Arab Women Forum Kicks Off In Dubai; Princess Reema Bint Bandar Al Saud Speaks On Women In The Workplace
New
Age Islam News Bureau
17
May 2022
•
Kenyan Woman, Martha Karua, In Running For Post Of Deputy President In Historic
First
•
French City Approves Muslim Swimsuit After Controversial Pool Rule Change
•
Female Government Employees In Afghanistan Demand Freedom To Work
•
Princess Reema Receives Honorary Doctorate From Marymount University
•
Women’s Tennis Association Adds Tournament In Tunisia Following Ons Jabeur’s
Success
•
Very Good News For Girls' Education In Afghanistan Soon, Says Afghanistan's
Interior Minister
•
Woman Seeks Intervention In SC In Plea Against 'Talaq-E-Hasan'
•
Pakistan Diplomat Dismissed Over Charges Of Harassing Woman Colleague
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/arab-forum-dubai-princess-reema/d/127027
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Arab
Women Forum Kicks Off In Dubai; Princess Reema Bint Bandar Al Saud Speaks On
Women In The Workplace
(AN
photo)
----
May
17, 2022
DUBAI:
Saudi Ambassador to the United States Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud speaks
at Arab Women Forum on women in the workplace.
Assistant
Editor-in-Chief, Arab News Noor Nugali moderates the Storytellers From The War
Front session at the Arab Women Forum, Dubai, featuring Skynews reporter Arizh
Mukhammed and Alhadath Senior News Anchor Christiane Baissary.
There
is a common misconception that women are not suited for war coverage as people
think women are emotional and sensitive compared to men, Baissary told the
forum.
“A
soldier told me that women should not cover in the war zone. He was trying to
convince me that I should not stay to cover the war, it's not the mentality in
the Middle East but everywhere,” said Baissary.
Baissary
noted that things have changed now, and women are currently getting more
chances to cover wars.
During
the session, Skynews reporter Arizh Mukhammed said that fear will be there in
the minds of reporters as they cover from the war front.
“Your
courage must have limits. When you are going to cover war, you have your fears,
but they must be put under control,” said Mukhammed.
She
also added that women differ from men in war reporting as they create
humanitarian journalistic materials.
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2083596/business-economy
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Kenyan
Woman, Martha Karua, In Running For Post Of Deputy President In Historic First
Martha
KaruaPhotographer: SOPA Images/Getty Images
----
Andrew
Wasike Shimanyula
17.05.2022
NAIROBI,
Kenya
As
Kenya gears up for general elections on Aug. 9, the East African nation may get
its first female deputy president after one of the leading presidential
candidates picked a woman as his running mate.
Martha
Karua was named as the preferred deputy presidential candidate by Kenya’s
opposition leader and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who is running for
the presidency.
Odinga,
77, who is the candidate under the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Alliance party,
announced Karua, 64, as his running mate at the Kenyatta International
Convention Centre, calling her “a fighter and not a quitter."
“History
is calling us to produce our first female deputy president. This woman has a
beautiful soul, as exhibited by her love for her children and grandchildren.
She will make a great co-worker,” Odinga said.
Odinga
lauded her for being appointed as a magistrate at the age of 24 and going ahead
to become one of the youngest female lawmakers in her later years.
In
her nomination acceptance speech, an elated Karua said Monday that “this a
moment for Kenyan women. Women are instrumental in pursuing change, and this is
why this is the moment to usher more women in at the national and county level
to these leadership positions.”
“I
am ready, able and willing to work with you – Raila Odinga – [and] I will not
let you down because I will be diligent in pursuit of our common dreams.”
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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French
City Approves Muslim Swimsuit After Controversial Pool Rule Change
May
17, 2022
Grenoble,
France: The French city of Grenoble on Monday authorised the wearing of the
so-called "burkini" by Muslim women in state-run swimming pools,
reigniting one of France's most contentious debates on religous dress.
The
all-in-one swimsuit, used by some Muslim women to cover their bodies and hair while
bathing, has become a controversial talking point during the holiday season in
recent years.
Seen
as a symbol of creeping Islamism by its critics and an affront to France's
secular traditions, many right-wingers and some feminists would like to ban it
outright.
It
is prohibited in most state-run pools -- for hygiene, not religious reasons --
where strict swimwear rules apply to all, including men who are required to
wear tight-fitting trunks.
The
move applies across the board, meaning men will able to wear long shorts and
women can also bathe topless in the Alpine city's pools.
Grenoble's
mayor, Eric Piolle, one of the country's highest profile Green politicians who
leads a broad left-wing coalition at the city council, has championed the move
but run into a fierce campaign of opposition.
He
managed to rally enough votes at a city council meeting to approve the measure,
despite not having the support of his own EELV party which distanced itself
from the measure.
It
was carried by the slimmest of margins with 29 votes for, 27 against and 2
abstentions after two-and-a-half hours of tense debates.
"All
we want is for women and men to be able to dress how they want," Piolle
told broadcaster RMC Monday.
Opponents
see it differently, including the influential conservative head of the wider
Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region, Laurent Wauquiez, who has promised to withdraw
funding from the city.
"I
am convinced that what Mr Piolle is defending is a dreadful dead-end for our
country," Wauquiez said at the beginning of May, accusing him of
"doing deals with political Islam" to "buy votes".
At
the council meeting the former right-wing mayor Alain Carignon urged a local
referendum on the issue.
"You
can't force through such a sensitive subject. You have no legitimacy, you weren't
elected for that," he said.
-
'Harm to Republican values' -
The
regional spat has put the burkini back in the headlines nationally, animating
French talk shows and the political class ahead of parliamentary elections next
month.
The
issue of how people dress for the pool touches on highly sensitive topics in
France, including fears about the influence of Islam and threats to the
country's cherished secularism.
"It
seems to me that [mayor Piolle] doesn't realise the harm he is doing to our
Republican values," Prisca Thevenot, a spokeswoman for President Emmanuel
Macron's party, told Radio J on Monday.
"This
would be breaking with the rules to respond to political desires based on
religion," she added.
Attempts
by several local mayors in the south of France to ban the burkini on
Mediterranean beaches in the summer of 2016 kicked off the first firestorm
around the bathing suit.
The
rules, introduced after a string of terror attacks in France, were eventually
struck down as discriminatory.
Three
years later, a group of women in Grenoble caused a splash by forcing their way
into a pool with burkinis, leading the prime minister at the time to insist
that the rules should be followed.
French
sports brand Decathlon also found itself at the centre of a similar row in 2019
when it announced plans to sell a "sports hijab" enabling Muslim
women to cover their hair while running.
Grenoble
is not be the first to change its rules, however.
The
northwestern city of Rennes quietly updated its pool code in 2019 to allow
burkinis and other types of swimwear.
The
debate about the burkini comes as French Muslim women footballers are battling
to overturn a ban on the wearing of religious symbols during competitive
matches.
The
French Football Federation currently prevents players from playing while
wearing "ostentatious" religious symbols such as the Muslim hijab or
the Jewish kippa.
A
women's collective known as "les Hijabeuses" launched a legal
challenge to the rules in November last year.
Source:
ND TV
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Female
government employees in Afghanistan demand freedom to work
16
May, 2022
Kabul
[Afghanistan], May 16 (ANI): Saying that they face an uncertain fate, the
female government employees in Afghanistan have demanded from the Taliban
regime to be allowed to continue working in their respective departments, a
media report said.
“We
are facing a complicated and unknown future. We don’t have any plan and we
don’t know what we should do. The colleagues with whom I am in contact are also
facing an uncertain future like me,” Rukhsar Nazari, a government employee said
as reported by The Frontier Post said.
Nazari
graduated from the faculty of law and politics and has worked for more than 10
years in government and non-government organizations, the report said. Rukhsar
said she has become jobless like many other female government employees after
the fall of the government in August last year.
The
Taliban regime maintains that women employees have not been dismissed but were
instead told to stay at home and their salaries will be paid.
“The
women are working in some of the government departments such as the Ministry of
Public Health, at Kabul Airport, and in other departments. All the progress
being made is based on needs and demands,” Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesperson of
the Taliban said as reported by The Frontier Post.
The
report said further that women’s lack of access to work is causing a surge in
family violence and an increase in mental pressure among women.
“The
women studied to reach a good position in life, they have experience, but
unfortunately they are placed at their homes now,” Saira Saba Alimyar, a
women’s rights activist was quoted as saying.
“The
Taliban must understand that they cannot have a developed Afghanistan by
excluding half of the population. They should have a policy of engagement and
acceptance and interaction with the Afghan society,” said Marriam Marouf,
another female right activist reportedly said. (ANI)
Source:
The Print
https://theprint.in/world/female-government-employees-in-afghanistan-demand-freedom-to-work/958718/
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Princess
Reema receives honorary doctorate from Marymount University
May
16, 2022
WASHINGTON
— Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to the United States Princess Reema Bint Bandar
received an honorary doctorate from Marymount University.
Princess
Reema tweeted on Sunday: "It was my absolute honor to receive an honorary
doctorate, thank you to the faculty and Dr. Becerra for this special day."
Princess
Reema pointed out that Marymount University hosts Saudi students like other
American universities.
Princess
Reema is the first woman to serve as an ambassador for the country. She was
born in Riyadh in 1975. Her father is Prince Bandar Bin Sultan.
Princess
Reema grew up in Washington as a result of her father's job as the Kingdom's
Ambassador there from 1983 to 2005. She graduated from George Washington
University in 1999 with a degree in museum studies and archeological
preservation.
Princess
Reema received a number of awards and honors, such as Sayidaty Award for
Excellence and Creativity in 2018, and the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award
for Creative Sports in 2017.
Forbes
Middle East named her one of the most powerful women in the Arab world in 2014.
She was awarded the most innovative person in the world by Fast Company in the
same year.
She
was included in the list of leading global thinkers issued by the prestigious
American magazine Foreign Policy in 2014, and she was also chosen to join the
World Economic Forum's "Young Global Leaders" program in Davos,
Switzerland, for her achievements in the domains of development and leadership.
Source:
Saudi Gazette
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Women’s
Tennis Association adds tournament in Tunisia following Ons Jabeur’s success
Adam
Lucente
May
16, 2022
The
Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) announced today an upcoming tournament in
Tunisia.
The
association, which governs women’s professional tennis, released its updated
tournament schedule. The additions include the WTA 250 Jasmin Open Tunisia,
which will take place in the coastal city Monastir on Oct. 3.
Why
it matters: The decision followed recent success by Tunisian tennis player Ons
Jabeur, who reached six in the world in the WTA’s rankings this month. She
reached the finals of the Italian Open in Rome yesterday, losing to world No. 1
Iga Swiatek.
Jabeur
is the top-ranked female player in the Middle East and North Africa, and
encourages more Arab women to pick up rackets. Her rise has been heavily
covered in Tunisian media.
What’s
next: The Italian Open is a warmup to the French Open, which is one of tennis’
four Grand Slam tournaments played each year. Both tournaments are played on a
clay surface.
The
main draw of the French Open will begin on May 22 and conclude on June 5.
Jabeur lost in the fourth round of the tournament last year.
Source:
Al Monitor
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Very
Good News For Girls' Education In Afghanistan Soon, Says Afghanistan's Interior
Minister
May
17, 2022
Afghanistan's
interior minister promised “very good news” soon on the return of girls to
secondary schools, in a rare interview broadcast Monday by CNN. At the end of
March, the Taliban, who took power after US forces withdrew from the country
last August, closed high schools and colleges for girls just hours after their
reopening.
The
unexpected reversal, ordered by Hibatullah Akhundzada, the supreme leader of
the Taliban and of the country, outraged many Afghans and the international
community.
“I
would like to provide some clarification. There is no one who opposes education
for women,” said Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, long one of the most
secretive Taliban leaders and who only showed his face in public for the first
time in March.
He
argued that girls could already go to primary school. “Above that grade, the
work is continuing on a mechanism” to allow girls to attend secondary school,
he said in his first televised interview.
“Very
soon you will hear very good news about this issue,” he said.
Haqqani
hinted that the “mechanism” was linked to school dress codes, explaining that
education should be based on Afghan “culture” and “Islamic rules and
principles,” and referred “more broadly” to the issue of women wearing the
hijab.
After
their return to power, the Taliban demanded that women wear at least a hijab, a
scarf covering the head but revealing the face.
But
since the beginning of May, they have instead forced them to wear a full veil
in public and preferably a burqa, which had been compulsory when they first ran
the country between 1996 and 2001.
“If
someone is giving away their daughters or sisters, they do that based on total
trust,” he said.
“We
must establish the conditions so that we can ensure their honour and security.
We are acting to ensure this.”
The
Haqqani network that was founded by his late father and which he now heads is
accused of carrying out some of the most violent attacks perpetrated by the
Taliban in Afghanistan in the past 20 years.
Sirajuddin
Haqqani himself is still on the FBI's most-wanted list, with a $10 million
reward for any information that could lead to his arrest.
On
CNN, the minister said that “the last 20 years was a situation of defensive
fighting and war” but that he wanted in the future “to have good relations with
the United States and the international community.”
“We
do not look at them as enemies,” he said, insisting that the Taliban intends to
respect the agreement signed with Washington in 2020, in which they pledged not
to let Afghanistan become a haven for terrorists targeting Americans again.Live
TV
Source:
India Today
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Woman
seeks intervention in SC in plea against 'Talaq-e-Hasan'
16th
May 2022
NEW
DELHI: A woman has moved the Supreme Court against a petition seeking to
declare 'Talaq-e-Hasan' and all other forms of 'unilateral extra-judicial
talaq' as void and unconstitutional.
The
plea, seeking intervention, filed by one Qurrat Ul Ain Latif, said the original
applicant has benefitted from extra-judicial divorce permissible under the
Shariat and that she was able to exit from a bad marriage without having to go
to the court and add to the pendency of judicial proceedings.
"The
applicant is filing the present application for the limited purpose of
demonstrating to this Hon'ble Court that a Writ Petition with broadly the same issue
is pending before the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi where notice has been
issued."
"Therefore,
the Petitioner may be well advised to urge her grounds before the High Court,
which is seized of the issue. It is stated, if the High Court gets the first chance
to adjudicate, then the party retains a valuable right to appeal," the
plea seeking intervention said.
The
original petition, filed by Ghaziabad resident, Benazeer Heena, who claimed to
be a victim of "unilateral extra-judicial Talaq-E-Hasan", also sought
a direction to the Centre to frame guidelines for neutral and uniform grounds
of divorce and procedure for all citizens.
In
Talaq-e-Hasan, talaq is pronounced once a month, over a period of three months.
If
cohabitation is not resumed during this period, divorce gets formalised after
the third utterance in the third month.
However,
if cohabitation resumes after the first or second utterance of talaq, the
parties are assumed to have reconciled.
The
first/second utterances of talaq are deemed invalid.
The
petitioner, who claimed to have been given such a divorce, contended that the
police and authorities told her that Talaq-e-Hasan is permitted under Sharia.
"The
Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, conveys a wrong impression
that the law sanctions Talaq-E-Hasan and all other forms of unilateral
extra-judicial talaq, which is grossly injurious to the fundamental rights of
married Muslim women and offends Articles 14, 15, 21 and 25 of the Constitution
of India and the international conventions on civil and human rights," the
petition, filed by advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey, submitted.
Source:
New Indian Express
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Pakistan
diplomat dismissed over charges of harassing woman colleague
May
15, 2022
A
Pakistani diplomat was dismissed from foreign service on Sunday over charges of
harassing a woman official during his stint as head of mission in Italy in
2018, Express Tribune reported.
Pakistan's
Federal Ombudsperson for Protection against Harassment, Kashmala Tariq ordered
the dismissal of Riyaz after the allegations of harassment were proved. He was
also slapped with a fine of 50 lakh Pakistani rupees, which would be paid to
the complainant, a Grade 20 officer in the Ministry of Commerce.
In
her complaint, the woman said she was stationed at the Pakistani mission in
Italy headed by Riaz in 2018. She claimed that the senior diplomat asked her to
visit other cities in other countries, which was not related to her job
profile.
She
also alleged that the ambassador also forced her to keep her residence near his
official home. Riyaz, who retired from foreign service and is now the president
of Institute of Regional Studies, a think tank of the Pakistan foreign
ministry, allegedly forced the woman to listen to his stories on a daily basis,
which had objectionable content.
According
to another Pakistan website Samaa TV, the woman alleged she was insulted by her
boss and was forced to return to Pakistan before the completion of the
three-year-term.
The
ombudsmen directed that a copy of decision be sent to the ministry of foreign
affairs within seven days, the Pakistan website reported.
Source:
Hindustan Times
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/arab-forum-dubai-princess-reema/d/127027