A happy day for Yemen

That a Yemeni political activist should win the Nobel Peace Prize is indeed unprecedented. The award for Tawakkul Karman confirms the importance of the role that Arab women have played in the Arab Spring, especially in Yemen. The revolutionary movements started with demands for democratic change and the removal of corrupt and dictatorial regimes.

It is the right of the people of Yemen to celebrate twice for this historic award: first, because it signals global recognition of the legitimacy of their revolution and the peaceful struggle to affect political and social change. Second, because it puts their country on the media and political map for positive reasons after decades of being noted for negative issues.

Yemen has become synonymous with violence, terrorism and insecurity. Contributory factors were internal conflict and the kidnapping of foreign tourists and attacks against western targets, especially Americans, after Al Qaeda established a principal branch in the country. The fact that a woman has won this prestigious award, the most famous of all, will help to change this image for the better, not only for Yemen, but also for Arab women across the region.

Tawakkul Karman is a mother of three who has become a model political activist alongside the men in the struggle to reform their state and society. She deserves this award and she was spot on when she described her success as a victory for the youth and women of Yemen; the entire Yemeni people, in fact. They have camped out in their tents in the revolution squares for more than eight months, losing many martyrs in the name of freedom but never being intimated by the repressive security apparatus of the government.

Arab women have suffered much neglect and marginalisation in their patriarchal societies. They have been denied their most basic rights, including the right to participate in the renaissance of their countries, but the Arab Spring has given the Arab woman her due and restored her rightful position on the front-line of the struggle for reform. The traditional barriers between women and men have been taken down and equality has become entrenched, both in rights and duties. Arab women have proven themselves by their great capabilities and nobody should question their right to participate on the front ranks of the revolutionary process.

Ms Karman’s outstanding achievement gives a much-needed boost to all oppressed Arab women and a huge moral boost to the Arab revolutions in progress and those still awaiting their dawn. She is an ambassador for all Arab women who have put themselves in the firing line in the revolutions, and is the bright face of the future, whether in Tunis or Egypt or Syria or Bahrain, or even Saudi Arabia. What an inspiration for the Saudi women who face so many obstacles against their participation in politics and the realisation of their full rights and potential.

Yemen has had too few days of happiness recently due to economic hardship, the lack of freedom and growing corruption. The award of the Nobel Peace Prize to young Tawakkul Karman stands out from those dark days, so much so that the day should become a national Eid to be celebrated every year.