Nadia Al-Sakkaf: See Yemen through my eyes

Translator: Enisa Serhati Reviewer: Helena Bedalli

Pat Mitchell: You have brought us images from the Yemen Times.

Pat Mitchell: Ju na keni sjellur imazhe nga Yemen Times

And take us through those,

Kalo neper keto fotografi

and introduce us to another Yemen.

dhe na paraqit me nje Jemen tjeter.

Nadia Al-Sakkaf: Well, I'm glad to be here.

Nadia Al-Sakkaf: Jam e lumtur qe gjendem ketu.

And I would like to share with you all

Dhe deshiroj te ndaj me ju te gjithe

some of the pictures that are happening today in Yemen.

disa nga fotografite qe po ndodhin sot ne Jemen.

This picture shows a revolution

Kjo fotografi tregon nje revolucion

started by women,

te filluar nga femrat

and it shows women and men

dhe paraqet femrat dhe meshkujte

leading a mixed protest.

duke udhehequr nje proteste te perzier.

The other picture

Fotografia tjeter

is the popularity of the real need for change.

eshte popullariteti i nevojes se vertete per ndryshim.

So many people are there.

Ka aq shume njerez aty.

The intensity of the upspring.

Intensiteti i revoltes.

This picture shows that the revolution

Fotografia tregon se revolucioni

has allowed opportunities for training,

ka hapur mundesi per trajnime,

for education.

dhe arsimim.

These women are learning about first aid

Keto femra po mesojne per ndihmen e pare

and their rights according to the constitution.

dhe te drejtat e tyre sipas kushtetutes.

I love this picture.

E dua kete fotografi.

I just wanted to show

Vetem desha te tregoj

that over 60 percent of the Yemeni population

se mbi 60 perqind e popullsise se Jemenit

are 15 years and below.

jane 15 vjet ose me te rinj.

And they were excluded from decision-making,

Dhe keta jane te paperfshire ne vendimmarrje,

and now they are in the forefront of the news,

ndersa tash shfaqen ne ballina te lajmeve,

raising the flag.

duke ngritur flamurin.

English --

Anglisht--

you will see, this is jeans

do te shihni, keto jane xhinse

and tights,

dhe geta,

and an English expression --

dhe nje shprehje angleze

the ability to share with the world

mundesia per te ndare me boten

what is going on in our own country.

cfare po ndodhe ne shtetin tone.

And expression also,

Dhe te shprehurit poashtu,

it has brought talents.

ka vene ne pah talentet.

Yemenis are using cartoons

Qytetaret e Jemenit po perdorin ilustrime

and art,

dhe art,

paintings, comics,

vizatime, stripa,

to tell the world and each other

qe t'i tregojne botes dhe njeri tjetrit

about what's going on.

se cka po ndodhe.

Obviously, there's always the dark side of it.

Sigurisht, gjithmone ekziston edhe ana e erret.

And this is just one of the less-gruesome pictures

Dhe kjo eshte nje prej fotografive me pak tmerruese

of the revolution

te revolucionit

and the cost that we have to pay.

dhe cmimit qe duhet te paguajme.

The solidarity

Solidariteti

of millions of Yemenis across the country

i miliona qytetareve te Jemenit nga i tere shteti

just demanding the one thing.

qe kerkojne vetem nje gje.

And finally, lots of people are saying

Dhe me ne fund, shume njerez po thone

that Yemen's revolution

qe revolucioni i Jemenit

is going to break the country.

do ta ndaje shtetin.

Is it going to be so many different countries?

A do te ndahet vendi ne shume shtete te ndryshme?

Is it going to be another Somalia?

A do te jete nje Somali tjeter?

But we want to tell the world that, no,

Por ne duam t'i themi botes se, jo,

under the one flag, we'll still remain as Yemeni people.

nen nje flamur, ne do te mbesim njerezit e Jemenit.

PM: Thank you for those images, Nadia.

PM: Faleminderit per keto imazhe, Nadia.

And they do, in many ways,

Dhe po, ne menyra te shumta,

tell a different story

ato po tregojne nje histori te ndryshme

than the story of Yemen,

prej historise se Jemenit,

the one that is often in the news.

qe e shohim shpesh ne lajme.

And yet, you yourself

Dhe prape, ju personalisht

defy all those characterizations.

i sfidoni gjithe ato karakterizime.

So let's talk about the personal story for a moment.

Le te flasim per historine tuaj personale per nje moment.

Your father is murdered.

Babai juaj eshte vrare.

The Yemen Times already has

Yemen times vecse ka

a strong reputation in Yemen

nje reputacion te mire ne Jemen

as an independent English language newspaper.

si nje gazete e pavarur ne gjuhen angleze.

How did you then

Si atehere

make the decision and assume the responsibilities

e morret vendimin dhe pergjegjesite

of running a newspaper,

per te udhehequr nje gazete,

especially in such times of conflict?

posacerisht ne kohe te konfliktit?

NA: Well, let me first warn you

NA: Me lejoni fillimisht t'ju paralajmroj

that I'm not the traditional Yemeni girl.

qe une nuk jam nje vajze tradicionale e Jemenit.

I've guessed you've already noticed this by now.

Besoj qe vecse e keni verejtur kete deri tash.

(Laughter)

(Te qeshura)

In Yemen, most women are veiled

Ne Jemen, shumica e femrave jane teresisht te mbuluara me vello

and they are sitting behind doors

te ulura prapa dyerve

and not very much part of the public life.

dhe jo shume pjese e jetes publike.

But there's so much potential.

Por ka aq shume potencial.

I wish I could show you my Yemen.

Do te doja te ju tregoja Jemenin tim.

I wish you could see

Sa do te doja qe te shikonit

Yemen through my eyes.

Jemenin permes syve te mi.

Then you would know

Atehere do te dinit

that there's so much to it.

qe ka aq shume ne lidhje me te.

And I was privileged because I was born into a family,

Une kam qene e privilegjuar qe kam lindur ne nje familje,

my father would always encourage the boys and the girls.

babai im gjithmone i inkurajonte si djemte dhe vajzat.

He would say we are equal.

Thoshte se jemi te barabarte.

And he was such an extraordinary man.

Ishte nje njeri i jashtezakonshem.

And even my mother -- I owe it to my family.

Bile edhe nena- i detyrohem familjen time per kete qe jam.

A story:

Nje histori:

I studied in India.

Kam studiuar ne Indi.

And in my third year, I started becoming confused

Ne vitin e trete, fillova te behem e hutuar

because I was Yemeni,

sepse isha nga Jemeni

but I was also mixing up

por edhe po perzihesha

with a lot of my friends in college.

me shume miqe ne fakulltet.

And I went back home and I said,

Dhe shkova ne shtepi e thashe,

"Daddy, I don't know who I am.

"Babi, une nuk e di se kush jam.

I'm not a Yemeni; I'm not an Indian."

Une nuk jam nga Jemeni; Une nuk jam nga India."

And he said, "You are the bridge."

Dhe ai tha, "Ti je ura."

And that is something I will keep in my heart forever.

Dhe kjo eshte dicka qe do ta mbaje gjithmone ne zemer.

So since then I've been the bridge,

Pra prej atehere kam qene ura,

and a lot of people have walked over me.

dhe shume njerez me kane shkelur.

PM: I don't think so. (Laughter)

PM: Nuk ma merr mendja. (Te qeshura)

NA: But it just helps tell

NA: Por thjeshte mjafton te them

that some people are change agents

qe disa njerez jane agjente te ndryshimit

in the society.

ne shoqeri.

And when I became editor-in-chief

Dhe kur u bera zevendes redaktore

after my brother actually --

pasi qe vellau im--

my father passed away in 1999,

babai vdiq ne 1999,

and then my brother until 2005 --

deri ne 2005, vellau im --

and everybody was betting that I will not be able to do it.

me te gjithe te tjeret po venin bast se une nuk do t'ia dilja.

"What's this young girl coming in and showing off

"Cfare ben kjo vajze e re duke ardhur dhe u treguar

because it's her family business," or something.

sikurse te ishte biznisi i familjes se saj," ose dicka e tille.

It was very hard at first.

Ishte shume e veshtire ne fillim.

I didn't want to clash with people.

Nuk doja te perplasesha me njerez.

But with all due respect

Por me gjithe respektin

to all the men, and the older men especially,

per te gjithe meshkujte, sidomos ata me te moshuarit,

they did not want me around.

nuk me donin afer.

It was very hard, you know,

Ishte shume e veshtire,

to impose my authority.

te imponoj autoritetin tim.

But a woman's got to do what a woman's got to do.

Por nje grua duhet te bej cfare nje grua duhet te bej.

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)

And in the first year,

Dhe ne vitin e pare,

I had to fire half of the men.

u detyrova te largoj nga puna gjysmen e meshkujve.

(Laughter)

(Te qeshura)

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)

Brought in more women.

Solla me shume femra.

Brought in younger men.

Solla me shume meshkuj te ri.

And we have a more gender-balanced newsroom today.

Dhe sot e kemi nje dhome me te balancuar me autore te lajmeve.

The other thing is that it's about professionalism.

Gjeja tjeter eshte profesionalizmi.

It's about proving who you are and what you can do.

Te deshmuarit se kush jemi dhe cfare bejme.

And I don't know if I'm going to be boasting now,

E di qe do te lavdohem tani,

but in 2006 alone,

por vetem ne 2006,

we won three international awards.

fituam tre cmime nderkombetare.

One of them is the IPI

Njeri nga ta eshte IPI

Free Media Pioneer Award.

Cmimi per Media nismetare te pavaruara.

So that was the answer

Keshtu qe kjo ishte pergjigjja

to all the Yemeni people.

per gjithe njerezit e Jemenit.

And I want to score a point here,

Dhe dua te fitoj nje pike ketu,

because my husband is in the room over there.

sepse burri im eshte ne dhome, atje .

If you could please stand up, [unclear].

Nese mund te ngrihesh ne kembe,

He has been very supportive of me.

Ai me ka mbeshtetur shume.

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)

PM: And we should point out

PM: Dhe duhet te permend

that he works with you as well at the paper.

se ai punon me ju per gazeten poashtu.

But in assuming this responsibility

Por duke e marrur kete pergjegjesi

and going about it as you have,

dhe duke e trajtuar ate sic keni bere,

you have become a bridge

jeni shnderruar ne nje ure

between an older and traditional society

ne mes nje shoqerie te vjeter dhe tradicionale

and the one that you are now creating at the paper.

dhe asaj qe ju tani po krijoni permes gazetes.

And so along with changing who worked there,

Keshtu qe bashke me ndryshimin e stafit,

you must have come up against another positioning

juve ju eshte dashur te viheni edhe kunder dickaje tjeter

that we always run into, in particular with women,

me te cilen cdo here ballafaqohemi, posacerisht me femra,

and it has to do with outside image,

dhe ka te bej me pamjen e jashtme,

dress, the veiled woman.

veshjen, grate me fytyra te mbuluara me vello.

So how have you dealt with this

Si jeni perballe me kete

on a personal level

ne nivel personal

as well as the women who worked for you?

e poashtu edhe me femrat qe kane punuar per ju?

NA: As you know,

NA: Sic e dini,

the image of a lot of Yemeni women is a lot of black

imazhi i shume femrave te Jemenit eshte shume

and covered, veiled women.

femra me fytyra te mbuluara dhe te zeza.

And this is true.

Dhe kjo eshte e vertete.

And a lot of it is

Dhe shume prej kesaj

because women are not able, are not free,

per shkak se femrat nuk munden, nuk jane te lira,

to show their face to their self.

t'ia tregojne fytyren vetes se tyre.

It's a lot of traditional imposing

Ka shume imponim tradicional

coming by authority figures

qe vjen prej figurave me autoritet

such as the men, the grandparents and so on.

sikurse meshkujte, gjysherite e keshtu me radhe.

And it's economic empowerment

Eshte fuqizimi ekonomik

and the ability for a woman to say,

dhe mundesia e nje femre per te thene,

"I am as much contributing to this family, or more,

" Une po kontribuoj njejte per kete familje, ose edhe me shume,

than you are."

se sa ju."

And the more empowered the women become,

Dhe sa me te pavarura qe behen femrat,

the more they are able to remove the veil, for example,

aq me shume kane mundesi ta heqin vellon nga fytyra, per shembull

or to drive their own car

ose te ngasin veturen e tyre personale

or to have a job or to be able to travel.

ose te kene nje pune, apo te kene mundesi te udhetojne.

So the other face of Yemen

Keshtu qe fytyra tjeter e Jemenit

is actually one

eshte faktikisht nje

that lies behind the veil,

qe fshihet prapa vellose qe mbulon fytyren,

and it's economic empowerment mostly

dhe kryesisht pavaresimit ekonomik

that allows the woman to just uncover it.

qe i lejon femrat ta heqin ate.

And I have done this throughout my work.

Dhe une e kam bere kete gjate punes sime.

I've tried to encourage young girls.

Jam perpjekur t'i bind vajzat e reja.

We started with, you can take it off in the office.

Filluam me, mund ta hiqni ne zyre.

And then after that, you can take it off on assignments.

Dhe pas kesaj, mund te hecni vellon nga fytyra kur jeni ne detyre.

Because I didn't believe a journalist can be a journalist with --

Sepse nuk kam besuar qe nje gazetare mund te jete gazetare me--

how can you talk to people if you have your face covered? --

si mund te ju flasesh njerezve nese e keni fytyren e mbuluar?

and so on; it's just a movement.

dhe keshtu me radhe; eshte thjeshte nje levizje.

And I am a role model in Yemen.

Dhe une jam nje model per ne Jemen.

A lot of people look up to me.

Shume njerez me marrin shembull.

A lot of young girls look up to me.

Shume vajza te reja me marrin shembull.

And I need to prove to them that, yes, you can still be married,

Dhe me duhet te ju deshmoj atyre se, po, ti mund te martohesh,

you can still be a mother,

mund te behesh nene,

and you can still be respected within the society,

dhe te jesh e respektuar nga shoqeria,

but at the same time,

por ne te njejten kohe,

that doesn't mean you [should] just be one of the crowd.

kjo nuk do te thote qe duhet te jesh vetem nje ne mesin e nje grumbulli.

You can be yourself and have your face.

Mund te jesh vetja dhe te mbash fytyren tende.

PM: But by putting yourself personally out there --

PM: Por duke e ekspozuar veten tende personalisht,

both projecting a different image

duke projektuar nje imazh ndryshe

of Yemeni women,

te femrave te Jemenit,

but also what you have made possible

por gjithashtu edhe me gjithcka qe keni bere te mundur

for the women who work at the paper --

per femrat qe punojne per gazeten--

has this put you in personal danger?

a e keni vene veten ne rrezik?

NA: Well the Yemen Times, across 20 years,

NA: Po gjate 20 viteve Yemen Times

has been through so much.

kam kaluar neper shume gjera.

We've suffered prosecution;

Kemi qene te perndjekur;

the paper was closed down more than three times.

gazeta eshte mbyllur me shume se tre here.

It's an independent newspaper,

Eshte nje gazete e pavarur,

but tell that to the people in charge.

por ec e shpjegoju kete njerezve ne detyre.

They think that if there's anything against them,

Ata mendojne se nese ka ckado kunder tyre ne te,

then we are being an opposition newspaper.

atehere ne jemi gazete e opozites.

And very, very difficult times.

Dhe shume, shume kohe te veshtira.

Some of my reporters were arrested.

Disa nga reporteret e mi ishin arrestuar.

We had some court cases.

Kemi pasur disa raste ne gjyq.

My father was assassinated.

Babain tim e vrane.

Today, we are in a much better situation.

Sot, jemi ne nje situate shume me te mire.

We've created the credibility.

E kemi krijuar besueshmerine.

And in times of revolution or change like today,

Dhe ne kohe te revolucionit ose ndryshimit sikurse sot,

it is very important for independent media to have a voice.

eshte shume e rendesishme per mediat e pavarura te kene ze.

It's very important

Eshte shume e rendesishme

for you to go to YemenTimes.com,

per ju te shkoni ne YemenTimes.com,

and it's very important

dhe eshte shume e rendesishme

to listen to our voice.

qe te degjoni zerin tone.

And this is probably something

Dhe kjo sigurisht eshte dicka

I'm going to share with you

qe do te ndaje me ju,

in Western media probably --

ne mediat perendimore me siguri--

and how there's a lot of stereotypes --

ka shume stereotipe--

thinking of Yemen in one single frame:

mendohet per Jemenin brenda nje kornize te vetme:

this is what Yemen is all about.

kjo eshte gjicka qe mund te kete per Jemenin.

And that's not fair.

E kjo nuk eshte e drejte.

It's not fair for me; it's not fair for my country.

Nuk eshte e drejte per mua; nuk eshte e drejte per shtetin tim.

A lot of reporters come to Yemen

Shume reportere vijne ne Jemen

and they want to write a story on Al-Qaeda or terrorism.

dhe duan te shkruajne nje histori per Al-Qaeden ose terrorizmin.

And I just wanted to share with you:

Dhe une vetem desha te ndaje me ju:

there's one reporter that came.

qe nje here erdhi nje reporter.

He wanted to do a documentary

Ai donte te bente nje dokumentar

on what his editors wanted.

per cka redaktoret e tij deshironin.

And he ended up writing about a story that even surprised me --

Dhe perfundoj duke shkruar nje ngarje qe edhe mua me befasoj--

hip hop --

hip hop--

that there are young Yemeni men

se si ka te djem te ri nga Jemeni

who express themselves

qe e shprehin veten

through dancing and puchu puchu.

permes vallezimit dhe puqu puqu.

(Laughter)

Qeshje)

That thing. (PM: Rap. Break dancing.)

Cfaredo qe ajo eshte. (PM: Rap, Break dancing)

Yeah, break dancing.

Po, break dancing.

I'm not so old.

Nuk jam aq e vjeter.

I'm just not in touch.

Vecse nuk i ndjek.

(Laughter)

(Te qeshura)

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)

PM: Yes, you are.

PM: Po, ti e ben.

Actually, that's a documentary

Ne fakt, ai eshte bere nje dokumentar

that's available online; the video's online.

qe mund te shikohet online; video eshte online.

NA: ShaketheDust.org.

NA: ShaketheDust.org

PM: "Shake the Dust." (NA: "Shake the Dust.")

PM: "Shake the Dust." (NA: Shake the Dust.")

PM: ShaketheDust.org.

PM: ShaketheDust.org

And it definitely does give a different image of Yemen.

Dhe definitivisht jep nje imazh tjeter per Jemenin.

You spoke about the responsibility of the press.

Ju folet per pergjegjesine e shtypit.

And certainly, when we look

Dhe sigurisht, kur shikojme

at the ways in which we have separated ourselves from others

menyrat se si ne kemi ndare veten tone prej te tjereve,

and we've created fear

se si kemi krijuar frike

and danger,

dhe rrezik,

often from lack of knowledge,

shpesh nga mungesa e njohurive

lack of real understanding,

mungesa e te kuptuarite te vertete,

how do you see

si e shihni

the way that the Western press in particular

rrugen qe shtypi perendimor

is covering this and all other stories out of the region,

mbulon tere kete ngjarje dhe te tjera nga regjioni,

but in particular, in your country?

por kryesisht , ne shtetin tuaj?

NA: Well there is a saying that says,

NA: Po, eshte nje thenie qe thote:

"You fear what you don't know,

"Ju frikesoheni nga cfare nuk dini,

and you hate what you fear."

dhe urreni ate qe i frikesoheni."

So it's about the lack of research, basically.

Pra ka te beje me mungesen e hulumtimit, ne princip.

It's almost, "Do your homework," --

Eshte pothuajse, "Beni detyrat,"--

some involvement.

pak perfshirje.

And you cannot do parachute reporting --

Nuk mund ta leshoni raportimin me parashute--

just jump into a country for two days

vetem te kerceni ne nje shtet per dy dite

and think that you've done your homework and a story.

dhe te mendoni se i keni bere detyrat e shtepise dhe te krijoni nje storje.

So I wish

Keshtu qe uroj

that the world would know my Yemen,

qe bota te njohin Jemenin tim,

my country, my people.

shtetin tim, njerezit e mi.

I am an example, and there are others like me.

Une jam nje shembull, dhe ka te tjere sikurse une.

We may not be that many,

Mund te mos jemi shume,

but if we are promoted

por nese afirmohemi

as a good, positive example,

si shembull i mire dhe pozitiv

there will be others -- men and women --

do te kete te tjere-- meshkuj dhe femra--

who can eventually bridge the gap --

qe ne te vertete mund te lidhin zbrazetirat me ura--

again, coming to the bridge --

prape-- duke u kthyer te ura--

between Yemen and the world

ne mes te Jemenit dhe botes

and telling first

dhe duke treguar fillimisht

about recognition

njohje

and then about communication

e me pas komunikim

and compassion.

dhe dhembshuri.

I think Yemen is going to be

Une mendoj se Jemeni do te jete

in a very bad situation

ne nje situate shume te veshtire

in the next two or three years.

ne dy deri tre vitet e ardhshme.

It's natural.

Eshte natyrale.

But after the two years, which is a price we are willing to pay,

Por pas dy viteve, qe eshte cmimi qe ne jemi te gatshem te paguajme,

we are going to stand up again on our feet,

ne do te qendrojme perseri ne kembet tona,

but in the new Yemen

por ne Jemenin e ri

with a younger and more empowered people --

me njerez me te ri dhe me te fuqizuar--

democratic.

demokratik.

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)

PM: Nadia, I think you've just given us

PM: Nadia, po mendoj qe ju sapo na keni dhene

a very different view of Yemen.

nje perspektive tjeter te Jemenit.

And certainly you yourself and what you do

Dhe sigurisht ju vete dhe ajo se cfare ju beni

have given us a view of the future

na kane dhene nje pamje te se ardhmes

that we will embrace

qe do ta perqafojme

and be grateful for.

dhe per te cilen do te jemi mirenjohes.

And the very best of luck to you.

Pacit shume fat.

YemenTimes.com.

YemenTimes.com

NA: On Twitter also.

NA: Ne Twitter poashtu.

PM: So you are plugged in.

PM: Pra jeni te kyqur.

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)