Civil Activism Archives

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN NIGERIA: Sumayyah’s Story and the Thousands Like Her

Author: Mutmainat
Published: October 21, 2025
Categories: in Civil Activism, Current Events, Friendship, Gender and LGBTQ, Human Rights, Nigeria
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala, activism, change, discovertheregion, education, family, gender equality, genderequality, hope, Humanity, MENA, women, women rights, yala young leaders, yalayoungleaders, youth

Sumayyah is a thirty-year-old Muslim woman. She is beautiful, kind, hardworking, religious, and a Yoruba woman from Ondo state who grew up and lives in Lagos. While studying in Lagos for her BSc, she began training as a tailor so she could become a fashion designer after graduation. She comes from a small family of […]

From the Shadow of Peace: A Palestinian’s Journey from the West Bank to the World

Author: B from the West Bank
Published: September 7, 2025
Categories: in Civil Activism, Conflict & Peacebuilding, English, Identity, Israel-Palestine, Latest Articles, Palestine, Travel, כללי
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I am a young Palestinian, born and raised in the West Bank. To outsiders, this place might seem like just another name on a political map or a headline in the news. But for me, it wasmy whole world — a place full of questions. The West Bank wasn’t just a location; it was an […]

Whose Responsibility is it?

Author: Ma’ayan
Published: December 24, 2024
Categories: in Civil Activism, Conflict & Peacebuilding, Current Events, Education, English, Human Rights, Israel, Israel-Palestine, Latest Articles
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala, activism, change, coexistence, conflict, discovertheregion, education, family, hope, Humanity, identity, Inspiration, israel, IsraelPalestine, love, MENA, palestine, peace, peace activism, peacebuilding, tolerance, women, womenforpeace, yala young leaders, yalayoungleaders

“You are not an observer, you are a participant.” ― Thích Nhất Hạnh. There is a moment when you can’t sit still anymore. An energy bustling from within you makes you speak or take a step. You are standing in line and hear a conversation you think could be different if you were part […]

The View from the Ground: An Israeli’s Experience Studying in the UK this Past Year

Author: Roy Shinar Cohen
Published: November 25, 2024
Categories: in Civil Activism, Conflict & Peacebuilding, Current Events, English, Israel, Israel-Palestine
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Every time a fellow Israeli asks me if I am okay, assuming I experience antisemitism in my daily life I am slightly taken aback. Since the October 7th attack, messages, phone calls, and inquiries from nearly everyone I know have poured in, all wondering if my time at the University of Oxford mirrors what is portrayed […]

Opinion| I wish I did not have to write #Save_Sheikh_Jarrah, By P, Israel

Author: By P, Israel
Published: May 10, 2021
Categories: in Civil Activism, Conflict & Peacebuilding, Current Events, English, Israel, Israel-Palestine, Opinion and Analysis, Politics
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: Eviction, jerusalem, middle east, Middle East voices, MiddleEast, Save_Sheikh_Jarrah, Sheikh_Jarrah, stop the violence

I wish I did not have to write this. I wish I did not have to share about me, because the last thing I want is to make this about me. I wish I did not have to take a stand. I wish families could live in their homes and feel safe there, without having […]

“Not family, we’re women” during a protest against femicide and domestic violence, in Istanbul, Turkey, on Aug. 7, 2020. Photo by Zeynep Karaosman

Behind #ChallengeAccepted campaign; anger over the increasing femicides in Turkey and the Istanbul Convention

Author: By Zeynep, Turkey | Opinion
Published: April 11, 2021
Categories: in Analysis, Civil Activism, Gender and LGBTQ, Human Rights, Life Style, Opinion and Analysis, Politics, Tolerance
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: change, femicides, feminist, Movement, Society, turkey

This summer social media feeds were stormed by black-and-white selfies of women with the hashtag of #ChallengeAccepted and #WomenEmpowerment and the users got more curious about the campaign as many celebrities joined the campaign and it went viral. #ChallengeAccepted hashtag and selfie format were first used in 2016 to raise awareness about cancer. This time, […]

Fashion rights in Afghanistan, by Atiq Rahimi, Afghanistan

Author: Atiq R, Afghanistan
Published: October 8, 2020
Categories: in Civil Activism, Culture and Heritage, Development, Education, English, Human Rights, Opinion and Analysis
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: afghanistan, Clothing rights, Fashion, talibans, womensrights

The right to choose what kind of clothes to wear is considered one of the basic human freedoms today. There is a relation between what we wear and what kind of person we are. Like any other thing, clothing and fashion for both women and men in Afghanistan are influenced more by frequent changes […]

Dear reader, here is a simple guideline to have sex, by Danielle Levi, Israel

Author: By Danielle Levi, Israel
Published: August 30, 2020
Categories: in Civil Activism, Current Events, English, Israel, Opinion and Analysis
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: @Hastickeriot, Feminism, rapeculture, Stop Rape Culture, violence against women

I can’t believe I need to write this, but in light of the rape of a 16 years old girl a few days ago by a group of 30 men, according to the initial testimonies, in the southern city of Eilat, in Israel, I want to take a few minutes to remind everyone that this is not an […]

Opinion| Mais que se passe-t’il en Algérie!? par Yasmine, Algeria

Author: By Yasmine, Algeria
Published: August 11, 2020
Categories: in Algeria, Civil Activism, Current Events, French, Opinion and Analysis
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: Algerian Uprising, billet d'humeur, Covid-19, crise, perspective, revolution

Je suis fatiguée de m’indigner sur les réseaux sociaux. Fatiguée d’écrire quand j’ai simplement envie de crier ! “QUE SE PASSE-T-IL EN ALGÉRIE ?” En Algérie, il se passe que des hectares de terre brûlent, que des gens fuient leurs domiciles, qu’à 8h du matin il fait déjà une chaleur asphyxiante et on […]

Opinion | Penal Code 1943, Article 534, at the heart of the uprising, by Ibrahim A, Lebanon

Author: By Ibrahim A, Lebanon
Published: June 23, 2020
Categories: in Civil Activism, Democracy, English, Gender and LGBTQ, Identity, Lebanon, Opinion and Analysis, Politics, Religion, Tolerance
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: beirut, justice, LGBTQ, LGBTQrights, Penal Code, uprising

In 1943, Lebanon gained its independence from the French. Originally enacted by French colonizers, article 534 was put while drafting the new Lebanese constitution, stating that any ‘sexual intercourse against nature’ is a crime under the sovereignty of the Lebanese government, with a penalty of up to one-year imprisonment. Such a vague law with no […]

سارة حجازي – Sarah Hegazi. Her life, her death, her legacy

Author: By Sarah Hegazi's friends, from Egypt, Syria Lebanon
Published: June 17, 2020
Categories: in Arabic, Civil Activism, Current Events, Egypt, English, French, Gender and LGBTQ, Hebrew, Human Rights, Identity, Lebanon, Syria, Tolerance
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: activism, LGBTQ, LGBTQrights, Queer, Sarah Hegazi

(English, Hebrew & French translations follows) سارة حجازي، ناشطة مثلية نسوية ثورية مصرية، دافعت سارة وناضلت من أجل حقوق الإنسان كلها وعن كل مضطهد في مختلف العالم أعلنت سارة عن ميولها المثلية 2016 بكل جرأة في مجتمع يكره التعددية ويخاف من الإختلاف. وفي عام 2017 صممت وأدرات وشاركت سارة بحملة ” بعنوان “ادعم الحب” دعماً […]

Ordinary Heroes & Our Freedom, A Tribute to Bassel Shehadeh and Shady Habash, By Moulham M, Syria

Author: By Moulham M, Syria
Published: May 5, 2020
Categories: in Art, Civil Activism, Democracy, Egypt, English, Human Rights, Identity, Syria, Tolerance, YaLa Poetry
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #WorldFreedomOfPressDay, Freedom of Speech, Shady Habash

I have never written in defence of a Syrian writer, a cartoonist a director, actor or human rights activist My heart was always with them But I was afraid to write I fear the expression, Not just for myself But for my family In Damascus we say: He who does not fear God, fear him! […]

Covid-19: A lesson to learn. By Collins Osariemen Omokaro, Nigeria

Author: By Collins Osariemen Omokaro, Nigeria
Published: April 22, 2020
Categories: in Civil Activism, Current Events, English, Life Style, Opinion and Analysis
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: africa, corona virus, Covid-19, health, nigeria, pandemic

We are considered living entities because we possess life, we are born and then we die. In between, we are able to breathe, eat, move, reproduce, excrete, and grow. Sometime in-between these activities, we are forced to ask ourselves what the essence of our lives is. We ask ourselves the big question – what is […]

YaLa Young Leaders on the Israeli Educational Channel – Kan 23 | by Dalya, Israel and Abdullah, Palestine

Author: by Dalya, Israel and Abdullah, Palestine
Published: March 4, 2020
Categories: in Civil Activism, Conflict & Peacebuilding, Friendship, Israel-Palestine, Jordan, Palestine, Politics
Comments: 0 Comments

YaLa-Young Leaders Alumni Dalya and Abdullah giving a perfect example of what joint efforts for peace can look like! Dalya, a Jewish Israeli, and Abdullah, a Muslim Palestinian, were invited to talk about YaLa and prospects for peace with the remarkable Lucy Aharish, who’s an Arab-Israeli herself, on Israeli TV-channel KAN 23. By the way, […]

Opinion | We need more Women in Health and Science, by Amira, Palestine

Author: Amira Sublaban
Published: February 19, 2020
Categories: in Civil Activism, Current Events, Development, Education, English, Gender and LGBTQ, Human Rights, Israel, Opinion and Analysis, Palestine
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: education, emancipation, Science, women

When I first applied for my Bachelor’s degree in Medical Imaging at Al Quds University, I was honestly taken aback by the number of females majoring in the scientific field. I was under the impression that the field was over filled with the male community given the fact that some females are encouraged to take […]

Opinion| Foreign peace plans are not the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, By Dvir Aviam, Israel

Author: By Dvir Aviam, Israel
Published: February 6, 2020
Categories: in Civil Activism, Conflict & Peacebuilding, Current Events, English, Human Rights, Israel, Israel-Palestine, Palestine, Politics
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: Deal of the Century, Middle East Peace Plan, peace, trump, United States

As an Israeli, I felt the collective gratitude and jubilant mood prevalent in the Israeli society after the white house announced their new peace plan, effectively validating Israeli claims for 30% of the Israeli occupied territories. As a peace activist, however, I felt disappointed that our long term goal- two states solution according to the […]

Photo Essay | History by Amir, Dalya, Mohammad, Sereen and Zo, Israel and Palestine

Author: Amir, Dalya, Mohammad, Sereen and Zo, Israel and Palestine
Published: December 22, 2019
Categories: in Art, Civil Activism, Conflict & Peacebuilding, Culture and Heritage, English, Identity, Israel, Israel-Palestine, Palestine, Photo Essays, Religion, Tolerance, כללי
Comments: 0 Comments

Jerusalem is a city with millennia-old stories to tell. But it is not a dead city. It is alive with stories being made as we speak. As they say today is tomorrow’s yesterday. In this photographic essay we tried to tap into the layers of history that make up this city – whether they are […]

Photo Essay | Life by Li-Or, Tamim, Besan, Tarneem and Mohammed, Israel and Palestine

Author: Li-Or, Tamim, Besan, Tarneem and Mohammed, Israel and Palestine
Published: December 22, 2019
Categories: in Art, Civil Activism, Conflict & Peacebuilding, Culture and Heritage, English, Identity, Israel, Israel-Palestine, Palestine, Photo Essays, Religion, Tolerance
Comments: 0 Comments

Life and death are one thread, the same line viewed from different sides. Life and death are just like light and darkness, love and hate, you can’t separate them .You need both of them to recognize each one of them. You want to know if you are alive? then you should know the opposite of […]

Opinion | The Isolation of West Bank Palestinian Women by Aida Zsófia, Palestine

Author: Aida Zsófia, Palestine
Published: December 22, 2019
Categories: in Civil Activism, Conflict & Peacebuilding, Culture and Heritage, English, Gender and LGBTQ, Human Rights, Israel, Israel-Palestine, Opinion and Analysis, Palestine, Politics, Religion, Tolerance
Comments: 0 Comments

Recently, the murder of Israa Ghrayeb, a 21-year-old Palestinian girl from Bethlehem turned the spotlight on the situation of Palestinian women, the spatial isolation of them in the West Bank and the phenomena standing behind it. Generally, with regards to the situation of the Palestinian women there are two determining arguments. Some people might say […]

Opinion | SHE FOR SHE: Together Stronger to Achieve Gender Equality by Iness, Algeria

Author: Iness, Algeria
Published: December 22, 2019
Categories: in Algeria, Civil Activism, Culture and Heritage, English, Gender and LGBTQ, Human Rights, Identity, Opinion and Analysis, Tolerance
Comments: 0 Comments

Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but also a necessary foundation for a peaceful and sustainable world. It consists of equal access to opportunities, regardless of gender. Nowadays and despite all the developments the world is witnessing, all the feminist movements, human rights campaigns and the massive changes that have been realized […]

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