'Our Women on the Ground' by Zahra Hankir - Book Review

Women On the Ground by Zahra Hankir is a series of essays by 19 female journalists based on their personal yet very similar experiences of covering war, bloodshed, terror, female oppression, and trauma that has become a norm in the Middle East for the last few decades.

Zahra Hankir wrote in the introduction that ' A Sahafiya is twice burdened' and that is exactly why their stories need to be heard, especially with the rise of representation and the dangers of single narratives.

Each essay is based on the individual's journey of how they started covering their assigned war-struck region - Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, Sudan, Palestine, Egypt, Yemen, Libyan. Gaza, and Syria. Some were residents and forced to leave, while a few came for coverage and built homes in the regions after years of persistence and lost loved ones.

All stories are simply heartbreaking and make us realize how blatantly Muslim Countries have been targeted by the West over the years, and how deep-rooted its impact is. How it not only kills thousands of people but also oppresses and terrorizes the upcoming generations for decades.

Another important thing that I felt is that the majority of the stories were from a non-Muslim point of view, thus they couldn't understand the concept of Pardah and Haya in Islam. However, the remaining few who were even raised by Muslim families were told to always cover just because "everyone was doing it". This obligation and failure to understand its importance, moreover, the religious extremism surrounding them led them to find comfort and liberation against it.

Moreover, felt like this book is catered more towards "western" reads. While reading the first couple of essays I've noticed a common trait between them. and that's that the majority if not all of the journalists mentioned have been influenced by Western culture one way or another while growing up. sure they're Arab women but for me most of the essays felt like it has been written by foreign writers with Arabic-sounding names.

All of this has very negatively presented the image of the Muslim regions and their outlook on women - mind you, not of Islam but its believers who failed to understand, follow, and preach it adequately.

Meanwhile, it's a must-read book, especially in the time of an ongoing genocide to see an elaborate insight of what life looks like in such regions.

And honestly, it's a shame for us as a Muslim country especially since this has been a reality and an even more tragic version is created for our fellow brothers and sisters in Gaza.

About the Author: Zahra Hankir is a Lebanese-British journalist who writes about the intersection of politics, culture, and society in the Middle East. Her work has appeared in Guernica, the Los Angeles Review of Books, Los Angeles Times, Vice, BBC News, Al Jazeera English, Bloomberg Businessweek, Roads & Kingdoms, and Literary Hub, among others. She was awarded a Jack R. Howard Fellowship in International Journalism to attend Columbia Journalism School and holds degrees in politics and Middle Eastern studies from the American University of Beirut and the University of Manchester, respectively.