Challenges Faced By Afghan Female Journalists: Unemployment, Exile, And Dire Situation
New Age
Islam News Bureau
26 Aug 2023
·
Challenges Faced By Afghan Female Journalists:
Unemployment, Exile, And Dire Situation
·
Three Female Students Arrive in Dubai,
Following Delay of Group
·
Ethiopia: Tigray
Women Celebrate Ashenda Festival After War Hiatus
·
Zarqa Nawaz, Creator Of The Hit CBC Series
Little Mosque On The Prairie, Challenges Muslim Women Stereotypes On Camera
·
Why Swiss-Egyptian
Filmmaker Nadia Fares Is Challenging The Popular Notions Of Patriarchy In The East
And West
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/afghan-female-journalists/d/130530
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Challenges
Faced By Afghan Female Journalists: Unemployment, Exile, And Dire Situation
Photo:
The Khaama Press
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By Fidel
Rahmati
August
25, 2023
In two
years under the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan, significant changes have
impacted various aspects of life, including the journalist community. Stringent
limitations, joblessness, and a mass exodus have particularly affected female
journalists, compelling many to flee the country. This report focuses on the
plight of female journalists.
According
to Reporters Without Borders’ statistics, between August 2021 and August 2023,
80% of female journalists have lost their jobs. Simultaneously, over the past
two years, more than a thousand journalists have become refugees in various
countries after leaving Afghanistan.
Indigenous
information, including findings from organizations supporting Afghan
journalists, reveals a 93% unemployment rate among women journalists in
Afghanistan.
Laila
Ebrahimi, a journalist with over two years of diverse experience in Afghan
media, resides in Pakistan. She says, “Close to a year ago, I resigned from my
job as a journalist in Afghanistan and relocated to Pakistan due to compelling
circumstances. Since then, I have been striving to secure a job opportunity,
aiming to cover living expenses at least; however, these strivings have yielded
no positive results.”
Ms.
Laila elaborates on Pakistan’s rising cost of living, encompassing essential
necessities. She notes a contrasting perspective among Pakistanis regarding
Afghan refugees: “While the cost of renting a house for Pakistani might range
from 6,000 to 8,000 Afghanis, the same houses are rented out to Afghans for
approximately 20,000 Afghanis.”
Simultaneously,
NAI, an organization supporting Afghan journalists, announced the arrest of
Afghan journalists by Pakistani security forces. The organization added that
the security forces of Pakistan have arrested several Afghan refugees, among
whom were Afghan journalists.
The report reveals that security forces have
confiscated and inspected the electronic devices of journalists, including
cameras, laptops, and phones. Afghan journalist Mohammad Tahir Sadid’s case
exemplifies Pakistani police misconduct towards journalists. Arrested in
Pakistan in June, Sadid was allegedly asked for money by the police for his
release.
It is
essential to highlight that the Committee for the Immunity of Afghan
Journalists entered into an agreement with the International Association of
Pak-Afghan Journalists in June this year. The aim was to offer financial
assistance to journalists away from their home country. However, despite this
arrangement, at least three exiled journalists have informed Khaama Press News
Agency that they have not yet received any assistance from these organizations.
Shukria
Sadat Nori, a journalist from Afghanistan, left the country due to security
threats following the Taliban’s resurrection. She is currently in exile in
Pakistan, specifically in Karachi, with a background in Samangan provinces
media; she expressed her concerns with Khaama Press: “I am in the city of
Karachi, Pakistan, and I do not have a home. I am worried about finding meals
in the following days as no institution has offered assistance.”
Ms.
Sadat requests assistance from journalist-supporting organizations due to her
challenging financial and emotional situation.
Reporters
Without Borders announced that since the establishment of the caretaker
government in Afghanistan, 84% of women journalists, or four out of five, have
quit media activities due to increased pressure and a challenging situation.
Women
journalists in Afghanistan are not only experiencing high unemployment and mass
deportation but even those who remain employed face insults and humiliations.
Restrictions include banning women’s voices and covering the faces of female
presenters.
Source:
khaama.com
https://www.khaama.com/afghan-female-journalists-situation-in-exile/
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Three
Female Students Arrive in Dubai, Following Delay of Group
Photo: BNN Network
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By
Fatema Adeeb,
25
August 2023
Khalaf
Ahmad Al Habtoor, founding chairman of Al Habtoor Group, said in a video posted
on X social media platform that he met three Afghan female students who made it
to Dubai safely this morning.
“They
are among those who received the comprehensive scholarship that I provided them
with in collaboration with the University of Dubai. I welcomed them in the
safest country in the world, as I stated, I am entirely in charge of seeing to
their comfort and safety, including taking care of their studies, housing, and
other extensive services like transportation, and health insurance. We are
hoping to see the rest of their classmates in Dubai very soon,” he said.
Earlier
today (Wednesday), the head of a
Dubai-based conglomerate said the current Afghan government authorities had
stopped around 100 women from travelling to the United Arab Emirates where he
was to sponsor their university education.
Khalaf
Ahmad Al Habtoor, founding chairman of Al Habtoor Group, said in a video posted
on X social media platform, that he had planned to sponsor the female students
to attend university and a plane he had paid for had been due to fly them to
the UAE on Wednesday morning.
"Taliban
government refused to allow the girls who were coming to study here – a hundred
girls sponsored by me - they refused them to board the plane and already we
have paid for the aircraft, we have organised everything for them here,
accommodation, education, transportation security," he said in the video.
This comes
as the UN has called for girls' rights in Afghanistan to be respected in
response to the ban on the travel of female Afghan students to Dubai who had
been awarded scholarships to study in the United Arab Emirates.
The UN
called on the Islamic Emirate “to uphold their obligation under international
law” and allow girls access to education.
Florencia
Soto Nino, associate spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, in a press
conference said that they continue to advocate for the rights of women, because
Afghanistan cannot develop without their full participation.
“I think
what we will continue to be doing is to call on the de facto authorities to
uphold their obligations under international law. And we will continue to advocate for the
rights of women, because Afghanistan cannot develop without their full participation.
And it's really heartbreaking that women who want to exercise these rights are
being prevented from doing so,” Florencia noted.
In the
meantime, the Chargé d'Affaires of the Afghanistan Permanent Mission to the UN
also criticized this action of the current Afghan government.
“The
people of Afghanistan truly appreciate your efforts, generosity & support
to women’s & girls’ education. We all know this action of Taliban is
un-Islamic, inhumane & deliberate to keep the people in darkness &
ignorance,” said Naseer Ahmad Faiq, Chargé d'Affaires of Afghanistan's
Permanent Mission to the UN.
Amnesty
International also asked the Islamic Emirate to immediately reverse their
decision and allow these female students to travel and study.
“Amnesty
International condemns the Taliban’s latest action prohibiting female students
from traveling to Dubai to start their university. This preposterous decision
is a flagrant violation of the right to education and freedom of movement and
demonstrates the continued gender persecution against women and girls in
Afghanistan. The Taliban de-facto authorities must immediately reverse their
decision and allow these female students to travel and study,” the organization
said.
Some
women’s rights advocates said they consider the full presence of women in the
country important and believe that by not respecting women's rights,
Afghanistan will become more isolated.
"The
Taliban will never be able to get the sanctions reversed or solve the problem
of formal recognition if they are not prepared with national and international
norms,” said Soraya Paikan, a women’s rights activist.
"The
government should be understood, the current state of Afghanistan must also be
understood, and what they say to us from the outside, they should have thought
about this from the beginning," said political expert Moin GolSamkanai.
Source:
tolonews.com
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-184790
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Ethiopia:
Tigray women celebrate Ashenda festival after war hiatus
25
August 2023
In the
heart of Ethiopia's capital, a group of women danced while brandishing a flag
bearing the insignia of the war-scarred Tigray region -- a scene that would
have been unimaginable a year earlier.
The
two-year conflict that pitted Ethiopia's federal government against the Tigray
People's Liberation Front sparked accounts of widespread rights abuses,
including rapes by both sides and arbitrary mass detentions of ethnic Tigrayans
in Addis Ababa and elsewhere.
While
the northern region endured a massive humanitarian crisis due to a lack of
food, fuel, cash and medicines, Tigrayans living in other parts of Ethiopia
were forced to keep a low profile to avoid becoming the targets of ethnic
profiling.
But the
signing of a peace deal last November raised cautious hopes among the
community, whose female members gathered to mark the traditional festival of
Ashenda in Addis Ababa for the first time since 2020.
"We
did not celebrate (Ashenda) in this country for the last three years, because
our Tigrayan people were... in a war," said Selam Haile, 15.
"It
was so bad for us," the teenager told AFP.
The
festival, which ends on Saturday (Aug. 26), honours girls and women.
They
showed up for the celebration in traditional embroidered dresses and gold
jewelry, their hair twisted into elaborate braids and curls, with beaded
headbands across their foreheads and henna patterns adorning their hands.
"On
this day we wear a special dress and traditionally decorate our hair and we
keep our traditions alive while we are celebrating," said Dina Mohamed,
17.
The young
woman told AFP she was "very happy" to showcase her culture after a
long hiatus, echoing the joy expressed by others at the gathering hosted at a
venue in Addis Ababa.
Ashenda,
which refers to tall green grass founds on river banks in Tigray's local language,
is usually held annually for around a week during August, marking the end of a
15-day fast, known as Filseta, observed by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo
Church.
'Nothing
sweet as peace'
Originally
a Christian festival marking the end of a 15-day fast commemorating the
Assumption of Mary, Ashenda has evolved into a celebration that transcends
religion.
Its
roots lie in Tigray but it is also celebrated in the neighbouring Amhara region
and in Eritrea.
Men
don't usually participate in the festival, which is focused on women and girls,
who were in high spirits and filming selfies during the celebrations.
"It
means a lot to us because Ashenda is freedom for girls," said Selam.
Others
voiced their relief at finally being able to express their pride in their
culture and share it publicly without shame or fear.
"We
didn't celebrate (Ashenda) for a long time... But after all, all came back to
love and unity and celebrating together. That makes it so special," said
DanawitTesfaye, 23.
RebekaSeyum,
38, told AFP she did not know "how to explain my happiness."
"There
is nothing like peace," she said finally.
Source;
africanews.com
https://www.africanews.com/2023/08/25/ethiopia-tigray-women-celebrate-ashenda-festival-after-war-hiatus//
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ZarqaNawaz,
Creator Of The Hit CBC Series Little Mosque On The Prairie, Challenges Muslim
Women Stereotypes On Camera
26 AUG
2023
Zarqa
Nawaz, a University of Toronto Mississauga alumna who is best known as the
creator of the hit CBC series Little Mosque on the Prairie, is on a mission to
broaden society's perception of Muslims one laugh at a time.
Her two
latest projects to challenge perceptions through the power of comedy are
Jameela Green Ruins Everything, a satirical novel wrapped around a thoroughly
researched examination of botched U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, and
the CBC Gem show Zarqa, which features Nawaz in the lead role of a divorced
Muslim woman who decides to reinvent herself after learning her ex-husband is
marrying a much younger white yoga instructor.
Writer
Megan Easton recently spoke to Nawaz as she was putting the finishing touches
on Zarqa's second season and thinking about adapting Jameela for the small
screen.
What did
you study at U of T Mississauga?
I went
into the sciences fully intending to be a medical doctor. I come from an
immigrant family where there's huge pressure to choose medicine, law or
business. But I had this creative yearning that wouldn't go away. By about
third year it was obvious to me that I wasn't going to go to med school, but I
decided to finish my degree.
What
path led you to TV and writing?
I got a
journalism degree and a job at CBC, but, again, I could sense that it wasn't
really fulfilling my creative drive. I ended up taking a summer film workshop
at the Ontario College of Art and Design and my short BBQ Muslims was screened
at the Toronto International Film Festival. That was the beginning.
Why did
you shift away from TV to writing after Little Mosque ended in 2012?
Little
Mosque opened some doors in television, but there weren't any opportunities for
me to be a showrunner, which is what I wanted next. I'd always loved writing,
so I wrote my memoir, Laughing All the Way to the Mosque, and decided to start
working on my first novel.
Jameela
Green Ruins Everything cover
What
made you write a satirical novel about Muslims, terrorism and ISIS - and how
tricky was that?
Very few
people are going to read a serious book about these subjects, but people are
willing to laugh and then think about what they just laughed at. My publisher
rejected it at first, saying the story was too edgy or even dangerous. I worked
with a bunch of editors over many years to refine it, but I never changed the
fundamental story. It was scary at times not knowing if it would ever get
published. And it wouldn't have, even five years ago. Readers are more ready
for this kind of book now.
What
genre does Jameela fall into?
None,
really. It's a beach read without a romance, a spy novel, political commentary
and a comedy.
The
first season of Zarqa launched just months after Jameela was published in 2022,
and the second season began this fall. What can viewers expect?
I think
it'll surprise people. I wanted it to be even funnier and kookier than the
first season.
How does
Zarqa compare to Little Mosque?
We took
a light touch to the humour in Little Mosque because many Muslims weren't used
to being observed in the media, and they worried that we'd depict them in a
terrible light and make things worse. But now they're more sophisticated about
media representation, and there's more space to go further with the humour in
Zarqa.
How do
you deal with criticism of your work from Muslims?
There
have always been some people who don't like what I do. I'm used to it. But I
stick to my intentions, which are to entertain, inform and educate - to bring Muslims
to light in a different way from the stereotypes.
You're
the creator and showrunner on Zarqa - and also the lead actor. What's it been
like acting for the first time?
I only
planned to be the lead in the trailer, but my team didn't want to recast the
role when we got picked up by CBC. So I hired an acting coach and put in a lot
of hours with her. It also helps that I'm in charge of the editing, so I can
always choose my best takes. Acting is a lot more fun than I imagined.
How does
the Zarqa character challenge stereotypes about Muslim women?
I wanted
to break the stereotype of "the good Muslim woman." White female
characters get to be good and bad, so why don't we get the full range in our
characters? Zarqa is almost an anti-hero. She's a woman in hijab with full
agency over her life who can be catty and horrible. Showing Muslims in their
full humanity is part of the evolution of how we're shown on TV.
What
keeps you hopeful, despite evidence of rising Islamophobia in Canada and
beyond?
It's
easy to get discouraged, but then you might give up. My attitude is that I'll
do the best that I can with the talent I've been given.
Source:
miragenews.com
https://www.miragenews.com/nawaz-challenges-muslim-women-stereotypes-on-1072475/
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Why
Swiss-Egyptian filmmaker Nadia Fares is challenging the popular notions of
patriarchy in the East and West
25
August, 2023
Mariana
Hristova
Even in
her first feature film, the critically acclaimed Honey and Ashes (1996), Nadia
Fares achieved a ground-breaking depiction of contemporary Arabic women.
Almost
three decades later she continues to delve into this unfathomable and complex
realm with Big Little Women which was filmed over four years.
It
includes stories by "the Simone de Beauvoir of the Arab World", the
widely recognised feminist writer, activist, and physician Nawal El Saadawi,
most famous for her public critique of the practice of female genital
mutilation in Egypt, together with first-hand narratives by younger girls whose
rebellion is expressed in free bike riding and Uber driving – activities which
can be still criticised in Egypt when undertaken by women.
“Nawal
El Saadawi has always been a great inspiration for me and I would have not made
the film without her," Nadia tells The New Arab.
"She
is the core of the story because she went through all the revolutions,
presidencies, and crucial changes in society. Indeed, we get to learn about the
history of Egypt through her eyes as well as the knowledge she shares on screen
of how women have been affected by political and social turbulence throughout
these years," she adds.
"On
the other hand, the girls who represent the young generation of Egyptian women
that Nadia cast first brought her camera to poor neighbourhoods and showed her
different realities. I wanted both sides to create an ensemble where they
complement each other.”
Meanwhile,
Nadia also weaves in her personal story as a woman from a mixed background
whose Swiss mother was put under pressure by her family and society around her
to marry an Egyptian man.
The
culmination of this overall intolerance came when Nadia’s Swiss grandfather
orchestrated the deportation of her beloved “Baba” and the family was
eventually torn apart under the influence of a patriarchy, deeply grounded in
the Swiss society.
“In the
beginning, I wasn’t planning to put myself in the film, rather I was thinking
of including someone from my generation from Egypt," Nadia reveals.
"But
the main idea I wanted to develop was that patriarchy has no frontiers, no
limits. In that sense, it was necessary to bring in my personal story as an
intimate example of how Swiss patriarchy decided the destiny of our family, my
mum’s and mine. This way I could reflect both cultures which is very important,
so we could avoid stereotypes,” she explains.
Nadia
didn’t want to make just another film about Egyptian women who are oppressed so
she used interviews with her Swiss grandmother and the Super 8 images of her
mum and dad in order to make the link between the Orient and the Occident,
between Egypt and Switzerland.
She also
felt that this approach was fair to the other women in the film who were
courageous enough to reveal their stories.
Big
Little Women actually implies that the Occident can be more patriarchal than
the Orient by mentioning a striking fact – voting for women in Egypt was
allowed in 1956, while in Switzerland it only happened in 1971.
“I think
it has to do with who is in power. The then-president of Egypt Gamal Abdel
Nasser commenced social and political improvement regarding women's equality,
his politics was concerned with female rights. Meanwhile, patriarchy in
Switzerland was very subtle," Nadia explains.
"Women
in the 1950s and 1960s were still treated as housewives who should take care of
domestic issues, and the kids, and should not mingle with politics. Men were
deciding everything and there was no point in women taking part in the field of
politics. Getting over this preconception took a long time. While in Egypt
women fought very early to obtain those rights. The process started before
Nasser came into power and the battle was tough. In Switzerland, it came easier
but slowly – it has to do with culture and mentality.”
Nadia
also emphasises the different approaches to fighting for female rights in the
Occident and the Orient. “East and West don’t match in that sense because women
are perceived in different ways. Women in the West are officially recognised as
equal to men but the fine-drawn inequalities persist. The official narrative in
the West is that it opposes patriarchy, hence it is more difficult to fight it
because it remains hidden – domestic violence, for example, shows that the
issue has not been solved at all."
Nadia
continues, "In Egypt, it’s about the way society behaves – it’s a strict
patriarchal society in which men may not shake hands with women – as I show at
the funeral of my father. The disregard is out in the open and so that makes
more approaches in the ways of resistance possible; motivation to create
communities that work in this direction comes more easily.
"Egyptian
women were always very strong but there is a perception in the West that they
are inevitably oppressed. I wanted to show in my film that the Western image of
them does not always correspond to reality.”
As for
the place of women in the film industry, Nadia still feels that the higher the
budget, the less a woman may be taken seriously and that this is valid for both
East and West.
"Although
I might be the director, it also still happens that men in the team would
prefer to talk to my male cinematographer. That’s why I try to have a gender
balance when I form a film crew. When I was the head of the American Film
School in Abu Dhabi, there were men who would come to my office, would address
my male assistant with ‘Hey, Boss!’ and would sit in front of his desk.
Naturally, I had to tell them: ‘The Boss is here.’
"The
power is still very much reserved for men but women have good stories to tell.
And good stories always prevail, so it’s better to keep a focus on that, not on
what we don’t have or what we don’t get.”
Despite
the ongoing prejudices towards women in the film industry, Nadia Fares seems to
be more active than ever. As she anecdotally notes, while having two legs, she lives
on three continents – Africa (Egypt), Europe (Switzerland), and North America
(USA) – and is currently developing projects in each of them, gladly sharing
details of the Egyptian ones.
“In
Cairo, I’m working with two Egyptian writers to create a script with the
working title By Mistake, a social comedy. We’re now finishing the treatment
and are still looking for money to finance script development and
production," Nadia says.
"The
other Egyptian project is a historical TV series, already written, which we
would like to propose to streamers but we are still figuring out the
architecture of the financing between Egypt, the USA, and Germany. So far, I’ve
received very good support in Egypt for it."
Source:
newarab.com
https://www.newarab.com/features/nadia-fares-confronts-chronic-disease-global-patriarchy
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/afghan-female-journalists/d/130530