أرشيف الوسم : women

Zehra Mehdi-Barlas Yes, I was fortunate enough to be born in a country and into a family where it was expected for me, a girl, to get educated and have a voice. I was told that praying is good for the soul, but so is music. I was encouraged to read and learn more about the world. I was neither …

Several acid attacks on women in the historic city of Isfahan has raised alarm and prompted rumors that the women were being targeted for not being properly covered. The Iranian police have declined to comment on the issue, but say that many suspects have been arrested and that an investigation is currently ongoing, General Hossein Ashtari was quoted saying by …

Iran has blocked access to a page on Instagram dedicated to the lifestyle of the young elite of Tehran that stirred strong displeasure and had spawned a rival page that showed how most people in Iran live. The “Richkidsoftehran” page was created in September on Instagram and had attracted around 90,000 followers, with its contributors stating that they wanted to …

By Natalie Shooter – REORIENT In the midst of a nascent film industry, a handful of female filmmakers have emerged in the Arabian Peninsula, pioneering film in the region and using it as a tool to fight for change. Saudi Arabia and Yemen both present volatile environments for any director; in the former, cinemas are illegal, and in both, authorisation …

By Rafia Zakaria It is often offered as a solution to the problem of destitute women. If every man married four of them, some have stated, then all women would have a male guardian, a protector, someone to support them. The reality of polygamy, however, is often neither this neat nor this simple. Last week, The National, a leading newspaper …

Islamic State (IS) fighters in Iraq are inflicting shocking human rights violations that could amount to war crimes, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said on Thursday. “The array of violations and abuses perpetrated by ISIL and associated armed groups is staggering, and many of their acts may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity”, …

South African Muslim academic Taj Hargey has pledged to go ahead and start a woman-friendly and gay-friendly mosque in his country, despite receiving several death threats over the issue. Taj Hargey is the director of the Muslim Educational Centre of Oxford, an organization of “forward thinking” Muslims; Hargey says that his Open Mosque will welcome people of all sexual orientations, …

On Tuesday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health, at the time of writing, declared at least 624 deaths since the Israeli onslaught on Gaza began over two weeks ago. It added that over 3,750 people have been wounded by the Israeli attack. In the latest attack, air strikes caused the deaths of at least 13 children and women in Gaza, medics …

On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to ramp up the Israeli campaign against Hamas which has cost 43 Palestinian lives so far. Wednesday, the second day of “Operation Protective Edge”, saw the deaths of 21 Palestinians, including 15 women and children, caused by Israeli strikes, setting the overall death toll for the past two days at 43, emergency …

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that 20 members of extremist group Islamic State (IS) were killed in Wednesday by Syrian air force raids against the group’s bastion in the city of Raqa. Syrian rebels struck and killed 14 people in overnight strikes in the village ofKhatab in the province of Hama, the Observatory and state media said. “At …