Two Holy Mosques Management Trains 600 Female Employees, Around 200 Work for the Agency for Women’s Scientific, Intellectual and Guidance Affairs
New
Age Islam News Bureau
27
September 2021
• Afghan Saffron Boss Shafiqeh Attai, Says Taliban Will Not Silence Her
•
Israel Releases Palestinian MP Khalida Jarrar after Two Years In Prison
•
Women Enslaved By ISIS Say They Did Not Consent To A Film About Them
•
Work for the Agency for Women’s Scientific, Intellectual and Guidance Affairs
•
Muslim Woman Attacked In Austria for Wearing Hijab
•
Noura Al-Brahim Looks toward a Winning Future with Saudi Women’s Futsal Team
•
Modon Inaugurates Specialized Centre to Train Saudi Women to Work In Industrial
Cities
•
Saudi-Govt Kafalah Grants $115 Million in Loans To Women-Led Enterprises
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/holy-mosques-female-employee-scientific-/d/125449
--------
Two Holy Mosques Management Trains 600 Female Employees, Around 200 Work for the Agency for Women’s Scientific, Intellectual and Guidance Affairs
September
25, 2021
In line with the Kingdom's women empowerment
program, the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques has
started training and employing more women. (SPA)
-----
MAKKAH:
The General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques announced on
Friday that it has so far trained around 600 female employees of its agencies
or assisting agencies.
The
Women’s Development Affairs Agency, led by Al-Anoud Al-Aboud, deputy president
for women’s development affairs, employs 310 of those women.
Around
200 women work for the Agency for Women’s Scientific, Intellectual and Guidance
Affairs, led by Noura Al-Thuwaibi.
The
rest of the trained women work at the Agency for Women’s Administrative and
Service Affairs, under the leadership of Kamelia Al-Daadi, the general
presidency said in a statement.
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1935121/saudi-arabia
--------
Afghan
Saffron Boss Shafiqeh Attai, Says Taliban Will Not Silence Her
Sep
27, 2021
An Afghan worker sorts harvested saffron flowers
in a field on the outskirts of Herat. Credit: AFP File Photo
-----
HERAT:
An Afghan business leader who employs hundreds of women on her saffron fields
has vowed to speak up for the rights of her workers, and "not remain
silent" under Taliban rule.
The
hardliners have increasingly excluded women from public life since sweeping to
power in mid-August, pushing many female entrepreneurs to flee the country or
go into hiding.
Many
fear a return to their brutally oppressive rule from 1996 to 2001 when women
were effectively banned from going to school or work, and only allowed to leave
the house with a male relative.
"We
will raise our voice so that it reaches their ears," said Shafiqeh Attai,
who started her saffron company in the western city of Herat in 2007.
"No
matter what happens we won't just sit at home, because we have worked very
hard."
Attai's
business, the Pashton Zarghon Saffron Women's Company, produces, processes,
packages and exports the world's most expensive spice with an almost
exclusively female workforce.
More
than 1,000 women pick the brightly coloured crocuses across the company's 25
hectares (60 acres) of land in the Pashton Zarghon district of Herat Province,
which borders Iran.
Another
55 hectares are independently owned and operate under the collective that Attai
set up for women saffron pickers, who are represented by union leaders.
Employing
women allows them to be breadwinners for their families, Attai said, enabling
them to send their children to school, and to buy them clothing and other
essentials.
"I
worked hard to establish my business," the 40-year-old said. "We
don't want to sit quietly and be ignored. Even if they ignore us, we will not
remain silent."
The
ousted, Western-backed government encouraged farmers to grow the spice -- used
in dishes from biryani to paella -- in a bid to wean them away from
Afghanistan's huge and problematic poppy industry.
Still,
the country remains by far the world's biggest producer of opium and heroin,
supplying between 80 and 90 percent of global output.
During
their previous stint in power, the Taliban -- who used the sale of opium to
fund their insurgency -- destroyed much of the crop ostensibly to eradicate it,
though critics said it was to drive up the value of their huge stockpiles.
The
cultivation of poppies has again surged in recent years, as poverty and
instability increased. Afghanistan's production area is now roughly four times
larger now than in 2002, according to the United Nations.
Herat
Province produces the vast majority of Afghanistan's saffron.
At
more than $5,000 per kilogram (2.2 pounds), saffron is the world's most
expensive spice, and Attai's company produces between 200 and 500 kilos each
year.
The
pistil of the flower has for centuries been used around the world in cooking,
perfumes, medicines, tea and even as an aphrodisiac -- and because of its high
price has been dubbed "red gold" by those who rely on its
cultivation.
Best
grown in the baking hot sun, the bright purple saffron flowers are harvested in
October and November by armies of workers, many of them women in their fifties
and sixties, who start picking at dawn before the plants wilt later in the day.
Labourers
then prise apart the delicate lilac leaves, vivid red stigmas and pale yellow
stamens -- painstaking work that demands concentration and skill.
Attai
is concerned not just about the future of her business, but also for women
across Afghanistan who are living in limbo, uncertain about jobs, education and
representation in government.
"Now
that the government of the Islamic Emirate is here we are very worried that
they will block our work," she said.
"They
haven't given girls the permission to go back to school and university, and
they haven't given any women posts in the government -- I am worried about what
will happen," she added.
"I'm
not just thinking about myself, I'm thinking about all those that this business
supports to run their homes," she said, noting that some of her employees
are the sole breadwinners in their families.
"I
am worried that 20 years of hard work by these women will go to waste."
In
the 20 years between the US-led ouster of the Taliban in 2001 and the
Islamists' return, many women became business leaders, particularly in cities
like Herat.
Long
a key commercial hub near Iran and Turkmenistan's borders, the city has in
recent months suffered from the flight of many businesswomen.
Younes
Qazizadeh, head of the city's chamber of commerce, told AFP that he hoped the
Taliban would make an official announcement to indicate that "women could
come back and do business under this government as well".
For
now, the fate of businesses like Attai's hangs on a thread.
"It
is our hope to start women's businesses again in our country," Qazizadeh
added.
Attai
said that for now, she is staying in her homeland because she has "some
hope" that her business can survive.
Ahead
of the US pullout, a mammoth airlift saw 124,000 people evacuated from Kabul
airport.
"I
could have left as well. But I didn't leave because all the hard work and
effort that we put in should not be ignored," Attai said.
"I
don't think they will block our work," she added, referring to the
Taliban.
"We
are a company which is completely run by women and employs women -- not a single
man is brave enough to stop that. A woman who has shovelled her fields day and
night cannot be ignored."
Source:
Times of India
--------
Israel
Releases Palestinian MP Khalida Jarrar after Two Years In Prison
26
September, 2021
Israeli
authorities on Sunday released from jail Palestinian lawmaker Khalida Jarrar
after two years in detention.
Jarrar,
58, was sentenced to two years in March 2021 for belonging to the Popular Front
for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which Israel and the United States
label a “terrorist” organization.
But
the Israeli military did not find evidence Jarrar had taken part in violent
acts.
She
had been detained without charge since 2019 when she was arrested along with
several other Palestinian figures following an attack that killed an Israeli
teenager. Israel blamed the attack on the PFLP.
Jarrar
was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council, or parliament, as part of
the PFLP.
On
Sunday the group congratulated Jarrar on her release, describing her as a
“comrade in arms” known for her “patience and tenacity.”
After
leaving jail Jarrar visited the tomb of her daughter Suha who died in July, an
AFP correspondent said.
At
the time, Israeli prison authorities refused to allow Jarrar to attend the funeral.
Jarrar
has been arrested and jailed many times and often held without charge in what
Israelis call administrative detention.
Israeli
administrative detention orders allow suspects to be held without charge for
renewable six-month periods.
Israel
says the procedure is intended to allow authorities to hold suspects while
continuing to gather evidence, with the aim of preventing crimes in the
meantime.
But
the system has been criticized by Palestinians, human rights groups and members
of the international community, who say Israel abuses it.
Source:
Al Arabiya
--------
Women
enslaved by ISIS say they did not consent to a film about them
September
27, 2021
Written
by Jane Arraf and Sangar Khaleel
In
a critically acclaimed documentary on the rescue of women and girls sexually
enslaved by the Islamic State group, tension-filled scenes play out in a Syrian
detention camp and later in a safe house, where victims are faced with
agonizing choices.
The
film, “Sabaya,” from Sweden, won the prestigious Sundance Film Festival award
for best director of a foreign documentary this year and opened the Human
Rights Film Festival this month in Berlin. Critics gave it glowing reviews; its
real-life scenes of car chases and rescue attempts are as dramatic as any
fictional thriller.
But
the film has upset some of the very people it was intended to celebrate: women
from Iraq’s Yazidi religious minority who were sexually enslaved by the Islamic
State terrorist group for years and who are the main subjects. They and their
advocates say it violated the rights of women, who had already been denied
virtually all control over their lives, to decide whether they want images
used.
Three
of the Yazidi women in the documentary told The New York Times that they did not
understand what the film’s director, Hogir Hirori, planned to do with the
footage or were told that the film would not be accessible in Iraq or Syria. A
fourth said she knew he was making a film but told him she did not want to be
in it. A Kurdish Swedish doctor who helped Yazidi women also made clear that
she did not want to appear in the documentary.
“I
told them I do not want to be filmed,” said one of the Yazidi women. “It’s not
good for me. It’s dangerous.”
Their
objections have raised issues about what constitutes informed consent by
traumatized survivors and about the different standards applied to documentary
subjects in Western countries.
Hirori,
a Swedish citizen and former Iraqi Kurdish refugee, spent almost two years
making the film in 2019 and 2020 and took several trips to Syria and Iraq. He
said he had gotten verbal, written or filmed consent from all the women
identifiable in the documentary.
Hirori,
an experienced filmmaker, told the Times that he had initially recorded verbal
consent from the women in the days after they were rescued in 2019 and while he
was staying at the same safe house in Syria as some of them. He said his
intention was to have them sign written releases on a subsequent trip to the
region, but it was delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic, so he
“physically mailed” the forms.
The
women said they received consent forms, but electronically in English, a
language they do not understand. The forms came almost two years after he
filmed them and after the film had been screened.
The
forms seen by the Times named Hirori and the producer, Antonio Russo Merenda,
and were dated after the film debuted at Sundance in January. They asked for
consent retroactively.
In
cases where women did not give written consent, Hirori said, he used footage of
them with their faces blurred. However, the lightly blurred features of some of
the women are still recognizable in the film.
“Some
people changed their minds,” he said about the consent issue, speaking in
Swedish through an interpreter.
The
film unfolds in the aftermath of the ISIS takeover of parts of Syria and Iraq
and its campaign of genocide against the Yazidis in 2014. The fighters killed
an estimated 3,000 Yazidis and captured about 6,000 more, including many girls
and women who were sexually enslaved.
The
documentary depicts efforts to rescue Yazidi women by two Yazidi community
leaders and guards at the chaotic and dangerous Al Hol detention camp in
northeastern Syria.
After
the fall of the Islamic State in 2019, some 60,000 women and children from
territories that had been under the terrorist group’s control were crammed into
the teeming camp. They included hundreds of Yazidi women who were forced to
continue living with the families of the fighters who had enslaved them, even
though most of those fighters had been killed in battle by that time.
“These
are people who were kidnapped at a very young age and who were held as slaves
and sexually abused for five years,” said Peter Galbraith, a former US
ambassador who helped reunite more than a dozen Yazidi women with their young
children who had been taken away from them. The Yazidi community in Iraq does
not allow women to bring back children fathered by Islamic State fighters.
“I
don’t see how, in those circumstances, they have given informed consent,”
Galbraith added, saying even if they had, they most likely did not understand
the full repercussions of it.
One
scene in the film shows Dr Nemam Ghafouri, a Swedish doctor who helped Yazidi
women for years. She died in March after contracting COVID-19 while reuniting
Yazidi mothers with their young children fathered by Islamic State fighters.
One
of her sisters, Dr Nazdar Ghafouri, said there were text exchanges with Hirori
still on her sister’s phone reminding him, after she found out that the
documentary had been screened with her face showing, that she had not wanted to
be in it. The filmmaker replied that there were no close-ups of her, according
to the texts that her sister showed to the Times.
The
film touches on the highly charged topic of separation of Yazidi women from
their children fathered by Islamic State fighters.
Some
women willingly gave up the children. But some are still hiding in Al Hol camp
and other places because they know they will be forced to give up their young
children if they want to return to their families and community in Iraq.
Some
scenes in the film show a distraught young woman forced by Yazidi leaders to
leave her 1-year-old son behind in Syria so she could return to Iraq.
“I
saw him filming but did not know what it was for,” said the woman. She said she
was not asked to sign a consent release by the filmmakers at any time after
that.
All
of the Yazidi women interviewed requested anonymity. Some still fear the
Islamic State group, while others are afraid of the repercussions within their
own conservative community.
The
women rescued in the film are still in camps for displaced Iraqis, in safe
houses or in other countries. Nazdar Ghafouri said she believed the film could
put some of them at risk and prevent them from moving on with their lives.
Another
Yazidi woman who appeared in the documentary said Hirori told her he was
filming for his own personal use. And another said she told Hirori from the
start that she did not want to be in it because community leaders depicted as
heroes had lied to some of the women and taken their children away from them.
One
of the women said she was pressured by Yazidi officials to sign the consent
form even though she did not understand what it said. The consent gives the
filmmakers wide-ranging rights in perpetuity over the stories, images, voices
and even the names of the women.
Human
Rights Watch considered “Sabaya” for its own film festival but decided against
it over concerns about the subjects.
“The
film raises a number of red flags for us relating to concerns that it could be
victimizing victims,” said Letta Tayler, an associate director of the group’s
crisis and conflict division. “How can women who are being held in a safe house
with no easy way out provide consent?”
She
said she was particularly concerned about close-ups of a 7-year-old girl shown
being rescued in the film. Hirori said he obtained consent from the girl’s
guardian, whom he would not name. But her legal guardian told the Times he was
never contacted for consent.
The
handling of consent for “Sabaya” is in stark contrast to common practices in
Europe or the United States, where films generally provide proof that releases
have been obtained to secure insurance protecting against privacy claims.
The
Swedish Film Institute, the documentary’s main funder, said that it was up to
the film’s producer to obtain consent and that it believed the filmmakers had
done that.
“Just
because they are far away, it doesn’t make it right that we can eat popcorn and
watch a movie about a horrific scene somewhere,” said Nazdar Ghafouri. “This is
not fiction. This is what happened to these girls.”
Source:
Indian Express
https://indianexpress.com/article/world/yazidi-women-isis-consent-sabaya-hirori-film-7537012/
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Work
for the Agency for Women’s Scientific, Intellectual and Guidance Affairs
September
27, 2021
In
a significant stride towards women empowerment, around 600 Saudi Arabian women
have undergone training and are now employed in various roles at the two grand
mosques, the Tribune reported.
According
to the report, the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques
said it has so far trained around 600 women employees of its agencies or
assisting agencies.
The
Women’s Development Affairs Agency, led by Al-Anoud Al-Aboud, deputy president
for women’s development affairs, employs 310 of those women.
Around
200 women work for the Agency for Women’s Scientific, Intellectual and Guidance
Affairs, while the rest work at the Agency for Women’s Administrative and
Service Affairs, under the leadership of Kamelia Al-Daadi, stated the report.
Earlier
this year, Saudi women soldiers were appointed to stand guard in Mecca and
Medina, the holiest site of Islam. As women dressed in military khaki uniforms
monitored the security situation in the Grand Mosque in Mecca for the very
first time, the move was hailed the world over.
Hundreds
of women were also employed to serve female pilgrims and visitors to the Grand
Mosque -- Khana-e-Kaaba -- in Mecca.
As
part of the Vision 2030 plans being implemented in the country under the
leadership of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, many new areas have been
opened up for women.
Earlier,
the Saudi Ministry of Defence had announced that both men and women could apply
for various military positions. In December last year alone, the Iruharam
office recruited about 1,500 women to various sections of the Masjid-ul-Haram.
Source:
India Today
--------
Muslim
woman attacked in Austria for wearing hijab
Askin
Kiyagan
26.09.2021
A
Muslim woman living in the Austrian capital Vienna was physically harmed as she
was subjected to a racist attack for wearing hijab.
"This
was truly upsetting for me, I did not really know how to react for it was the
first time I found myself in such situation," Baraa Bolat said in an
interview with Anadolu Agency.
Noting
that the attack took place in a city bus, Bolat said: "A woman approached,
and told me to go back to Turkey with prejudice as I was wearing hijab, even
though I am not from Turkey."
Bolat
went on to say that she ignored the racist attack and moved toward the front of
the bus, however, the assailant did not leave her alone and continued with
insulting and racist remarks.
"I
ignored her until she spat on me, which, during the epidemic, who knows, maybe
she was carrying the disease. I thereupon got off, she followed me and attacked
my hijab, pulling it very hard. The pulling caused needle attached to my hijab
under my chin to wound me. I yelled at her but she did not stop until I took
out my mobile phone and started taking pictures (of her), she then crossed to
other side of street," she said.
Bolat
also shared the incident on social media.
"I
thought I had to take a stance against this incident, and everyone should learn
about it. Regardless of wearing hijab or not, skin color or ethnicity, nobody
should go through an incident of this sort, and this should not be ignored in
any way," she said.
Muslim
woman attacked in Austria for wearing hijab
Legal
process initiated
Many
people contacted Bolat following her post on social media, wishing her well and
standing in solidarity, according to the Muslim woman, who said she filed a
report to local police authorities and a legal process was launched.
She
went on to say that the racist assailant was notorious for such acts and had
previously targeted several others the same way.
"I
am not the first person attacked, spat on by this person; many women wearing
hijab were unfortunately been subjected to similar attacks by the same
individual. So, she has to pay the price. If she has been psychologically
disturbed, then she should be hospitalized or another solution must be found.
It is unacceptable that the person is somehow outside and harms other
people," she added.
In
addition, she regretted to note that no other passenger on the bus opted to
help her but instead stood as mere spectators, adding there should be more
efforts for sake of awareness that would make people help others in need regardless
of their different backgrounds.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/muslim-woman-attacked-in-austria-for-wearing-hijab/2375507
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Noura
Al-Brahim looks toward a winning future with Saudi women’s futsal team
September
26, 2021
Noura
Abdulmohsen Al-Brahim of Al-Yamamah Club in Riyadh has revealed her pride in
representing her country after joining the Saudi women’s futsal team in the
training camp with Croatia.
“I
am full of enthusiasm and desire to win and raise the name of the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia high and to be the best possible representative for my country,”
she told Arabic sports daily Arriyadiyah.
Al-Brahim
pointed out that the Women’s Football Department at the Saudi Arabian Football
Federation has continued to provide strong moral support to all players ahead
of their coming commitments in the Gulf and Asian championships.
On
being part of the Saudi squad at the Croatian training camp, she called her
experience “special and exceptional,” adding: “I’ve learned many things about
the game that are new to me. This trip also allowed me to learn about different
cultures and learn about new ideas and ways to play football.”
Speaking
about her ambitions, Al-Brahim that her goal is to be Saudi’s best player and
help the national women’s team become a force on the international stage.
As
part of the camp that will run until Sept. 28, the Saudi women’s team beat
Serbian team ZFK Zemun 7-5 on Thursday and dedicated the victory to the
nation’s 91st National Day.
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1935776/sport
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Modon
Inaugurates Specialized Centre to Train Saudi Women to Work In Industrial
Cities
September
12, 2021
RIYADH
— Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones (Modon), in
cooperation with Kafo Charity for Employing and Training, has inaugurated a
specialized training center at the second industrial city in Riyadh, which aims
at empowering women in the industrial sector.
Modon
CEO Eng. Khalid Bin Mohammad Al-Salem noted that the strategic partnership
between the two sides targets developing the role of Saudi women in the
national economy under Modon’s strategy to empower industry and contribute to
increasing the local content according to the initiatives assigned to it under
National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NIDLP) in accordance
with the Saudi Vision 2030.
He
stressed that the new center was established in the second industrial city in
Riyadh to design and offer women training programs that accord with the
requirements of the labor market in the industrial sector.
He
added that cooperation between Modon and Kafo enhances the role of the
non-profit sector in industrial cities under the Saudi Vision 2030 that aims at
increasing the contribution of this sector to the GDP to 5%.
The
CEO also pointed out that Modon invests in the potential and capabilities of
Saudi women through providing a model environment that keeps pace with their
ambitions as employees or investors in the industrial sector, noting that Modon
succeeded in increasing the number of Saudi women in industrial cities by 120%
over the past five years to around 17,000 employees up from 7,860.
He
said that the services and products provided by Modon to empower Saudi women
include industrial oasis that includes kindergartens, cars waiting areas and
medical and entertainment centers, with ready-built factories to encourage
female business entrepreneurs and small and medium sized enterprises with areas
of 1,500 square meters and 700 square meters, which are equipped for clean
industries, such as medical and food industries, rubber industries and
high-tech industries.
The
CEO noted that Modon, in December 2020, organized a specialized conference to
discuss investment opportunities for women and ways to address challenges and
remove obstacles that hinder the work of women in the industrial sector, while
the Authority is currently working on launching the small ready-built factory
product with an area of 200 square meters for the first time in the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia in the first industrial city in Dammam. — SPA
Source:
Saudi Gazette
https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/610826
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Saudi-govt
Kafalah grants $115 million in loans to women-led enterprises
27TH
SEP, 2021
RIYADH:
The Small and Medium Enterprises Loan Guarantee Programme (Kafalah), a government
initiative to finance small and medium enterprises, granted SR432 million ($115
million) of loans to 456 businesses led by women in the first-half of 2021,
Arab News reported.
Businesses
in the central region of Riyadh got the lion’s share, as they received the
highest Kafalah support, with 151 establishments accounting for 33 per cent of
the total, taking SR178 million in financing. This was followed closely by the
Makkah region with 115 establishments, or 25 per cent, receiving SR97 million.
The
Eastern province came third, with 102 establishments, or 22 per cent, receiving
SR99 million.
The
Kafalah programme spans several business sectors, including wholesale commerce,
catering and hotels, manufacturing industries, and administrative and support
services.
Source:
BOL NEWS
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URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/holy-mosques-female-employee-scientific-/d/125449