In 2007, hundreds of young thinkers from 20 different countries submitted essays in English, Arabic, French, and Farsi. Ten cash prize winners were selected, along with 50 book prize winners. From among hundreds of strong essays, the winners below stood out for their bold ideas and compelling messages. Their varying approaches reflect the need for diverse responses to the problems posed by civil rights repression in the Middle East.

Middle East Prize Winners

American Prize Winners

First Place: S. Murshid, age 21, Syria
An Instance from Experience - العربية

A budding activist recounts her successful effort to help defend civil rights reformers facing life imprisonment simply for organizing a rally. She exemplifies courage, perseverance, and an activist spirit despite the omnipresent threat of state security forces and a rigged judiciary. Yet Syria’s recent re-arrest of her colleagues (after this essay was written) throws the future of her dreams into doubt.

First Place: Steven Moxley, age 18, PA
Subverting Censorship

The author identifies powerful Internet-based tools unavailable to 1960s civil rights activists. Tellingly, these potential campaign assets are currently censored by many Middle Eastern regimes. Noting a “direct correlation between free speech online and civil rights,” Moxley evinces a can-do attitude and proposes practical solutions to Internet censorship that individual Americans can help implement.

Second Place: Ahmad Ghashmary, 23, Jordan
Women in a Maze

A young man shares a news report from 2006 that challenges readers: Did the story actually happen? Are there even female judges in Jordan? Why aren’t men fully prosecuted for murdering female relatives over so-called ‘honor crimes’? While the government fails to protect the lives of female citizens, the author’s searing indictment imagines what real progress might look like.

Second Place: Iman Sheybani-Nezhad, 17, CT
The Power is in Our Hands

The execution of Iranian women by stoning for ‘adultery’ is a particularly stark manifestation of civil rights repression. Indeed, the author reports that convicted women are “wrapped in sheets and buried to the neck” before being pelted to death with rocks. She then outlines a program for channeling outrage into action, calling upon fellow Americans to exercise their freedom.

Third Place:
K. Al-Nasser, 25, Saudi Arabia, Monologue with the Prince - العربية
A blogger describes the isolation of growing up in a rigid patriarchal society and the impact of a thwarted chance to speak back to the establishment. What at first appears to be a simple account of mischievous behavior is thrown into stark relief by the essay’s electric final phrase. Repression in the Saudi kingdom spawns a disaffected activist… and, it would appear, the murder of civilians.

Abdessamad Ben Jouda, 22, Morocco, Dreaming Back - العربية
A journalist answers Hughes’ poem with a litany of his own postponed dreams. A cri de coeur against injustice and for individual rights, the essay’s cadences and references pointedly address Arabic-speaking audiences. The perspective is both jaded and hopeful, as the writer expresses his desire to critically examine the “holy trinity” of god, country, and king - his country’s motto.

Mariam Bazeed, age 22, Egypt, The Paranoia of Oppression
In this essay’s social context, gay rights are not about attaining civic privileges but rather the dangerous quest to avoid arrest and police torture. A female writer offers a poignant portrayal of the tense situation by stepping inside the mind of an Egyptian man. Her courageous effort at humanizing a taboo subject seems to end in despair, with a confession of cowardice and an individual forced to “turn himself off.”

Third Place:
Jessica Hindman, 25, New York, Their Struggle is Ours Too
Recounting personal anecdotes from Cairo, the author illustrates how the kind of political humor Americans toss around everyday is no laughing matter for many Middle Eastern citizens. At once amusing and sobering, the essay makes a compelling case for engaging in the struggle for civil rights reform (with a side escapade into critiquing US domestic policies).

Philip Sitter, 17, Illinois, Why - and How to - Get Involved
A teenager formulates a blueprint for citizen-driven public diplomacy, offering an inspiring pep-talk to jaded neighbors who look at the Middle East and ask: “Why get involved?” Sitter presents both moral and geo-strategic considerations, listing numerous specific yet simple ways Americans can assist the region’s nascent civil rights movement..

Mary Duhon , 19, Texas, The Calculated Use of Limited Resources
The author reflects on how young Americans can harness their generation’s unique resources to help empower Middle Eastern women. Duhon develops a creative campaign around local beauty salons, emphasizing personal agency with phrases like “I am capable of” and “I can.” Her concern for leveraging limited resources and generating results reflects an entrepreneurial approach.

Dawood - العربية: The essay illustrates the daily impact of civil rights restrictions, pointing to a long list of frustrating intrusions that hold back a young Arab woman’s life.

Farrokhzad - الفارسية: An Iranian expresses his frustration over restrictions and imagines a different future.

Khourshed: A persuasive essay on how civil rights repression stunts both personal and societal development.

ElKhadiri - العربية: A Moroccan seeks to be a “citizen” not a “subject,” emphasizing inherent individuality rather than subservience to unelected rulers.

Al-Mutairi - العربية: A Kuwaiti suffers an eye-opening encounter with the charade of parliamentary independence.