women

By Ashfaq Yusufzai | (Inter Press Service) | – – PESHAWAR, Pakistan (IPS) – For years, Robina Shah has dreamed of joining the police force. Ever since her father, a police constable, was killed in a 2013 Taliban suicide attack in Peshawar, capital of Pakistan’s northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, she has longed to carry on […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

Her War: Kurdish Women Commandos take on ISIL/ Daesh in Syria

contributors

RT | (Video Report) | – – “In the face of the deadly threat posed by the so-called Islamic State, many Kurdish women decide not to leave their survival to fate. Instead, they fight for their lives and their future. Taking up arms, they join the YPG – Kurdish People’s Protection Units that defend their […]

African-Americans

Sexism, Racism and Terrorism: Roof’s Misuse of Women to justify Lynching

Juan Cole

By Lisa Wade | (The Conversation) | – – Many important things will be said in the next few weeks about the murder of nine people holding a prayer meeting at a historic African American church in Charleston, South Carolina on the evening of June 17. Here I want to focus on what the suspected […]

Arab World

Women’s Voices Matter, especially in the Middle East

contributors

By Lauren Feeney | (Informed Comment) – – Before there were nine million Syrian refugees, civil wars in Yemen and Libya, mass death sentences being handed down in Egypt, there was a moment of profound hope. It is easy to lose track of the emotions that first defined the Arab Spring among headlines full of […]

art and photography

5,000 Hanging Skirts: How Women Remember War Rape in Kosova

Juan Cole

By Frances Trix | (Informed Comment) | – – On 12 June, 5,000 skirts and dresses were hung on 45 clotheslines in the football stadium in Prishtina, capital of Kosova. “The laundry is washed clean, like the women who are clean and pure—they carry no stain,” asserted artist Alketa Xhafa-Mripa, the Kosovar originator of the […]

censorship

On eve of Turkish Election, Leftist Women Turn backs on Pres. Erdogan in Twitter Campaign

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – In Turkey, left of center and Kurdish women took to Twitter on Wednesday to post pictures of themselves turning their backs to President Tayyip Erdogan. The campaign came after Kurdish women supporting the HDP (People’s Democratic Party) turned their back to the president at a rally […]

Africa

Can Nigeria’s new Muslim President defeat Boko Haram Extremists?

contributors

By Lisa Vives | — NEW YORK (IPS) – Muhammadu Buhari, his hand on the Holy Book, was sworn in as Nigeria’s president at an open-air ceremony this past Friday in the capital city of Abuja. His speech acknowledged many of the challenges facing the largest democracy in Africa but offered hope that these challenges […]

Israel

SlutWalk: Israeli Women March For Equal Rights In Jerusalem

contributors

AJ+ | (Video) | – “It’s a city where women have been forced to sit at the back of buses. Now Israel’s women are demanding equal rights in Jerusalem with a “SlutWalk”.” AJ+: “SlutWalk: Israeli Women March For Equal Rights In Jerusalem”

African-Americans

Hip-Hop Hijabis: Spitting Rhymes About Being Muslim And Female

contributors

AJ+ | – “Hip-hop is a male-dominated arena. In California, a hip-hop collective of Muslim women are challenging stereotypes about being Muslim, and women, through their lyrics.” AJ+: “Hip-Hop Hijabis: Spitting Rhymes About Being Muslim And Female”