Miscellaneous

We live in historic times. People in the Arab world are rising up against political dictatorship and corruption; they demand reforms and are organizing for freedom, human dignity and social justice. Women have been shouldering the responsibilities in all uprisings and their movement is an integral part of the democratic forces for social and economic justice. But they are systematically excluded from the decision making processes that shape the future of their countries. What democracies are then being prepared and negotiated?

Fifty years ago, the Parisian police brutally suppressed a demonstration of 30,000 Algerian workers protesting against a discriminatory and racist curfew banning them from the capital’s streets at night. The march was peaceful, but by the end of the night over 200 Algerians were dead and 11,000 had been arrested and detained in horrific circumstances by French police units.

The date, barely known outside France, is undoubtedly one of the city’s darkest episodes, and survivors of the repression and relatives of those killed are still seeking the truth about what happened that night, and full recognition of the role the authorities played on October 17, 1961.

Wangari Maathai, the first African woman to win the Nobel peace prize, died on Sunday night of cancer. She was 71.

تمضي حنان أيامها في تصفيف شعر زبوناتها من النساء اللواتي يزرن صالون الحلاقة المتواضع الذي تديره. ويحتل الصالون غرفة في منزل حنان الواقع في شارع حيفا في بغداد.

يضجّ المنزل بالحياة، وتدل جدرانه المتسخة على ضعف حال صاحبته. تعمل حنان وتعيش في هذا المنزل منذ عشر سنوات مع أولادها الثلاثة.

حنان امرأة ذات شخصية قوية تنعكس في صوتها الواثق والعميق. فقدت ثمانية أفراد من عائلتها في الحرب وفقدت زوجها أيضا وبقيت قوية.

مع ذلك، استسلمت لحاجتها الى ما تسميه الرجل – الملجأ، وتزوجت من رجل متزوج.