Physically I may be alive, but I am dead on the inside. I felt more fulfilled and happier when my husband was still alive. Since his death, I have tried to cope with this difficult life for the sake of my children. Despite all the pain and the simple life we lived in, I was […]
With the aim to provide a platform for further discussion and exchange of thoughts around the theme of the crime of Apartheid in the light of Yesh Din’s recent legal opinion ‘The Israeli Occupation and The Crime of Apartheid’, PAX together with Oxfam Novib, SOMO and The Rights Forum organised a webinar. In this webinar […]
My struggle began when I got a job at a local organization in Kirkuk. Two months later, while working enthusiastically for long hours, one of the more senior employees began giving me dirty looks and making obscene remarks. At first, I did not give much importance to his behavior, thinking perhaps he would stop. But […]
My family, my friends and I used to have a happy life. We traveled together and lived freely. My life turned into hell once I took the bonds of marriage. They were bonds with no escape. My husband served in the military, and it was easy for him to hit me and humiliate […]
Hunger is everywhere in Lebanon, inflation is flying high, the middle class evaporates and the already poor are starving. Refugees and migrants are being hit the hardest and the COVID crisis only makes things worse. All of this comes on top of the already existing widespread corruption and a shrinking space for activists. Despite all […]
Before I got married, I used to live with my parents, my sister and my two brothers. Although my father was a mathematics teacher, he would not let me or my sister pursue our education. He always favored my brothers and encouraged them to pursue their education even though they hated studying. For my father, […]
In the presence of environmental organizations that specifically work on climate change, why should a peace organization like PAX concern itself with the climate crisis? In the middle of March, right as the coronavirus hit the Netherlands, I joined PAX as an intern to help answer this question and quickly realized that the climate crisis […]
My life was full of my smiling friends, my school activities, our family time, and the support my family gave my hobbies and talent in drawing. I lived a colorful life until I was raped. In patriarchal societies, rape is sometimes considered as a woman’s destiny, no matter how hard she tries to escape it. […]
I was raised at my grandmother’s house where I grew up, lacking a mother’s tenderness and a father’s advice. My father was an alcoholic. I never loved him. He used to come home at night and beat my mother, who tolerated his behavior and insults because she married him out of love. She loved him […]
I lost my father to a terminal illness when I was fourteen years old. His death affected various aspects of my life, but my mother was a tough woman and a great support. Years passed, and when I turned nineteen, my cousin Jaber proposed to me. We got married and I found myself in a […]
