Asma al-Ghul

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Asma al-Ghul (2011)

Asma al-Ghul, also Asmaa al-Ghoul or Alghoul ( Arabic أسماء الغول, DMG Asmāʾ al-Ġūl ; born January 17, 1982 in Rafah , Gaza ) is a Palestinian journalist , blogger , feminist and activist for human rights and freedom of the press .

Life

Asma al-Ghul was born in 1982 in Rafah, a border town in the Gaza Strip with Egypt . She is the eldest of nine children of a secular Palestinian refugee family who raised their sons and daughters liberally and without distinction. Her father is an engineer and architecture professor at the Islamic University of Gaza . Asma al-Ghul completed her schooling and university studies in Gaza. She then took on a job as a reporter for the local Arab newspaper Al-Ayaam .

In 2003 she married an Egyptian poet, a love affair as she herself said, with which the couple challenged a tradition of arranged marriages that was widespread in Gaza. Al-Ghul and her husband moved to Abu Dhabi together . The marriage failed and was divorced after a year and a half. Al-Ghul returned to Gaza with their son.

To the displeasure of some relatives, al-Ghul decided in 2006 to take off the hijab , the conventional headscarf for many Muslims, forever and to defy traditional Islamic dress codes.

job

Asma al-Ghul found writing already as a teenager. At the age of 17 she published her first short story . After graduating, she turned to journalism. She has written for Gaza Al-Ayyam and as a columnist for the Palestinian edition of Al-Monitor - The Pulse of the Middle East .

In 2007 Asma al-Ghul wrote an article that changed her life. While studying journalism in South Korea , she published an article in Arabic that was a scathing criticism of the Palestinian government authorities. The story was momentous in that al-Ghul wrote it in the form of a critical letter to her uncle, a high-ranking military leader in the ruling Hamas faction in the Gaza Strip. Under the title "Dear Uncle, is this the home we want?" the article is addressed to al-Ghul's uncle. She sharply criticized him for supporting the suppression of Gaza by enforcing Hamas' Islamist views on the people. She recalled that he was using the family home to interrogate and beat members of the Fatah faction . She drew the wrath of her uncle and he threatened to kill her.

Al-Ghul found her voice as a reporter for human rights and social affairs of the Palestinians with this article . Since then she has reported critically on what she calls "the corruption of Fatah and the terrorism of Hamas". She writes about developments and grievances in her homeland, about the escalating unrest between Fatah and Hamas, about the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip. She describes the plight of the civilian victims, criticizes the lack of educational opportunities for women and the restriction of democratic freedoms under Hamas. In addition, al-Ghul makes the unpunished murders of women public in the name of “ family honor ”.

With her issues, she exposes herself to reprisals from Hamas , on the one hand as a woman and on the other hand as a critic of Palestinian politics . In 2009, after walking on the beach in the southern Gaza Strip with a mixed-sex group of friends, she was interrogated by Hamas security forces and charged with un-Islamic behavior. Her reporting in February 2011 about a rally expressing the solidarity of Egyptians and Palestinians was cut off by physical violence against al-Ghul. At a demonstration for peaceful reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas in March 2011, al-Ghul and seven other Palestinian journalists were beaten and physically threatened by Hamas security forces while reporting .

After at least nine members of her family were killed in an Israeli air strike on Rafah in August 2014 , al-Ghul documented their experiences and the hearings about the death of the family in an essay entitled "Never ask me about Peace again".

Asma al-Ghul continues to receive regular threats against her life and that of her son. That doesn't affect your work as a freelance journalist. She regards the freedom of blogging as her opportunity and her "best tool to report on society and corruption". She has also been involved in the Beirut- based Samir Kassir Foundation for many years to safeguard press freedom .

Awards

Works

Web links

Commons : Asma al-Ghul  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Jewish Telegraphic Agency: Palestinian reporter Asmaa al-Ghoul aims to keep thorn in Hamas' side. October 22, 2012, accessed March 24, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b c d Ashley Bates: Sorry, Hamas, I'm Wearing Blue Jeans. In: Mother Jones. December 16, 2010, accessed March 24, 2019 .
  3. ↑ a b c d IWMF: Asmaa Al-Ghoul: Defying expectations to report on human rights in Gaza. Retrieved March 27, 2019 .
  4. ^ The Associated Press (AP): Hamas "Morality" Cops Enforce Islamic Law. In: CBS News. July 8, 2009, accessed March 27, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Khaled Abu Toameh: Gaza cops use 'beatings, stun guns' on women reporters. The Jerusalem Post, March 28, 2011, accessed March 27, 2019 .
  6. ↑ a b Human Rights Watch: Banned, Censored, Harassed, and Jailed. August 4, 2010, accessed March 27, 2019 .
  7. ^ Asmaa al-Ghoul | 2012 Courage in Journalism Award - IWMF. Retrieved March 24, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Ghoul, Asma al-
ALTERNATIVE NAMES أسماء الغول (Arabic)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Palestinian journalist, blogger and human rights activist
DATE OF BIRTH 17th January 1982
PLACE OF BIRTH Rafah