Admission free, please register here: Registration
Women have many faces, and feminism has just as many. Protest against oppression and the struggle for freedom and equality are always influenced by the place and society in which women live.
There are many prejudices about Arab societies, and at least as many about their female members. When is a woman free, and is freedom the same at all times and in all places? Is resistance to patriarchy and the desire for change the same everywhere?
The Arab world is vast, and its societies are diverse. A comprehensive examination, an overview of feminism and its history in the Arab world, would be a huge undertaking, and perhaps not even conducive to achieving our goals.
And so, we are focusing on only three countries in this event: Syria, Egypt and Palestine; not far apart geographically, yet very different.
16:00 Bilad al Nissa – Herland
Arabic (simultaneous translation into German)
Readings by Nuha Askar, Nibal Al Alou and Dr. Samaa Hijazi and panel discussion with Maha Hassan and Kefah Ali Deeb:
Syrian authors Maha Hassan and Kefah Ali Deeb have each undertaken writing projects with women who have fled Syria; from France – Maha Hassan with participants now residing in different countries; and in Germany – Kefah Ali Deeb with participants now residing in different parts of Germany. What did the women experience during their flight, how has their life changed, how has fleeing and the new culture affected them as individuals and as women? Has their view of the world changed, of their home society, of gender roles?
Participants from both projects read excerpts from their texts: Nuha Askar, Nibal Al Alou and Dr. med. Samaa Hijazi, followed by a conversation between the two project initiators, Maha Hassan and Kefah Ali Deeb.
How did the idea come about? What was their motivation, and what did they experience during the implementation of the respective projects and with the women? We will then open the conversation up to the audience, and the project participants will also be available for discussion.
Moderated by Dr. Amany Alsiefy
Simultaneous translation from Arabic into German by Lubna Alsamawi.
18:00 Nawal El Saadawi Revisited:
Women‘s Rights, Body Rights
Panel in English
Nawal El Saadawi is one of the most important authors on the taboo subjects of femininity, sexuality, female genital mutilation, religion and the oppression of women, (not only) in the Arab world.
During her long life, she has taken on many professions, but her own identity as a woman also plays an important role in El Saadawi’s feminist criticism.
Insisting not only on female self-determination and solidarity but also on her own independent thinking and her own experience, while retaining her joy of life, made El Saadawi the great, free thinker that she was. How did her writing and work influence women, then and now? With Hend Amman, Gihan Abouzeid and Dina Wahba, three women from three generations discuss what Saadawi meant to them.
The occasion for this panel discussion on women’s rights, including but not limited to their own bodies, came about partly thanks to the new edition in German and English of Nawal El Saadawi‘s book “Woman and Sex”, first published in Arabic in Egypt in 1971.
Panel in English with Hend Amman, Gihan Abouzeid and Dina Wahba, as well as the publisher of the German re-edition, Sophie Haesen
Moderation: Cora Josting
Panel in English, questions and comments also possible in Arabic and German, we will translate as best we can.
20:00 Protest & Resilience:
2 short films
The Silent Protest: Jersualem 1929 (2019, 30 mins) Mahasen Nasser-Eldin
On 26 October 1929, Palestinian women launched their women’s movement. Approximately 300 women converged on Jerusalem from all over Palestine. They held a silent demonstration through a car convoy across the city in protest against the British High Commissioner’s bias against Arabs in the Buraq uprising. This film tells their story.
Arabic with English subtitles
The Steadfast Women of Palestine (2025, 27 mins) Mariam M Shahin
The Steadfast Women of Palestine is a powerful and deeply moving short documentary that shines a spotlight on the unwavering resilience, strength, and agency of Palestinian women living under the dual forces of military occupation and entrenched patriarchy. Through intimate, firsthand accounts, the film amplifies the voices of eight women who continue to lead, resist, and rebuild in the face of extraordinary adversity. Their stories are not only a testament to survival but also to defiance, dignity, and an unbreakable spirit.
The film was commissioned by Nobel Women’s Initiative, Montreal, Canada.
Mariam Shahin will be available for Q+A after the film (online, provided the technology is with us)
Arabic with German subtitles
On the walls: Paintings by Kefah Ali Deeb and Darin Ahmad
Both Kefah Ali Deeb and Darin Ahmad came to Berlin in the aftermath of the Syrian revolution, where they now happen to live just a few kilometres from each other.
Over the years, the two artists have again and again engaged with topics related to feminism or, more general, women and their lives and painted women’s portraits and bodies, sometimes self-portraits as well. Their pictures of women will provide the visual frame for this day’s events. All the paintings shown will also be available for purchase.
Admission free, please register here: Registration
