Category Archives: Politics Not As Usual

A Woman’s Place: Saudi Princes in Row Over Kingdom’s Image

Posted on January 23, 2012 | 6 Comments

Princess Ameera Al-Taweel's Speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative. The Princess' High Media Profile is Leading to Rifts in the Royal Family. Image Credit: Flickr

Saudi women have taken the wheels in recent months literally by defying the country’s notorious driving ban, and figuratively in attempting to advance their rights in the wake of the Arab Spring in the famously “conservative” Kingdom which allows women virtually no rights without male guardianship or representation.

In addition to the battles Saudi women have been waging on the ground and behind the scenes for their rights, or lack there of, they have had a champion in Princess Ameera Al-Taweel, the wife of Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, one of the more progressive of the thousands of Princes of the Saud family, and one of richest men in the world.

The Princess Frequently Travels With her Husband on Official Trips, Serving as his Vice-Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees and Head of the Executive Committee of the Al-Waleed bin Talal Foundations. Image Credit: Flickr

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Reclaiming the Revolution: Women in Cairo Refuse to be Sidelined

Posted on December 20, 2011 | 1 Comment

Women Are Shaping Revolutions and Refusing to be Sidelined. Image Credit: Time Magazine

A predawn raid today increased clashes between the military and civilian populations in Egypt, triggering women in Cairo to mobilize around the ongoing violence which in recent days has targeted women.

This week horrifying images of just how brutal the military can be towards women went viral. The video showing military police dragging a woman wearing a hijab through the street, beating her senseless, then stomping on her stomach, her bright blue bra exposed as she lay motionless on the street defines the struggle of the Egyptian people. Protesters held up signs with her images, chanting warnings such as, “This is the army that is protecting us!”

CNN reports that several hundred women kicked off a “Million Woman” march to expose the military’s sexual violence against female demonstrators. Protesters held up pictures of women, elderly people and teenagers who had been beaten up by the police, demanding a regime change.  Many men even formed a protective circle around female marchers so they would not be assaulted.

There is a reason why Time Magazine picked the protester as its Person of the Year. There is a reason why the image of the protester on its cover is that of a woman. Since the Arab Spring, it has been women, from Iran to Saudi Arabia to Egypt, who have not only been on the front-lines of the protests, demanding more rights, but also shaping their country’s revolutions.

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Anushay’s Point on Al-Jazeera

Posted on October 5, 2011 | 1 Comment

I had my first co-hosting gig today on Al-Jazeera! It was nerve wrecking and exhilarating all at the same time to be on their social media centered show, “The Stream,” discussing the recent Shia protests in Saudi Arabia, India’s ‘Iron Lady’s’ 11 year fast, and a new AIDS game application.

Co-hosting on Al-Jazeera Today.

If you missed the show, you can watch it here. Enjoy!

With Ahmed Shihab Eldin, Host of Al-Jazeera's "The Stream."

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Purses Over Policy? Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Makes Headlines

Posted on July 29, 2011 | 5 Comments

Hina Rabbani Khar was just appointed Pakistan’s first female foreign minister, but by reading the headlines you would be forgiven for thinking she had just become the country’s latest fashion export.

Khar went over to India this week, marking the first official state visit between the two countries since the 2008 terrorist bombings in Mumbai, after which India suspended communication with its neighbor and rival. Negotiations and peace dialogues between the two countries pretty much stalled until earlier this year.

Birkins and Business: Khar is Pakistan's First Female Foreign Minister. Image Credit: Views of Women

But the newspapers had no interest in conversations the newly appointed foreign minister had about unfreezing what is often described as “one of the world’s most tense bilateral relations,” instead opting to focus on Khar’s wardrobe:

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Starting the Engine: Saudi Women Drive for Their Rights

Posted on June 17, 2011 | 6 Comments

Women in Saudi Know the Right to Drive is the Start to Gaining Their Basic Rights. Image Credit: Flickr

The spirit of the Arab Spring broke the steel gates of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia today as one by one Saudi women started their engines, defying the country’s notorious ban on women driving, the only place  in the world where women are not permitted to drive.

Today’s protest is the culmination of an online campaign that started last month when IT security consultant Manal al-Sharif posted a YouTube video of herself behind the wheel. She was arrested and jailed for ten days. Her detention sparked an international outcry from rights groups, demanding Saudi’s rulers remove the driving ban on women.

Religious edicts by the Kingdom’s senior clerics claim the ban “protects against the spread of vice and temptation.” In reality the restriction forces families to spend a significant amount of their income hiring foreign drivers.

Chairwoman of the Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures at the University of Virginia, Farzaneh Milani explains the real fear behind the ban:

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Huma Abedin: Anything But the ‘Good Wife’

Posted on June 8, 2011 | 6 Comments

Weiner's South Asian-Saudi Raised Wife is a Powerful Assistant to Hillary Clinton. Image Credit: Flickr

Disgraced democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner’s wife, Huma Abedin, has been garnering just as much press as her scandal-ridden husband in the wake of Rep. Weiner admitting that he not only sexts, but has had online relationships with as many as six other women.

Normally when a politician is caught with his pants down, on or offline, the  media’s attention wanders over to the wife: Will she or won’t she stand by his side as he weeps for forgiveness at the podium? And then, of course, the inevitable question is whether or not she will leave him.

But Weiner’s wife is no ordinary political wife. Abedin’s parents were both academics from India and Pakistan. A practicing Muslim born in Michigan, Abedin moved to Saudi Arabia as a young girl, and returned to the US to attend college at George Washington University (GWU).

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Syria: An Open Letter to Angelina Jolie

Posted on June 8, 2011 | 4 Comments

Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt Visited Syria Earlier This Year. Image Credit: Flickr

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 Tunisia and Egypt, Western leaders have largely remained silent on Syria.

Jolie Met With Iraqi Refugees in Syria During Her Visit. Image Credit: UNHCR

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Virginity Tests: Time to Let Gender Out of Revolution’s Closet

Posted on June 6, 2011 | 3 Comments

A Thin Line Between Sex & Politics: Mona Eltahawy Asks What Revolution is Not About Gender? Image Credit: Flickr

There is no doubt that the recent revolution in Egypt got the wheels of the Arab Spring rolling. But just as quick as women were to flood the corners of Tahrir Square and the streets of Cairo in the hopes of a democratic Egypt, their voices were soon sidelined.

This is nothing uncommon. Even in conservative countries, we frequently see women come out in full force during political protests with little to no objection from the men. And this was not a first for Egyptian women who were heavily involved in Egypt’s 1919 revolution.

It is after the euphoria fades, after the dictator is placed under house-arrest when the political blueprint of a country is being determined that women are nowhere to be heard. We repeatedly see this. From Bangladesh’s ’71 War of Independence, to Iran in ’79, to Libya, Syria, and all over the Middle East today, where are the women at the decision-making table? Where are the women when it comes to forming the new government?

Bangladeshi Female "Freedom Fighters" Were Front & Center in the 1971 War of Independence. Image Credit: Flickr

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Strauss-Kahn: Powerful Men & the Women Who Defend Them

Posted on May 19, 2011 | Leave a comment

Former IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn Has Admitted to a "Woman Problem." Image Credit: Flickr

Very little surprised me about IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn‘s attempted rape of a New York hotel maid, and even less shocked me about his sketchy record on harassing women. Hello, can we say rich-white-male-power-entitlement-issues?

Apparently Strauss-Kahn’s “woman problem” was an open secret amongst journalists, especially female ones. His reputation was even celebrated and excused in France where he is known as the “Great Seducer.”

What is shocking as lurid details keep surfacing are not only the women coming out with new allegations, or confirming old ones against the embattled IMF Chief, but the women who are coming to his defense.

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Kate Middleton: To Obey or Succeed?

Posted on March 31, 2011 | Leave a comment

Prince William & Kate: To Obey or Succeed? Image Credit: Flickr

Amidst all the frenzy surrounding the upcoming Royal Wedding and what Kate will wear, Salon addresses a more important point: what will Miss Middleton say?

When Kate Middleton walks down the aisle to wed Prince William on April 29, spectators all over the world will be hanging on her every word. And the one they’ll be listening for in particular isn’t “love” or “cherish.” It’s “obey”… In 1981, William’s mother Diana dropped it from her vows to Prince Charles. But five years later, Sarah Ferguson slipped the word back into her wedding vows to Prince Andrew. And in 1999, Sophie Rhys-Jones did likewise when she tied the knot to Prince Edward.

Much good that little word did for Sarah or Sophie. The latter has all but disappeared from the public’s radar, and Sarah not only ended up divorcing Prince Andrew, but was last seen trying make money in some hotel room by selling access to her former husband. Can we say pathetic?

Salon states that the Palace, along with most other details, is remaining mum about whether Kate will “obey” or not. Archbishop Rowan Williams, who will marry the couple, had a report issued by his Council back in 2006 that labeled the word as outdated.

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