Modiga kvinnor

Asmaa al-Ghoul är en  trettioårig journalist från Gaza, gift och mor till två barn.Tidigare denna vecka fick hon ett pris i New York för sitt mod som journalist.(Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation.)
Hon har blivit trakasserad, misshandlad och arresterad av Hamas och dess polisstyrkor för att hon protesterat mot Hamas islamistiska politik och deras brott mot mänskliga rättigheter.

Gazan reporter aims to keep thorn in Hamas' side
"...Al-Ghoul began her career nine years ago as a news reporter for the Al-Ayyam newspaper. But as she saw ongoing violations of human and civil rights, she had trouble keeping her opinions to herself. In 2007, al-Ghoul published a piece criticizing her uncle, a Hamas leader, for beating rival Fatah Party activists in their homes. In response, she received death threats.

Undeterred, al-Ghoul has since opposed Hamas in word and deed. She attends weekly women’s protests in Gaza City advocating for Palestinan unity between Hamas and Fatah, and has been arrested for walking with a man on a beach and for riding a bicycle - both banned by Hamas. Unlike Gaza's many religiously conservative women, al-Ghoul poses for pictures in a T-shirt and jeans with her hair uncovered..."

Boshra Khalaila är en ung israelisk arabisk kvinna som bor i Jerusalem och är uppvuxen i den arabiska byn Deir Hana i Galiléen. Hon arbetar frivilligt för Faces of Israel som vill berätta för omvärlden hur livet i Israel är på riktigt och rätta till de många feluppfattningar som finns.

Telling Israel like it is — in Arabic

"... I am married and doing a master’s degree [in Tel Aviv]. I am a liberal, free woman, with all the rights that I could enjoy. I compare myself to other women my age in Jordan, the territories, Egypt, any Arab country. They don’t have the rights that I have: freedom of expression, the right to vote. They are forced into marriage at a young age, and religious head covering, despite their own convictions. With me it’s the opposite; I have everything.”

"...Boshra and her team delivered a number of lectures, told their personal stories, dialogued with students and gave interviews. “You want to defend yourself from people that tell the world that [Jews and Arabs] travel on different buses and study at different schools and that there is segregation,” she said. “That just isn’t true: I study in same educational institutions, ride the same buses, shop in the same supermarkets. Everything that they say is absolutely false. And I do feel that I belong to my country.”