On the possibility of being a queer Arab
Years ago, in one of the many social groups that coalesce around shared interests and social affiliations of LGBT people in Egypt, we used to gather at a friend's place and watch old shows of Sherihan's. My friends compared her to Lady Gaga and many of us believed that in fact Sherihan anticipated Lady Gaga by a decade or more.
As spectators and people who identified with a broad LGBT community, we identified with Sherihan, and she became our version of “drag” with her exaggeration and theatricality.
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As UN decides future of Western Sahara peacekeeping mission, Sahrawis press for human rights
While international diplomats met this week to determine the future of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara, demonstrators throughout the occupied territory held protests calling for self-determination and human rights.
The dispute over the sovereignty of Western Sahara has gone on for more than four decades. After Spain withdrew from its former colony, Morocco waged a war for the land, fighting off the Sahrawi independent army of the Polisario Front. By the time the UN brokered a ceasefire in 1991, tens of thousands of Sahrawis had been displaced to Algerian refugee camps. Today, the disputed territory is on the UN’s list of non-self-governing territories. One of the steps the parties agreed to was a referendum to allow Sahrawis to vote for independence or integration with Morocco, but that has yet to happen.
Continue reading on Global Voices
My smartphone
I cannot see my family in Syria much, because it is so hard to get to them. So we send each other pictures on WhatsApp. When I reach the office I send my mum a message.
My grandparents don’t leave the house much. They send us pictures, and we send our voices.
If I didn’t have my phone, I would feel like I was lost in the desert. I would feel like I was missing a piece of myself.
Continue reading on Qisetna
