Status/الوضع

Syrian filmmaker Talal Derki speaks about his award-winning film, Of Fathers of Sons, which won the prize this year at the Sundance Film Festival. The film was also nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 91st Academy Awards.

During the mid-1950s, an almost unknown and erased-from-history armed anti-colonial revolt – the Fellaga/Youssefite rebellion – rippled across the Tunisian countryside, sweeping across the width and depth of the country, even penetrating urban cores.

Max Ajl's dissertation, "Farmers, Fellaga, and Frenchmen: National Liberation and Post-Colonial Development in Tunisia", recovers the historical memory of that revolt, writing the armed struggle and its repression into the history of the Tunisian national liberation struggle and its effects on subsequent state-building efforts.

[Courtesy of George Mason University]

In January, an 18 year-old Saudi woman, Rahaf Mohammad Al Qunun, sparked international attention when she took on to social media, as she barricaded herself in a hotel room in Bangkok, to stop Thai Authorities from deporting her back to her home country. Rahaf had left her family to seek asylum abroad. She said her life was in danger and that her abusive family escalated her mistreatment after she declared herself an Atheist. Rahaf eventually made it to Canada where she was granted asylum.

But Rahaf’s story is not unique, in fact a growing number of Saudi women and men are leaving the country immigrating or seeking asylum elsewhere. This phenomenon can be, at least in part, explained by the Saudi State’s lack of support for abused women and the overall crackdown on freedom of expression. So how did Saudi media react to the story and how do we place the story of Rahaf in the larger Saudi- Canadian relations and the status of women inside Saudi Arabia.

To learn more, VOMENA producer and reporter Mira Nabulsi spoke with Hana Al-Khamri, a writer and analyst.

[Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa, VOMENA]

In a recent Sanaa Review article, journalist Sahar Abdo describes how the current war in Yemen introduced space for women that was frowned upon in the past. She talks about a subtle challenging of taboos, women being much more present in public spaces, or taking on jobs they did not do in the past.

In most conflicts, women are grouped with children, they are categorized among the most vulnerable groups. This designation erases, in many cases, women who are engaged in the conflict, women who are actively relieving or caring for communities, or those who try to defy the war and go about their lives and activism regardless. This audio documentary digs deeper into life under conflict through the stories and voices of five Yemeni women, based in the cities of Sana’a and Aden. All of them are involved in women and grassroots activism. They talk about how they understand this war and how they view their role as Yemeni women politically and socially.

Research & Interviews/Narration/ Sound by Mira Nabulsi.
Voiceover: Malihe Razazan and Jeannine Etter.

This story was produced in collaboration with the "Muslim Women and the Media" training institute at the University of California, Davis.

[Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East and North Africa, VOMENA]

In the second part of the conversation with VOMENA, Khalid Medani of McGill University goes into greater detail about regional and international response to the protests in Sudan, the role of women and the future of the uprising.

[Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East and North Africa, VOMENA]

Nearly three decades after Omar Al Bashir came to power, the Sudanese regime is facing a formidable challenge posed by a fresh wave of unrest, which started in the northeastern city of Atbara on December 19. Protests which first erupted over a government decision to triple the price of bread have swiftly escalated into anti-government rallies, marches and work stoppages that have rocked several cities and towns.

Who are the protestors? What are their demands? What role do the civil society groups play in these protests? What has been the regime’s response to the protests? And what is the genesis of the economic crisis that the country is experiencing? Kalid Medani of McGill University tackles these and other questions.

[Courtesy of Voices of Middle East and North Africa, VOMENA]

VOMENA host Malihe Razazan speaks with award-winning Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki about her latest film, Capernaum (@capharnaumfilm). Capernaum won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2018 and is nominated for the 2019 Academy Awards, in the foreign language film category.

Dr. Kristian Petersen is Assistant Professor at Old Dominion University in the Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies. He is the author of, "Interpreting Islam in China: Pilgrimage, Scripture, and Language in the Han Kitab", published by Oxford University Press, 2017. He is currently working on a monograph entitled, "The Cinematic Lives of Muslims". He is the host of the New Books in Religion and New Books in Islamic Studies podcasts.

Dr. Kristian Petersen is Assistant Professor at Old Dominion University in the Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies. He is the author of, "Interpreting Islam in China: Pilgrimage, Scripture, and Language in the Han Kitab", published by Oxford University Press, 2017. He is currently working on a monograph entitled, "The Cinematic Lives of Muslims". He is the host of the New Books in Religion and New Books in Islamic Studies podcasts.

This conference was organized by CNES faculty affiliates James Gelvin, Aomar Boum and Kevan Harris together with CNES faculty director, Aslı Bâli. The conference was conceived to assess the changes in the Middle East from the Iraq invasion through the Arab uprisings that have altered the regional balance of power, called into question the viability of some existing states and led to the emergence and proliferation of both violent non-state actors and new civil society movements and organizations.

Courtesy of the UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies