OBAMA ON WOMEN'S RIGHTS IN CAIRO.

At UN Dispatch, Peter Daou has some harsh words about the women's rights segment of Obama's Cairo speech. Indeed, the issue of Muslim women's right to wear the hijab in Western Europe was clearly chosen because of its political expedience -- an opportunity to side with the Muslim world over our traditional Western allies -- not because it is the major issue facing women in the Middle East. I support women's choice to wear the hijab. But for many women in countries such as Iran and Saudi Arabia, veiling is a major daily imposition and human rights violation -- one they vociferously oppose.

Here's what the president said:

The U.S. government has gone to court to protect the right of women and girls to wear the hijab, and to punish those who would deny it.

I reject the view of some in the West that a woman who chooses to cover her hair is somehow less equal, but I do believe that a woman who is denied an education is denied equality. And it is no coincidence that countries where women are well-educated are far more likely to be prosperous.

Now let me be clear: issues of women's equality are by no means simply an issue for Islam. In Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia, we have seen Muslim-majority countries elect a woman to lead. Meanwhile, the struggle for women's equality continues in many aspects of American life, and in countries around the world.

Our daughters can contribute just as much to society as our sons, and our common prosperity will be advanced by allowing all humanity - men and women - to reach their full potential. I do not believe that women must make the same choices as men in order to be equal, and I respect those women who choose to live their lives in traditional roles. But it should be their choice. That is why the United States will partner with any Muslim-majority country to support expanded literacy for girls, and to help young women pursue employment through micro-financing that helps people live their dreams.

I like the emphasis on education. Late last year, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah announced plans to open the nation's first women's university, which will allow Saudi women to comprehensively study medicine, pharmacy, management, computer science, and foreign languages for the first time. Yet in Saudi Arabia, education remains completely sex-segregated. Female college students interact with their male instructors only through a video feed.

But I have to agree with Daou that Obama missed an opportunity to more strongly stand up for Muslim women's rights around issues like genital mutilation and rape. He writes, "With women being stoned, raped, abused, battered, mutilated, and slaughtered on a daily basis across the globe, violence that is so often perpetrated in the name of religion, the most our president can speak about is protecting their right to wear the hijab?"

--Dana Goldstein