(Lahore) Pakistani Malala Yousafzai, Nobel Peace Prize winner, is under fire in her native country after an advertisement for a musical about suffragettes that she is producing with Hillary Clinton.
On the war in Gaza, seeing it as a “double standard”.
If Malala Yousafzai, 26, is a stubborn women’s rights activist praised around the world, Islamist circles and a significant part of Pakistani public opinion see her as an “agent of the United States” created to corrupt the youth .
After the first performance of Suffsthe circle of critics seems to have widened to include figures of feminism in Pakistan.
“I have defended Malala tooth and nail all these years but, now, I am not her. It’s really difficult to defend it for six months,” writes activist Leena Ghani, in reference to the war launched by Israel in Gaza in response to the deadly Hamas attack on its soil on October 7.
“I have admired Malala since 2011,” says columnist Mehr Tarar on human rights”.
“You let us down”
Mme Clinton has said he supports the war against Hamas and rejected calls for a ceasefire in Gaza. She also called for the protection of civilians in the small territory controlled by the Islamist movement since 2007.
“What a disappointment Malala, you let us down,” writes professor and feminist activist Nida Kirmani.
Many voices in Pakistan have accused Malala Yousafzai of not expressing solidarity with the Palestinians. The young woman had previously publicly condemned the deaths of civilians in Gaza and called for a ceasefire.
THE New York Times reports that she wore a red and black pin for the first performance of Suffsa sign of support for the ceasefire.
After these criticisms, the young woman affirmed Tuesday on the social network X her support for the inhabitants of Gaza and condemned the war led by Israel.
“I want there to be no confusion about my support for the people of Gaza,” Malala Yousafzai wrote.
“We do not need to see more dead bodies, bombed schools and starving children to understand that a ceasefire is urgent and necessary.”
“I have condemned and will continue to condemn the Israeli government for its violations of international law and its war crimes,” she added.
The young girl from the green Swat Valley, in northwest Pakistan, was shot in the face in 2012 by Islamists.
Treated urgently in Great Britain, she then became a global symbol of resistance to religious extremism and the voice of girls deprived of education, then in 2014 the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner in history.
Since she was attacked, she has only returned to her country twice.