Between Motherhood and Activism

Women activists in Sana’a (photo Benjamin Wiacek)

My priority in life has always been my family until the Arab spring crashed into our household. Both my husband and I were taken by the revolutions happening in our countries, Egypt and Yemen. Since we were away from both, we followed the events closely through our TV and computer screens. I felt it was my duty to contribute to Yemen’s revolution, by sharing with the world what was happening in Yemen, especially since there was a media blackout and clear marginalization of it’s revolution.

That is when I decided to assume another role, besides that of wife and full time mother. I became an online activist, I started tweeting news, translating articles and co-managing a Facebook news page in English. I spent long hours in the day and stayed up many nights glued to the laptop reporting on killings of protesters and sharing videos. At times it was challenging to be fully awake the next morning to drop my kids to school or cook a proper meal.

From the diaspora, I was overwhelmed with the sense of obligation to serve my country through the only means I could, which was writing. So, I started my own blog, I wrote posts and articles and got together with an amazing group of Yemenis and co-founded Support Yemen (a media initiative highlighting important issues in Yemen). I have to admit the revolution made me aware of many things. It introduced me to many inspirational Arab and Yemeni activists whom I would never have met otherwise and made me discover my passion for writing.

Being a mother and hoping to provide Yemen’s children with a better and brighter future also magnified my desire to advocate for change and hence I continued my work. I explained to my kids why what I was doing was important for me as a human, for my country and for the world. I often share my posts with my elder kids to make them aware of the injustices happening around the world and teach them why we should not be passive about them but advocate towards changing them. We should do what we can, when we can, by committing ourselves to various causes. Although my family appreciated and supported what I was doing, they paid the price of my first year of activism and they certainly were not pleased.

During the revolution, I struggled between covering Yemen’s news 24/7 and giving my kids my usual undivided attention. It took me a while to find the right balance between my roles as wife, mother and activist. Although I am still an avid tweeter, I established a routine and now manage my time better.

Besides enabling our children to read, write, do equations and know how, why and when the earth turns around, we need to teach them about life and the importance of social activism to make it a peaceful world for all of us. It is our roles as mothers to instill in our children the right values and raise them as global citizens by teaching them about world causes. I want my kids to grow up knowing that one’s family is important but that they also need to care about other families in our world. I want them to know and appreciate that being an activist mom is a tough job, but someone’s got to do it!

This article was first published in La Voix Du Yemen on June 16, 2013

Cet article est également disponible en Français
هذا المقال متوفر أيضا باللغة العربية

Diaries of an online activist

The Arab spring turned my life upside down and the revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Syria and Bahrain "ate my time". It all started as I was following news of the Tunisian's uprising which turned into a revolution and spread to the rest of the Arab world and with it my Arabism, patriotism and zeal grew and got me hooked to the TV and laptop for endless hours. My days suddenly turned into nights and I wouldn't realize it till the first rays of sun crept on me announcing the arrival of a new day.

I was overtaken by the Egyptian revolution and my "activism" started initially on Facebook. I am an online activist, sadly not a field freedom fighter because I am away. I spent endless hours glued to the screens, monitoring the news, typing, expressing my views, engaging in heated discussions and even debating with very close friends, all on the net of course. Since I was confined to the house, that was my only source of social interaction. Thank God the Egyptian revolution lasted only 18 days until Mubarak finally stepped down on Feb11th. Everyone was ecstatic and we all thought it was over, WE WON, or at least that is what we thought then. 
Then the Yemen revolution started catching pace and was filling the news along with the Libyan one. I then shifted from the Egyptian revolution which I felt I had given it it's due. We already toppled the President besides there were so many other hundreds of thousands covering it and I started focusing on the rest of the Arab revolutions, but mainly Yemen's and hence I moved from Facebook to twitter, which I felt was more dynamic and powerful.
Twitter transfered me to many places at once. I felt I was in Tahrir in Cairo, in Benghazi in Libya, in Change square is Sanaa, in Hama in Syria and in Manama in Bahrain. Just by following a certain time line I listened to the chants, I heard the explosions and I felt the pain of wounded.   
I was actually apprehensive at first and worried when Yemen's revolution started. Yemen had the highest gun per capita ratio after the US and I thought it will turn into a blood bath from day one, but was pleasantly surprised and so was the rest of the world. However, I never imagined the revolution would drag this long. Nor for the suffering to be this hard. I pray for a peaceful resolve soon, although I doubt it will be peaceful nor soon. It breaks my heart to see all the massacres in Syria, the fighting in Libya and the silent suffering in Bahrain and not being able to do anything about them besides tweeting.
I should mention that before all this started I was a wife and a mother of four (one of which is in heaven). I still am all that, thank God, but before the Arab spring started that was my main job. I suddenly became a full time online activist, an addicted twitter and a new blogger on the block, not to my husband and kids content though. 
I salute all online activist and stand in awe for the many people who suffered and struggled, advocating for change in their country, the ones who paid the price with their lives, blood, sweat and tears. May God bless all freedom fighters in the Arab spring and beyond and have mercy on those who lost their lives for all of us to live a better life. Peace

Diaries of an Online Activist

The Arab spring and the revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Syria and Bahrain turned me from a spectator into an activist. As I was following news of the Tunisian's uprising which turned into a revolution and spread to the rest of the Arab world, my Arabism, patriotism and zeal grew which got me hooked to the TV and laptop for endless hours, following events,  engaging in debates and expressing my views. My days suddenly turned into nights and I wouldn't realize it till the first rays of sun crept on me announcing the arrival of a new day.


I became an online activist, initially overtaken by the Egyptian revolution when I started my activism on Facebook. As the revolution in Yemen started to evolve and was filling the news along with the Libyan one, I shifted from the Egyptian revolution, since Mubarak was ousted and besides there were so many other hundreds of thousands covering it, and I started focusing instead on the rest of the Arab revolutions, but mainly Yemen's and hence I shifted from Facebook to twitter, which I felt was more dynamic and powerful.


Twitter transfered me to many places at once. I felt I was in Tahrir in Cairo, in Benghazi in Libya, in Change square is Sanaa, in Hama in Syria and in Manama in Bahrain. Just by following a certain timeline I heard the chants and the explosions and I felt the pain of the wounded and the loss of the martyrs.


I was actually apprehensive at first and worried when Yemen's revolution started. Yemen has the highest gun per capita ratio after the US and I thought it will turn into a blood bath from day one, but was pleasantly surprised, and so was the rest of the world. It turned into the most peaceful revolution of the Arab Spring due to the protesters commitment to peace, despite the regimes violence and killings. I never imagined the revolution would drag this long, nor for the suffering to be this severe. I pray for a peaceful resolve soon, although I doubt it will be a peaceful one, nor soon. 


I was taught to stand for what is right and fight for what I believe in and was fortunate enough to travel the world and have a good education. I hope all the people in Yemen will soon enjoy this right. Therefore I used all my knowledge and skills to speak out and advocate for the freedom and democracy of my country, and so did many other Yemeni activists in Yemen and abroad. We joined our efforts and collaborated to support Yemen and the revolution and together we will persevere, despite anyone or anything. 


Before the Arab Spring started I was a wife and a mother of four (one is in heaven) and that was my main job. I suddenly became a full time online activist, an addicted twitter and a blogger besides all my other duties. I can't wait for all this chaos and violence to end, for everyone to enjoy safety and stability, to move on and start rebuilding. We all want and need peace and stability in our lives and soon.

I salute all online activists and stand in awe for the freedom fighters who suffered and struggled, advocating for change in their country, I pray for the ones who were in the front lines and paid the price with their lives, blood, sweat and tears. May God bless all the revolutionaries in the Arab spring and beyond and have mercy on those who sacrificed their lives for all of us to live a better life. We will win and we owe it to them to make our countries better.

Peace

Restiamo Umani...We Stay Human

Many of us feel strongly about something and we rally all means possible to achieve it, or at least hope to. The reason may vary, either because we believe in it, or because there is a certain injustice and we seek to rectify it, so we champion for that cause and suddenly we become activists.

However some activists have more commitment, dedication and courage than others. They are heroes who have dedicated their lives for a cause they believe in, which doesn't necessarily or remotely have do with them or their country. They do it for selfless driven reasons. It is the feelings of humanity and justice that drive them to do so. There are many in the world who fit this description, such as Rachel Corrie and Vittorio Arrigoni, both members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM)  killed in Gaza. I, and surely a lot of people around the world have been greatly moved by what they stood for as much as by their deaths. They certainly are heroes and as Vittorio's mother said "does one have to die to become a hero?" Well said signora Arrigoni.We are all human after all wanting the same things...Freedom, Justice, and above all Peace.


Vittorio's mother  Egidia Beretta Arrigoni wrote a moving article in the Italian  paper Il Manifesto on April 18th, entitled "Vittorio Never Was as Much Alive as he is Now".
I sent her this comment:


Cara signora Arrigoni,
Vorrei esprimere le mie più sentite condoglianze. 
Non conoscevo Vittorio di persona e sincerament non ho sentito di lui finche si e rapito, ma ero dolorata e molto triste per la sua morte. Lo so come fa male perdere un figlio perche ne ho perso uno. 
Vittorio era un campione di pace e di liberta ed un martire d'umanita. Il mondo entero, specialmente quello Arabo non lo dimenechera mai. Un abbraccio forte...Restiamo tutti umani...sempre 18-04-2011 13:45 


Translated in  English:
Dear Mrs. Arrigoni,
I would like to express my most felt condolences.
I didn't know Vittiorio personally and honestly I hadn't heard of him till he was kidnapped, but I felt the pain and was very saddened by his death. I know how painful it is to loose a son because I had lost one myself.
Vittorio was a champion of peace and freedom and a martyr of humanity. The entire world, especially the Arab world will never forget him. A big hug...We all stay human...always


This is the English translation of Mrs. Arrigoni's article 


(ROME Manifesto ) - Do you have to die to become a hero, to be on the front page of the newspaper, to watch TV even outside the home or to die in order to stay human?

I remember the Vittorio at Christmas 2005, when he was imprisoned at Ben Gurion airport, the scars of the handcuffs which had cut off his pulse, the denied contacts to the consulate, the mockery trial.

And the Easter of the same year, when he was stopped by the Israeli police at the Jordanian border, directly behind Allenby Bridge, to prevent him from entering Israel, when he was loaded onto a bus and seven of them, one of them a policewoman, beat him “with art”, without leaving external signs, true professionals that they are, they threw him on the ground facedown, and as a last devilry tore out his hair with their potent boots.

Vittorio was persona-non-grata in Israel. Too subversive, one year before he had demonstrated at the Wailing Wall with his friend Gabriele together with the men and women from Budrus village. He taught and sang with them our most beautiful partisan song “O Bella ciao, ciao….”

Art by Carlos Latuff: Rest in Peace Brother Vik

At that time I did not watch TV, not even when in autumn 2008 an Israeli commando assaulted the fisherboat in Palestinian waters near Rafah and Vittorio was first locked up in Ramle and then sent home in prison clothes and slippers.

Certainly, now I can only thank the press and TV that they have approached us in a decent way, that they have “occupied” our house respectfully, without excesses, and they gave me the possibility to speak about Vittorio and his chosen ideals.

This lost son, now so much alive as he may never have been before, just like the seed that grows and dies in the earth, will bear prosperous fruit. I can see and hear this already in the words of friends, especially the youth, some of them close by and some of them far away who through Vittorio have known and understood how to make sense of “Utopia”, that the hunger for justice and peace, brotherhood and solidarity still prevails and that, as Vittorio said, “Palestine could as well be in front of your door”. We were far away from Vittorio, but we were closer than ever.

A Thank You Note

This has certainly been the spring of Arab uprisings and a very long awaited awakening. What started with a protest for a daily life survival right by one man triggered and transcended to a regional outcry for political, economic, social reforms and above all human rights. Being an Arab, I proudly monitored the pioneering Tunisian Revolution, being Egyptian I felt the struggle and emotions of the inspiring Egyptian Revolution and being Yemeni by birth and origin, I am living the suffering of the Peaceful Yemeni Revolution. Besides monitoring and tweeting major headlines happening in Libya, Syria, Bahrain, Jordan and Palestine which is always in my heart.

I am not going to go through the reasons for these uprisings, I am sure we all know them, although some differ on the reasons behind them. Some think they are due to genuine reasons while others think they are due to a "conspiracy theory" and that is the shaping of the so called "New Middle East". I personally thank God it happened what ever the reason behind it, although I agree more with the first school of thought.

A thank you is in order. I want to thank first and foremost all the martyrs who died for these revolutions starting with Mohamed Bouazizi down to the last soul that has just parted us. These heroes sacrificed their lives for our freedom and democracy and to them we will always be in indebted, and we owe it to them to make these revolutions succeed. My deepest sympathy and prayers goes to all their families and friends. I also thank all the protesters who went out to the streets and participated in the sit-ins, marches and demonstrations and suffered gun shot injuries, beatings, inhaled gas, and even went through the fatigue of the process. Another note of gratitude goes to all the activists on the ground and on the net wether at home or abroad who have rallied for their countries. All your work, time and effort is certainly noticed and much appreciated by your country and country men and women.

These revolutions, through Facebook and twitter have certainly brought us closer, and we have certainly felt the solidarity and humanity overflowing. Twitter by far is a fascinating forum for sharing our ideas, hopes and aspirations. I have been impressed by inspiring minds of people whom I have never met but whom I consider now as friends. And as a new found friend and activist said in her tweet: "i love the #solidarity found on twitter. it affirms that #humanity is still alive. #oneworld". Another activist and very prominent journalist pointed that through these revolutions we have learned more about each others culture, geography, history and especially the struggles. I pray that all our Arab revolutions will be successful and realize most, if not all  their aims and that those still struggling will see the light soon and that it will all be worthwhile in the end.

Last but not least I want to thank my family for their support and understanding during my long hours glued in front of the TV and on the laptop.  
I am sure these revolutions had a toll on many household besides mine :( 


Peace.