See Yemen through my eyes Nadia AlSakkaf
[Music]
you have brought us images from the
Yemen times
and take us through those and introduce
us to another Yemen well I’m glad to be
here and I would like to share with you
all some of the pictures that are
happening today in Yemen this picture
shows a revolution started by women and
it shows women and men leaving a mixed
protest the other picture is a
popularity of the real need for change
so many people are there the intensity
of of the upspring this picture shows
that the revolution has allowed
opportunities for training for education
these women are learning about first aid
and their rights according to the
constitution I love this picture I just
wanted to show that over 60% of the
Yemeni population are 15 years and below
and they were excluded from
decision-making and now they are in the
forefront of the news raising the flag
English you will see this is jeans and
tights and and in English expression you
know the ability to share with the world
what is going on in our own country and
expression also it has brought talents
Yemenis are using cartoons and art
paintings comics to tell the world and
each other about what’s going on
obviously there is always the dark side
of it and this is just one of the less
gruesome pictures of the Revolution and
the cost that we have to pay the
Solidarity of millions of Yemenis across
the country just demanding the one thing
and finally lots of people are saying
that
Yemen’s revolution is going to break the
country is it going to be so many
different countries is it’s going to be
another Somalia but we want to tell the
world but no under the one flag will
still remain
so many people thank you for those
images Nadia and they do in many ways
tell a different story than the story of
Yemen the one that is often in the news
and yet you yourself defy all those
characterizations so let’s talk about
the personal story for a moment your
your father is is murdered the Yemen
times already has a strong reputation in
Yemen as an independent english-language
newspaper how did you then make the
decision and assume the responsibilities
of running a newspaper especially in
such times of conflict well let me first
warn you that I am NOT but the
traditional Yemeni guerrilla I guess
you’ve already noticed this by now
in Yemen most women are veiled and they
are sitting behind doors and not very
much part of the public life but there’s
so much potential I wish I could show
you my Yemen I wish you could see the
the Yemen through my eyes then you will
know that there is so much to it and I
was privileged because I was born into a
family my father would always encourage
the boys and the girls he would send he
would say we are equal and he was such
an extraordinary man and even my mother
I owe it to my family a story I studied
in India and in my third year I started
becoming confused because I was Yemeni
but I was also mixing up with a lot of
my friends in college and I went back
home and I said daddy I don’t know who I
am I’m not a Yemeni I’m not an Indian
and he said you are the bridge and that
is something I will keep in my heart
forever so since then I’ve been the
bridge and a lot of people have walked
over me but I don’t think
but it just helps tell that some people
are change agents in that society and
when I became editor-in-chief after my
brother actually my father passed away
in 99 then my brother until 2005 and
everybody was betting that I will not be
able to do it
what’s this young girl coming and
showing off because she it’s her family
business or or something it was very
hard at first I didn’t want to clash
with people but with all due respect to
all the men and the older men especially
they did not want Mira it was very hard
you know to to impose my authority but a
woman’s got to do what a woman’s got to
do and in the first year I had to fire
half of the men
but in more women brought in younger men
and we have a more gender balance
newsroom today the other thing is that
it’s about professionalism it’s about
proving who you are and what you can do
and I don’t know if I’m going to be
boasting now but in 2006 alone we want
three international awards one of them
is the IP I free media pioneer award so
that was the answer to all the Yemeni
people and I want to score a point here
because my husband is in the room over
there if you could please stand up here
he has been very supportive and we
should point out that he works with you
as well but in assuming this
responsibility and going about it as you
have you have become a bridge between an
older and traditional society and the
one that you are now creating at the
paper and so along with changing who
work there you must have come up against
another positioning that we always run
into in particular with women and it has
to do with outside image dress the
veiled woman so how have you dealt with
this on a personal level as well as the
women who worked for you as you know the
image of Yemeni women is a lot of black
and covered veiled women and this is
true and a lot of it is because of women
are not able are not free to show their
face to their self it’s a lot of
traditional imposing coming by authority
figures such as the men the grandparents
and so on and it’s economic empowerment
and the ability for a woman to say I am
as much contributing to this family or
more than than you are and the more
empowered the women become the more they
are able to take to remove the veil for
example or to drive their own car or to
have a job or to be able to travel so
the other phase of Yemen is actually one
that lies
behind the veil and it’s economic
empowerment mostly that allows the woman
to just uncover it and I’ve done this
throughout my work I’ve tried to
encourage young girls we started with
like you can take it off in the office
and then after that you can take it off
on assignments because I didn’t believe
a journalist can be a journalist with
with you know how can you talk to people
if you have your face covered and so on
it’s just a movement and I am a role
model in iam and a lot of people look up
to me a lot of young girls look up to me
and I need to prove to them that yes you
can still be married you can still be a
mother and can still be respected
Society in the society but at the same
time that doesn’t mean that you just be
one of the crowd you can be yourself and
have your face but by putting yourself
personally out there both projecting a
different image of Yemeni women but also
what you have have made possible for the
women who work at the paper has this put
you in personal danger
well the Yemen times across twenty years
has been through so much we’ve suffered
prosecution paper was closed down one or
three times an independent newspaper but
tell that to the people in charge they
they think that if there’s anything
against them but then we are being an
opposition newspaper and very very
difficult times some of my reporters
were arrested we had some court cases
my father was assassinated today we are
in a much better situation who’ve
created the credibility and inner times
of revolution or changed like the day it
is very important for independent media
to have a voice it’s very important for
you for for you to go to Yemen I’m so
calm and it’s very important to listen
to our voice and this is probably
something I wanna I’m going to share
with you on Western media probably and
how there’s a lot of stereotypes
thinking of Yemen in one single frame
this is what Yemen is all about and that
not fair it’s not fair for me it’s not
fair from my country a lot of reporters
come to Yemen and they want to write a
story on al-qaeda or terrorism and I
just wanted to share with you like
there’s one reporter that came he wanted
to do a documentary on what his editors
wanted and he landed up writing about
story that even surprised me hip-hop
that there are Yemeni young give any men
who express themselves through dancing
and rap breakdancing yeah I’m not I’m
just not in touch actually that’s a
documentary that’s so online videos
online it is shake the dust okay shake
the dust shake with us shake the dust oh
we get it definitely does give a
different image of Yemen you spoke about
the responsibility of the press and
certainly when we look at the ways in
which we have you know separated
ourselves from others we’ve been we’ve
created fear and and danger often from
lack of knowledge lack of real
understanding how do you see the way
that the Western press in particular is
covering this and all other stories out
of the region but in particular in your
country well there is a thing that says
you’ve you feel what you don’t know and
you hate what you fear so it’s about the
lack of research basically it’s almost
do your homework you know some
involvement and you cannot do what
parachute reporting you know just jump
into a country for two days and think
that you’ve done your homework and story
so I wish that the world would know my
Yemen my country my people I am an
example and there are others like me we
may not be that many but if if we are
moated as a you know and a good positive
example there will be others men and
women who can eventually bridge the gap
again coming to the bridge between Yemen
and the world and telling us first about
recognition and then about communication
and compassion
I think Yemen it’s going to be in very
bad situation in the next two or three
years it’s natural but after the two
years which is the price we are willing
to pay we were going to stand up again
on our feet but in the new Yemen with
the younger and more empowered people
democratic
Nadia I think you’ve just given us a
very different view of Yemen and
certainly you yourself and what you do
have given us a view of the future that
thank you embrace and be grateful for
thank you and a very best of luck to you
Yemen times.com on Twitter also you are
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