[I}f you insist upon fighting to protect me, or 'our' country, let it be understood, soberly and rationally between us, that you are fighting to gratify a sex instinct which I cannot share; to procure benefits which I have not shared and probably will not share..... [I]n fact, as a woman, I have no country. As a woman I want no country. As a woman my country is the whole world.
-
-
Women, War and Fundamentalism in the Middle East
-
Iran, Women’s Rights and the Arab Spring
For each woman that is imprisoned, another will take her place and swell the ranks of the women’s movement. –Shrine Ebadi, Iranian Noble Peace Prize winner, 2004. The stories of sweeping reform across the Middle …
-
Sanctions Against Iran: A Duplicitous “Alternative” to War
by Raha Iranian Feminist Collective Media reports on Iran oscillate wildly between threats of imminent military action and hopeful reports of diplomatic progress. Amidst this confusing din, there is a constant truth: the United States …
-
The Iranian Women’s Movement: A Century Long Struggle
by: Ali Akbar Mahdi The emergence of a women’s movement in Iran goes back to the nineteenth century when Iran was experiencing some major socio- economic changes. It was in the midst of the Constitutional …
-
The Green Wave
The presidential elections on June 12th, 2009 were supposed to bring about a change, but contrary to all expectations the ultra-conservative populist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was confirmed in office. As clear as was the result, as loud and justified were the accusations of vote-rigging.
-
Five years and 32 lashes for criticising Iran’s economic policy
ACROSS THE Middle East and North Africa, hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets demanding change. They have toppled dictatorships and threatened undemocratic regimes. But in Iran, the oppression and abuse of any who dare to speak out against the government continues.
-
Interview with Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh
Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh, a women’s rights activist, is a founding member of the Stop Stoning to Death Campaign and the Iranian Women’s Charter. She was director of Entesharat-e Banoo (Banoo Publications) and Entesharat-e Jamee Iranian (Iranian Society Publication). She was the director of the Association of Women Writers and Journalists NGO. She is currently a Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy.
-
Iran Rights Activists Face Challenges from Both Sides
In Iran, many human rights lawyers find themselves jailed or threatened with legal action. At the same time, some are criticized by peers who say they sometimes overlook clients’ best interests in their determination to take a stand.
-
Statement by the Women’s Movement In Protest of the Recent Escalation of Violence against Women in Iran
Physical and sexual violence against women in Iran, including violence perpetrated by state security forces, is rapidly increasing.
-
Arab Spring exposes Nasrallah’s hypocrisy
by Hamid Dabashi (originally published on al-Jazeera) Hassan Nasrallah is in trouble. This time the troubles of the Secretary General of Hezbollah, which were hitherto the source of his strength, are not coming from Israel, or …