When we’re talking about bodies, we’re rarely ever just talking about bodies. We’re talking about power: A Conversation with Yasmeen Mjalli
Illustration by Manar Khalid (@postcardtoself).
In the midst of what happened to Israa Ghraib, I saw Yasmeen marching through a protest held on behalf of Israa, raising a sign that says, “They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we are seeds.” I later found out that Yasmeen is the Palestinian founder of BabyFist, a community organization focused on empowerment. BabyFist specializes in raising awareness to the Palestinian community through creating campaigns and projects for women. They have covered numerous topics, including those on Arab and Occupied Feminism, honor killing, menstruation, and sexual harassment.
Yasmeen is a Palestinian young woman who lives in Ramallah, Palestine. She studied art history and feminism in the Levant. We are honored to have a conversation with Yasmeen and share her journey with us all.
JOOD ALTHUKAIR: Yasmeen, we know that BabyFist mostly focuses on tackling issues about women and raising awareness. Tell us about the tipping point of you starting BabyFist. What made you say, “That’s it. I’m going to start an organization about women empowerment.”?
YASMEEN MAJALLI: BabyFist was born out of two things which unfolded at the same time in my life. Firstly, in an internship at a seed library on the outskirts of Bethlehem, I was working closely with the first feminist role model in my life. The founder of the seed library, Vivien Sansour, is a defiant woman who speaks her mind unapologetically and lives her life as she pleases, not as societal and gender norms dictate. Through her, I started to open my eyes to the insidious ways in which patriarchy had shaped my life, and the lives of those around me. Once I had my feminist awakening, there was no unseeing the injustice which pervaded nearly every aspect of life, especially when it intersects with Israeli military occupation.
At the same time, I was frustrated with the way society had normalized gender-based issues to the extent that many crimes against womxn were brushed under the rug. This meant that people were both afraid to step forward and share their stories and that those who were sharing their stories weren’t being heard. In other words, listening was lacking. As someone opening her eyes to and struggling to cope with patriarchal trauma, I knew that listening and being heard were key elements to both individual and collective healing.
The combination of these two elements led me to start taking the steps which eventually culminated in BabyFist.
You’ve raised many awareness campaigns, including those on menstruation to girls in 6th grade. Normally topics like these are tabooed in the Middle East. Tell us how they went? How was the audience’s reaction afterwards?
These topics are certainly taboo in communities across the MENA region but it’s critical to note that bodies and menstruation are taboo in communities all across the globe, including the USA and Europe. It can be difficult for menstruating peoples all over to discuss these topics and push for more inclusive and healthy conversations.
In regard to our work, perhaps the more telling aspect of our campaign is the attempt to reach out to schools who have no interest in hosting us at all. We get turned down by a large majority of the schools that we’ve reached out to since launching the menstruation education campaign. The idea that educating girls about their bodies is so taboo that schools turn us away, operating under the societal norm that educating girls about their bodies is dangerous. Why? When we’re talking about bodies, we’re rarely ever just talking about bodies. We’re talking about power.
Once we do finally find a school willing to host us, structuring our presentation in a sensitive yet informative and powerful manner can be difficult. The workshop is continuously adapting to questions and circumstances we had not initially anticipated. With each new workshop, we learn about myths born from the lack of knowledge surrounding our bodies. For example, a common myth we’ve come across in most of our workshops across the West Bank is that people should not shower while menstruating as the water will heat the body up and increase the flow.
As is typical in classrooms all over, the information being taught is met with reddened faces, giggles, and hushed whispers. Many of the girls immediately raise their hands and point out to us that what we are discussing is 3eib. They are certain that their parents taught them this but are confused because someone is asking to discuss something they’re not even allowed to think about: their bodies. Some girls even refuse to take home the educational pamphlet and pads we distribute.
We aim to push these conversations around menstruation because understanding the body means two things: (1) having the knowledge to take care of your health and (2) being comfortable enough with your body to demand respect. To empower women and girls, we have to erase the idea that knowledge is dangerous.
What was your favorite BabyFist-related project, and did it affect you on a personal level?
My favorite project has been the typewriter project, an initiative which was launched just over two years ago in which I set up a typewriter in various public spaces and invited people to share their stories of sexual harassment, assault, and gender-based issues. This was initially inspired by a conversation I’d had with an old man who pointed out an affliction that affects our societies: the lack of listening. When those around us do not genuinely listen to us, when we are not truly heard, then we begin to doubt the value of our voices. This has severe ramifications on us, both individually and collectively. One consequence of this affliction was that people were afraid to step forward with their stories of sexual assault—and those who did step forward were not heard. I launched this project as an attempt to foster intimate spaces within the public sphere in which people could speak and be heard.
I learned more about gender-based issues with my typewriter than I ever did through academic books and studies. This project was about redefining the way we respected and listened to one another. It was an act of defiance.
Knowing that most of your projects and campaigns are held in Palestine, and aside from them militarily destroying Palestinian grounds, did you face any difficulties from the Israeli occupation when these projects are held?
Israeli military occupation is sinister in the way it pervades even the most unsuspecting aspect of our lives—making manifest the idea that the personal is political. Palestine has been fragmented and isolated. Palestinians living in the West Bank cannot access Gaza and Palestinians in Gaza are not even allowed to leave the Gaza strip, effectively forcing nearly 2 million people into an open-air prison.
The BabyFist team connected with a factory there which employs 65 people and manufactures clothing, a remnant of a once-thriving textile industry. All of our apparel is produced there, yet we have never once even seen the factory.
Fabric is imported into Gaza to make clothing, which then has to cross 2 checkpoints and undergo security checks in order to reach the West Bank. Each piece is even taxed as if the pieces are being imported from a different country. What should be 4 hours away by car ends up weeks away, thanks to way Israel has isolated Gaza from the West Bank.
When you purchase a piece of clothing on our website from the comfort of your home, the pieces that arrive at your door after a few weeks (sometimes a few months) have had to move across checkpoints in the occupied territories. Each item of clothing then represents a resistance to the effects of spatial control.
We see your “Not Your Habibti” tees all over social media. Tell us more about the clothing line, how does your process go?
To make an item of clothing in Gaza means importing fabric from either Turkey or China (depending on what’s available and what the item is). As checkpoints are closed often, this process can take several weeks or months, meaning we don't release our items as fast like any other brand in the world.
Once the fabric is received at the factory, we go back and forth with the owner, Hassan, via WhatsApp to decide on colors, sizing, quantity, etc. It has happened more than once that an item arrives at our shop in Ramallah in a completely different color than we had expected, since images and colors can be distorted. We usually have to make the best of it and sell what arrives, even if it’s not what we designed.
Once items are manufactured and ready to go, we need to transport them across two checkpoints at least, where they have to undergo security checks.
In this issue, we talk about dreams and the things that make us who we are. Who is Yasmeen, and what is her message?
I often like to remind myself that our lives should be viewed as if through a kaleidoscope. Meaning that there are infinite ways in which to consider every circumstance we find ourselves in. As people, we are constantly shifting, evolving, undergoing changes—sometimes for the better, and others for the worse. When we become aware of each change, each challenge that pushes us to change, then we can move forward with understanding. More importantly, we move forward with lessons learned and empathy for those around us.
When we look at a situation through the kaleidoscope and then turn it, even just slightly, we see new colors and new shapes. We see a new perspective, a different way to approach and take on the world.
When we remember that our personalities are not—and should not—be stagnant, then we can grow. Under constant growth and change, life offers us endless opportunities. Through the kaleidoscope, life is refreshing, vibrant, and beautifully unpredictable. ◆
Jood is the founder of this site. Find her on her Instagram here.