By Nihal Al QawasmiCalais, a small town in northern France, has recently become the home of yet another mark made by Banksy — the unknown, English-born graffiti artist branded by his satirical street art and its supposed use for political activism. For many years, Calais has been known to be a landing spot for migrants and refugees alike due to…
By Nihal Al Qawasmi#ShitTSASays chronicles the U.S. Transportation Security Administration’s ludicrous mistreatment and profiling of Muslims while flying. Send your story to editorial@muslim-girl-2021-production.mystagingwebsite.com. I flew out to Atlanta to attend a Model United Nations conference with 20 other classmates in late November. Yep, 20 of us 20-year-old college students at an airport sounds pretty chaotic — but we…
By Nihal Al QawasmiThe Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, which is arguably the biggest fashion show of the year, will be airing tonight at 10 P.M. EST on CBS. The live show was filmed in New York City, N.Y. on Nov. 10, 2015, and included 47 models and lots and lots of pretty wings. Love it or hate it,…
By Nihal Al QawasmiYou know when a song just touches your soul? Yeah, it’s an awesome feeling. Well I’m back with another “Arab meets Adele” cover, because Ahmed Alshaiba managed to do that for me as he skillfully played Adele’s “Hello” with the oud: a Middle-Eastern born pear-shaped instrument that produces the most epic strings of music. It’s not uncommon to…
By Nihal Al QawasmiNoel Kharman puts a classic Fairouz twist on the Adele song everyone’s listening crying to. For those who don’t know, Fairouz is a legendary singer and Lebanese beauty who’s highly admired in the Arab world. She is also my queen. Now enjoy this beautiful mashup of Hello by Adele and Keefak Inta (كيفك انت) by Fairouz. You’re welcome.
By Nihal Al QawasmiIt’s not out of the ordinary for me to be baffled or enraged at news headlines that make their way across my various social media platforms. However, this particular story basically made $#!T hit the fan in my brain. The Times of Israel published “When the Kuffiya Turned Couture” and highlighted designer Yaron Minkowski and his…
By Nihal Al QawasmiAt a town hall rally in New Hampshire Thursday night, Donald Trump took to the podium and immediately began taking questions from the crowd after explaining that he was tired of doing speeches. And, my oh my, the first question was right up Trump’s (racist) ally. An unidentified man, wearing a white t-shirt with the…
By Nihal Al QawasmiTo my Muslim girls down the street and to the ones across oceans and oceans, this one’s for you. Hear it. Learn it. Share it. 1 . #ToTheMuslimGirls: Never apologize for your identity. Never. You matter and you’re all freaking queens. 2. #ToTheMuslimGirls: Whether you’re sporting a hijab or a crop top – own it, girl….
By Nihal Al QawasmiWhen I’m doing my rounds on social media, I obviously come across a variety of tweets, news stories, and Facebook posts that can either make me jump with glee or cringe with frustration. And on a scale from ‘like’-worthy to making me want to rip my hijab off, seeing a VERY familiar outfit on Kendall…
By Nihal Al QawasmiOn this day 67 years ago, 750,000 indigenous Palestinians were expelled from their homelands and forced to become the now seven million refugees scattered across every corner of the world. We call this day “Al-Nakba,” or “the catastrophe” — a day that fills our hearts with sorrow and grief, but most importantly, hope. As the generations go by, that…
By Nihal Al QawasmiFor her senior yearbook quote, Rafika Alami (@fefethevinc), who attends Summit High School in California, captioned her hijab-donning senior picture with: “Only reason I wear this is to give you females a chance.” The 17-year old’s photo instantly went viral. She told BuzzFeed that she did it because she thought it was funny. And indeed it was. When…
By Nihal Al QawasmiLindsay Lohan took to Instagram to post what she thought was a harmless little pick-me-up message. Along a distressed and faded floral wallpaper read the words “You’re beautiful,” falsely translating the message right above which read in Arabic: “You’re a donkey” – a common insult you may hear being thrown around your average Arab household….
By Nihal Al QawasmiPine Bush High School, nestled in upstate New York about 75 miles from NYC, is facing a major divide throughout the school and even county. As part of National Foreign Language Week, the school believed reciting the pledge of allegiance in different languages would be a sufficient way to celebrate. But things quickly went downhill…
