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Our Women on the Ground: Essays by Arab Women Reporting from the Arab World
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Nineteen Arab women journalists speak out about what it's like to report on their changing homelands in this first-of-its-kind essay collection, with a foreword by CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour
International media coverage of the Arab world is dominated by the work of Western correspondents—meaning we often view stories about those complex, ...more
International media coverage of the Arab world is dominated by the work of Western correspondents—meaning we often view stories about those complex, ...more
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Though my name is on the book, I’m rating the gorgeous essays I edited. After having read those essays dozens of times over the past two years, they still give me goosebumps, and I remain astounded by their depth.
Everyone needs to read this book. The writing is gorgeous, the stories by turns heartbreaking, inspiring, and endlessly courageous, and they give western readers a clearer and more nuanced picture of life on the ground in the Arab world than I’ve ever read before.
Such an important book that highlights the life of 19 female arab journalists who dared to break the stereotypes in order to be Sahafiyat .
Zahra Hankir wrote in the introduction that ' A Sahafiya is twice burdened' and that is exactly why their stories need to be heard , especially with the rise of representation and the dangers of single narratives.
Zahra Hankir wrote in the introduction that ' A Sahafiya is twice burdened' and that is exactly why their stories need to be heard , especially with the rise of representation and the dangers of single narratives.
A sharp look at the various conflicts in Middle East through the eyes of Arab women journalists or the Sahafiyat who cover them.
Insightful and smart, these essays are a must read.
Insightful and smart, these essays are a must read.
“When ISIS soldiers arrest me and kill me, it will be okay, because while they will cut off my head, I’ll still have dignity, which is better than living in humiliation.” This was the last daring Facebook post of Ruqia Hasan, a citizen journalist based in the Syrian city of Raqqa who was subsequently kidnapped and executed by Daesh in 2015.
Hasan, like many across the Middle East, had no formal background or education in journalism, nor was she employed by any media outlet. However, like others ...more
Hasan, like many across the Middle East, had no formal background or education in journalism, nor was she employed by any media outlet. However, like others ...more
Audiofile Review.
What an eye opener. I wasn't really consuming news about the Arab world as a teenager in the 2000s, so this really helped fill in some blanks. I really appreciate how honest and frank these women reporters are. I have a much better understanding, although still pretty basic, of the Arab world and what it is like for those women.
More than anything, this book makes me hungry for more information.
What an eye opener. I wasn't really consuming news about the Arab world as a teenager in the 2000s, so this really helped fill in some blanks. I really appreciate how honest and frank these women reporters are. I have a much better understanding, although still pretty basic, of the Arab world and what it is like for those women.
More than anything, this book makes me hungry for more information.
I was completely wrapped in reading this collection of thoughtful, frequently deeply affecting, sometimes uplifting and sometimes heartbreaking essays detailing the experiences of 19 female journalists writing frequently from and primarily about the experiences of women in the Middle East. The writing is absolutely stunning. And I haven’t read a book that details this sort of experience before, particularly not one which is this powerfully affecting. I highly recommend this book to anyone who
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Important, terrifying, electrifying.
When Marie Colvin was murder, many people in the world mourned Yet, not to diminish her importance it should be noted that she was a Western journalist reporting on the Middle East. There had been and still are, Middle Eastern journalist who have been killed or imprisoned for the same reasons that Colvin was targeted. They do not get the same attention in the Western media for a variety of reasons: skin color, political viewpoint, and, perhaps least offensive, limited to no publication in ...more
i don't know this didn't really grip me despite its obvious importance. i think the format kind of stunted the essays and flattened most nuance out of the topic because they were all just fairly neat summaries of the journalists' careers up until the point of writing. and obviously there is still a lot of ongoing unrest and war and misogyny, etc etc etc, that it feels weird when those huge issues have to be tied up nicely after only 10 pages with the author.
OWOTG is a collection of essays by Arab women journalists edited by Lebanese-British Zahra Hankir. She wrote that she created the anthology because she’d been desperate to see a book like that on bookshelves, “one that brings attention to underreported tales and the women who tell them. Arab women aren’t heard enough in this space. But they’re living and breathing the region, reporting on it from the front lines in Sana’a and Mosul and Riyadh and Cairo. These are our women on the ground.”
The ...more
The ...more
can't think of a more indispensable book for 2019
thoughts coming shortly
It took me a few more months than I would have thought to finish this. These journalists’ incredibly powerful essays deserve to be taken slowly and given thought and respect. The writing of each woman is vivid and real but each in their own styles and reflective of their own experiences. As a whole there are many themes that tie together-the issues of gender in the profession and in their countries, the dedication and focus to their work, their understanding of how crucial that work was and
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I feel that my review could never do these 19 intriguing, important and gorgeous essays justice! There is so much depth and each essay alone is an enlightening and refreshing piece that is educational because of the honesty and rawness of the writing. Every one of these women are so inspiring.
Thank you to the Reading Women for introducing me to this collection. I will be gifting and recommending this book to everyone!
Thank you to the Reading Women for introducing me to this collection. I will be gifting and recommending this book to everyone!
Dec 25, 2019
Lisa
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Recommended to Lisa by:
Asian Review of Books
Just recently, Twitter brought my attention to a review at The Asian Review of Books: a collection called Our Women on the Ground, Arab Women Reporting from the Arab World, edited by Zahra Hankir. I bought a Kindle edition of it there and then. Because just as I found Mercé Rodoreda's fiction set in the Spanish Civil War compelling, I wanted to read women's points of view about the conflicts in the Middle East. After all, in modern conflict, it is nearly always women who bear the brunt of it.
The ...more
The ...more
A searingly honest and important collection of accounts and experiences from female Arab reporters. This is a book that requires the reader take time to process and absorb. Each reporter gives a powerful, direct account that does not attempt to paint a rosy-picture where there isn't one. This is not to say that there is no hope depicted in these chapters; many of the writers do leave room for hope and optimism for the future, but they also do not shy away from the harsh realities of current
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These essays are brtually honest, and not for the faint for heart. Kudos to the women who wrote from their heart, minds. and souls—showing how strength and vulnerability are really a mobius strip of humanity.
This was so incredibly moving, powerful and inspiring!! Without a doubt one of the most needed books I've read in a while and I think everyone should read this.
Absolutely fantastic! Everyone should read this book. I left feeling like these women let me into their lives, which gave me a very different perspective on the Arab world.
EVERYONE should read this book.
This is an excellent read. These women all have unique perspectives on the Middle East, thanks to their nationalities, their religious backgrounds, their upbringing, and, perhaps most importantly, their gender. They're often restricted by their sex when travelling and reporting, but being female has also given them access to people and stories that male reporters could never get.
I've spent years dealing with the Middle East in a professional capacity, but I'm always amazed by how much I miss ...more
I've spent years dealing with the Middle East in a professional capacity, but I'm always amazed by how much I miss ...more
A moving, powerful and astonishing collection. Truly a must-read. I learned so much about the complexities of the Arab world and its sociopolitical histories as told through the experiences of women. This will be a collection to which I return again and again.
*A special thanks to Vintage for sending me a proof of this book*
Our Women On The Ground is a collection of 19 essays by female journalists and photojournalists in the MENA region. In a monumental intro, editor Zahra Hankir highlighted various whys that prompted this an anthology; most notably to preserve the narratives of sahafiya striving to document the Arab history.
The sahafiya (women journalists) who contributed to this book strive(d) to do their job despite the combined struggles of being ...more
Our Women On The Ground is a collection of 19 essays by female journalists and photojournalists in the MENA region. In a monumental intro, editor Zahra Hankir highlighted various whys that prompted this an anthology; most notably to preserve the narratives of sahafiya striving to document the Arab history.
The sahafiya (women journalists) who contributed to this book strive(d) to do their job despite the combined struggles of being ...more
This is a hard book to read, but will open your eyes to whole worlds that exist just across the ocean. These 19 female journalists write about the stories they cover across the countries in the Middle East. From Syria to Iraq to Lebanon to Yemen (and more), they describe the world behind the political and military statistics — the civilian individuals (often women and children) trying to survive in a world gone crazy. From years without power, to the random and constant acts of violence, to the
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A collection of essays by Arab women journalists from Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia, this book gives such an unique perspective into each of these countries and the life of a journalist. It also made motivated to subscribe to the NYT to support the journalists who put their lives on the line so that we can learn the truth of our world. Wonderful, inspiring, harrowing read.
Absolutely fantastic. Incredible essays written by incredible women that opened my eyes and shattered my assumptions. Essential reading!
“A sahafiya is twice burdened.” Zahra Hankir’s introduction to this staggering book sets the tone for the 19 essays within. Our Women on the Ground: Essays by Arab Women Reporting from the Arab World, gives insight into the personal and professional lives of journalists who have documented revolutions, political upheaval, wars and occupations around the Middle East over their precarious careers. Their attention to nuance, access to women-only spaces and conversations, deft reportage and courage
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Brutal. This anthology needs to be read, re-read, passed on, taught in classes, and spread around the world. And there need to be more of these kind of books.
a wonderful anthology of essays by courageous women reporters regarding the middle east. super insightful and heavy-hitting, glad something like this exists
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Zahra Hankir (زهرة حنقير) is a Lebanese-British journalist who writes about the intersection of politics, culture, and society in the Middle East. Her work has appeared in Vice, BBC News, Al Jazeera English, Bloomberg Businessweek, Roads & Kingdoms, and Literary Hub, among others. She was awarded a Jack R. Howard Fellowship in International Journalism to attend Columbia Journalism School and
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“Gender is a bodily discourse - repetitively performed, so as to become real and accepted - as opposed to a sheer identity that requires a fixed representation.”
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“It's because I'm tired of being branded a terrorist; tired that a human life lost in my country is no loss at all.”
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