“Fatema, the Unforgettable Sultana, Depicts Life of Moroccan Feminist Writer Fatema Mernissi
New
Age Islam News Bureau
15
September 2022
•
Sally Hafez, a Lebanese Woman Takes Hostages at Beirut Bank, Demands Frozen
Deposits for Ill Sister
•
Turkish Wrestler Yasemin Adar Yigit Wins Gold at World Championships
•
Pakistan to Participate In Women's Tent Pegging Grand Prix in Jordan
•
US Embassy, US-Pakistan Women’s Council Launch Pakistan Future of Women and
Work Initiative
•
Russia Offers Excuses for Taliban Closing Schools for Girls
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/fatema-moroccan-feminist/d/127955
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“Fatema,
the Unforgettable Sultana, Depicts Life of Moroccan Feminist Writer Fatema
Mernissi
Film
Depicts Life of Moroccan Feminist Writer Fatema Mernissi
-----
Sara
Zouiten
Sep.
14, 2022
Rabat
- Moroccan director Mohammed Abderrahman Tazi’s newest film, “Fatema, the
Unforgettable Sultana,” depicts the life of Moroccan feminist writer and
sociologist Fatema Mernissi, as well as her well-grounded academic legacy.
The
film highlights Mernissi’s prominent academic and sociological contributions to
defending gender equality and promoting moderate Islam. Her books, which
tackled the intersections between gender, power, and Islam, largely contributed
to the development of feminism in the Muslim world.
The
film, which will release on September 28 in Moroccan cinemas, will also compete
at the National Film Festival in Tangier, which will take place between
September 16 and 24.
Prior
to the official screening, the film will be shown at the festival on September
17 at the Roxy Cinema. The event will be an opportunity to pay tribute to the
works of Tazi, two of whose films, “Images Thieves” and “The Great Travel,”
will be screened.
The
director’s film on the intellectual and cultural legacy of Mernissi was first
screened on March 8 with a limited audience in celebration of International
Women’s Day.
In
an interview with the 2M TV channel, Tazi said that before Mernissi passed
away, he had plans to dedicate one of his works to her, but she “humbly
refused,” saying: “It’s my books that are important, not my person.”
‘An
extraordinary woman’
The
Moroccan director added that he made the film on the iconic Moroccan essayist
only after realizing that he needed to make a film to honor such a prominent
Moroccan figure. It is “unfortunate to lose artists, writers, and politicians
who disappear without leaving an audiovisual trace,” he said.
Tazi
described Mernissi as “an extraordinary woman,” saying that she dedicated her
entire life and work to “three important themes -- feminism, Islam, and modernity,”
all are elements the movie focused on.
Mernissi
was born in 1940 in the Moroccan city of Fez, where she grew up. In 1957, she
studied political science at Sorbonne University in Paris and later at Brandeis
University in the United States, where she received her Ph.D.
In
1974, the pioneering Moroccan feminist returned to Morocco to work as a
professor at the Mohammed V University until 1981. She taught several subjects,
including family sociology and psychosociology.
Described
as an Islamic feminist, she published several works, which had a large
influence, including Beyond the Veil, The Veil and the Male Elite, Islam and
Democracy, and Dreams of Trespass. While her work received international
acclaim for tackling daring, taboo topics, Mernissi also faced immense
criticism for her interpretation of and approach to Islam.
Mernissi
died in 2015 at the age of 75, leaving behind a rich intellectual legacy.
Source:
Morocco World News
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Sally
Hafez, a Lebanese Woman Takes Hostages at Beirut Bank, Demands Frozen Deposits
for Ill Sister
A
woman identified by Lebanese media as Sally Hafez, second left, wearing green
shoes, inside a branch of Blom Bank in central Beirut. Reports say she and
others stormed the branch to demand access to their deposits. AFP
------
14
September, 2022
A
Lebanese woman took hostages at gunpoint at BLOM bank in central Beirut to
demand her frozen deposits and pay for her ill sister’s medical treatment,
local media reported on Wednesday.
It
was just the latest in a string of heists as Lebanese depositors, whose savings
have been devalued and trapped in banks for almost three years, take matters
into their own hands.
Sally
Hafez streamed a live video of her raid, in which she could be heard yelling at
employees to release a sum of money while entrances to the bank were sealed.
“I
am Sally Hafez, I came today... to take the deposits of my sister who is dying
in the hospital,” she said in the video.
“I
did not come to kill anyone or to start a fire... I came to claim my rights.”
The
woman instantly turned into a folk hero on social media in Lebanon, where many
are desperate to access their savings and furious at a banking sector perceived
as a corrupt cartel.
A
second woman who appeared in the video claimed they had secured more than
$13,000, while a man standing beside her carried what appeared to be stacks of
banknotes wrapped in plastic.
An
AFP correspondent at the scene said gasoline was poured inside the bank during
the heist and a gun was later found on the ground, although it was not
immediately clear if it was real.
The
correspondent said Hafez and suspected accomplices managed to escape through a
smashed window out the back before security forces arrived.
The
heist lasted under an hour.
Last
month, a local man received widespread sympathy after he stormed a Beirut bank
with a rifle and held employees and customers hostage for hours to demand some
of his $200,000 in frozen savings to pay hospital bills for his sick father.
He
was detained but swiftly released.
In
January, a bank customer held dozens of people hostage in eastern Lebanon after
he was told he could not withdraw his foreign currency savings, a source at the
lender said.
Local
media reported that the customer was eventually given some of his savings and
surrendered to security forces.
Lebanon
has been battered by its worst-ever economic crisis since 2019. The local
currency has lost more than 90 percent of its value on the black market, while
poverty and unemployment have soared.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Turkish
Wrestler Yasemin Adar Yigit Wins Gold At World Championships
Can
Erözden
14.09.2022
Turkish
wrestler Yasemin Adar retained her world championship Wednesday at the 2022
World Championships.
Yigit,
30, beat Samar Hamza from Egypt 6-0 in the women's 76 kg final at the Stark
Arena in Belgrade, Serbia.
Yigit
holds on to the title she won at the competition in 2017 in Paris.
The
World Championships will conclude on Sept. 18.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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Pakistan
to participate in women's tent pegging grand Prix in Jordan
Sep
14 2022
Faizan
Lakhani
KARACHI:
Pakistan’s three-member team will participate in the women’s tent pegging grand
Prix in Jordan this month, an official of the Equestrian Federation of Pakistan
confirmed to Geo News.
Asad
Hayyat, secretary general of EFP told Geo News that the women’s international
tent pegging championship will be held in the historic and archaeological city
of Petra in Jordan from September 22 to 24.
Pakistan
will be represented by Kinza Farhat and Ayesha Ahmed Khan along with Zoya Meer
in the event.
According
to Asad, the Pakistani team was selected after open trials conducted by the
federation. The team is currently training in Lahore and scheduled to depart
for Jordan from Sialkot on 20th September.
This
is the first major event for Pakistan women's tent pegging team. Previously
they went to South Africa on a training tour.
Meanwhile,
Kinza Farhat – a member of the Pakistan Tent Pegging Team – told Geo News that
she’s looking forward to giving her best for the country.
“Riding
has always been a passion, and I feel the luckiest to be selected for the
national team, now I am not doing it for myself but for my country, the
responsibility is on my shoulders and I will give my all for Pakistan,” said
Kinza, 26, who is also a mass communication graduate.
Ayesha
Ahmed Khan, another member of the Pakistan team, aimed to make Pakistan proud
during the upcoming event.
“Horses
have been my best friends since the day we met. My passion for tent-pegging is
much more than it can be put into words. The adrenaline rush and the feelings
anyone experiences in this game are unmatched. I hope and strive to make
Pakistan proud,” said Ayesha, 17, who is doing horse riding since childhood and
opted for Tent Pegging as a sport in May.
Zoya
Mir, the third member of the squad, highlighted the importance of coordination
between the horse and the rider and added that she’s working on this particular
area to make sure that she gives her best during the competition.
“The
most important thing in equestrian games is not only about winning but about
performing the best which is possible only by a collaboration between the horse
and the rider and that is what I am working for the last few days. We riders
will not be playing for the crowd but only for our country,” said Zoya.
Source:
Geo TV
--------
US
Embassy, US-Pakistan Women’s Council launch Pakistan future of women and work
initiative
SHAFQAT
ALI
September
15, 2022
ISLAMABAD - In
partnership with Texas A&M University, S&P Global, and the US Chamber
of Commerce’s US-Pakistan Business Council, the US Embassy in Islamabad and the
US-Pakistan Women’s Council (USPWC) yesterday launched the Pakistan Future of
Women and Work Initiative in Islamabad. The launch event highlighted a study on
the impact of COVID-19 on women’s workforce participation in Pakistan, and
efforts to catalyze research, public discourse, and private sector commitments
to address gaps facing women amidst the ongoing pandemic. At the launch event,
the State Department’s Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South
and Central Asian Affairs Elizabeth Horst said: “Through the US-Pakistan
Women’s Council, the United States has been working for a decade to build
bridges between the people of our two countries to support Pakistan’s sustained
prosperity, benefiting thousands of women in Pakistan. Today’s initiative helps
create a foundation for greater collaboration and exchange between our two
countries on women’s economic advancement. When women are included, everyone
wins.”
Highlighting
the US provision of $ 53.1 million in humanitarian assistance and resilience
programming to support Pakistan in the wake of devastating floods, US
Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome said that just as the COVID-19 pandemic
highlights the disproportionate impact on women’s participation in the
workforce, the catastrophic flooding in Pakistan is a reminder that women and
girls are among the most vulnerable groups during a humanitarian crisis.
“As
the United States works to provide direct assistance to affected communities in
Pakistan and to help mitigate the effects of future floods, we will closely
consider the unique impacts of the current flooding and other natural disasters
on women and girls,” he added.
Dr
Raymond Robertson, lead author of the study and Director of the Mosbacher
Institute for Trade, Economics and Public Policy at Texas A&M University’s
Bush School, shared: “Women the world over bore a larger burden during the
COVID-19 crisis than they usually do during economic recessions. Pakistan was
no exception. We intend for our findings to start a conversation and shape
investments to help women in the economy thrive.”
Managing
Director of S&P Global in Pakistan Mujeeb Zahur announced that S&P
Global will put the data to use by partnering with USPWC to host workshops in
Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad to foster increased investments in women’s
workforce participation.
He
said: “Through data, dialogue and commitments made by the private sector, the
Pakistan Future of Women and Work Initiative will inform government, private
sector, and philanthropic dialogue and action to address challenges women are
facing in Pakistan’s economy.”
The
USPWC advances women’s entrepreneurship, workforce participation and access to
educational opportunities in Pakistan. Celebrating its tenth anniversary this
month, USPWC is a public-private partnership between the State Department and
Texas A&M University that catalyzes private sector, government and civil
society commitments to foster women’s economic advancement in Pakistan, working
with cooperating private sector and civil society members in the United States
and Pakistan to do so.
Source:
Nation Pakistan
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Russia
Offers Excuses for Taliban Closing Schools for Girls
Akmal
Dawi
September
13, 2022
From
the world’s second-smallest state, Monaco, to the most populous country, India,
representatives from more than 20 governments and international organizations
on Monday condemned the Taliban’s policies of shutting down secondary schools
and denying other fundamental rights to Afghan girls and women.
Even
Pakistan, the purported benefactor of the Taliban, voiced concern at a United
Nations dialogue on human rights in Afghanistan about the denial of education
for Afghan girls. The dialogue was part of the U.N. Human Rights Council’s 51st
session, which opened Monday in Geneva.
Russia
and China notably did not join in the criticism. A Russian diplomat pointed to
progress made for women’s rights under the Taliban.
“We
note efforts by the new Afghan government to ensure the rights of women and
girls in the areas of marriage and property inheritance,” a Russian
representative told the U.N. event, adding that more than 130,000 women are
employed in the health and education sectors.
No
Taliban representative was present at the event because the U.N. does not
recognize the Taliban’s so-called Islamic Emirate as the legitimate government
of Afghanistan. Instead, diplomats of the former Afghan government are still
accredited as Afghan representatives at U.N. headquarters in New York and
Geneva.
The
Russian diplomat further said that some schools were closed because the Taliban
could not afford to set up segregated classrooms for girls. He blamed the
United States and other Western donors for freezing aid to Afghanistan and
imposing sanctions on the Taliban which, according to the Russian diplomat,
have adversely affected the Afghan education sector.
“We
call on the U.S. and the U.K. and their satellites — instead of issuing new
demands to the Taliban, to begin fulfilling their own obligations for the past
conflict,” he said, adding that the current crisis in Afghanistan was a result
of the past two decades of U.S. intervention there.
While
calling for the return of girls to secondary schools in Afghanistan, a Chinese
representative also avoided criticizing the Taliban’s policy.
“We
call on the countries concerned to respect sovereignty and territorial
integrity of the country and to lift unilateral sanctions,” the Chinese
representative said.
Monday’s
statement was the strongest that any Russian official has made in support of
the Taliban.
“The
Russian representative’s statements in Geneva aren't consistent with what
Russia has said before in other settings about Afghanistan,” John Sifton, Asia
advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, told VOA.
“As
recently as this June, Russia agreed to a strongly worded statement by the U.N.
Security Council about Afghanistan in which the Security Council as a bloc,
including Russia, called on the Taliban to let girls go to school.”
Even
the Taliban have not said that Western sanctions and the resulting economic
problems have forced them to shut secondary schools for girls. Taliban
officials have offered religious and cultural justifications for their decision
against secondary education for girls.
“We
recognize that the economic crisis is impacting the humanitarian situation. We
agree about that. But the idea that it's responsible for the fact that [the]
Taliban do not let girls go to secondary schools is absurd. It is preposterous.
It is a lie,” said Sifton.
Women
'erased'
The
U.N. and human rights groups accuse the Taliban of implementing policies that
are aimed at erasing women from the public spheres.
“There
is no country in the world where women and girls have so rapidly been deprived
of their fundamental human rights purely because of gender,” Richard Bennett,
U.N. special rapporteur on Afghanistan, told the U.N. Human Rights Council's
51st session.
“Do
you know what that feeling is, to be erased?” Mahbouba Seraj, an Afghan women’s
rights activist, asked the same session. “I'm erased, and I don't know what
else to do. … How many times am I supposed to yell and scream and say, ‘World,
pay attention to us. We are dying’?”
The
Taliban have defended their policies toward Afghan women while accusing the U.N.
and rights activists of spreading “malicious propaganda” against their de facto
government.
“Today,
nothing threatens the lives of women in Afghanistan, and no woman or her loved
ones die in the war or raids,” said a Taliban statement issued in response to
Bennett’s report. “There are 181 public and private universities open for men
and women in the country, and thousands of women work in education, higher
education, public health, passport and national identification bureaus,
airports, police, media, banks and other sectors.”
Such
statements, however, are viewed with deep skepticism outside Taliban circles.
The
Taliban have become increasingly authoritarian, clamping down on freedom of
expression and denying people their civic and political rights, the U.N. has
reported.
At
the U.N. event, representatives from many countries called for stronger
international pressure on the Taliban to respect women’s rights.
“Anyone
seeking to participate in the international system must respect [women’s
rights]. If we don’t all insist on that, then shame on us,” said Michèle
Taylor, U.S. representative to the U.N. Human Rights Council.
In
April, the U.N. General Assembly suspended Russia from the Human Rights Council
because of the country’s reported atrocities in Ukraine.
Source:
VOA News
https://www.voanews.com/a/russia-offers-excuses-for-taliban-closing-schools-for-girls/6746153.html
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