Discrimination against hijab-wearing Muslim women at all-time high, the organizers of World Hijab Day say
New
Age Islam News Bureau
02
February 2023
•
Pakistan calls for staying engaged with Taliban to promote Afghan women’s
rights
•
Afghan women ask OIC to restore freedom to study, work
•
New US Visa Curbs Against Taliban For Education, Jobs Bans On Women
•
Women-only bus service inaugurated in Karachi
•
Iran seeking OIC Women Development Organization membership
•
Jewish woman refuses to share hospital room with Arab woman, who agrees to move
•
In rural Indonesia, women join climate action in fight for survival
•
Spotify launches ‘Women of Iran’ playlist
•
How female collective Lemma are keeping Algeria's music traditions alive
•
Matildas coach dodges questions on Saudi Women’s World Cup sponsorship
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL:
--------
Discrimination
against hijab-wearing Muslim women at all-time high, the organizers of World
Hijab Day say
February
02, 2023
Supporters
protest against a hijab ban in educational institutes of Karnataka state, in
Karachi on Feb. 10, 2022. (AFP)
---------
LONDON:
“Hijabophobia” is at an all-time high “due to the current political climate,”
as a result of which hijab-wearing Muslim women face increasing discrimination
in everyday life, the organizers of World Hijab Day said on Wednesday.
“Muslim
women are being pressured to remove their hijab to ‘show solidarity’ and make
political statements, while parts of the world enact legislation that prevent
hijabi women from participating in society,” WHD told Arab News.
It
had called on women of all backgrounds to “take a stand against hijabophobia by
donning a headscarf” on World Hijab Day, Feb. 1, to help raise awareness of the
Muslim tradition and women’s rights.
“The
theme for World Hijab Day 2023, #UnapologeticHijabi, is bolder and stronger
than ever before: Muslim women unapologetically wearing the hijab proudly,” the
organization said.
“Due
to the current climate, Muslim women wearing the hijab are portrayed as
oppressed, submissive and backward, and the hijab is used to justify
discrimination and abuse against them.
“This
can lead to a lack of understanding and empathy toward Muslim women, and can
make it harder for these women to fully participate in society and access
opportunities.”
WHD
said women who choose to wear the headscarf, whether for reasons of modesty or
religious observance, face challenges integrating into educational and
workplace environments.
“In
some cases, there may be religious discrimination, or a lack of understanding
and acceptance of the hijab,” the organization said.
It
added that “in schools, some hijabi students may face discrimination or
harassment from classmates or teachers, or be barred from getting an education
altogether; such is the case in Karnataka, India.”
This
was a reference to a decision by the High Court of Karnataka in February last
year that banned thousands of Muslim girls from wearing religious garments in
school.
WHD
also cited examples of discrimination it said hijab-wearing women face in the
workplace, and bias during the hiring process.
“Experimental
studies suggested that the chances of being hired, and so gainfully employed,
were on average 40 percent lower among Muslim women wearing the hijab than they
were among otherwise similar Muslim women not wearing the hijab, in the West.
“For
example, a 2022 study found that in the Netherlands, almost 70 percent of job
applications that included a photograph of an unveiled woman received a
positive callback for jobs requiring high customer contact. But for
applications with hijab-clad photographs, the positive rate was 35 percent.”
WHD,
which was founded in 2013 in New York by Bangladeshi American woman Nazma Khan,
said: “Muslim women in European countries are more likely subjected to
hijabophobia in public spaces and the labor market.”
In
particular it referred to a December 2020 study by US-based think tank the Pew
Research Center, which found: “Women in 56 countries experienced social
hostilities — that is, harassment from individuals or groups — due to clothing
that was deemed to violate religious or secular dress norms, according to the
sources analyzed for a recent Pew Research Center study of 198 nations.”
The
study said that women were targeted for violating secular dress norms,
including wearing a hijab or other religious garb, in 42 of 56 countries in
which sources alleged that social harassment took place between 2016 and 2018.
However,
WHD said: “While there are challenges to the integration of hijabi women in
schools and the workplace, there have also been efforts to promote
understanding and acceptance of hijabi women in these settings,” including
World Hijab Day itself, which aims “to promote integration and acceptance of
hijabi women in these settings.”
The
organization, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this year, said it expected
thousands of people in more than 150 countries to celebrate World Hijab Day
2023, including in the UK, Japan, Korea and Switzerland.
“Most
notably, we see more and more non-Muslims taking part in wearing the hijab on
Feb. 1,” It added. “Many of them share their experiences with us, which we
believe helps others to learn more about the hijab.”
WHD
said that efforts to raise awareness through its movement have helped to change
views on the hijab around the world, with two-thirds of past participants
reporting positive experiences that changed their views on wearing the
headscarf.
This
year, the organization added, it hoped to further raise awareness, grow its
platform, increase the confidence of women who wear the hijab, and “welcome
those with curiosity and misunderstandings to an open forum and place to ask
questions.”
WHD
is also a fundraising event and money raised this year will go toward creating
diversity and inclusion workshops on Muslim culture for schools, to help foster
a safe and healthy educational environment for Muslim students, the organization
said.
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2243226/world
--------
Pakistan
calls for staying engaged with Taliban to promote Afghan women’s rights
2
Feb 2023
File
Photo
---------
UNITED
NATIONS, Feb 02 (APP):Pakistan has called for continued “engagement” with the
Taliban government in a bid to develop guidelines on human rights, especially
women’s rights, in Afghanistan that will conform more closely to the
international community’s wishes, saying the old approach of using financial
pressure to achieve the objective is not working.
“Pakistan
and the Islamic countries in the region are working towards that objective of
promoting women’s rights,” Ambassador Munir Akram said after a briefing given
to member states on the recent high-level visits to Afghanistan by two separate
delegations, one led by UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths and
the other by UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed.
Griffiths
told the meeting they told the Taliban authorities that a December 24 edict
barring women from working for national and international NGOs
(non-governmental organizations) was doing no favours for the people of
Afghanistan, and called for its revocation. Women are an essential, central component
of the humanitarian operation in Afghanistan, he stressed. At the same time,
Griffiths said he had received “exceptions” in the health and education
sectors, which have enabled activities to restart.
In
his remarks, Ambassador Akram said, “We (Pakistan and Islamic countries in the
region) have continued engagement despite our disagreements with the positions
of the Taliban,” he said, adding, “We have tried persuasion.”
Ulema
delegations have repeatedly been sent to Afghanistan to try and convince them
that their practice is not consistent with Islam, he said.
The
Pakistani envoy said that Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will convene
a conference in New York on March 8 on Women in Islam. The move, he added, was
“another way of conveying a message of what are the standards and freedoms and
rights that women enjoy under Islam and Islamic sharia and this is a strategy
of persuasion which we will continue.”
He
said that the Taliban’s restrictions flow — not so much from a religious
perspective — as from a peculiar distinctive cultural reality of Afghanistan,
which requires women to be kept at home and had not changed for hundreds of
years.
“So
to expect a complete transformation overnight on the condition that aid will
stop to the Afghan people if they do not adhere to international standards, is
a rather optimistic expectation.”
The
new UN strategy to engage with the Taliban, he said, had brought about some
results in terms of the “exemptions”, which have been made, promising some
space for women, adding, “we must work to broaden that space”.
Ambassador
Akram also hoped that the donor community will not walk away from Afghanistan,
and that the UN Secretary-General’s appeal for $4.4 billion appeal, which is so
far, only half funded, will be fully funded going forward, leading to the
revival of the country’s economy.
Source:
APP
--------
Afghan
women ask OIC to restore freedom to study, work
Feb
02, 2023
In
the past few months, Taliban shut down schools and universities for Afghan
women, practically depriving them of all education and job opportunities. As
the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation is expected to meet Taliban leaders,
WION's Mukul Sharma spoke to some of these women. Here are their thoughts,
unfiltered.
-------
Amid
Taliban’s anti-women tyranny, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) – a
57-nation grouping of Islamic countries – is expected to send a delegation to
Kabul to deliberate for women's rights in Afghanistan. This comes close on the
heels of a UN delegation's trip to the country, and pleas from the
international community to restore the freedoms of women and girls to study and
work.
The
date of the OIC visit to Kabul is yet to be announced. Yet, Afghan women see it
as a glimmer of hope in the wake of intensifying extremism that has ripped
their rights apart since Taliban's arrival in Kabul's officialdom.
It
has been over a month since Sana Siddiqui, 21 – an eighth semester Law and
Political Science student at a Jalalabad university – lost her right to
education in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. “One of the girls fainted. Everybody
else began to cry,” Sana had told WION, referring to the scene of chaos that
unfolded in the auditorium of her university after a top university official
announced that girls were no longer to be educated.
"There
are verses in the Quran that insist on education. Prophet Muhammad's wife
Khadijah was a successful businesswoman herself," Sana said, adding
Taliban's religious characterisation of its rulings denying education and work
rights to women go against Islam's basic teachings.
According
to Islamic religious texts, Prophet Muhammad's first wife Khadijah conducted
business transactions on caravans that traded within the Arab world. Many
Afghan women like Sana refer to the progressive life of Khadijah to decolour
Taliban's islamiccharacterisation of ban of women's education and freedom to
work.
Over
a month since the Taliban imposed a ban on women’s university education, the
anti-women rulings from Kabul’s power corridors have become more frequent.
At
the time of filing this report, the Taliban diktat that women aid workers can
no longer work in Afghanistan remains imposed. In January, the Taliban ruled in
Balkh province that male doctors can no longer treat female patients. On
January 30, young female students were stopped from appearing in University
entrance exams across the country.
Expectations
from OIC visit
Reflecting
on the lack of awareness among Taliban extremists about the world beyond
Afghanistan, Sana said the OIC must make efforts "to create a
consensus" amongst hardliners that women can work and be educated in
Muslim countries.
"OIC
member countries should jointly issue a ruling that women's rights such as
education and freedom to work are allowed in Afghanistan," Sana added.
WION
reached out to Dr Sona, a medical professional from Kabul, to ask what she
expects of the OIC.
"I
asked every woman around me what they want," Dr Sona said. "We just
want freedom."
"I
asked my sister-in-law, my mother, my sister, and my batchmates. They said they
want freedom to work. That they want to go back to the schools, and colleges.
They want to study," Dr Sona added.
Source:WIONews
--------
New
US Visa Curbs Against Taliban For Education, Jobs Bans On Women
February
02, 2023
Washington:
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced new visa restrictions against
the Taliban Wednesday in response to bans on employment and education for women
in Afghanistan.
"I
am taking action today to impose additional visa restrictions on certain
current or former Taliban members, members of non-state security groups, and
other individuals believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, repressing
women and girls in Afghanistan," Blinken said in a statement.
Blinked
said the repressive actions included "the Taliban's decision to ban women
from universities and from working with NGOs."
Since
their return to power in August 2021, the Taliban have imposed severe
restrictions on Afghan women, banning them from holding public jobs, attending
secondary schools and universities, or from going to parks.
At
the end of December, they banned NGOs from working with Afghan women, leading
several organizations to suspend their activities.
Blinken
added that Washington will continue to work in coordination with allied
countries to make "clear to the Taliban that their actions will carry
significant costs and close the path to improved relations with the
international community."
Source:NDTV
--------
Women-only
bus service inaugurated in Karachi
Shazia
Hasan
February
2, 2023
KARACHI:
The theme was pink and the slogan ‘women empowerment’ as the Sindh Mass Transit
Authority succeeded in making all the women in the city smile by inaugurating a
safe, convenient, affordable and comfortable Pink People’s Bus Service at Frere
Hall here on Wednesday.
Initially
eight buses have been introduced that will operate on a single route from Model
Colony, Malir to Tower via Sharea Faisal from 7am till 10pm. During peak hours
in the morning and evening, the dedicated bus service will operate every 20
minutes and every hour during the rest of the day. It will best facilitate
commute for college and university students and office-going women and the fare
is only Rs50.
Sohaib
Shafiq, the project director of the Pink Bus Service, said that keeping the
safety of women in mind there are cameras installed inside the bus, which also
has women conductors.
Celebrating
the introduction of the bus service with other women of the city were also
several celebrity women. Oscar winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy said that it was an
excellent initiative by the Sindh government. “Public transportation for women
is very important in all big cities, particularly cities where women are
encouraged to build careers. Today is an excellent day for the women of
Karachi,” she said.
Architect
and researcher Marvi Mazhar said that the bus service was a great communicative
way for the urban planning of the city. “I also ask that the government start a
pink boat service for women to commute between islands and also expand this bus
service to other cities,” she said.
Actor
Ushna Shah said making commute easy for women would go a long way in helping
the country’s economy. “Girls will feel safe enough to go to their school,
college and universities. If they feel safe enough to work then that’s just
excellent for our economy. So this one little step for women will be a giant
step for all Pakistanis,” she said.
Pakistan
Peoples Party leader Sharmila Farooqui recalled the time when the late prime
minister Benazir Bhutto was alive. “She helped found the first women’s police
station, then the First Women’s Bank. PPP has always thought about women’s
rights and the empowerment of women,” she said and congratulated her
leadership.
Sindh
Labour Minister Saeed Ghani said that the bus service was badly needed. “So
many of our daughters use public transport to get to their places of study or
work even though they are not comfortable or safe in them. But now these buses
will be like a game changer for them,” he said. “They’ll be comfortable and
they’ll be confident as they go about their way,” he added.
Sindh
Information and Transport Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said: “If you have
strong women, you have strong homes and strong families. So we cannot neglect
our mothers, sisters and daughters. It’s the government’s responsibility to
come up with policies to provide a safe environment to women so that they feel
safe to step out of their homes and work alongside men,” he said.
He
also said that although the bus has male drivers for now, he has asked the NRTC
to train women to drive the bus.
“We
have women driving huge dumper trucks in Tharparkar so these, too, can have
women driving them. As soon as we get trained women drivers, they will be
replaced with the male drivers,” he said.
Finally,
the minister also announced that women will be allowed to ride on the Pink Bus
for free, without having to pay any fare, for its first seven-day operation in the
city, till Feb 7.
Later,
it was a treat for all the guests at the inauguration to watch Sharmila
Farooqui settle in the driver’s seat of one of the pink buses and drive it at
the conclusion of the ceremony.
Source:
Dawn
https://www.dawn.com/news/1734793/pink-isnt-just-a-colour-its-a-bus
--------
Iran
seeking OIC Women Development Organization membership
February
1, 2023
In
line with regional and international capacity building in the field of women
and family, and with the approach of developing interaction and also
convergence in the international arena, the bill for joining the organization
has been submitted to the Majlis, IRNA quoted Khadijeh Karimi, an official with
the vice presidency for women and family affairs, as saying.
The
bill was approved by the cabinet of ministers on January 4 and was submitted to
the Majlis on January 23, she added.
Expanding
Iranian women's cultural, social, and political relationships with women all
over the world, developing women's international activities, strengthening the
participation of governmental and non-governmental institutions and increasing
their presence in international arenas, and strengthening cooperation between
women in Iran and in other countries to support Islamic associations,
organizations, and communities are among the highlights of the bill.
The
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is the second largest organization
after the United Nations with a membership of 57 states spread over four
continents.
Founded
in 1969, the Organization is the collective voice of the Muslim world. It
endeavors to safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the
spirit of promoting international peace and harmony among various people of the
world.
Objectives
and goals
The
Women Development Organization of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation was
founded in 2009 and aimed to develop women.
According
to its statute, it shall be concerned with everything necessary to meet its
objectives, in particular “highlight the role of Islam in preserving the rights
of the Muslim woman, especially at the international fora in which the
Organization is involved.”
It
also aims to develop plans, programs, and projects necessary to implement
policies, orientations, and decisions of the OIC in the area of women’s
development, welfare, and empowerment in the Member States.
Organizing
conferences, symposia, workshops, and meetings in the area of women’s
development in the Member States, conducting courses and training programs
aimed at strengthening and building capacity, skills, and competencies in the
area of women’s development and empowering them to discharge their mission in
the family and society, are also among other objectives.
Moreover,
it supports and encourages national efforts in Member States to develop human
resources in the area of women’s development, organize activities aimed at
upgrading the role of women and ensuring women’s full rights in Member States’
societies, in line with the Charter and the decisions of the Organization of
the Islamic Conference.
The
Organization also carries out studies to enhance the role of women in Member
States, activates the rights of women enshrined in the OIC Charter by working
to remove the restrictions that will enable women to participate in community
building, suggests ways and methods of the society’s support for women, and
establishes an information network that will enable Member States to identify
experiences and practices regarding women, including through the cooperation
with civil society
Advantages
for Iran
The
advantage of membership in the Women Development Organization for the country
can lead to cooperation and transfer of experiences among Islamic countries in
order to increase the participation of Muslim women in decision-making,
managerial, executive, and legislative fields, Karimi stressed.
It
can also lead to empowering and increasing the political development and social
and economic growth of women through holding training courses and programs with
the aim of improving the skills and competencies of women, she pointed out.
Explaining
Islam's view on honoring women and its social role based on creating equal
opportunities for growth and a justice-oriented view on the distribution of
social duties, as well as explaining Islamic values and the gifts of Islamic
civilization to humanity can be some other advantages, she added.
“Highlighting
the role of Islam in protecting the rights of Muslim women, especially in
international forums in which the member countries of the Organization
participate, is another advantage of getting the membership.”
Benefiting
from the Organization's capacity for communication and bilateral cooperation
among member countries in order to increase cooperation in the field of women's
empowerment, especially among the countries that have more affinity and
political and cultural harmony with each other is another advantage, she
explained.
And
using the Organization's capacity to help the development of women in
underdeveloped member countries in various fields of economy, education,
politics, and culture without the need for help from developed western
countries is considered another advantage of the membership, she concluded.
Source:
Tehran Times
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/481525/Iran-seeking-OIC-Women-Development-Organization-membership
--------
Jewish
woman refuses to share hospital room with Arab woman, who agrees to move
By
ASH OBEL
1
February 2023
A
Jewish woman refused to share a maternity room with an Arab woman at a northern
hospital on Tuesday, resulting in her roommate moving to another room in the
hospital.
The
Jewish woman, who had just given birth, was sharing a room at HaEmek Medical
Center in Afula with an Arab woman who was accompanied by her partner Dr. Wasim
Rock, a doctor in the northern city of Nazareth where the couple resides.
Despite
the Jewish woman’s protests, hospital staff refused to give in to the women’s
request to move the Arab couple elsewhere, telling her they “don’t separate new
mothers,” Channel 13 said.
However,
as a result of the bitter atmosphere and tension, the Arab couple agreed to
move.
Speaking
after the incident, Rock told Channel 13 the couple found themselves in a room
with a woman “who didn’t take kindly to the fact we were from a different
segment of the population to her, and she said she did not want to sleep in the
same room with us because she felt unsafe.
“We
felt shocked,” Rock said. “I think there are certain people who have an
unjustified fear to be with people that are different, and I have only sympathy
for these kinds of people. That woman, it shows her personal views, but she
doesn’t have the right to request that other people leave the room in a
hospital, and that’s what the hospital [staff] explained to her.”
Rock
said that as a result of the incident, he and his wife felt uncomfortable, and
the next morning requested to be moved to another room.
“We
are all citizens of the same country. We need to live together in peace because
we don’t have any other country or place to live in. It’s really a shame that
relations are experiencing a downturn. I have nothing against that woman,” he
concluded.
The
Mossawa Center, which advocates for Arab rights in Israel, blamed the incident
on what it said is an atmosphere of racism nurtured by the country’s new
right-wing government.
“The
racist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and his wife can be proud of the
racist atmosphere that they’ve spread. This isn’t the first instance, and to
our sorrow it probably won’t be the last where a Jewish woman says she isn’t
prepared to share a room with an Arab woman.”
In
2016 Smotrich said he supported the separation of Arab and Jewish mothers in
maternity wards in Israeli hospitals.
The
statement noted that both the Jewish and Arab women at the Afula hospital were
treated by staff comprising both Jewish and Arab doctors, nurses and midwives.
Source:TimesOfIsrael
--------
In
rural Indonesia, women join climate action in fight for survival
SHEANY
YASUKO LAI
February
01, 2023
JAKARTA:
For the past few years, Rania has been constantly living in fear of the day she
and her family would have to abandon their home when everything they own falls
into the ocean.
Life
and livelihood in Rania’s village, PondokKelapa in Bengkulu province on the
western coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra Island, have been increasingly affected by
erosion.
Environmentalists
estimate that seawater has already entered 30 m into the mainland since 2011
and the pace at which it reclaims more is increasing.
The
village has been also losing its main source of livelihood, fisheries, as tidal
waves destroy marine vegetation and fish habitats, leaving many men jobless and
trapping the whole community in a poverty cycle.
“Where
we live is being eroded by the waves. Tidal floods are greatly affecting our
lives,” Rania, 47, told Arab News.
“We
are trying our best, but some children don’t go to school. Some of them have
had to leave because there’s simply not enough money.”
PondokKelapa
is not the only place affected, as coastal erosion and tidal flooding are
threatening many more communities in the archipelagic nation of 270 million.
A
recent study by Indonesia’s biggest daily, Kompas, showed that nearly 200 out
of about 500 coastal cities and districts are at risk of being submerged by
2050, as the country is one of the most vulnerable in terms of risks posed by
the changing climate.
In
Rania’s village of 4,300 people, women have decided to fight back.
In
2020, she and over 20 other village women formed a group to advocate for
government climate resilience assistance to build a seawall and help the
community adapt to the rapidly changing conditions with proper infrastructure.
“Because
of climate change, seawater has increasingly eroded our place in PondokKelapa,”
she said.
“Now
the women are stepping up and trying to confront this issue. Who knows, maybe
the government will respond to us ladies.”
Action
is urgently needed not only in PondokKelapa but along the coast of the whole
Bengkulu province, according to the Indonesian Forum for the Environment, a
non-governmental organization, which is part of the Friends of the Earth
International network.
“A
number of villages are in danger of sinking because of coastal erosion and
tidal flooding…These tidal floods in Bengkulu province are very hard to
predict, and they have impacted the earnings of fishermen and subsequently
affected their livelihood,” Dodi Faisal, who heads the forum’s advocacy in the
province, told Arab News.
“It’s
very worrying. The provincial and local governments have yet to take any
concrete action.”
Masmarawati,
another member of Rania’s group, said she hopes action will come soon.
“We
can still survive in the village for now,” she said.
“But
what about next year? In five years? What’s going to happen to our children and
grandchildren?”
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2242876/world
--------
Spotify
launches ‘Women of Iran’ playlist
February
01, 2023
LONDON:
Spotify has launched a new playlist called “Women of Iran,” voicing its support
for females protesting in the country.
Curated
by Iranian American Leila Kashfi, DSP’s associate manager, artist partnerships,
the playlist aims to amplify the voices of Iranian girls and women and their
global allies, according to reports.
“For
decades, the Islamic Republic has forced Iranians to suppress the beauty of
Persian culture — a culture founded thousands of years ago in music, dance,
romance, & tolerance,” Kashfi wrote on Instagram.
“The
(Islamic Republic) targets artists because music fuels revolution.”
The
compilation reflects core characteristics of Iran’s culture and celebrates the
country’s past and contemporary music history, including songs specifically
about the current protests.
“Women
of Iran” includes songs by iconic Iranian singers, including Googoosh, Mahasti
and Hayedeh, alongside artists Shervin Hajipour and Toomaj Salehi, who were
both arrested and imprisoned after sharing music in support of the fight
against the Islamic Republic’s injustices.
Hajipour,
who received a whopping 95,000 submissions for The Grammys’ new best song for
social change award, was released following international pressure back in
October.
As
a part of the playlist launch, Spotify is utilizing its video story feature
that provides a platform for the Iranian creative community to speak on topics
including culture, art and freedom of expression.
The
algorithm-driven 50-song custom selection pulls from over 100 Iranian songs and
will include five songs pinned to every user’s playlist, including Hajipour’s
“Baraye” and Salehi’s “SoorakhMoosh.”
The
other three are “Dobareh,” a collective song led by iconic artist Googoosh,
“Soroode Zan” from popular singer Mehdi Yarrahi, and a song that translates to
“Freedom Anthem” by a collective calling themselves Ethnic Musicians.
The
playlist also includes diasporic Iranian artists, including Rana Mansour,
SnohAalegra, and Iranian-Dutch singer Sevdaliza, who has released a number of
songs in support of the ongoing revolution in Iran.
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2242881/media
--------
How
female collective Lemma are keeping Algeria's music traditions alive
Saeed
Saeed
Feb
01, 2023
Lemma's
performance in Abu Dhabi is the gig they were born to play.
According
to the group's founder and singer SouadAsla, the concert by the Algerian female
collective, taking place on Friday at NYU Abu Dhabi as part of the venue's
Barzakh Festival, will speak to why the group formed in the first place.
.
Asla
began her career as a solo artist. Her 2008 debut album Jawal was well-received
in world music circles for its marriage of Algerian folk tempos and melodies
with the mystical sounds of North African Gnawa music.
Between
tours and solo projects, Asla would also often return to the small Algerian
town of Taghit to creatively rejuvenate.
She
recalls taking part in an weekly all-women gathering where they sang and danced
to traditional folk songs.
“What
I loved about these evenings was that they were places where women could
totally express themselves and talk freely,” Asla says. “But when I kept coming
back, those groups became smaller. They told me the new generation was no
longer interested in maintaining these gatherings and there was this fear that
this tradition would fade away.”
The
decline was also down to these events being intensely private affairs.
Asla
says she created Lemma (Algerian for gathering or harvest, she says) in 2015 to
address this, with the 12-piece collective performing these intimate songs in a
public setting.
Through
a series of rehearsals in Taghit, Lemma honed down the genres they would
present, including Sufi-inspired Al Farda, the mystical trance sounds of Hadra,
an Algerian music genre, and Gnawa.
"These
are all forms of music that have been passed down orally and are at risk of
extinction. So each show demonstrates how important they are," says Asla.
"And to now bring this to the Arab world, I think, makes it extra
poignant.
“We
haven’t played a concert in the Arab world for a long time, so to come to Abu
Dhabi is important for us. We want to showcase our Algerian and North African
heritage, which is essentially a shared heritage in the Arab world.”
Getting
the band together was a major task, she says, and required persuading members
and, in some cases, their families, to get on board.
Their
concerts, particularly those held in Algeria, caused a stir for their
transgressive streak.
"People
were surprised to see us perform the kind of music that many associated with
male artists," Asla says. "The crowds loved the fact that we were
breaking some of these boundaries and we got a great reception.”
That
momentum propelled Lemma's self-titled debut album in 2019 to become a
commercial success in Algeria. Sung mostly in Berber and Arabic, the tracks
feature percolating percussion with vocals following a call-and-response style.
Standout
songs include MaachoukNbi and Zaffani, which channel the energy and joy Asla
experienced in those closed gatherings in Taghit.
Despite
the various sounds, culture and traditions covered in the songs, Asla says they
are all rooted by a sense of community.
This
is why Lemma concerts, from Algeria to Finland, are never lost in translation.
“The
songs come from a rich history that is also open and welcoming,” she says. “I
look forward to coming to Abu Dhabi and sharing that message and joy with all
of you.”
Source:
TheNationalNews
--------
Matildas
coach dodges questions on Saudi Women’s World Cup sponsorship
2
Feb 2023
Matildas
coach Tony Gustavsson has sidestepped the issue of Saudi Arabia’s potential
sponsorship of the Women’s World Cup but suggested his side’s values do not
align with those of the Middle Eastern kingdom.
Visit
Saudi – the tourism arm of a country with a human rights record described by
Amnesty International as “appalling” – has been linked with becoming the
headline sponsor of this year’s tournament.
Women
were not able to enter sport stadiums in Saudi Arabia until 2018 and
homosexuality remains illegal. The Saudis won hosting rights to the 2027 Men’s
Asian Cup on Wednesday and were given a spot on Fifa’s council.
Football
Australia (FA) chair Chris Nikou and his counterpart at New Zealand Football
Joanna Wood have written to Fifa to express their concern about the potential
sponsorship deal for the World Cup, which kicks off on 20 July.
“We
cannot express strongly enough the potential repercussions and fallout that
could result of this decision,” the letter said, adding the two countries had
“placed the utmost importance on gender equality”.
At
Thursday’s unveiling of the Matildas squad for the upcoming Cup of Nations
tournament, FA asked media to refrain from questioning players about the Saudi
sponsorship.
Gustavsson’s
response could be seen by some to suggest he doesn’t believe his team’s values
match those of Saudi Arabia.
“It’s
too early to comment right, but I know what these women stand for and what the
team stands for,” he said.
“That’s
from way before my time, I’ve had the privilege to meet the Matildas alumni and
everyone knows the core values of this team. The federation is seeking more
information and the team knows what they stand for.”
There
are a number of players in Gustavsson’s squad who identify as LGBTQ+, and how
FA navigates the issue ahead of hosting their first senior Fifa tournament will
be monitored across the world.
Australia’s
men released a joint statement prior to the Qatar World Cup protesting the
suffering of migrant workers and LGBTQ+ people in the Gulf state, only for
former Socceroosmidfielder Tim Cahill – an ambassador for the controversial
tournament – to then join the organiser’s camp.
After
naming his squad for the Cup of Nations Gustavsson says Australia will use the
tournament as a dress rehearsal for the World Cup later this year.
The
Matildas will open their campaign against Czechia – formerly the Czech Republic
– in Gosford on 16 February before games with Spain and Jamaica in quick
succession.
Gustavsson
wants to mirror the World Cup, in which his side can guarantee themselves a
passage out of the pool stage with a top-two finish.
The
Swede has remained loyal to the players he has previously deployed, with
Western Sydney defender Clare Hunt the only uncapped name in his latest squad.
Cortnee
Vine (Sydney FC), Katrina Gorry and Larissa Crummer (both Brisbane Roar), and
Melbourne Victory’s Alex Chidiac and Elise Kellond-Knight are the other players
selected from the A-League Women.
At
the other end of the spectrum to Hunt, veteran defender Clare Polkinghorne can
claim Australia’s all-time appearance record if she takes the field for what
would be her 152nd cap.
Experienced
midfielder Tameka Yallop returns to the squad after missing the last camp due
to an ankle injury along with forward Emily Gielnik and goalkeeper Mackenzie
Arnold.
Matildas
regulars Kyah Simon and Ellie Carpenter remain sidelined with knee injuries.
“Our
Cup of Nations squad has been selected in line with our principles built in the
back half of 2022 as we continue to create consistency and chemistry among the
playing group,” Gustavsson said.
“This
is particularly important in a tournament that mirrors the group-stage play and
presents an opportunity to maximise our time together with less than 200 days
until the Fifa Women’s World Cup kicks off.
“We
know there are some areas we need to continue evolving in and that will be the
focus of our matches against three opponents that provide a real variety of
approach.”
Matildas
squad: Mackenzie Arnold, Teagan Micah, Lydia Williams; Steph Catley, Charlotte
Grant, Clare Hunt, Alanna Kennedy, Aivi Luik, Courtney Nevin, Clare
Polkinghorne; Alex Chidiac, Kyra Cooney-Cross, Katrina Gorry, Elise
Kellond-Knight, Amy Sayer, Emily van Egmond, Clare Wheeler, Tameka Yallop;
Larissa Crummer, Caitlin Foord, Mary Fowler, Emily Gielnik, Sam Kerr, Hayley
Raso, Cortnee Vine.
Source:TheGuardian
--------
URL:
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism