Nadia Al-Sakkaf: See Yemen through my eyes

88,275 views ・ 2011-07-18

TED


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

00:15
Pat Mitchell: You have brought us images from the Yemen Times.
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And take us through those,
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and introduce us to another Yemen.
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Nadia Al-Sakkaf: Well, I'm glad to be here.
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And I would like to share with you all
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some of the pictures that are happening today in Yemen.
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This picture shows a revolution
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started by women,
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and it shows women and men
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leading a mixed protest.
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The other picture
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is the popularity of the real need for change.
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So many people are there.
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The intensity of the upspring.
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This picture shows that the revolution
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has allowed opportunities for training,
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for education.
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These women are learning about first aid
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and their rights according to the constitution.
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I love this picture.
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I just wanted to show
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that over 60 percent of the Yemeni population
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are 15 years and below.
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01:12
And they were excluded from decision-making,
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and now they are in the forefront of the news,
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raising the flag.
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English --
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you will see, this is jeans
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and tights,
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and an English expression --
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the ability to share with the world
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01:31
what is going on in our own country.
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And expression also,
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it has brought talents.
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Yemenis are using cartoons
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and art,
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paintings, comics,
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to tell the world and each other
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about what's going on.
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Obviously, there's always the dark side of it.
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And this is just one of the less-gruesome pictures
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of the revolution
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and the cost that we have to pay.
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The solidarity
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of millions of Yemenis across the country
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just demanding the one thing.
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And finally, lots of people are saying
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that Yemen's revolution
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is going to break the country.
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Is it going to be so many different countries?
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Is it going to be another Somalia?
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But we want to tell the world that, no,
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under the one flag, we'll still remain as Yemeni people.
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02:22
PM: Thank you for those images, Nadia.
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02:25
And they do, in many ways,
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tell a different story
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than the story of Yemen,
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the one that is often in the news.
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And yet, you yourself
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defy all those characterizations.
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So let's talk about the personal story for a moment.
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Your father is murdered.
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The Yemen Times already has
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a strong reputation in Yemen
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as an independent English language newspaper.
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How did you then
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make the decision and assume the responsibilities
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of running a newspaper,
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especially in such times of conflict?
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03:02
NA: Well, let me first warn you
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that I'm not the traditional Yemeni girl.
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03:07
I've guessed you've already noticed this by now.
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03:09
(Laughter)
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In Yemen, most women are veiled
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and they are sitting behind doors
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and not very much part of the public life.
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03:18
But there's so much potential.
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03:20
I wish I could show you my Yemen.
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03:23
I wish you could see
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Yemen through my eyes.
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03:27
Then you would know
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that there's so much to it.
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And I was privileged because I was born into a family,
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my father would always encourage the boys and the girls.
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He would say we are equal.
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And he was such an extraordinary man.
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And even my mother -- I owe it to my family.
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A story:
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I studied in India.
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And in my third year, I started becoming confused
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because I was Yemeni,
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but I was also mixing up
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with a lot of my friends in college.
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And I went back home and I said,
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"Daddy, I don't know who I am.
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I'm not a Yemeni; I'm not an Indian."
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And he said, "You are the bridge."
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And that is something I will keep in my heart forever.
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So since then I've been the bridge,
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04:15
and a lot of people have walked over me.
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04:18
PM: I don't think so. (Laughter)
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04:21
NA: But it just helps tell
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that some people are change agents
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in the society.
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And when I became editor-in-chief
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after my brother actually --
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my father passed away in 1999,
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and then my brother until 2005 --
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and everybody was betting that I will not be able to do it.
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"What's this young girl coming in and showing off
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because it's her family business," or something.
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04:45
It was very hard at first.
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I didn't want to clash with people.
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But with all due respect
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to all the men, and the older men especially,
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they did not want me around.
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04:57
It was very hard, you know,
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to impose my authority.
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But a woman's got to do what a woman's got to do.
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05:07
(Applause)
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And in the first year,
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I had to fire half of the men.
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05:16
(Laughter)
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(Applause)
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05:22
Brought in more women.
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Brought in younger men.
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And we have a more gender-balanced newsroom today.
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The other thing is that it's about professionalism.
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It's about proving who you are and what you can do.
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05:37
And I don't know if I'm going to be boasting now,
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but in 2006 alone,
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we won three international awards.
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One of them is the IPI
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Free Media Pioneer Award.
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So that was the answer
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to all the Yemeni people.
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And I want to score a point here,
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because my husband is in the room over there.
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If you could please stand up, [unclear].
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He has been very supportive of me.
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(Applause)
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06:08
PM: And we should point out
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that he works with you as well at the paper.
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But in assuming this responsibility
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and going about it as you have,
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you have become a bridge
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between an older and traditional society
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and the one that you are now creating at the paper.
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And so along with changing who worked there,
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you must have come up against another positioning
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that we always run into, in particular with women,
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and it has to do with outside image,
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dress, the veiled woman.
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So how have you dealt with this
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on a personal level
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as well as the women who worked for you?
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NA: As you know,
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the image of a lot of Yemeni women is a lot of black
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and covered, veiled women.
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And this is true.
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And a lot of it is
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because women are not able, are not free,
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to show their face to their self.
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It's a lot of traditional imposing
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coming by authority figures
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such as the men, the grandparents and so on.
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And it's economic empowerment
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and the ability for a woman to say,
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"I am as much contributing to this family, or more,
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than you are."
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And the more empowered the women become,
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the more they are able to remove the veil, for example,
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or to drive their own car
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or to have a job or to be able to travel.
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So the other face of Yemen
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is actually one
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that lies behind the veil,
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and it's economic empowerment mostly
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that allows the woman to just uncover it.
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And I have done this throughout my work.
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I've tried to encourage young girls.
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We started with, you can take it off in the office.
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And then after that, you can take it off on assignments.
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Because I didn't believe a journalist can be a journalist with --
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how can you talk to people if you have your face covered? --
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and so on; it's just a movement.
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And I am a role model in Yemen.
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A lot of people look up to me.
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A lot of young girls look up to me.
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And I need to prove to them that, yes, you can still be married,
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you can still be a mother,
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and you can still be respected within the society,
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but at the same time,
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that doesn't mean you [should] just be one of the crowd.
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You can be yourself and have your face.
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08:19
PM: But by putting yourself personally out there --
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both projecting a different image
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of Yemeni women,
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but also what you have made possible
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for the women who work at the paper --
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has this put you in personal danger?
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NA: Well the Yemen Times, across 20 years,
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has been through so much.
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We've suffered prosecution;
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the paper was closed down more than three times.
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It's an independent newspaper,
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but tell that to the people in charge.
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They think that if there's anything against them,
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then we are being an opposition newspaper.
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And very, very difficult times.
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Some of my reporters were arrested.
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We had some court cases.
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My father was assassinated.
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Today, we are in a much better situation.
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We've created the credibility.
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And in times of revolution or change like today,
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it is very important for independent media to have a voice.
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It's very important
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for you to go to YemenTimes.com,
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and it's very important
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to listen to our voice.
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And this is probably something
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I'm going to share with you
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in Western media probably --
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and how there's a lot of stereotypes --
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thinking of Yemen in one single frame:
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this is what Yemen is all about.
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09:43
And that's not fair.
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It's not fair for me; it's not fair for my country.
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A lot of reporters come to Yemen
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and they want to write a story on Al-Qaeda or terrorism.
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And I just wanted to share with you:
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there's one reporter that came.
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He wanted to do a documentary
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on what his editors wanted.
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And he ended up writing about a story that even surprised me --
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hip hop --
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that there are young Yemeni men
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who express themselves
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through dancing and puchu puchu.
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(Laughter)
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That thing. (PM: Rap. Break dancing.)
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Yeah, break dancing.
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I'm not so old.
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I'm just not in touch.
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(Laughter)
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(Applause)
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10:34
PM: Yes, you are.
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Actually, that's a documentary
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that's available online; the video's online.
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NA: ShaketheDust.org.
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PM: "Shake the Dust." (NA: "Shake the Dust.")
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PM: ShaketheDust.org.
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And it definitely does give a different image of Yemen.
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10:51
You spoke about the responsibility of the press.
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And certainly, when we look
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at the ways in which we have separated ourselves from others
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and we've created fear
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and danger,
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often from lack of knowledge,
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lack of real understanding,
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how do you see
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the way that the Western press in particular
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is covering this and all other stories out of the region,
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but in particular, in your country?
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NA: Well there is a saying that says,
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"You fear what you don't know,
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and you hate what you fear."
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So it's about the lack of research, basically.
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It's almost, "Do your homework," --
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some involvement.
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And you cannot do parachute reporting --
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just jump into a country for two days
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and think that you've done your homework and a story.
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So I wish
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that the world would know my Yemen,
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my country, my people.
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I am an example, and there are others like me.
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We may not be that many,
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but if we are promoted
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as a good, positive example,
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there will be others -- men and women --
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who can eventually bridge the gap --
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again, coming to the bridge --
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between Yemen and the world
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and telling first
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about recognition
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and then about communication
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and compassion.
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I think Yemen is going to be
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in a very bad situation
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in the next two or three years.
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It's natural.
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But after the two years, which is a price we are willing to pay,
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we are going to stand up again on our feet,
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but in the new Yemen
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with a younger and more empowered people --
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democratic.
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(Applause)
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PM: Nadia, I think you've just given us
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a very different view of Yemen.
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And certainly you yourself and what you do
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have given us a view of the future
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that we will embrace
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and be grateful for.
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And the very best of luck to you.
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YemenTimes.com.
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NA: On Twitter also.
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PM: So you are plugged in.
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13:15
(Applause)
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