During those heady early days, women fully veiled in the niqab
poured into the square, punching their f ists into the air, leaping atop
tanks and even camping alongside men. For some Yemeni women, it
was the f irst time that they had ever uncovered their faces or spoken
their own name in public. They demonstrated, cooked food, spoke to
reporters, wrote about their experiences and dressed wounds. Many
died and not a few were disappeared by Saleh’s forces. The world took
notice: For the first time in the Arab world, the Nobel Peace Prize was
awarded to a Yemeni, and a woman—Tawwakol Karman, who helped
lead the demonstrations against Saleh.