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The virtual G20 Leaders’ Summit hosted by Saudi Arabia this past weekend was intended to be a moment of triumph for Riyadh and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. It was the first time an Arab state has hosted the gathering, which represented a golden opportunity to flaunt on the global stage the...
In October 2017, Tarana Burke’s 2006 "me too" movement was revived by a simple tweet from actress Alyssa Milano. A year later, the hashtag had been tweeted over 19 million times by women around the world. There is no question that the #MeToo campaign mobilized and united women across the globe....
In 2006, long before hashtags, Tarana Burke began a grassroots “me too” movement to try and reach women and girl survivors of sexual assault, particularly women of color in low wealth communities. In 2017, actor Alyssa Milano used “me too” as a hashtag, and it went viral. While much has...
It comes as welcome news that authorities in Saudi Arabia have taken important steps toward dismantling the repressive male guardianship system, which treats women in the country as minors. Women will no longer require permission from a male guardian to travel abroad and can apply for a...
For many people, July 6 marked the passing of just another Saturday. But to over 1 billion people, it was of tremendous significance as it was the 25th UN International Day of Cooperatives. Over 12% of humanity contribute to one of the 3 million cooperatives on the planet. Cooperatives not only...
May 15 marks an unhappy anniversary for Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul and all those who care about women’s rights everywhere. “I always wished I was a man, always, since I was a child.” In her home country of Saudi Arabia, Loujain al-Hathloul is a controversial figure. Her habit of...
In this edition of the Interview, Fair Observer talks to Gilbert Achcar, professor of international relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. The Middle East and North Africa continues to reverberate from the 2011 Arab Spring protests that rocked the region...
For many Bahrainis, repression is nothing new, and it remains a dark and troubling story. First to the good news, at least from the perspective of the government of Bahrain and its supporters: Despite an opposition call to boycott the November election, turnout, at 67%, was impressively high....
In this edition of The Interview, Fair Observer talks to Sana Afouaiz, an award-winning women’s rights advocate. Invisible Women of the Middle East: True Stories is a 2018 book by Moroccan author Sana Afouaiz, exploring the deepest layers of women’s lives across the Middle East and North...
Following Jamal Khashoggi’s assassination, serious questions are finally being asked about British and American involvement in the Yemen War. There is a link between the disappearance and murder of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the terrible war in Yemen that, after more than three...
The sudden selective indignation regarding the actions of the Saudi regime raises concerns about how the news media handles atrocities across the world. The disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul has sparked a media frenzy in much of the world. The New York...
