Yousra Samir Imran is a British Egyptian writer and author who is based Yorkshire. She is the author of Hijab and Red Lipstick, being published by Hashtag Press in the UK in October 2020
Lionel Messi's crowning moment, winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, was immediately soured by Western ignorance over the bisht. The highest symbol of Arab respect and achievement, the garment was unsurprisingly derided by Western commentators.
Book Club: Discussions in the British Muslim community about love and sexual desire have long been denigrated to taboo. But with the latest generation continuing to grow in creative stature, a new crop of authors are challenging this culture.
Book Club: Through water flows, one can ascertain much about the past, present and future of a country. In a hugely creative and engaging offering, Sabrina Mahfouz's latest book uncovers the many fingers involved in the Middle East's water supply.
As protests sweep the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iranian women tell The New Arab that they will no longer accept their bodies being a political battleground.
Book Club: Growing up feeling out of place is a daunting prospect, particularly if you're from an immigrant family. Sara El Sayed's Muddy People is a funny, uplifting memoir about her navigation of a new culture whilst trying to hold onto her own.
Despite strides in women's rights, guardianship laws that give male relatives control over the women in their lives remain the most significant impediment to gender equality. But Islamic law is not the true culprit, writes Yousra Samir Imran.
Book Club: August is 'Women in Translation Month', where readers make a conscious effort to read translated works written by women and contribute to a global exchange of literature. The New Arab picks ten revolutionary texts to mark the occasion.
Yousra Samir Imran argues that The Economist’s article on Arab women and obesity is another example of Western hypocrisy when it comes to the standards it holds for Arab women compared to European women.
As hundreds on social media celebrated the news of the murder of American-Saudi YouTuber Dana Al-Otaibi, Yousra Samir Imran argues that this behaviour feeds into a wider culture of victim-blaming based on women’s life choices, and it must end.
With the continued wave of femicide in the MENA, Yousra Samir Imran argues that legislative changes are urgently needed in the region, especially the abolition of colonial laws that fail targets of gendered violence and criminalise homosexuality.
