*This article of mine is published on CNN.* Afghanistan’s “peace deal” has been blown up. The government has resumed fighting the Taliban after a horrifying attack by gunmen on a maternity ward run by Doctors Without Borders in Kabul. Mothers and nurses were the main victims in the first attack, with 16 killed. Two of …
Massacre Shows A Chilling Truth For Afghan Women Read More »
Dear Angelina Jolie, I am writing to you about Syria and the ongoing bloodshed we are watching across the country every day. You may have seen the consistent coverage in the news recently about the latest country in the Middle East to join the “Arab Spring.” Despite excitement over pro-democracy movements successfully removing dictators in …
One of the most electrifying outcomes of the recent protests in the Middle East & North Africa has been the shattering of myths about Arabs & Muslims that have for too long been fed to the West: the women are voiceless, passive creatures apathetic to their country’s political processes, and democracy is something we are …
Designers & Dictators: Vogue Highlights Fashion Over Freedom Read More »
Anyone remember what one of the most striking images to surface from Iran’s uprising last summer over the fallout from the country’s so-called elections were? Iranian women protesting. The world was shocked to see Iranians, 70% of whom are under that age of 25 yrs old, pour onto the streets demanding their votes be counted. …
The Fight for Democracy: How Protests in Egypt & Iran Shatter Myths About Muslim Women Read More »
I will always remember this past summer as the one during which Iran opened itself up to the world. Thirty years of silence since the 1979 Iranian Revolution was shattered when violence erupted on the streets of Tehran over the disputed (read: stolen) elections. There are so many iconic images that came from endless days …