MEPI In Egypt
“Beam of Hope” TV Show Tackles Long-Silenced Issues
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Beam of Hope a TV program tackling long-silenced women issues
The Wattan
TV-Palestine talk show ―Beam of Hope” is empowering Palestinian women by
providing them with a free platform to discuss social issues and governmental
actions and share their ideas and views with national and international
audiences. The 24-episode program, produced through a MEPI local grant project,
discusses in-depth and seeks solutions and answers to social issues of concern
to Palestinian women.
Wattan TV’s MEPI
local grant project aims to utilize media to mobilize Palestinian society to
voice opinions on taboo women’s issues. The show’s topics are diverse and
responsive to the imminent needs of the local community, to include violence
against women, women's right to education, discriminatory laws and legislation,
gender equality, and the imperative role of women in social development.
Prior to the start
of the show, the ―Beam of Hope” preparatory team formed a committee that
brought together Palestinian women activists and advocates to identify and
prioritize the issues to be tackled throughout the show. The goal was to engage
audiences in thought-provoking discussions of topics previously deemed too
sensitive to address.
For example, the
sixth episode of the 24-episode program covered the topic of violence against
women. Guests were Hassan Al-Oury, Presidential Legal Advisor and Colonel Wafa
Muamar, Director of Family Protective Services of the Police Department. The
show was marked by an enriching discussion and challenging questions to guests,
during which the host called upon the Presidential Legal Advisor to change the
laws pertaining to violence against women. The show also highlighted two
individual women’s struggles with abuse in their families.
On its episode on
women’s right to education, ―Beam of Hope” invited Lina Al-Qadiri, who had
broken social and gender barriers by becoming a Teaching Assistant at Al-Najah
University, in Nablus in the West Bank. Lina rebuilt her life after she had
dropped out of school and gotten married at the age of fifteen. Her journey
could have ended there, but she decided not to succumb to bad fate and low
expectations. Lina told "Beam of Hope” that after ten years of marriage
she went back to school and earned a high-school degree. Lina described with
determination and vigor how she went on to college.
It was not easy for
a young woman to re-chart a path in society. Many expected her to stay at home,
despite how she might feel and the ambitions she might harbor. So Lina’s rank
in the highest tenth percentile upon college graduation is an incredible
achievement despite the odds. And as if all of her achievements are not enough,
Lina became a teaching assistant in the university she had attended.
Lina told the ―Beam
of Hope” audience that young girls should avoid early marriage because they
lack understanding as to the full depth of the responsibility. Speaking to
seasoned reporter Saida Hamad, Lina called upon the schools to play an
awareness-raising role among young women, especially when it comes to
explaining the consequences of early marriage. Lina also called for awareness-raising
among mothers, who are the prime communicators with young girls, who learn to
seek security and affection at home rather than opportunities in the world
outside..
To date, “Beam of
Hope” has aired additional programs on sexual abuse in the family, women’s
right to education, civil legislation and alimony, and the conditions of women
in the workplace, violations, and the minimum wage law.
View the sixth
episode of “Beam of Hope” at http://www.wattan.tv