Zahra Hankir - Our Women on the Ground: Essays by Arab Women Reporting from the Arab World

Praise for
OUR WOMEN ON THE GROUND

A compelling and gripping read.

Middle East Monitor

Out of the gloom of the Middle East, this book brims with new voicesArab women reporting on their world as no one else has seen it, with courage, inspiration, and resilience. A terrific read, full of insight and surprise.

David E. Hoffman, former foreign editor of The Washington Post and Pulitzer Prizewinning author of The Billion Dollar Spy

A remarkable book that fills a tremendous gap, as mainstream media coverage of the Middle East and Arab world has long been dominated by men or outsiders. The voices of these trailblazing women are even more vital today, when the regions upheaval cannot be explained without local, and especially female, perspectives.

Hassan Hassan, New York Times bestselling co-author of ISIS

This astounding, affecting collection offers a sweeping panorama of the contemporary Arab experienceheartland and exile; repression and liberation; violence and love. I struggle to think of any work of reportage that has so fully depicted the many-layered recent history of this vibrant and traumatized region. Rich with understanding and sincere emotional connection to the people and places that drive the news, this book contains voices that are both fresh and necessary.

Megan K. Stack, author of Womens Work

A dazzling book that elegantly demonstrates how to tell stories with humility, affection, and truthfulness.

Azadeh Moaveni, author of Lipstick Jihad and Honeymoon in Tehran

The stories of how these women crossed boundaries and pushed the limits professionally, culturally, and personally are stark and haunting. I loved this book, for its courage but also for the fact that the future of news will be told by local correspondents whose passion for justice and truth shines through. A must-read for anyone who wants to see a side of news from the Middle East they would never see by watching the nightly news.

Janine di Giovanni, author of The Morning They Came for Us

With steely courage and pens of fire, these sahafiyatArab female journaliststell the stories of their countrys conflicts, providing rigor, depth, and insight few outside commenters could match.

Molly Crabapple, author of Drawing Blood and illustrator of Brothers of the Gun

PENGUIN BOOKS

OUR WOMEN ON THE GROUND

ZAHRA HANKIR is a Lebanese British journalist who writes about the intersection of politics, culture, and society in the Middle East. Her writing and journalism have appeared on BBC News, Bloomberg News, Vice, and Al Jazeera English, and in Roads & Kingdoms and Literary Hub, among other media outlets. She was awarded a Jack R. Howard Fellowship in International Journalism to attend the Columbia Journalism School and holds degrees in politics and Middle Eastern studies from the American University of Beirut and the University of Manchester.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR is CNNs chief international anchor and host of the networks award-winning, flagship global affairs program Amanpour, which also airs on PBS in the United States. She is based in the networks London bureau. Christianes illustrious career in journalism spans more than three decades. After joining CNN in 1983, Amanpour rose through the organization, becoming the networks leading international correspondent reporting on crises in the Gulf, Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea, Palestinian territories, Iran, Sudan, Israel, Pakistan, Somalia, Rwanda, the Balkans, Egypt, and Libya. Amanpour has interviewed most of the top world leaders over the past two decades and has received every major broadcast award, including an inaugural Television Academy Award, eleven News and Documentary Emmys, four Peabody Awards, and nine honorary degrees. In 2014, she was inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame and in 2018 into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, an honorary citizen of Sarajevo, and a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. Amanpour is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island.

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Introduction and selection copyright 2019 by Zahra Hankir

Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

The essays in this book are the copyrighted property of the respective writers.

What Normal? by Hwaida Saad, Words, Not Weapons by Shamael Elnoor, and Between the Explosions by Asmaa al-Ghoul are translated by Mariam Antar. Translation copyright 2019 by Mariam Antar.

Excerpt on from Dedication from Bilingual Blues by Gustavo Prez Firmat (Bilingual Press, 1995). Gustavo Prez Firmat. Used with permission.

Photograph on by Ellen Emmerentze Thommessen Jervell. Used with permission.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-I N-PUBLICATION DATA

Names: Hankir, Zahra, editor. | Amanpour, Christiane, writer of foreword.

Title: Our women on the ground : essays by Arab women reporting from the Arab world / edited by Zahra Hankir ; foreword by Christiane Amanpour.

Description: New York, New York : Penguin Books, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018052511 (print) | LCCN 2019012777 (ebook) | ISBN 9780143133414 (paperback) | ISBN 9780525505204 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Women journalistsArab countriesBiography. | Reporters and reportingArab countries. | Women in journalism Arab countries. | Women in the mass media industryArab countries. | WomenArab countriesSocial conditions.

Classification: LCC P94.5.W652 (ebook) | LCC P94.5.W652 A737 2019 (print) | DDC 070.4082dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018052511

Penguin is committed to publishing works of quality and integrity. In that spirit, we are proud to offer this book to our readers; however, the stories, the experiences, and the words are those of the authors alone.

Cover design: Na Kim

Version_1

To Atwar Bahjat, Mayada Ashraf, Layal Nagib, Malika Sabour, and the Arab and Middle Eastern women journalists and photojournalists who lost their lives while reporting from their homelands.

Contents

Foreword

I began my career as a foreign correspondent in the first Gulf War, and somehow, serendipitously, CNN paired me up with an all-female camera crew. That was the summer of 1990, in Saudi Arabia. Suffice to say we were an unusual-looking team! But somehow it worked; our gender and our professionalism actually opened doors instead of slamming them in our faces.

Since then I have worked alongside many great female journalists from all over the world, from my fellow anchors and correspondents to producers and photojournalists. I have discovered them to be some of the bravest, most inspiring, provocative, energetic, and resourceful of my colleagues.