Tawakkol Karman.

• Author: Pal, Amitabh
• Position: THE PROGRESSIVE INTERVIEW - Activist wins Nobel Peace Prize - Interview

TAWAKKOL KARMAN IS THE YOUNGEST PERSON ever and the only Arab woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She shared the award in 2011 for the years of peaceful protests she organized against the now-ousted regime of Yemeni strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Karman's achievements were remarkable in a conservative country with scant tradition of female activism and nonviolent protest. She dedicated her prize to "all Yemenis who preferred to make their revolution peaceful by facing the snipers with flowers. It is for the Yemeni women, for the peaceful protesters in Tunisia, Egypt, and all the Arab world." She recently announced that she was donating all of her prize money to help those victimized by repression during the Yemeni uprising.

Karman had to face at least one assassination attempt and was jailed in shackles. The government killed hundreds of her fellow protesters, but the Karman-led movement remained, by and large, peaceful. In the end, Saleh was forced to step down.

Karman occupies an interesting place on the ideological spectrum--a liberal Islamist activist, with all the complexities contained within. She has spoken out against the ill-treatment of Yemeni girls and women, but belongs to a party, Islah, that has retrograde and hard-line elements in it (though she has tried to steer the party away from such thinking).

I interviewed Karman in May by phone in a transatlantic conversation. She was in Belfast to co-host a conference organized by the Nobel Women's Initiative. Karman's enthusiasm and energy came through during our discussion.

Q: How did you learn that you had received the Nobel Peace Prize?

Tawakkol Karman: I had no idea I was up for the Nobel. I learned I got it only through television. Then I saw the youth dancing around me (I was in a tent), and I became really aware of the honor. They were singing, "How nice, how nice, how nice that we've been awarded the Nobel Prize." They were also chanting, "Ya Salaam, ya salaam, Tawakkol--she is the symbol of peace."

I was so happy. It was a recognition from the world of the importance of the Yemeni revolution, of how peaceful the revolution has been, and of the importance of the Arab Spring revolutions. It was also a recognition of the role of women and youth in leading these changes. It gave the spotlight to the movement that I started in 2007. Every week, we have been in front of the presidential palace in the capital. I was very proud when the Nobel Committee told me that they've been...