women

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”

Christians

Jeb Bush & Schiavo Affair: Islamization of GOP?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment)| – Michael Schiavo is speaking out about Jeb Bush’s determined, sustained and energetic intervention, as Florida governor, in the private medical decision of the Schiavo family to take Terri off life support after her brain showed no sign of activity. Politico says, “Michael Schiavo called Jeb Bush a vindictive, […]

Afghanistan

Farkhunda is Our Sister: A “Martyr” to women and the Making of a New Afghanistan?

contributors

By Ann Jones | (Tomdispatch.com) | — I went to Kabul, Afghanistan, in March to see old friends. By chance, I arrived the day after a woman had been beaten to death and burned by a mob of young men. The world would soon come to know her name: Farkhunda. The name means “auspicious” or […]