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==Poltical Positions== |
==Poltical Positions== |
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Tawakul Karman is a member of the Al-Islah opposition party in Yemen. She has advocated for laws that would prevent females younger than 17 from being married. She has stopped wearing the traditional niqab, which is full covering, in favor of colorful scarves that reveal her face. <ref>Tom Finn. "Middle East/Yemen: Undaunted by death threats: the thorn in Saleh's side." The Guardian, 26 March 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2011 from the Lexis Nexis Database.</ref> |
Tawakul Karman is a member of the Al-Islah opposition party in Yemen. She has advocated for laws that would prevent females younger than 17 from being married. She has stopped wearing the traditional niqab, which is full covering, in favor of colorful scarves with pink that reveal her face. <ref>Tom Finn. "Middle East/Yemen: Undaunted by death threats: the thorn in Saleh's side." The Guardian, 26 March 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2011 from the Lexis Nexis Database.</ref> Karman replaced the niqab for the scarf in public on national television to make her point that the full covering is cultural and not dictated by Islam.<ref>Laura Kasinof. "Yemen releases jailed activists in the face of Tunisia-inspired protesters." The Christian Science Monitor, 24 January 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2011 from the Lexis-Nexis Database.</ref><ref>Tom Finn. "Middle East/Yemen: Undaunted by death threats: the thorn in Saleh's side." The Guardian, 26 March 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2011 from the Lexis Nexis Database.</ref> |
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==2011 protests== |
==2011 protests== |
Revision as of 19:30, 8 October 2011
Tawakul Karman Al-Mekhlafi | |
---|---|
توكل كرمان المخلافي | |
Born | 1979 |
Nationality | Yemeni |
Occupation(s) | Journalist, politician and human rights activist |
Political party | Al-Islah |
Children | Three |
Awards | 2011 Nobel Peace Prize |
Tawakul Karman Al-Mekhlafi (Arabic: توكل كرمان المخلافي Tawak[k]ul Karmān) (Anglicized: Tawakel[1], Tawakkol[2], Tawakkul[3]) was a co-recipient of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, which she shared with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee.[4] Karman became the public face of the 2011 Yemeni uprising against the Yemeni government as part of the Arab Spring movement. She has been called the "Mother of the Revolution."[5] Before the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded, only 12 other women had ever been given the Prize over its 110 years, and Karman became the first Arab woman and the youngest person ever to become a Nobel Peace Laureate.[6]
Karman gained visibility after 2005 in her roles as a Yemeni journalist for a mobile phone news service; a politician and senior member of the opposition Al-Islah Party;[7] and a human rights activist and founder of the group Women Journalists Without Chains.
Personal life
Tawakul Karman was affiliated with the Al-Thawrah newspaper at the time she founded Women Journalists Without Chains in March 2005. [8]
At a protest in 2010, a woman attempted to stab her but her supporters managed to stop the assault.[9]
She is married -- her husband's name is Mohammed -- and the mother of three children.
Women Journalists Without Chains
Tawakul Karman co-founded the human rights group Women Journalists Without Chains (WJWC) in 2005 for promoting human rights, "particularly freedom of opinion and expression, and democratic rights".[10] The organization was originally called "Female Reporters Without Borders" and was co-founded by Karman with 7 other female journalists. Karman said that she received threats and was the target of harrassment from the Yemeni authorities by telephone and letter because of her refusal to accept the Ministry of Information rejection of WJWC's application to legally create a SMS (mobile phone) service.[11] In 2007, WJWC released a report that documented Yemeni abuses of press freedom since 2005, and the group advocated freedom for SMS news services, which had been tightly controlled despite having been unregulated by the Press Law of 1990. The only service that was not granted a license to continue was Bilakoyood, which belonged to WJWC.[12] As a result , from 2007 to 2010, Karman regularly led demonstrations and sit-ins in Freedom Square in Sana'a.[13]
Poltical Positions
Tawakul Karman is a member of the Al-Islah opposition party in Yemen. She has advocated for laws that would prevent females younger than 17 from being married. She has stopped wearing the traditional niqab, which is full covering, in favor of colorful scarves with pink that reveal her face. [14] Karman replaced the niqab for the scarf in public on national television to make her point that the full covering is cultural and not dictated by Islam.[15][16]
2011 protests
During the ongoing 2011 Yemeni protests Tawakul Karman Al-Mekhlafi organized youth rallies in Sana'a to protest against Ali Abdullah Saleh and his government. She was arrested once, amid complaints her husband did not know her whereabouts, however she was released on parole on 24 January. She then led another protest on 29 January where she called for a "Day of Rage" on 3 February[7] similar to that of the 2011 Egyptian revolution that were in turn inspired by the 2010–2011 Tunisian revolution. On 17 March, she was re-arrested amidst ongoing protests.[17]
On 18 June she wrote an article entitled "Yemen's Unfinished Revolution" in the New York Times in which she assailed the United States and Saudi Arabia for their support for the "corrupt" Saleh regime in Yemen because they "used their influence to ensure that members of the old regime remain in power and the status quo is maintained." She argued that American intervention in Yemen was motivated by the war on terror and was not responsive to either the human rights abuses in Yemen or the calls from Yemen’s democracy movement. She affirmed that the protesters in Yemen also wanted stability in the country and region.[2]
2011 Nobel Peace Prize
Tawakul Karman Al-Mekhlafi along with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee were the recipients of the the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work."[18] More specifically, the committee cited her for "in the most trying circumstances, both before and during the Arab Spring...[of playing] a leading part in the struggle for women's rights and for democracy and peace in Yemen."[19] Upon announcing the award, Thorbjorn Jagland, who is a former Norwegian Prime Minister and chairman of the Nobel committee, said, "We cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society." It was noted in the statement, Karman had "played a leading part in the struggle for women's rights and for democracy and peace in Yemen" in what was described as the "most trying circumstances both before and during the Arab Spring." Geir Lundestad, the director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, said that the award sought to "want to point to the role of women and the inferior role of women and how this role can be improved. I mean, women suffer in wars and if we are to have peace, we have to have democracy with full rights for women and we also have to have women as peace builders. So this year, it was the year of the women."[13] The prize money for the award is US$1.5 million.
At 32, Karmen is the youngest Nobel Peace Laureate. She is slightly younger than Mairead Maguire, who shared the Prize in 1976.[20][21] In reaction to the award Karman, while camped out in Sana'a during ongoing anti-government protests, said: "I didn’t expect it. It came as a total surprise. This is a victory for Arabs around the world and a victory for Arab women" and that the award was a "victory of our peaceful revolution. I am so happy, and I give this award to all of the youth and all of the women across the Arab world, in Egypt, in Tunisia. We cannot build our country or any country in the world without peace."[22]
Other reactions included Shadi Hamid, the director of research at the Brookings Doha Centre, who said the award was "surprising. People were very excited and thought this year would be the year of the Arab Spring. I am not sure what the rationale was exactly, but I think this might be interpreted as a slight to the Arab world."[13]
See also
References
- ^ Al-Sakkaf, Nadia (17 June 2010). "Renowned activist and press freedom advocate Tawakul Karman to the Yemen Times: "A day will come when all human rights violators pay for what they did to Yemen"". Women Journalists Without Chains. Archived from the original on 30 January 2011. Retrieved 30 January 2011.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ a b Tawakkol Karman. "Yemen' Unfinished Revoluton." The New York Times. 18 June 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2011 NYTimes
- ^ "The Nobel Peace Prize 2011 - Press Release". Nobelprize.org, 7 Oct 2011 Retrieved 8 October 2011NobelPrize
- ^ BBC News World. "Nobel Peace Prize awarded jointly to three women." 7 October 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2011 BBC News
- ^ Alastair MacDonald and Gwladys Fouche. "Nobel honours African, Arab women for peace." Reuters, 7 October 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2011 Reuters
- ^ Democracy Now. "Yemeni Activist Tawakkul Karman, First Female Arab Nobel Peace Laureate: A Nod for Arab Spring" 7 October 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2011. DemocracyNow
- ^ a b "New protests erupt in Yemen". Al Jazeera English. 29 January 2011. Archived from the original on 30 January 2011. Retrieved 30 January 2011.
{{cite news}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ BBC Monitoring. "Yemeni journalists set up body to fight for women's human rights." 14 March 2005. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
- ^ Tom Finn. "Middle East/Yemen: Undaunted by death threats: the thorn in Saleh's side." The Guardian, 26 March 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2011 from the Lexis Nexis Database.
- ^ Al-Sakkaf, Nadia (17 June 2010). "Renowned activist and press freedom advocate Tawakul Karman to the Yemen Times: "A day will come when all human rights violators pay for what they did to Yemen"". Women Journalists Without Chains. Archived from the original on 30 January 2011. Retrieved 30 January 2011.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ Al-Sakkaf, Nadia (17 June 2010). "Renowned activist and press freedom advocate Tawakul Karman to the Yemen Times: "A day will come when all human rights violators pay for what they did to Yemen"". Women Journalists Without Chains. Archived from the original on 30 January 2011. Retrieved 30 January 2011.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ BBC Monitoring. "Yemen journalists list press freedom violators." 9 August 2007. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
- ^ a b c "Three women share Nobel Peace Prize – Europe". Al Jazeera English. 4 October 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
- ^ Tom Finn. "Middle East/Yemen: Undaunted by death threats: the thorn in Saleh's side." The Guardian, 26 March 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2011 from the Lexis Nexis Database.
- ^ Laura Kasinof. "Yemen releases jailed activists in the face of Tunisia-inspired protesters." The Christian Science Monitor, 24 January 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2011 from the Lexis-Nexis Database.
- ^ Tom Finn. "Middle East/Yemen: Undaunted by death threats: the thorn in Saleh's side." The Guardian, 26 March 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2011 from the Lexis Nexis Database.
- ^ Finn, Tom (23 January 2011). "Yemen arrests anti-government activist". The Guardian. London.
- ^ BBC News World. "Nobel Peace Prize awarded jointly to three women." 7 October 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2011 BBC News
- ^ BBC News World. "Nobel Peace Prize awarded jointly to three women." 7 October 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2011 BBC News
- ^ "Nobel Laureates – FAQ". nobelprize.org. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
- ^ Democracy Now. "Yemeni Activist Tawakkul Karman, First Female Arab Nobel Peace Laureate: A Nod for Arab Spring" 7 October 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2011. DemocracyNow
- ^ Alan Cowell, Laura Kasinoff, and Adam Nossiter. "Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Three Activist Women." The New York Times, 7 October 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2011NYTimes
External links
- Renowned activist and press freedom advocate Tawakul Karman, interviewed by Nadia Al-Sakkaf, Yemen Times, 17 June 2010
- Yemen: A tale of two protests, Al Jazeera English documentary