Middle East

A region of 18 countries extending from Egypt to Iran, including the Arabian Peninsula and Turkey. The greater Middle East and North African (MENA) region also includes countries in northern and east Africa and east of Iran. Some European countries north of Iran are often associated with the Middle East because of socio-political reasons.

‘We Have No Rights’: An Open Letter from an Afghan Girl Living in Fear

My name is Suraya Mohammadi, a girl living in the heart of Afghanistan, a country under Taliban rule. I write this letter with a heart full of pain and hope, a letter that aims to be the voice of all Afghan girls, girls who are enduring an imposed and cruel silence.

Since the day the Taliban regained power, my life and the lives of thousands of other girls have turned into a nightmare. We have been deprived of going to school and continuing our education, from working and having a bright future. Every day, I look out of the small window of my house and wish that I could go back to school, open my books again, and dream of becoming a doctor, an engineer, or a lawyer. But sadly, these dreams have now turned into a nightmare we experience while awake.

In the 2024 Olympics, Afghan Women Defy the Taliban Ban on Women in Sports

In September 2021—less than a month after the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan—the Taliban banned women and girls from participating in sports.

Three women and three men will represent Afghanistan in the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics, yet the Taliban has refused to acknowledge the female Afghan athletes playing for their home country.

Kimia Yousofi, one the three Afghan women Olympians, said she will be representing the “stolen dreams and aspirations” of women still under the Taliban’s gender apartheid. 

All Pregnant Women Should Have the Same Privileges I Had When I Gave Birth Prematurely

Over the last 15 years, I have had the privilege of meeting mothers and their children around the world. The universal experiences of motherhood—from the challenges of pregnancy and birth, to cooing over a newborn child—can make it seem that pregnancy, childbirth and motherhood are a great equalizer. But my own experience and my work have reinforced that motherhood remains undeniably influenced by privilege and power.

There is no single intervention that will stop complications in pregnancies, halt premature births and end neonatal deaths. But that shouldn’t stop us from making full use of what we know can make a difference for many.

‘The Way to Peace Requires Reconciliation’: The Ms. Q&A With Artist Tamara Gayer

Albert Einstein once said, “In the midst of every crisis lies great opportunity.” This maxim guides Israeli-American visual artist Tamara Gayer in her work to promote peace between Israel and Palestine. Gayer actively works to build U.S. financial support and raise funds for two anti-war organizations, Standing Together and A Land for All.

She spoke to Ms. as the war entered its eighth month: “A thirst for policies and organizations that do not pit the needs of Palestinians against those of Israelis, and vice versa, fills a deep need.”

Who Is to Blame for the Death of Habiba el Shamaa?

On April 15, 2024, the Cairo Criminal Court sentenced an Uber driver to 15 years in prison with hard labor for attempted kidnapping, driving under the influence of drugs and document forgery. The victim, 24-year-old Habiba el Shamaa, died on March 14 after 21 days in a coma following critical injuries she sustained when jumping out of the moving vehicle.

Uber is partly to blame for the death of el Shamaa, but the larger misogynistic context that has normalized violence against women in the region should not be ignored. At the core of this violence in Egypt and throughout the region is the common belief that the home is a woman’s only legitimate space.

A Violent Denial: Combating Silence Around Hamas’ Sexual Violence and Preventing Future War Crimes

Feminist lessons of war are traumatically and often fatally difficult to come by. In her 2023 book, Twelve Feminist Lessons of War, Cynthia Enloe offers a list that includes: “Women’s wars are not men’s wars,” “wounds are gendered” and “feminists organize while war is raging.” She declares that “feminist lessons are for everyone.”

Cochav Elkayam-Levy is still figuring out the feminist lessons to be learned from the Oct. 7 attack. As she has come to accept, this will be her life’s work.

(This article originally appears in the Summer 2024 issue of Ms. Join the Ms. community today and you’ll get issues delivered straight to your mailbox!)

Women on the Verge of Vanishing From Afghan Media

As we celebrate World Press Freedom Day, it’s worth reflecting on how it’s become a rare privilege to spot a female face on Afghan television—whether they wear a face covering or not.

Now, even these brief glimpses of women on Afghan TV might disappear. Near the end of February, Sheikh Mohammad Khalid, the Taliban’s minister for the propagation of virtue and prevention of vice, gathered owners of media companies for a meeting in Kabul and issued a warning: Women working in media needed to start covering their entire faces, leaving only their eyes visible; otherwise, the Taliban would ban women from working in the industry.

Afghan Women Voice ‘Deep Disappointment’ and ‘Dread’ Over Potential Taliban Recognition

In a nationwide women’s consultation, Afghan women have expressed ‘dread’ and ‘anxiety’ over the potential international recognition of the de facto authorities (DFA), with 67 percent stating it would severely affect their lives.

Among the participants, a majority stated that if such international recognition were to occur, it should only be contingent upon the removal of all restrictions in place by the Taliban against Afghan women and girls.