About My Stealthy Freedom

Dear all,
Today I would like to talk about My Stealthy Freedom, a movement I've been following both in Facebook and Twitter. If you have seen their Facebook web page, you then should know about their struggle to overcome compulsory hijab in Iran. They wear white clothes on Wednesday and they remove their veils. In doing so, they're advocating for their rights and they become champions of the Iranian feminist movement. I've just started to follow Masih Alinejad in Twitter who has become the most visible person of this movement. She is the person who prompted the  "white Wednesdays"initiative, and she is the one who shares the videos these brave women send her from Iran. This might sound quite innocent to you, but it's quite risky for these women, as they might be arrested by the "morality police".
I have seen lots of videos from different women in Iran who have dared to send their videos to Masih Alinejad. I have to say I normally watch them without commenting, and I don't normally share them. However, once I've learned that some of these brave women have been arrested as a result os their innocent actions, I've felt impeled to write openly about their ordeal.

Saba Kord Ashari is one of the women who sent a video to Masih Alinejad, who warn her she might face arrestment if her video was released. However, this young girl was more than willing to take the risk. As a result she got arrested and authorities forced her to confess after her own mother was also detained. She has been sentenced to twenty four years in prison, which at the young age of twenty must be really distressful.
I can't even imagine what this young girl must be feeling, but I guess she must feel extremely anxious and very lonely. I have read about the terrible events going on in the infamous prison of Evin in Iran. In 2003 Zahra Kazemi was brutally raped and murdered there. Consequently, this young girl who now faces a very gloomy future in an Iranian prison must be fearing for her life too.
For women like me who have been born just before the Spanish dictator Franco passed away, freedom might be something we often take for granted. However, as you've just read, for many women freedom is no more than an illusion. They don't have their own voice, and that's the main reason why we have to speak out loud for them. Alinejad has stated that we need to share their stories in order to become their voice. In adittion, she has also complained about the lack of response from the global feminist movement, as they have failed to support Iranian women.  Therefore, I want to state that I am a feminist and I do want to share their stories and become their voice. I don't write a very successful blog, I have to admit that few people share my entries. Nevertheless,  I still want to give voice to the women in Iran who have risked their freedom to denounce the lack of  women rights in their country. I believe that if we all share their stories and combine our voices to support them we'll become a very strong force.
I would like to share a video in which Masih Aljinedad recounts her own story and how she has challenged compulsory hijab.

Free to build a new life

Dear all,

It's been a long time since I wrote my last entry in the English language. As a result, you might be wondering why I have just decided to write in this language instead of my mother tongue. First of all I don't write very often and when I do so it's easy to write in my own language, although I keep saying to myself that I must write in English from time to time. A few days while I was browsing my Facebook timeline I learnt that Chanel Miller had decided to go public and was about to publish a book, "Know My Name", in which she unveils her identitity as the victim of the Stanford sexual assault. 

I can perfectly remember my reaction when I read the sentence, only six months in prison although he just served three. I felt anger and betrayed at the same time as I just couldn't understand that lack of sympathy towards the victim whereas the judge seemed more concerned about the perpetrator's wellbeing. I just couldn't understand the reason why this person was unable to understand what Chanel was going through at that precise moment.  I also felt powerless as the judge's decision told the world that rape wasn't so serious whenever alcohol was involved. But I didn't know her, so I wasn't also aware of the real impact of the assault on her life. Now that she has gone public I know her name and I've seen her face, I can understand the emotional damage she has undergone after the assault. That's the main reason I've decided to write this entry in English. 

I don't know her, I don't think she will ever read this entry. However, I would like to let her know that I truly  understand how she felt. As she says  she had to rebuild her identity in order to overcome not only the assault but also the treatment received in court when she was questioned about her own  behaviour, wasn't she the victim?  I haven't been raped, but I know how it feels when you're harrassed at work and everybody else's, including  someone who's supposed to be your best friend there, thinks you're overreacting. They're just jokes, their culture is different than yours and you just have to accept it. Finally, when somebody decides to help you and do something, it seems that the perpetrators are the victims and you're responsible for their acts instead of yours. I know that I felt deeply desolated at that moment, alone with no one to turn to but my sister, who encouraged me to leave that place, which I did a few months later. Although I don't regret my decision I do feel sometimes that I should have gone further than I did. 

Dear Chanel, although it's true that he can't give you back the life you used to have, you have the power to build a new life, and it seems you've already done it. I'm really proud of you, and I hope that my support gets to you. Coming to terms with the assault must have been really tough. However, being unnamed in the media might have been if not the worst part of it pretty distressful. Now that you have revealed your identity I've got the impression you might feel relieved. 

You might want to know why I haven't mentioned the other part. This is easy to answer; it is Chanel is the one who deserves to be given a name not him. 

Reconstruyendo el pasado

Hola a todos de nuevo, bienvenidos una vez más a este blog en el que expreso mis inquietudes y mis esperanzas. La historia de hoy es hermosa porque aporta un rayo de luz en las vidas de un grupo de personas que lo han dejado atrás huyendo de la guerra, pero aunque lo han perdido todo, trabajan y estudian para recuperar su legado histórico y cultural. 

Bettany Hughes ha vuelto a viajar a Siria, allí nos muestra la devastación que han sufrido algunos de los sitios históricos de este país como Beit Ghazaleh en Alepo, antiguo palacio de época otomana. Las imágenes que nos muestra son terribles, lugares llenos de historia como el que acabo de mencionar o Palmira han quedado reducidos a escombros. Dice Bettany Hughes que nuestro legado arquitectónico y cultural nos mantiene unidos con nuestros antepasados, de esta manera sirven para mantener vivo el pasado, casi como si fuera inmortal. 

La emblemática ciudad de Palmira es uno de esos lugares históricos
que ha sido arrasados tras años de guerra. Fuente www.unesco.org

El British Council patrocina este proyecto en el que ciudadanos sirios y jordanos aprenden el arte de la cantería con la ilusión de recuperar su legado histórico cultural algún día. Dos mujeres dirigen el proyecto: Bara'a y Nour. Además hay otras catorce mujeres en el proyecto, amas de casa que han decidido aprender a trabajar la piedra para recuperar el legado histórico de sus antepasados. Khadija y Aisha son dos de esas mujeres que lo perdieron todo después de muchos años de lucha, por eso este proyecto es tan importante para ellas, porque implica reconstruir su país y con él su historia. Ver a este grupo de mujeres trabajar en un oficio tradicionalmente reservado para los hombres me produce una gran emoción y me hace pensar que tal vez las cosas estén cambiado en oriente próximo. Sin embargo, no puedo evitar sentir algo de tristeza al no poder ver las caras de estas dos mujeres, escondidas tras sus velos. Supongo que hablar ante una cámara ya es un gran avance para ellas. ¡Quién sabe!, tal vez algún día se liberen de esa tradición que les ha sido impuesta. Para todas las personas que forman parte de este gran proyecto no se trata solo de reconstruir los vestigios del pasado, sino de amar aquello que han heredado de sus antepasados, y es ese amor y los recuerdos lo que les impulsa a trabajar y aprender día a día. En sus visitas a esos lugares que un día reflejaron el resplandor de las grandes civilizaciones que los construyeron, han comprendido que si destruimos nuestro pasado también destruimos nuestro futuro. 

 Hughes nos recuerda que tras la guerra de Líbano, muchos de los edificios históricos fueron derribados sin más, y tal vez sea eso lo que ocurra en Siria cuando por fin termine la guerra. No obstante este proyecto anima a la esperanza y tal vez esos lugares hoy devastados vuelvan a levantarse de nuevo. Os invito a ver el vídeo completo, seguro que os emociona del mismo modo que a mí.

Y aquí tenéis varios enlaces donde podéis encontrar toda la información sobre este proyecto. 

https://www.britishcouncil.org/arts/culture-development/our-stories/bettany-hughes