Birzeit University Alumni win Gender and Intersectional Justice Award

Birzeit University alumni Mayada Bader and Marah Owayneh were awarded the Gender and Intersectional Justice Award in honor of Lina Ben Mhenni, granted by the Arab-European Association for Media and Communication Researchers.

Bader and Owayneh won the Documentary Film category at the undergraduate level for their graduation project Birzeit in Confrontation with the Occupation. The documentary sheds light on Israeli violations against students and staff at Birzeit University, including political arrests, military raids on campus and Israeli directives that restrict academic freedom.

The contest was launched on International Day for Press Freedom in 2021 to honor blogger and activist Lina Ben Mhenni for her commitment to intersectional justice. During the Tunisian Revolution in 2011, Ben Mhenni documented human rights abuses and protested against former Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s censorship of the media and internet. Ben-Mhenni’s blog challenged mainstream media and provided uncensored information to other Tunisian activists.

The award targets undergraduate and graduate students in media, journalism and communication studies at Arab universities.