Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai on Sunday urged Muslim leaders to show “real leadership” by not “legitimizing” the Afghan Taliban government and opposing its restrictions on education for women and girls.
“Don’t give them legitimacy,” Yousafzai, 27, told education officials at a summit on girls’ education in Muslim countries in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. “It’s time for us as Muslim leaders to raise our voices and use our power. You can show real leadership.”
Pakistan’s Education Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui told AFP on Saturday that representatives of the Afghan Taliban government did not attend the two-day event despite being invited.
“Simply put, the Taliban do not see women as human beings,” Yousafzai told the conference. “They hide their crimes behind cultural and religious justifications.” Yousafzai was shot in the face by the Pakistani Taliban in 2012 when she was a 15-year-old schoolgirl while campaigning for women’s education rights.
Israel has destroyed the entire education system in Gaza: Malala Yousafzai
Malala Yousafzai has said she will continue to protest Israel’s violations of international law and human rights in Gaza. “Israel has destroyed the entire education system in Gaza,” he said, speaking at a global summit on girls’ education in Muslim countries hosted by Pakistan and attended by representatives from dozens of countries. “They have bombed all universities, destroyed more than 90 percent of schools and indiscriminately attacked civilians taking shelter in school buildings. I will continue to raise my voice against Israel’s violations of international law and human rights.”
Yousafzai was shot dead by Pakistani militants angry over her education campaign when she was a 15-year-old student. After being taken to Britain, she made a remarkable recovery and, at 17, became the youngest Nobel laureate.
“Palestinian children have lost their lives and their futures. If a Palestinian girl’s school is bombed and her family is killed, she will not be able to have the future she deserves,” he said. The Gaza War began with a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. The attack killed 1,208 people, mostly civilians on the Israeli side.
Palestinian militants took 251 hostages during the attack. Of these, 94 are still in the Gaza Strip, and the Israeli military has declared 34 dead. Israel’s military response to Gaza has killed 46,537 people, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas-controlled territory’s health ministry, a figure the United Nations considers credible.
