Manal Al-Sharif and the Ban on Saudi Women Driving

June 1, 2011 By emanhashim
Women2Drive, Manal al-Sharif

A poster for the Women2Drive campaign that features Manal Al-Sharif.

Last week, Manal Al-Sharif was arrested because she posted a video of herself driving around Alkhobar, Saudi Arabia, on YouTube. Because it is illegal for women to drive in Saudi Arabia, both she and her brother were detained. Al-Sharif has since been released, having pledged to take no further part in the Women2Drive campaign.

The Women2Drive is the campaign to overturn a ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia that was enacted in 1990. Through a web-based campaign that includes a blog, Facebook and Twitter, 10 Saudi women–including Manal Al-Sharif–encourage all Saudi women who have international driving licenses to drive through Saudi streets on June 17th in protest of the patriarchal ban:

“I’m doing it because I’m frustrated, angry and mad,” Manal, who asked to be identified only by her first name, said in an interview from the eastern city of Dhahran. “It’s 2011 and we’re still discussing this insignificant right for women.”

Though it might seem like something basic, driving for Saudi women is potentially a major change in life style. Even King Abdullah himself thinks so, as he stated more than once that he supported the reforms, including the lifting of the ban on women driving cars, when it is accepted by “[his] people.” Other religious leaders and governmental figures argue for lifting the ban: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Events, News, Politics Tagged With: , , , , ,

An Interview with MMW’s Eman Hashim on Egypt

May 5, 2011 By emanhashim

Muslimah Media Watch contributor Eman Hashim was in the middle of Egypt’s Tahrir Square for the protests against former President Hosni Mubarak. Krista and Azra interviewed her to find out about her experiences.

Muslimah Media Watch: At what point did you decide to join the protests happening in Cairo?  Why?

Eman Hashim: Late January 25th. I wasn’t one of those who started the first spark. When things started to get ugly and I knew that I–not only as a citizen, but as an eye doctor–was needed, I had to go. Went to pharmacy, got a collection of first aid supplies, and several drugs for eyes, burns, cuts, etc.

MMW: What was your role in the protests?

EH: I was participating in the protests and posting over the internet everything happening to us. When the connections started to get cut off, I started contacting all my contacts outside Egypt intensively to keep an eye as much as they can about what was going to happen because I was worried the old Egyptian regime was intending to be aggressive.

During the camel attack, I was doing my best to grab the already existing attention that a massacre was being executed against Egyptian people, like all the other bloggers.

MMW: What were the biggest challenges during that time?

EH: Media! The Egyptian regime was using media against us in all possible methods. They tried to attack us: accused us of being spies, getting paid from other countries, and working for some certain agendas aiming to destroy the country; and they even accused women in the protests of being bad-mannered girls aiming to make our parents force us not to go.

MMW: What was the atmosphere like?

EH: The Tahrir days were the most amazing days of my life! I don’t think I will ever forget these days. Finally my dream came true: during the major 18 protest days, I was a human, not a woman!

No one was looking at me like I was useless or why was I here. I was valued as a citizen speaking up with her opinion. Throughout the angry Friday attack, no one was looking at me as a woman. The level of stress, and rising up your awareness to much bigger issues – mostly that all our lives were in danger – made everyone easily put things in perspective. Gender, religion, race, age were not of importance that time; we were all humans, and we were all Egyptians!

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Events, News, Politics Tagged With: , , ,

678: A Film to Appreciate

January 27, 2011 By emanhashim

Egypt, like the rest of the Middle East, has been suffering for a long time from street harassment. Naturally, different Egyptian intellects have been trying to emphasize the problem and highlight what can be the start of solving it. Mohamed Diab, a young Egyptian writer, wrote and directed the movie “678,” which focuses on this very dangerous phenomenon. You can see a trailer (in Arabic) here.

“678” is the story of three very different Egyptian women who all experience street harassment. Seba (Nelly Karim) is a very rich jewelry designer, who comes from a highly powerful family and is married to a successful gynecologist. Nelly (Nahed Elsebae’y) works in telesales by day and is an opinionated standup comedy performer at night. And Faiza (Bushra), the poor wife and mother of two who works as a government clerk and who has been constantly assaulted from behind on buses. For her role as Faiza, Bushra won the award for best female actor in a lead role in the Dubai Film Festival.

Other than the harassment, what these three women have in common is that the three of them refused this and took action. Seba started a self defense course for other women, Nelly filed a lawsuit against her attacker, and Faiza was the most aggressive, as she held a small knife in her purse, and used it to attack men who aggressively approached her.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Cinema, Culture/Society Tagged With: , , , ,
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »