Arab Spring

What a Houthi-controlled Yemen Means for Women

The circular stirred controversy in Yemeni society, especially among women who feel that the next phase will bring in many unpleasant surprises regarding hard-won gains they had achieved. Some women have concerns about Houthis since they are so dogmatic when it comes to women’s rights.

Tunisia: Killing the Arab Spring in Its Cradle

TUNIS — MOHAMED BRAHMI, the left-wing politician who was assassinated outside his home here last Thursday, was born in Sidi Bouzid, the same town where a desperate fruit vendor set himself on fire in December 2010, triggering the Tunisian revolution — and the Arab Spring.

كريمة بنون:قتل الربيع العربي في مهده

محمد براهمي، السياسي القومي اليساري الذي اغتيل خارج منزله يوم الخميس الماضي، ولد في سيدي بوزيد، المدينة نفسها التي أضرم فيها بائع فاكهة يائس النار على نفسه في ديسمبر 2010، فأشعل الثورة التونسية وأشعل معها العربي الربيع. وجهت أصابع الاتهام في مقتل السيد براهيمي إلى لحزب النهضة الإسلامي، الذي يحكم تونس، كما أتهم الحزب نفسه سابقا بتورطه في عملية اغتيال المناضل الحقوقي اليساري البارز شكري بلعيد منذ ما يقرب من ستة أشهر على يد مهرب أسلحة شاب كانت لديه علاقات مع تنظيم القاعدة في بلاد المغرب الإسلامي .

Egypt: Sexual Harassment: the Dark Side of Tahrir Square

A few days ago British journalist Natasha Smith published a long and anguished account of being sexually assaulted at the hands of a mob in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. She described how she was attacked by numerous men, her clothes torn off while she was beaten and groped as bystanders did nothing and those who tried to rescue her were set upon by the mob.

International: 'The Feminist Wire Controversy: A Documentary History'

The Feminist Wire is an online women's studies journal “founded by African American feminist scholars that is run collaboratively and with mutual respect and love by a diverse Collective that spans races, ethnicities, sexualities, class statuses, geographies, religions, and feminist perspectives." On April 13, they published an article by Adele Wilde-Blavatsky, an English journalist who was then a member of their collective, entitled "What It Means to be an Ant-Racist Feminist in the 21st Century." The article argued against an equation being made in the blogosphere between the hoodie

MENA: Mona Eltahawy and Leila Ahmed discuss FP "Why DoThey Hate US" piece

There has been much controversy over a piece written by journalist Mona Eltahawy in the most recent issue of Foreign Policy Magazine entitled "Why Do They Hate Us: The Real War on Women is in the Middle East". Here Eltahawy and renouned scholar Leila Ahmed discuss the controversy.

Bahrain: Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition Statement on Bahrain in Solidarity with Al Khawaja

The Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRD IC) stands in solidarity with Abdulhadi Al Khawaja and women human rights defenders in Bahrain as they demand democracy, government accountability and an end to the torture and detention of those demanding political change. Al Khawaja is a long opposition and human rights activist who has defended human rights of women for many years. He is in prison serving a life sentence imposed by a military court because of his peaceful anti-government protests and has been on a hunger strike for the past two and a half months.

Middle East and North Africa: 'Why Do They Hate Us?'

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خطاب مفتوح لكينيث روث، المدير التنفيذي لمنظمة هيومن رايتس ووتش

عزيزي كينيث روث

في مقدمة تقرير هيومن رايتس واتش 2012، "حان الوقت للتخلي عن المستبدين واحتضان الحقوق"، فإنك تدعو لدعم الحكومات الجديدة التي جاءت بالإخوان المسلمين للسلطة في مصر وتونس. ومن أجل تلبية رغبة "المشاركة البناءة" مع هذه الحكومات الجديدة، فإنك تدعو الدول لوقف مساندة المستبدين. لكنك لست دولة بل مدير مؤسسة دولية لحقوق الإنسان وعليك أن تلعب دورا في الإبلاغ عن انتهاكات حقوق الإنسان، وهي مهمة شريفة وضرورية تم تجاهلها في مقالك بشكل واضح.

International: 'Lettre ouverte à Kenneth Roth, directeur executif de Human Right Watch

Cher Kenneth Roth,