This post is also available in: Français (French) العربية (Arabic)
This post is also available in: Français (French) العربية (Arabic)
From the very first days of Israeli bombardment that hit southern Beirut, the Beqaa, and other parts of the Land of the Cedars at the end of September, our correspondents in Lebanon started covering the events and tragedies of this war—the tragic situations of the displaced, the segregation of Syrians without a home and the Asian and African domestic workers whose bosses left them without a forwarding address. As the Israeli army targets all civilians, women, who are the most vulnerable, are always the first victims of armed conflict.
Manahel AlSahoui, a Syrian journalist who has taken refuge in Lebanon, refuses to lose her empathy and humanity because of the racist behavior she has been subjected to during her exile. She writes about it in a touching blog.
Another blog, another universe: Pascale Sawma, our correspondent in Beirut, shares with our readers her dreams and introspections, delicately described, of a forbidden normalcy in such a complex Middle East. Hajar Assaad, for her part, is still reeling from the shock that her village, in the southern Lebanese district of Saida, has become a specter, a piece of… Gaza.
These tragic events, which are destroying a country already shaken by the drastic devaluation of its currency and with public infrastructure on the brink of collapse, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 Beirut port explosion, are also encouraging women civil society activists to launch initiatives in strong solidarity with the victims. A glimmer of light in an armed conflict that has so far displaced almost 1.5 million people in a country with a population of just five million.
Olfa Belhassine is a Tunisian journalist who has been working with the Tunisian daily “La Presse” since 1990. After the 2011 protests, her articles started appearing in “Libération”, “Le Monde” and “Courrier International”, a testament to her extensive experience as a journalist reporting from Tunisia during President Ben Ali's rule and after his fall. In 2013, Olfa was awarded the first journalism prize of the “Center of Arab Women” for her investigative work on customary marriage in Tunisia, published in “La Presse.” Olfa has also been corresponding since 2015 for the JusticeInfo.net, a website specializing in transitional justice around the world. Olfa Belhassone and Hedia Barkat have published a book titled 'Ces nouveaux mots qui font la Tunisie' (These new words that make Tunisia), providing an in-depth exploration of the political transition in Tunisia after the revolution.
© 2023 Medfeminiswiya - Mediterranean Network for Feminist Information
© 2023 Medfeminiswiya - Mediterranean Network for Feminist Information