by Jalal Nazari | 20 Apr 2022 | Asia, Conflict, Educators' Catalog, Islam, Terrorism, University of Toronto Journalism Fellows, Women's rights
The Taliban have barred girls from schools in Afghanistan. So some of them gather secretly in homes in Kabul, drawn together by a former teacher. Hassan Adib leads a discussion of “Memories of a translator” by Mohhamad Qazi in Kabul, April 2022. (Photo by...
The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan means millions of girls cannot attend school. Many young people outside of the country know this, but it is difficult for them to conceive just what this means for a young Afghan girl their age. In his story, Jalal Nazari, an Afghan now living in Canada where he is a Global Journalism Fellow at the University of Toronto Dalla Lana School of Public Health, takes us inside Kabul homes, where about 30 teenage girls meet secretly twice a month to improve their reading and writing skills. To hear the girls and their teacher speak adds a highly personal dimension to a conflict that for many young people remains distant and abstract. The courage they show in the face of Taliban strictures is a reminder to young people everywhere that education is a privilege not to be taken lightly.
Exercise: Ask your students to interview their parents, asking them why education is important, and then to write an essay quoting their parents and adding their own thoughts.
by Natasha Comeau | 20 Oct 2021 | Asia, Conflict, Human Rights, Immigration, Refugees, Terrorism, World
After Kabul fell to the Taliban, the hurried evacuation of Afghans and COVID-19 have complicated efforts to find the refugees new homes overseas. A child holds up a piece of artwork while drawing in a tent at U.S. Fort Bliss, in New Mexico, where Afghan refugees are...
by Bryson Hull | 20 Sep 2021 | Asia, Conflict, Eyewitness, Islam, Personal Reflections, Politics, Terrorism, World
Many of us sensed a doomed U.S. mission in Afghanistan years ago and had drawn lessons. But the final costs of the invasion are still being tallied. U.S. soldiers drape a flag over a fellow serviceman killed on 29 July 2010 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan. (AP...
by Gene Gibbons | 10 Sep 2021 | Decoders, Educators' Catalog, Islam, Personal Reflections, Politics, Terrorism, World
Primitive tribes helped topple the powerful Roman Empire. Did attacks on the U.S. by Islamist extremists 20 years ago augur the end of a superpower? The Statue of Liberty and New York City’s skyline as smoke rises from the ruins of the Twin Towers, four days...
We often hear that history repeats itself. A core tenet of News Decoder’s mission is to help students place current events in a broader historical context. Correspondent Gene Gibbons looks beyond today’s headlines all the way back to ancient Rome to show how pride, corruption, strategic overreach and other political mistakes have contributed to the decline of superpowers, then and now.
Exercise: Ask students to debate the question in the headline, providing evidence for their position.
by Christina MacCorkle | 23 Aug 2021 | Asia, Conflict, Islam, Middle East, Politics, Student Posts, Terrorism, Thacher School, United States, Youth Voices
My generation was born after 9/11. Twenty years after that day, the attacks resonate with us, but we need historical context to grasp why they occurred. People walk past yellow roses and flags placed on the names of 9/11 victims who were veterans, at the 9/11 Memorial...
by Alistair Lyon | 16 Aug 2021 | Asia, Conflict, Educators' Catalog, Eyewitness, Human Rights, Islam, Politics, Terrorism, World
The Taliban have seized power in Afghanistan after another failed foreign intervention. Will they ease their hard line? And what lessons can be learned? Taliban fighters in Afghanistan’s presidential palace, Kabul, Afghanistan, 15 August 2021 (AP Photo/Zabi...
The reconquest of Afghanistan by the Taliban is a fast-moving story, and the mainstream media is busy keeping us informed of the latest developments. It’s one of those stories that cries out for context, and Alistair Lyon delivers the goods in his tour de force, informed by his years on the ground in the South Asian nation. If those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it, then Lyon’s article might help young readers understand why the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan was almost destined to fall short — and help them avoid similar mistakes in the future.
Exercise: Ask your students to compare U.S. involvement in Afghanistan with another foreign entanglement, and to elaborate on similarities and differences between the conflicts.
by Susan Ruel | 2 Aug 2021 | Americas, Asia, Conflict, Eyewitness, Islam, Personal Reflections, Terrorism
New Yorkers will never forget the attack on our city of 20 years ago. But will Americans remember the lessons of 9/11 and of the war in Afghanistan? Survivors of the attacks in New York, 11 September 2001 (AP Photo/Gulnara Samoilova) Next month will mark 20 years...
by Ben Barber | 9 Apr 2021 | Asia, Conflict, Decoders, Human Rights, Joe Biden, Terrorism
The U.S. wants to end its longest war and withdraw from Afghanistan—called by some the graveyard of empires. But a May 1 deadline looks uncertain. U.S. military carry the casket of a soldier killed in Afghanistan, Dover, Delaware, 12 June 2017. (EPA-EFE/SCOTT SERIO)...
by Ben Barber | 28 May 2020 | Asia, Eyewitness, Islam, Nationalism, Terrorism
I was in Afghanistan when mujahideen guerrillas fought Soviet invaders. Three decades later, security remains precarious and peace a distant dream. Men walking from the Pakistan border into Afghan territory abandoned by Soviet-backed Afghan forces in 1988 (All photos...
by Jessica Moody | 3 Feb 2020 | Donald Trump, Terrorism, United States
The U.S. is considering pulling forces out of the Sahel in Africa, where they are fighting Islamic extremists. Would a withdrawal make Americans safer? People flee as security forces aim their weapons during an attack by extremists at a luxury hotel complex in...
