Original articles on Democracy Now! and WISE.
Since 1923, when Huda Sha’rawi dared to remove her face veil at a Cairo railway station, women in Egypt have been fighting for equality, change, recognition–for their lives, their humanity, their rights. And now that there has been such a huge shift, these women are calling out for equality. On the Nazra Web site there is already speculation about how many Parliament seats will go to Egyptian women. One particular group, WISE, “The Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality, a social network and grassroots social justice movement led by Muslim women,” included a video of the well-known feminist and activist Nawal El Saadawi on their Web site, link here to see what she had to say about the protests in Egypt. Learn more about WISE below.
More about WISE:
“In November 2006, ASMA launched WISE at a historic conference in New York City. As these 150 leading Muslim women scholars, activists, artists and religious and civil society leaders – representing over 25 countries – joined together to develop a holistic and comprehensive vision for improving the position of Muslim women around the globe, WISE was born. Since this inaugural conference, WISE has energized a diverse and unified movement, soliciting participation from across religions and embracing a wide spectrum of ideologies, professions and nationalities.
“WISE is empowering Muslim women to fully participate in their communities and nations and amplifying their collective voices. Muslim women have enjoyed a rich legacy of excellence in their roles as leaders, professionals, caregivers and activists, and Islamic history is an impressive record of their remarkable contributions as teachers and scholars of sacred text and law. WISE represents an authoritative Muslim women’s movement to reclaim this legacy.”
Link to WISE
Nawal El Saadawi interviewed by Rebecca Walker
Mona Eltahawy interviewed by NPR: Protests in Egypt, a Women’s Perspective
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