Pakistani activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai denounced, this Sunday (12), the destruction of the educational system in the Gaza Strip due to Israeli attacks over more than a year, since the beginning of the conflict against the terrorist group Hamas. .
“They bombed all universities, destroyed more than 90% of schools and indiscriminately attacked civilians who took refuge in school buildings,” said Malala during a summit on girls’ education in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. “I will continue to denounce Israeli violations of international law and human rights,” said the activist in front of dozens of representatives from Muslim countries. “Palestinian children lost their lives and their future.”
Israel claims that fighters from the terrorist group are hiding in schools in Gaza, where families also take refuge.
In her speech, Malala also asked Muslim leaders “not to give legitimacy” to the Taliban, the regime in charge of Afghanistan, and asked them to speak out against the Islamic fundamentalist group’s treatment of women. “The Taliban do not consider women human beings” and “hide their crimes under the appearance of cultural and religious justifications”, said the activist.
In 2012, when she was 15 and advocating for girls’ right to education in Pakistan, Malala was shot in the face by Pakistani Taliban on a school bus in the remote Swat Valley, near the border with Afghanistan.
After the incident, she was taken to the United Kingdom, where she lives, and became a global spokesperson for girls’ right to education. In 2014, at 17, she became the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize
Also during her speech in Islamabad, Malala encouraged Muslim leaders to support efforts to make gender apartheid a crime under international law.
Malala said Muslim voices must lead against Taliban policies, which have banned teenage girls from attending school and women from attending universities. “In Afghanistan, an entire generation of girls will be deprived of their future,” he said. “As Muslim leaders, now is the time to raise your voice, use your power.”
The Taliban say they respect women’s rights in accordance with their interpretation of Afghan culture and Islamic law. Spokespeople for the Taliban government did not respond to a request for comment on Malala’s remarks.
No foreign government has formally recognized the Taliban since it took control of Afghanistan in 2021, and diplomats have said steps toward recognition require a change of course on women’s rights.
The summit, organized by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Muslim World League, included dozens of ministers and scholars from Muslim-majority countries.
The event was hosted in Pakistan, which has had strained relations with the Afghan Taliban in recent months over accusations that the militants are using Afghanistan to launch attacks on Pakistan, accusations the Taliban deny.
