Veranstaltung mit Aktivitäten in arabischer, englischer und deutscher Sprache - Deutsche Beschreibung hier

 فعاليات باللغة العربية والانجليزية والألمانية -  نبذة عن الفعالية باللغة العربية هنا

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Women have many faces, and feminism has just as many. Protest against oppression and the struggle for freedom and equality are always influenced by the place and society in which women live.There are many prejudices about Arab societies, and at least as many about their female members. When is a woman free, and is freedom the same at all times and in all places? Is resistance to patriarchy and the desire for change the same everywhere?The Arab world is vast, and its societies are diverse. A comprehensive examination, an overview of feminism and its history in the Arab world, would be a huge undertaking, and perhaps not even conducive to achieving our goals. And so, we are focusing on only three countries in this event: Syria, Egypt and Palestine; not far apart geographically, yet very different.

16:00 Bilad al Nissa – Herland

Arabic (simultaneous translation into German)

Readings by Nuha Askar, Nibal Al Alou and Dr. Samaa Hijazi and panel discussion with Maha Hassan and Kefah Ali Deeb:

Syrian authors Maha Hassan and Kefah Ali Deeb have each undertaken writing projects with women who have fled Syria; from France – Maha Hassan with participants now residing in different countries; and in Germany – Kefah Ali Deeb with participants now residing in different parts of Germany. What did the women experience during their flight, how has their life changed, how has fleeing and the new culture affected them as individuals, and as women? Has their view of the world changed, of their home society, of gender roles?



Participants from both projects read excerpts from their texts, followed by a conversation between the two initiators of the projects, Maha Hassan and Kefah Ali Deeb. How did the idea come about? What was their motivation, and what did they experience during the implementation of the respective projects, and with the women? We will then open the conversation up to the audience, and the project participants will also be available for discussion.



Moderated by Amany Alsiefy

Simultaneous translation from Arabic into German by Lubna Alsamawi.

18:00 Nawal Al Sadaawi Revisited:
Women‘s Rights, Body Rights

Panel in English

Nawal El-Saadawi is one of the most important authors on the taboo subjects of femininity, sexuality, female genital mutilation, religion and the oppression of women, (not only) in the Arab world.

During her long life, she has taken on many professions, but her own identity as a woman also plays an important role in El Saadawi’s feminist criticism.



Insisting not only on female self-determination and solidarity, but also on her own independent thinking and her own experience, while retaining her joy of life, made El Saadawi the great, free thinker that she was. How did her writing and work influence women, then and now? With Hend Amman, Gihan Abouzeid and Dina Wahba, three women from three generations discuss what Saadawi meant to them.



The occasion for this panel discussion on women’s rights, including but not limited to their own bodies, came about partly thanks to the new edition in German and English of Nawal Al-Saadawi’s book “Woman and Sex”, first published in Arabic in Egypt in 1971.

Panel in English with Hend Amman, Gihan Abouzeid and Dina Wahba, as well as the publisher of the German re-edition, Sophie Haesen



Moderation: Cora Josting

Panel in English, questions and comments also possible in Arabic and German, we will translate as best we can.

20:00 Protest & Resilience:
2 short films

The Silent Protest: Jersualem 1929 (2019, 30 mins) Mahasen Nasser-Eldin