CBC Radio's "The Current"
21 February 2011
CAIRO - The protests that toppled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak did more than bring down an unpopular regime. They brought back to Egyptians a sense of pride in their country -- a feeling that had been missing for decades. Heba Aly was in Cairo during the protests. Here is her documentary, Now That It's Mine.
Listen here
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Mubarak Steps Down
CBC Radio's "The Current"
11 February 2011
CAIRO - After 18 days, Egyptian protesters are successful in pushing President Hosni Mubarak out of power. The CBC's Margaret Evans and Heba Aly report live from Tahrir Square and beyond.
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11 February 2011
CAIRO - After 18 days, Egyptian protesters are successful in pushing President Hosni Mubarak out of power. The CBC's Margaret Evans and Heba Aly report live from Tahrir Square and beyond.
Listen here
Women and the Egyptian Revolution
10 February 2011
CBC Radio's "The Current"
CAIRO - Women are playing a significant role in organizing the protests in Egypt. Could this uprising re-shape Egypt's gender relations and social landscape? Heba Aly talks to host Anna Maria Tremonti.
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CBC Radio's "The Current"
CAIRO - Women are playing a significant role in organizing the protests in Egypt. Could this uprising re-shape Egypt's gender relations and social landscape? Heba Aly talks to host Anna Maria Tremonti.
Listen here
Documentary: The Price to Pay
CBC Radio's "The Current"
7 February 2011
CAIRO - Egypt's capital Cairo is returning to a more normal frenzy after nearly two weeks of anti-government protests that brought the city to a standstill. Yesterday, the banks re-opened, people went back to work, and police were back on the streets.
But Egypt remains deeply affected. The protests have not only divided the country, but in the extended absence of government services, they've also forced many neighbourhoods to organize themselves and create a kind of grassroots democracy Egypt was always lacking.
Heba Aly takes us beyond the protests, to how people have been living outside Tahrir Square in her documentary: The Price to Pay.
Listen here
7 February 2011
CAIRO - Egypt's capital Cairo is returning to a more normal frenzy after nearly two weeks of anti-government protests that brought the city to a standstill. Yesterday, the banks re-opened, people went back to work, and police were back on the streets.
But Egypt remains deeply affected. The protests have not only divided the country, but in the extended absence of government services, they've also forced many neighbourhoods to organize themselves and create a kind of grassroots democracy Egypt was always lacking.
Heba Aly takes us beyond the protests, to how people have been living outside Tahrir Square in her documentary: The Price to Pay.
Listen here
Egypt Crackdown
CBC Radio's "The Current"
4 February 2011
CAIRO - Amid widespread reports of crackdowns -- including detentions, beatings, and robberies -- on human rights activists and journalists covering the protests in Egypt, Heba Aly describes her day upon arrival in the city
Listen here
(about 10 minutes in)
4 February 2011
CAIRO - Amid widespread reports of crackdowns -- including detentions, beatings, and robberies -- on human rights activists and journalists covering the protests in Egypt, Heba Aly describes her day upon arrival in the city
Listen here
(about 10 minutes in)
Albania's Untold Story
The Christian Science Monitor
31 January 2011
Fritzi Weitzmann Owens came from a "cultured city". So in 1938, when Hitler's invasion of Austria forced her to flee her native Vienna, Albania -- "a backwards country", as far as she was concerned -- wasn't her family's first choice.
But few places in Europe were willing to accept Jews, and the United States had a quota system. Albania, one of Europe's least developed countries, became her family's refuge. Offered visas by King Zog himself, the Weitzmanns spent four months in Albania before getting papers for the US.
...
Weitzmann is one of thousands of Jews to have been saved from the Holocaust through Albania, Europe's only Muslim country at the time. Amid better-known tales, such as "Schindler's List", this instance of Jewish rescue went largely unknown for decades because of a postwar dictatorial communist regime that left Albania's borders closed to the world. Today, a growing body of research is finally shining a spotlight on this story of hospitality, sacrifice, and religious harmony.
Continue reading
31 January 2011
Fritzi Weitzmann Owens came from a "cultured city". So in 1938, when Hitler's invasion of Austria forced her to flee her native Vienna, Albania -- "a backwards country", as far as she was concerned -- wasn't her family's first choice.
But few places in Europe were willing to accept Jews, and the United States had a quota system. Albania, one of Europe's least developed countries, became her family's refuge. Offered visas by King Zog himself, the Weitzmanns spent four months in Albania before getting papers for the US.
...
Weitzmann is one of thousands of Jews to have been saved from the Holocaust through Albania, Europe's only Muslim country at the time. Amid better-known tales, such as "Schindler's List", this instance of Jewish rescue went largely unknown for decades because of a postwar dictatorial communist regime that left Albania's borders closed to the world. Today, a growing body of research is finally shining a spotlight on this story of hospitality, sacrifice, and religious harmony.
Continue reading
Monday, December 6, 2010
Albania's BESA
CBC Radio's "The Current"
17 November 2010
TORONTO - In a little known fact of history, in Muslim Albania, there is no evidence of a single Jew was handed over to the Nazis during WW2 because opening your door to strangers is entrenched in an ancient Albanian code of honor, Besa. The Current's producer, Heba Aly, joined Anna Maria in studio to share this remarkable story.
Listen here.
17 November 2010
TORONTO - In a little known fact of history, in Muslim Albania, there is no evidence of a single Jew was handed over to the Nazis during WW2 because opening your door to strangers is entrenched in an ancient Albanian code of honor, Besa. The Current's producer, Heba Aly, joined Anna Maria in studio to share this remarkable story.
Listen here.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Canada arrests of citizens raise concerns of homegrown terrorism
Christian Science Monitor (US)
27 August 2010
Canada arrested three citizens this week on allegations they were conspiring to facilitate terrorist activity. Homegrown terrorism is a rising concern, but some analysts have cautioned against encouraging radicalism by overstating the problem.
TORONTO - The arrests of three Canadian citizens on terrorism charges has boosted worries over so-called "homegrown terrorism" in this country.
On Wednesday, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested two residents of Ottawa. A third suspect from London, Ontario was arrested Thursday.
Police allege they were conspiring with others in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and Dubai, to facilitate terrorist activity. The alleged ringleader, Hiva Mohammad Alizadeh, is accused of possessing electronic circuit boards designed to remotely detonate improvised explosive devices, being a member of and remaining in contact with a terrorist group with links to the war in Afghanistan; and financially supporting a terrorist group. Police say they are searching for three alleged co-conspirators who are outside Canada.
Continue reading
27 August 2010
Canada arrested three citizens this week on allegations they were conspiring to facilitate terrorist activity. Homegrown terrorism is a rising concern, but some analysts have cautioned against encouraging radicalism by overstating the problem.
TORONTO - The arrests of three Canadian citizens on terrorism charges has boosted worries over so-called "homegrown terrorism" in this country.
On Wednesday, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested two residents of Ottawa. A third suspect from London, Ontario was arrested Thursday.
Police allege they were conspiring with others in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and Dubai, to facilitate terrorist activity. The alleged ringleader, Hiva Mohammad Alizadeh, is accused of possessing electronic circuit boards designed to remotely detonate improvised explosive devices, being a member of and remaining in contact with a terrorist group with links to the war in Afghanistan; and financially supporting a terrorist group. Police say they are searching for three alleged co-conspirators who are outside Canada.
Continue reading
Lifting the Veil of Albania, with pedals
Toronto Review of International Affairs
18 July 2010
Albania's still a bit rough around the edges, but it has long outgrown its reputation as an isolated and dangerous country. It took a ride across the country by bicycle to find that out.
AT THE MONTENEGRIN/ALBANIAN BORDER - The sun is out for the first time in days, a welcome relief from the crisp December air of the Adriatic that chills central Europe at this time of year. Snow has just begun to cover the peaks of the imposing North Albanian Alps, finally visible in the distance, free of the curtain of cloud that has veiled most of the landscape thus far. The road is newly paved, and to our surprise, perfectly smooth.
But we cycle into Albania with butterflies in our stomachs. It is, after all, Albania - home to a 40-year dictatorship that, until recently, left it as closed off from the world as North Korea is today. We had been vehemently cautioned not to visit, because, as one acquaintance put it, "the Albanians will steal the shirts off your backs." Guide books warned of a lack of medical facilities. It was the wild frontier between East and West, a dark unknown place where, we were told, we would be unimpressed, and possibly, in danger.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
G8 summit focuses on accountability, but where is it?
Christian Science Monitor (US)
26 June 2010
As the G8 countries this weekend emphasized the need for more accountability on their aid pledges, relief groups decried the fact that many pledges at previous G8 summits have gone unmet.
TORONTO - It is no small irony that Canada has focused on G8 accountability as a priority in this past weekend's summit.
Nor that it was a Canadian, the iconic internationalist Lester B. Pearson, who came up with the 0.7 percent pledge - later adopted by the United Nations General Assembly - that rich countries would give 0.7 percent of their Gross National Product in development aid to the world's poorest.
Today, Canada's percentage of GNP going to aid is less than half the standard set by Mr. Pearson, and as the Group of Eight nations wrapped up their meeting in Huntsville, Ontario yesterday, many aid advocates questioned not only the Canadian hosts' commitment to development, but the entire group's very credibility.
Continue reading
26 June 2010
As the G8 countries this weekend emphasized the need for more accountability on their aid pledges, relief groups decried the fact that many pledges at previous G8 summits have gone unmet.
TORONTO - It is no small irony that Canada has focused on G8 accountability as a priority in this past weekend's summit.
Nor that it was a Canadian, the iconic internationalist Lester B. Pearson, who came up with the 0.7 percent pledge - later adopted by the United Nations General Assembly - that rich countries would give 0.7 percent of their Gross National Product in development aid to the world's poorest.
Today, Canada's percentage of GNP going to aid is less than half the standard set by Mr. Pearson, and as the Group of Eight nations wrapped up their meeting in Huntsville, Ontario yesterday, many aid advocates questioned not only the Canadian hosts' commitment to development, but the entire group's very credibility.
Continue reading
Friday, June 25, 2010
Risky Business
Carleton University Magazine
Spring 2010 issue
With dwindling staff budgets, freelancers are the go-to source for media content, but free agentry is rife with work hazards. One woman's story of being booted out of Sudan for asking too many questions
KHARTOUM - It was just before 2 p.m. when I arrived at the departure hall of Khartoum International Airport, heading home to Canada to spend Christmas 2008 with my family. I dragged my worn suitcase through the front doors, barely taking two steps when I heard someone calling my name.
I turned to find a large man with an unsmiling, unfamiliar face. "We'd like to see you in the office," he said in Arabic. A sick feeling swallowed up the pit of my stomach. Having been stopped once before by national security officials in Sudan's conflict-ridden Darfur region, I knew what this meant. National security controls everything in this country, including who flies. I had no choice but to follow.
Continue reading
Spring 2010 issue
With dwindling staff budgets, freelancers are the go-to source for media content, but free agentry is rife with work hazards. One woman's story of being booted out of Sudan for asking too many questions
KHARTOUM - It was just before 2 p.m. when I arrived at the departure hall of Khartoum International Airport, heading home to Canada to spend Christmas 2008 with my family. I dragged my worn suitcase through the front doors, barely taking two steps when I heard someone calling my name.
I turned to find a large man with an unsmiling, unfamiliar face. "We'd like to see you in the office," he said in Arabic. A sick feeling swallowed up the pit of my stomach. Having been stopped once before by national security officials in Sudan's conflict-ridden Darfur region, I knew what this meant. National security controls everything in this country, including who flies. I had no choice but to follow.
Continue reading
G20: Less-developed nations still struggle to shape agenda
Christian Science Monitor (US)
25 June 2010
TORONTO - As Brazil's ambassador to the European Union once put it, "there are new kids on the block" in world politics and trade. That's evident at the G20, where Brazil and other "new kids" Russia, India and China, collectively known as the BRICs, expect to have an equal voice at the table during this weekend's summit.
"No one asks anymore: 'What are you doing here?' Because it's obvious what Brazil is doing there. It has the weight," says Ernesto Araujo, deputy head of mission at the Brazilian embassy in the Canadian capital, Ottawa.
But as their stars have risen, other less-developed countries in the G20 and worldwide have been left wayside. G20 members South Africa, Mexico, Argentina and Indonesia - along with the world's least developed countries, which aren't even at the table in Toronto - remain overshadowed.
Continue reading
25 June 2010
TORONTO - As Brazil's ambassador to the European Union once put it, "there are new kids on the block" in world politics and trade. That's evident at the G20, where Brazil and other "new kids" Russia, India and China, collectively known as the BRICs, expect to have an equal voice at the table during this weekend's summit.
"No one asks anymore: 'What are you doing here?' Because it's obvious what Brazil is doing there. It has the weight," says Ernesto Araujo, deputy head of mission at the Brazilian embassy in the Canadian capital, Ottawa.
But as their stars have risen, other less-developed countries in the G20 and worldwide have been left wayside. G20 members South Africa, Mexico, Argentina and Indonesia - along with the world's least developed countries, which aren't even at the table in Toronto - remain overshadowed.
Continue reading
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Nazia Quazi case encourages Canadian Muslims to speak out
The Christian Science Monitor (US)
7 May 2010
OTTAWA - It is Saturday morning in a downtown restaurant, and Shahla Khan Salter sits three other local Muslims. They've been brought together by a 24-year-old Indo-Canadian who has been trapped in Saudi Arabia since 2007 due to a practice that requires women to have a male guardian's permission to travel. Ms. Khan Salter has assembled the group to brainstorm ways to help the young woman, Nazia Quazi, return to Canada.
Whlie Ms. Quazi's case is unusual, what it may reflect about changes within Western Muslim communities is equally noteworthy. Historically, Western Muslims have been apathetic when it comes to civic engagement, but increasinly Islamic communities in the West, like those helping Quazi, are beginning to buck this trend.
"I definitely think that there is increased civic engagement, says Nadia Roumani, director of the American Muslim Civic Leadership Institute, which helps Muslim leaders and non-profit organizations develop the skills to get involved in anything from politics and education to interfaith work. "It's not pervasive, but there is a critical mass."
Continue reading
7 May 2010
OTTAWA - It is Saturday morning in a downtown restaurant, and Shahla Khan Salter sits three other local Muslims. They've been brought together by a 24-year-old Indo-Canadian who has been trapped in Saudi Arabia since 2007 due to a practice that requires women to have a male guardian's permission to travel. Ms. Khan Salter has assembled the group to brainstorm ways to help the young woman, Nazia Quazi, return to Canada.
Whlie Ms. Quazi's case is unusual, what it may reflect about changes within Western Muslim communities is equally noteworthy. Historically, Western Muslims have been apathetic when it comes to civic engagement, but increasinly Islamic communities in the West, like those helping Quazi, are beginning to buck this trend.
"I definitely think that there is increased civic engagement, says Nadia Roumani, director of the American Muslim Civic Leadership Institute, which helps Muslim leaders and non-profit organizations develop the skills to get involved in anything from politics and education to interfaith work. "It's not pervasive, but there is a critical mass."
Continue reading
Sunday, October 11, 2009
How Kenya's 'Little Mogadishu' became a hub for Somali militants
The Christian Science Monitor (US)
26 August 2009
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0826/p06s02-woaf.html
EASTLEIGH, KENYA - The streets of Eastleigh, a Somali enclave of Kenya's capital, Nairobi, are crowded and dirty. Sewage and rotting garbage flow through gullies. Police are virtually nonexistent; restaurants are locked, even when open, for safety reasons; and guns are readily available for sale at the market.
Continue reading
26 August 2009
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0826/p06s02-woaf.html
EASTLEIGH, KENYA - The streets of Eastleigh, a Somali enclave of Kenya's capital, Nairobi, are crowded and dirty. Sewage and rotting garbage flow through gullies. Police are virtually nonexistent; restaurants are locked, even when open, for safety reasons; and guns are readily available for sale at the market.
No one ever said "Little Mogadishu" was paradise, but now the sprawling neighborhood has become a hub of financing and recruiting for militant Islamists waging holy war in neighboring Somalia, according to residents, security analysts, and diplomats.
"Those who kill people in Somalia are also here – scattered all over the place," says an elderly Sufi Muslim sheikh matter-of-factly. "This is the hotspot of the Somali fundamentalism.... They are recruiting right here in Nairobi."
In the latest chapter in a civil war that has raged since 1991, Somalia's radical insurgents this week rejected the Western-backed transitional government's call for a cease-fire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Militant and moderate Islamists are battling for control of the rubble-strewn streets of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, fighting that has forced more than 1.4 million people to flee their homes and caused what the United Nations on Wednesday called the country's worst humanitarian crisis in 18 years of war.
But here in Eastleigh, the war takes a different form.Continue reading
How one youth was drawn to jihad in Somalia
The Christian Science Monitor (US)
19 July 2009
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0714/p10s01-woaf.html
19 July 2009
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0714/p10s01-woaf.html
ISIOLO, KENYA - A smattering of wispy clouds dots the blue sky as white-robed worshipers trickle into Taqwa mosque for Friday prayers. Our car is parked outside the mosque, slightly hidden by a hedgerow of tangled savannah brush that defines the mosque's perimeter. A cool, dry wind blows across this arid town – refreshing against the equatorial heat, but leaving a blanket of dust on the whitewashed buildings.
The car's tinted windows are rolled up to protect against the fine film of dust – and to conceal me from sight.
Isiolo is smack in the center of Kenya, far from Somalia. But the sermon pouring out of the mosque's loudspeakers is in Somali. We listen for a few minutes before the driver abruptly pulls away.
"If they catch us spying on them, we'll be stoned," he says.
Continue readingRecruiting Somalis in Kenya
Public Radio International's "The World"
14 July 2009
http://www.theworld.org/2009/07/13/recruiting-somalis-in-kenya/
ISIOLO, KENYA -Somalia has experienced almost constant conflict since the collapse of its central government in 1991. The long-running instability has created misery for its people. And it’s spilled over into its east African neighbor, Kenya, home to many ethnic Somalis.
Heba Aly has the story of one Kenyan community – hundreds of miles from the border – that’s lost one of its young men to the insurgency.
Listen here
14 July 2009
http://www.theworld.org/2009/07/13/recruiting-somalis-in-kenya/
ISIOLO, KENYA -Somalia has experienced almost constant conflict since the collapse of its central government in 1991. The long-running instability has created misery for its people. And it’s spilled over into its east African neighbor, Kenya, home to many ethnic Somalis.
Heba Aly has the story of one Kenyan community – hundreds of miles from the border – that’s lost one of its young men to the insurgency.
Listen here
Thursday, May 28, 2009
In Somalia, African Union takes the offensive in information war
The Christian Science Monitor (US)
27 May 2009
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0527/p06s17-wogn.html
NAIROBI, KENYA - No sooner do officials from the African Union stabilization force arrive in Somalia's battlefield of a capital, Mogadishu, than Islamist insurgents send them a warning.
"AMISOM," reads the text message on their phones, "we're going to kill you."
Fighting in Mogadishu has escalated in the past month, and the undermanned and underfunded African peacekeeping force known as AMISOM is increasingly bearing the brunt of the ugly conflict, which pits extremist Islamist insurgents against a new, more moderate, transitional government.
Analysts say the mission has held up well, given the circumstances. But AMISOM officials say they – and the fragile government they aim to protect – are losing on one important front: the information war.
Continue reading
27 May 2009
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0527/p06s17-wogn.html
NAIROBI, KENYA - No sooner do officials from the African Union stabilization force arrive in Somalia's battlefield of a capital, Mogadishu, than Islamist insurgents send them a warning.
"AMISOM," reads the text message on their phones, "we're going to kill you."
Fighting in Mogadishu has escalated in the past month, and the undermanned and underfunded African peacekeeping force known as AMISOM is increasingly bearing the brunt of the ugly conflict, which pits extremist Islamist insurgents against a new, more moderate, transitional government.
Analysts say the mission has held up well, given the circumstances. But AMISOM officials say they – and the fragile government they aim to protect – are losing on one important front: the information war.
Continue reading
Darfur Peacekeepers Call for Aid for Civilians After Battle
Bloomberg News
25 May 2009
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aS_eG5VRLqQo
NAIROBI - United Nations-led peacekeepers in Sudan’s western Darfur region called for “urgent humanitarian aid” after a rebel attack on a garrison town left 63 people dead, according to the Sudanese army.
“Urgent humanitarian aid, particularly food, water, medical supplies and tents, is needed to help civilians displaced by the fighting,” the joint UN-African Union force, known as Unamid, said today in an e-mailed statement.
Sudanese forces said they repelled a rebel attack yesterday on Um Baru town in northwestern Darfur, killing 43 rebels, injuring 54 others and destroying 32 vehicles, the Khartoum- based Sudanese Media Center said, citing army spokesman Osman al-Agbash.
Continue reading
25 May 2009
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aS_eG5VRLqQo
NAIROBI - United Nations-led peacekeepers in Sudan’s western Darfur region called for “urgent humanitarian aid” after a rebel attack on a garrison town left 63 people dead, according to the Sudanese army.
“Urgent humanitarian aid, particularly food, water, medical supplies and tents, is needed to help civilians displaced by the fighting,” the joint UN-African Union force, known as Unamid, said today in an e-mailed statement.
Sudanese forces said they repelled a rebel attack yesterday on Um Baru town in northwestern Darfur, killing 43 rebels, injuring 54 others and destroying 32 vehicles, the Khartoum- based Sudanese Media Center said, citing army spokesman Osman al-Agbash.
Continue reading
Radio Interview on Sudan
The Graham Bensinger Show (US)
29 March 2009
http://www.grahambensinger.com/index_aly.html
The Foreign Correspondent calls in from Kenya to discuss Darfur and being kicked out of Sudan by the government.
Listen here.
29 March 2009
http://www.grahambensinger.com/index_aly.html
The Foreign Correspondent calls in from Kenya to discuss Darfur and being kicked out of Sudan by the government.
Listen here.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Sudan: Peace in Darfur - one step forward, two steps back
UN Humanitarian News Service (IRIN East Africa)
18 May 2009
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=84430
NAIROBI - Rebels in Sudan’s Darfur region are showing signs of unity, but it has not brought their region any closer to a comprehensive peace, analysts said, as the government wrapped up another round of unsuccessful discussions with the most active rebel group.
Since the indictment on 4 March of President Omar al-Bashir for war crimes, the Justice and Equality Movement claims to have made big strides towards uniting fractious rebels by bringing other groups under its umbrella.
“We are quite hopeful that by mid-June [at the latest], we will have one organisation,” Gebreil Ibrahim, JEM’s economic adviser and brother of the group’s leader, Khalil, told IRIN. “Now we have started calling it the New JEM.”
Continue reading
18 May 2009
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=84430
NAIROBI - Rebels in Sudan’s Darfur region are showing signs of unity, but it has not brought their region any closer to a comprehensive peace, analysts said, as the government wrapped up another round of unsuccessful discussions with the most active rebel group.
Since the indictment on 4 March of President Omar al-Bashir for war crimes, the Justice and Equality Movement claims to have made big strides towards uniting fractious rebels by bringing other groups under its umbrella.
“We are quite hopeful that by mid-June [at the latest], we will have one organisation,” Gebreil Ibrahim, JEM’s economic adviser and brother of the group’s leader, Khalil, told IRIN. “Now we have started calling it the New JEM.”
Continue reading
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