Nabilah Islam, Daughter Of Bangladeshi Immigrants, Becomes First Muslim Woman To Win Georgia’s State Senate
30
April 2023
• Nabilah Islam, Daughter Of Bangladeshi Immigrants,
Becomes First Muslim Woman To Win Georgia’s State Senate
• Afghanistan Women March Against Possible UN Recognition
Of Taliban Government
• Egypt Slams Netflix For Depicting Cleopatra As Black
Woman In New Drama-Documentary
• Los Angeles Art Exhibition On Middle East Women
Opens Amid US Reproductive Rights Row
• Sea Games: Malaysia Beat Myanmar By Four Wickets In
Women's Cricket
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
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Nabilah Islam, Daughter Of Bangladeshi Immigrants, Becomes First Muslim Woman To Win Georgia’s State Senate
Nabilah Islam, 32, will be
the first Muslim woman elected to Georgia’s state Senate, representing a
suburban Atlanta district in the United States.
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Maktoob Staff
Nabilah Islam, 32, will be the first Muslim woman
elected to Georgia’s state Senate, representing a suburban Atlanta district in
the United States.
“We won with 53% of the vote in a challenging year.
Our margin of victory is a testament to our brilliant team & hard working
volunteers. We ran a strong campaign & fought hard. My sincerest thank you
to the voters who put their trust in me to be their voice in the State Senate,”
she tweeted.
Raised in Gwinnett County, Nabilah Islam describes
herself as a lifelong fighter, organizer, and community advocate dedicated to
advancing Democratic causes and values.
Nabilah graduated from Gwinnett County Public Schools.
Nabilah put herself through college at Georgia State University by working at a
luggage store in Peachtree Corners.
In 2020, Nabilah served as a Senior Advisor to the
Gwinnett Democratic Party where she helped lead outreach to Vietnamese, Korean,
and Latino communities – leading to the strongest Democratic performance in the
county in decades and helping to elect President Joe Biden. During the critical
Senate runoffs, Nabilah led an organization called Save Our Senate, which
knocked on over 34,000 doors, turning out Black and Brown voters across
Gwinnett for Senators Ossoff and Warnock. Nabilah was also appointed to become
the President of IPAC an organization dedicated to getting out the Muslim
American vote, she led a historic effort of reaching out to over 60,000
registered Muslims voters across the state during the critical runoffs.
Following the murder of George Floyd and amidst calls
for racial justice across the nation, Nabilah partnered with now-Gwinnett
County Commissioner Kirkland Carden to demand the removal of the county’s last
remaining Confederate monument, which had been placed just steps away from the
site of the lynching of Charles Hale. Thanks to her continued activism, the
racist monument was taken down.
As Nabila, Ruwa Romman, 29, will be the first Muslim
woman elected to the Georgia House of Representatives. Romman who won the
American midterm elections is a Palestinian American.
Source: Maktoob Media
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Afghanistan Women March Against Possible UN Recognition
Of Taliban Government
Afghan women hold placards as they march to protest
for their rights, in Kabul on April 29, 2023. | Photo Credit: AFP
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Lauren Ban
APRIL 29, 2023
Afghan women Saturday marched in Afghanistan’s capital
Kabul to urge the UN not to formally recognize the Taliban government at a UN
summit scheduled for next week. Approximately two dozen women took to the
streets despite the Taliban government’s increasingly strict crackdowns on
women.
During the march, protesters chanted that they would
fight and die for their rights and condemned the UN, stating that the
recognition of the Taliban would be a violation of women’s rights.
An upcoming UN summit on Afghanistan scheduled for May
1 and 2 in Doha, Qatar sparked the protests. UN Secretary-General António
Guterres is scheduled to host closed-door discussions with several countries
regarding approaches to Afghanistan’s political situation. The list of
countries set to attend has not yet been released, but UN spokesperson Stephane
Dujarric confirmed Friday that the Taliban was not invited.
Dujarric described the summit as a way “to
reinvigorate the international engagement around the common objectives for a
durable way forward on the situation in Afghanistan.” Protesters Saturday urged
the UN not to recognize the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan, but
Dujarric said Friday that recognition was “not an issue on the table” for the
summit.
Tensions have been high between Afghanistan and the UN
since the Taliban banned women workers from the UN in early April. Following
the ban, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said they were
weighing whether to continue operations in Afghanistan. Dujarric addressed
UNAMA’s earlier statement Friday, stating that the UN is “committed to staying
in Afghanistan” and “delivering aid based on humanitarian principles.”
The ban on women working for the UN was the Taliban’s
most recent crackdown on Afghan women and girls. Previously, in December 2022,
the Taliban banned women from attending university. In the same week, the
Taliban ordered domestic and international NGOs to cease employment of women
staff members.
Source: Jurist.Org
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Egypt Slams Netflix For Depicting Cleopatra As Black
Woman In New Drama-Documentary
April 29, 202
by Bhavya Sukheja
The Egyptian government has accused Netflix of misrepresenting
history by casting a Black woman to play Cleopatra, its most famous historical
figure, in an upcoming drama-documentary 'Queen Cleopatra'.
The four-part series, which is set to be released on
May 10, features Adele James - an actor of mixed heritage - in the lead role.
This move has enraged Egyptian experts who insist that the pharaonic leader had
"white skin and Hellenistic characteristics". According to The
Guardian, the Egyptian government issued a lengthy statement that included
opinions from experts that, it said, agree on Cleopatra's skin colour and
facial features.
"The appearance of the heroine in this body is a
falsification of Egyptian history and a blatant historical misconception,
especially that the film is classified as a documentary and not a drama,"
the statement read.
Mostafa Waziri, head of the Supreme Antiquities
Council, further said that there was nothing racist in this view as it is
motivated by "defending the history of Queen Cleopatra, an important part
of the history of Egypt in antiquity".
"Archaeologists and anthropologists should have
been referred to when making such kind of documentary and historical films that
will remain a witness on civilizations and history of nations," Mr Waziri
added, noting that there are many Queen Cleopatra's artefacts and depictions on
coins that confirm its true shape and features, which show Queen Cleopatra's
Hellenic (Greek) features, in terms of light complexion, drawn nose, and fluffy
lips.
The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
slammed Netflix's classification of the upcoming productions as a documentary,
saying that it "requires those in charge of its production to investigate
the accuracy and rely on historical and scientific facts". They argue that
the series should instead be reclassified as a drama.
Meanwhile, Netflix, earlier this week, stated that
Adele James' ethnicity is not the focus of the series. "We did
intentionally decide to depict her of mixed ethnicity to reflect theories about
Cleopatra's possible Egyptian ancestry and the multicultural nature of ancient
Egypt, the streaming service giant said, as per the outlet.
Cleopatra was born in the Egyptian city of Alexandria
in 69 BC and became the last queen of a Greek-speaking dynasty founded by
Alexander the Great's Macedonian general Ptolemy. She succeeded her father
Ptolemy XII in 51 BC and ruled until her death in 30 BC. Afterwards, Egypt fell
under Roman domination.
Source: Ndtv.Com
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Los Angeles Art Exhibition On Middle East Women Opens
Amid US Reproductive Rights Row
29 Apr 2023
Los Angeles, April 29 — An exhibition of work by
female artists on women in the Middle East opens in California this weekend, as
a fierce battle over women’s reproductive rights grips the United States.
“Women Defining Women in Contemporary Art of the
Middle East and Beyond” brings together the creations of 42 female artists,
depicting what curators say are the personal and universal stories of women in
Islamic societies, and aims to challenge stereotypes about this part of the
world.
“So many people think that all women are the same in
Middle Eastern lands, they’re all oppressed, they are invisible, they have
horrible lives,” curator Linda Komaroff told AFP.
Exhibits come from all over the Middle East and
beyond, but include a number from Iran, which has been shaken in recent months
after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young woman arrested for allegedly
not properly wearing the compulsory veil.
One powerful picture by Iranian photojournalist Newsha
Tavakolian shows an Iranian woman in traditional clothes — also wearing a pair
of boxing gloves.
Another, by Shirin Aliabadi, showcases the
irrepressible spirit of a younger generation, depicting a woman whose blonde
wig pokes out from under her scarf as she blows a bubble with gum.
The exhibition comes as the United States has been
thrown into tumult over the issue of abortion, after the US Supreme Court last
year struck down the constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy.
Yesterday, the same court is set to wade into the legal
battle over abortion drug mifepristone, after a Texan judge issued a ruling
that would ban this widely used medication.
“American women have been complacent. It’s easy for
them to look to another country or another region and say, ‘We’re better off than
they are.’
Source: Malay Mail
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Sea Games: Malaysia beat Myanmar by four wickets in
women's cricket
By Aftar Singh
April 30, 2023
KUALA LUMPUR: Despite the heat, Malaysia got off to a
good start in women's cricket at the Phnom Penh Sea Games by overcoming Myanmar
by four wickets in the 50 overs Group A match at AZ Group Cricket Oval today.
Myanmar won the toss and elected to bat first. But
Malaysia, coached by Thushara Prabath Kodikara and Prasad Wickramasinghe,
restricted Myanmar to 122 runs with all out in 44.5 overs (31 balls to spare).
Mahirah Izati Ismail was the star for Malaysia with
four wickets and 13 runs to show, while skipper Winifred Anne Duraisingam took
two wickets.
Siow Tzin Yee scored 30 runs from 62 balls, and
Winifred got 28 runs before being bowled out by Theint.
Team manager V. Vijayalingam said: "We should
have won by more wickets.
"However, it was tough due to the heat. It is
still a good experience for my players.
"The win will motivate them for the next game
against Thailand on May 8," said Vijayalingam.
Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand are in Group A while
Group B comprise Cambodia and Indonesia.
On Saturday, the women's team won the T10 match by
outplaying Singapore by nine wickets.
Source: Nst.Com.My
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