Updates: Amina Abdullah and Eman al-Obeidi

Last updated on: June 10, 2011 at 12:15 am By Krista

Two important updates on stories that we have covered over the past couple months! First, Sara Yasin wrote recently about a blog called “A Gay Girl in Damascus,” where Syrian-American blogger Amina Abdullah Arraf has been writing about the revolution in Syria. Amina Abdullah Arraf was allegedly abducted on June 6, and has not been heard from. Many news organizations have since questioned her identity, especially the pictures assumed to be hers were discovered to be of another woman, Jelena Lecic. While we’re all... Read more

Friday Links | June 10, 2011

Last updated on: June 10, 2011 at 12:00 am By fatemeh

In case you didn’t hear, FIFA barred Iran’s women’s soccer team from the field over their headgear. Plenty has been written about why it happened, and the subject may be reopened for discussion. Maybe they can wear this? Some cool research focuses on Muslim women who lived through the Khmer Rouge. Lamia Shakkour, Syria’s ambassador to France, may or may not have resigned. We’re not sure, because the woman who resigned may be an impersonator. Controversy in the southern U.S.... Read more

The Ghettoization of Begumpura Neighborhoods

Last updated on: June 9, 2011 at 12:00 am By eren

The Star recently reported on the existence of “Begumpura” neighborhoods in Ontario. “Begumpura,” translated from Urdu as “the place where women live,” refers to neighborhoods where immigrant women live with their families. The areas are usually occupied by women of South Asian origin whose husbands work in the Middle East. The title “Colony of wives” evokes the image of South Asian Muslim women living in harems and impatiently waiting for their “male guardians.” The article, which highlights two South Asian... Read more

The DSK Rape Victim is Everything but a Victim, According to the Media

Last updated on: June 8, 2011 at 12:00 am By sarahaji

The media response to the Dominique Strauss-Kahn rape charges is predictably horrific. The salacious gossip can maintain itself for weeks: the victim lives in a complex for HIV-positive residents (no wait! She doesn’t); wears hijab; and is “pious and respectable.” No, you say, she’s not unattractive—she’s actually got great breasts? A full 57% of French citizens claim that Strauss-Kahn, who was set to unseat Sarkozy in the upcoming election, was set-up at his Sofitel Hotel. This, of course, is particularly... Read more

To Be or Not To Be (Muslim)

Last updated on: December 11, 2011 at 9:07 pm By Krista

Deaf Sisterhood is a short documentary about Aran Slade, a 27-year-old white woman living in Birmingham, U.K., who is thinking of becoming Muslim (you can see the trailer below. For those in the U.K., it’s airing this week, on stations listed here.). Although her family is not religious, Aran became Christian ten years ago, and is now learning about Islam, partly because her partner, Saghir, is Muslim. As you might have guessed from the title, Aran is Deaf, and the... Read more

The Sensational Story That Wasn’t: Reports Of ‘Stoning’ Death Of Ukrainian Girl Turn Out To Be False

Last updated on: June 6, 2011 at 12:00 am By Guest Contributor

This was written by Farangis Najibullah and originally published at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. RFE/RL’s Ukraine Service correspondents Volodymyr Prytula in Crimea and Maryana Drach in Prague contributed to this report. The headlines were nothing short of chilling. “Aspiring ‘Miss Ukraine’ Killed Under Shari’a Laws In Crimea” warned Ukrainian online newspaper “Gazeta Po-Kievski.” “Radical Islamists Murder Young Girl In Crimea,” screamed Russia’s “Svobodnaya Pressa.” “Muslim Girl,19, Stoned To Death After Taking Part In Beauty Contest,” was the headline on Britain’s... Read more

Friday Links | June 3, 2011

Last updated on: June 3, 2011 at 12:00 am By fatemeh

Activists have demanded the authorities in Egypt prosecute anyone responsible for subjecting protesters to alleged virginity tests earlier this year. Al Jazeera interviews Lamees Dhaif about her career and censorship of journalists. On Mauritania’s young women who voluntarily resort to dangerous methods to gain weight. On the “colony of wives” left behind in Canada. A judge has given a Kenyan high school the last chance to respond to a suit by a Muslim student who is seeking court orders to... Read more

Facebook isn’t the Final Frontier for Female Drivers in Saudi Arabia

Last updated on: June 2, 2011 at 12:00 am By samya

On June 17th, women in Saudi Arabia plan to take to the streets—they’re going to get behind the wheel to protest a religious edict forbidding them to drive. As Eman wrote in a post about the Women2Drive campaign yesterday, Manal Al-Sharif posted a Youtube video of herself calling on all women to drive their automobiles on that day. She told CNN that her move was induced by the fact that “there is no law that bans women from driving cars... Read more

Manal Al-Sharif and the Ban on Saudi Women Driving

Last updated on: June 1, 2011 at 12:00 am By emanhashim

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... Read more

A Gay Girl in Damascus Tells It Like It Is

Last updated on: May 31, 2011 at 12:00 am By Sara Yasin

Amina Abdullah is being celebrated as the unlikely voice of Syria’s revolution. She is a 35-year-old Syrian-American woman living in Damascus. On her blog, she writes candidly about her life as a lesbian in Syria. She garnered international attention after a post describing how her father was in an altercation with the state police. Abdullah’s blog is not only significant as an account of someone in the midst of Syria’s revolution. It is also important because it is creating more... Read more