Posts tagged people

Syrian actress treads new stage in Syrian protests Disillusioned at the level of state control even in theater and film, she joined protests last year against President Bashar al-Assad and now takes the stage at demonstrations in the city of Homs, center of resistance to his family’s four-decade rule. Cutting her hair short like a boy and moving from house to house to evade capture, Suleiman has become one of the most recognized faces of the 10-month uprising against Assad. She played no part in the early demonstrations that broke out in March, but a deep-seated rebellious streak - which only increased when she joined the state-run High Conservatory for Theater Arts - drew her toward the protests. By Khaled Yacoub Oweis, Reuters

Syrian actress treads new stage in Syrian protests

Disillusioned at the level of state control even in theater and film, she joined protests last year against President Bashar al-Assad and now takes the stage at demonstrations in the city of Homs, center of resistance to his family’s four-decade rule.

Cutting her hair short like a boy and moving from house to house to evade capture, Suleiman has become one of the most recognized faces of the 10-month uprising against Assad. She played no part in the early demonstrations that broke out in March, but a deep-seated rebellious streak - which only increased when she joined the state-run High Conservatory for Theater Arts - drew her toward the protests.

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis, Reuters

reuters.com

I believe the Egyptian revolution really was in this sense and by definition one of the most typical revolutions in history. I would say that the Egyptian revolution was more of a revolution than some in Eastern Europe. But the achievement of the revolution is still a long way off. We are talking about nine months here; we’re still at the beginning. Still, the Egyptian revolution is one of the greatest revolutions in history – whether the analysts like it or not. If you compare our revolution to other revolutions, you see that it takes time. You are eliminating an entire regime, and we were not lucky because the military council was not in favour of the revolution. But I am still very optimistic because in the beginning, no one could ever have imagined that Mubarak would be forced to step down.
Interview with the writer Alaa Al Aswany on the Egyptian Revolution 

Essam Sharaf: Science Revolutionary

As academics joined the millions protesting in Egypt’s streets this spring, the voice of one engineer soon began leading chants. Essam Sharaf was in the thick of demonstrations in January, and he became the first prime minister of a post-revolution cabinet in March — promoting science as a solution to the country’s woes. But by November, he had resigned amid a second surge of popular protest.

The 59-year-old Sharaf was born in Egypt and earned degrees in engineering from Cairo University and Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. By 2010, he was an academic engineer at Cairo University and a fierce critic of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s regime. Sharaf’s stance during the uprising made him popular with the young revolutionaries. He was high on their list of candidates to lead the new transition government, along with Nobel laureate Ahmed Zewail, a chemist from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. When Sharaf was chosen, hundreds of thousands of revolutionaries gathered to greet him in Tahrir Square. “If I can’t bring the change you want, then I will return to the lines with you,” he told them.

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nature.com

Man in the early times was almost naked, and as his intellect evolved he started wearing clothes. What I am today and what I’m wearing represents the highest level of thought and civilization that man has achieved, and is not regressive. It’s the removal of clothes again that is regressive back to ancient times.
Tawakkul Karman’s reply when asked about her hijab. She was one of the winners of the Nobel Peace Prize 2011. 
I’ve just completed a book, Cairo: My City, Our Revolution. It’s kind of a memoir, advocating the revolution, and embedded in the city and in my life. I think it’s the most difficult thing I’ve ever done, both because the revolution is not over yet and because I felt a tremendous responsibility towards the revolution, Cairo, and my fellow citizens.
The Egyptian novelist and political and cultural commentator Ahdaf Soueif is a source of inspiration for young fiction and non-fiction writers in the UAE. Soueif has been awarded three honorary DLitts by British universities. She is a fellow of the Royal Society for Literature, and also a fellow of the Lannan Foundation for Cultural Freedom. In 2010, she won the first Mahmoud Darwish Award.
Instead of arresting the murderer of the blogger Khaled Said, the military imprisoned me, just before the birth of my son. The only good thing is that the protests are continuing.
Alaa Abdel Fattah, one of the Egyptian revolution’s best-known bloggers and activists.

Egypt Revolution An Expat Perspective part 2

I kissed my wife and unborn child goodbye and set off not knowing if I would return again. Concerned about their well being in case anything should happen while phone lines are disrupted, I dropped my wife off to her friend’s house and we drew up a contingency plan for the day.

 Instead of attending Friday prayer at my local mosque, on Friday 28th January, I made my way to the other side of the Nile with a small group of friends and prayed at a mosque there. As was the call, marches proceeded up and down the country right after the prayer and I was amongst those who headed for Tahrir square.

 It could have been any other Friday. The streets were quiet early that morning. On any other Friday I would have appreciated the lack of traffic in Cairo and urged more people to stay at home to have a lie in. But this time, the quiet on the streets was putting me on edge. Is anyone going to turn up? Will only a handful make it to Tahrir Square? Will our little group of mixed race and foreign looking Muslims stand out like a sore thumb and invite trouble with the Mukhabarat. Almost every mosque we crossed along the way, was surrounded by police vans and riot police.

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My hope is that Arab writers will rebel against Arab publishers, who have exploited them, censored them and ganged-up with dictators against them for decades. Arab writers must defend their profession. They have to stop putting up with paying for the printing of their books, for example. That’s dreadful.
Rafik Schami is a Syrian author and critic who has been living in exile in Germany for the past forty years; his last novel, The Dark Side of Love, was called “the first Great Syrian Novel” by The Dawn, Pakistan’s oldest English newspaper. Schami recently founded Swallow Editions in order to publish the work of fledgling Arab writers in English.

Egypt Uprising from an expat perspective part 1

As the saying goes ‘where I lay my head is home’ and for a few years now, home has been Egypt. I was born in Pakistan and after spending the first nine years of my life there, I moved to the UK with the rest of my family to join my father. For the next 19 years, London is where I would call home. My wife, although also a Pakistani national, never lived in Pakistan. She grew up in Bahrain and Qatar and travelled to England for higher education. That’s how we met. Marriage and career change from IT consultant to IT teacher took me to the North of England. My wife’s experiences abroad inspired me to embrace the nomadic lifestyle and we landed in Jordan for a couple of years before settling in Egypt…at least for now.

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Mother of the Revolution Tawakkul Karman known as the ‘Mother of the Revolution’ in Yemen was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Leymah Gbowee and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia. The Guardian has this profile on her. In Yemen, a 32-year-old mother of three may seem an unlikely leader of the fight to overthrow the president, but Karman – a journalist and human rights activist – has long been a thorn in Saleh’s side and has been jailed many times. ihya (Photo Credit: Ahmed Jadallah/Scanpix)

Mother of the Revolution

Tawakkul Karman known as the ‘Mother of the Revolution’ in Yemen was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Leymah Gbowee and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia. The Guardian has this profile on her.

In Yemen, a 32-year-old mother of three may seem an unlikely leader of the fight to overthrow the president, but Karman – a journalist and human rights activist – has long been a thorn in Saleh’s side and has been jailed many times.

ihya

(Photo Credit: Ahmed Jadallah/Scanpix)

Imtidad

Imtidad is one of the top aggregators for breaking news on Libya. The blog is run by Ghazi Gheblawi, a Libyan essayist, poet, and surgeon.

ihya

I see the role of a writer, especially now and especially coming from an Arab country, as quite heavy… The people practically invested us with tackling problems that affect them directly. I’m a writer but I’m also a citizen affected by what’s happening. This is how I see being a writer.
Moroccan-born French poet and writer Tahar Ben Jalloun speaking about engaging with the world’s political realities at the Beirut Spring Festival. 
The impact of the Arab Revolution upon the Arab diaspora has been significant with many thinking deeper about their identity and relationship with their homeland. The Arab diaspora has been vocal in their support of the protesters across the Middle East and North Africa, organising protests and marches to express their opposition against the region’s autocratic regimes. The opposition movements in the West have been an important aspect in the struggle of the people to liberate themselves from tyranny. This awakening has touched singer, songwriter and musician, Shakira, whose family roots can be traced back to Lebanon. Shakira is looking to write and perform songs in Arabic. She recently performed in Beirut in what was described as the biggest concert to ever take place in Lebanon. ihya

The impact of the Arab Revolution upon the Arab diaspora has been significant with many thinking deeper about their identity and relationship with their homeland. The Arab diaspora has been vocal in their support of the protesters across the Middle East and North Africa, organising protests and marches to express their opposition against the region’s autocratic regimes. The opposition movements in the West have been an important aspect in the struggle of the people to liberate themselves from tyranny.

This awakening has touched singer, songwriter and musician, Shakira, whose family roots can be traced back to Lebanon. Shakira is looking to write and perform songs in Arabic. She recently performed in Beirut in what was described as the biggest concert to ever take place in Lebanon.

ihya

I live these events in anxiety and pain. I am concerned for the future of Syria and in pain for all this bloodshed, for our powerlessness as intellectuals, writers and artists, to protect the young people demonstrating for freedom and dignity at the risk of their lives. I spend my time responding to the lies of the official press. The authorities meet the legitimate demands of the youth by a fierce crackdown that has already resulted in hundreds of deaths. The cities under siege, starting with Daraa, cradle of protest, the massive arrests of opponents, the state’s willingness to break the movement at any cost remind me of the 1980s, the darkest years in our history.
Le Nouvel Observateur interviewed Syrian writer Khaled Khalifa

dp-news.com

Wadah Khanfar, the director general of Al Jazeera has been selected as the most creative person in business 2011 by Fast Company. This is a distinguished accolade as it comes from Fast Company, a business magazine, which reports on cutting edge ideas that are changing the world. It is a significant award and could be a sign of things to come from the Middle East as the creative energies of the people are unlocked through the Arab Revolution. 

ihya