women

By Farinaz Basmechi, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa (The Conversation) – Last month marked the third anniversary of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in Iran, an uprising that has been described as the country’s most significant movement since the establishment of the Islamic Republic. Though authoritarian powers and patriarchal systems continue to oppress, women journalists in […]

Democracy

Syria’s new Leader promised Democracy, but excluded Women from Parliamentary Elections

The Conversation

By Kinda Alsamara, The University of Queensland; Eleanor Gordon, Monash University, and Elliot Dolan-Evans, Monash University (The Conversation) – Women’s political participation is often treated as a measure of a country’s commitment to equality and democracy. Earlier this year, Syria’s new leader, President Ahmed al-Sharaa, described his country as moving in a “democratic direction” after […]

Feminism

Iran’s Streets ‘Transformed’ As More Women Shun The Mandatory Hijab

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

By Fereshteh Ghazi and Farangis Najibullah ( RFE / RL ) – Iranian journalist Zeinab Rahimi has refused to wear the mandatory hijab for over two years, despite the risk of arrest and imprisonment. She is among a growing number of women and girls who have stopped covering their head in public, in direct defiance of […]

Featured

The Mortal Sins of Patriarchy

H. Patricia Hynes

Greenfield, Mass. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – How much are women and girls–half of humanity–valued? When men violate us for sex in prostitution. When nearly 1 in 3 of us worldwide are violated physically or sexually in our lifetime. When, despite having equal intellectual abilities and more developed social and emotional intelligence, we lack […]

Climate Crisis

In Syria, Women are Bearing the Brunt of Climate Breakdown

Middle East Monitor

by Zahra Zaman ( Middle East Monitor ) – Syria had been embroiled in a protracted conflict and plagued by authoritarianism for decades. While the brutal regime of Bashar al Asad has collapsed, the ordeal is far from over for Syrians as they are now confronted with the rapidly accelerating threat of climate change looming […]

Syria

Women, Key Players in Syria’s Revolution, are being Marginalized

The Conversation

By Kinda Alsamara, The University of Queensland; Eleanor Gordon, Monash University, and Elliot Dolan-Evans, Monash University (The Conversation) – The end of the oppressive Assad regime in Syria in late 2024 has been broadly welcomed on the global stage – underscored by the fact the United States and European Union have now lifted sanctions against […]

Archaeology

Early Farming in Middle East, Sometimes Matriarchal, Spread through Learning, not Conquest

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A new study by Dilek Koptekin et al., a Swiss-Turkish team, has appeared in Science that combines archeological and genetics research to shed new light on the emergence of farming in the Middle East in the transition from hunting and gathering called the Neolithic Revolution. The authors find that big […]

Featured

Women’s Cancer Rates are Rising in the Oil Gulf: is Global Heating causing it?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Human-caused global heating is hitting the Middle East hard, and rates of cancer in Middle Eastern women are increasing. Is there a correlation? This is the question asked by Wafa Abu El Kheir-Mataria and Sungsoo Chun at Frontiers . These scholars are at the American University in Cairo, my alma […]

Children

Israeli Genocide in Gaza: Dwarf Babies, 300% Spike in Miscarriages, 4K Malnourished Expectant Mothers

Middle East Monitor

By Mustafa Aziz ( Middle East Monitor ) – The ongoing Israeli genocidal war against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023, which has lasted for over 560 days, has killed over 50,000 people, including more than 16,000 children. This includes nearly 200 infants who were born and martyred during the […]