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Activist Zainab Salbi on Finding Hope in the Face of ISIS

Season 6 Episode 625
Aired on 11/22/2015 | CC tv-14
Zainab Salbi didn't have your typical life trajectory. Her father, Tariq, was the personal pilot of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. During those years, her family lived in fear of being put in prison or, worse, killed. She found a fresh start in the United States in her 20s, and at 23 years old, she traveled across the world to help women who were raped during the Bosnian War.

Today, as a leader in the global movement for women's rights, Zaniab is uniquely positioned to speak out about the expansion of Islamic extremism, particularly the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (commonly known as ISIS). Zainab says today's Iraq, a third of which is controlled by ISIS, is nothing like the country she grew up in.

"The Arab world is in pain right now," Zainab says, and the first step toward sparking hope involves listening to the women in the region and taking note of what they have to say.

In the video above, Zainab explains how giving a voice to women living in the Middle East could help us find a hint of hope in a bleak situation.