyond the scope of this study. 7. Of 147 Palestinian students surveyed, 93.9 percent of respondents who had read al-Saadawis work were able to identify her as a feminist. 8. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, the U.S. Department of State or the U.S. Census Bureau.

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