Dr. Lima Halima-Khalil

Still I Rise....

My take on how it feels currently to be in America: @themeteor wearethemeteor.com/she-fled-fear-…

Matiullah Wesa, Education Activist and Former Taliban Detainee, Wins Qatari Emir’s Award Read more: 8am.media/eng/matiullah-… #Afghanistan #Taliban #Educationforall #8am_media

Matiullah Wesa, a prominent activist for girls’ education and a former Taliban detainee, has won the Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani International Anti-Corruption Award in the category of Youth Creativity and Participation. afintl.com/en/202512156860

دفتر مبارزه با جرایم و مواد مخدر سازمان ملل متحد جایزه بین‌المللی مبارزه با فساد خود را به مطیع‌الله ویسا، فعال آموزش، اهدا کرد. این نهاد گفته که این جایزه برای تقدیر از تلاش‌های او در زمینه ترویج آموزش، عدالت اجتماعی و مبارزه با فساد، به‌ویژه در پشتیبانی از دختران و جوانان در افغانستان است.

مطیع‌الله ویسا د دې خاورې له هغو لږو رښتینو او باعزته انسانانو څخه دی چې د عزت، ژمنتیا او نه ستړې کېدونکي هوډ سره، سره له لسګونو ستونزو، د پوهاوي او روښانتیا لاره په عمل کې پر مخ وړي. موږ ډېر خوشحاله یو چې په دې د خوښۍ او ویاړ په ورځ کې ستا تر څنګ ولاړ یو. لار اوږده ده، خو زموږ ژمنتیا، پرله‌پسې هڅه او حوصله تر هغې لا ډېرې اوږدې او پیاوړې دي. @matiullahwesa @Limaahmad @AmiriDiwan

From riding a motorcycle to reach the villages in Afghanistan, teaching Afghan children; to the Taliban prison where you were tortured for advocating girls' education; to receiving this prestigious award here! Truly deserving, Wesa brother! May the universe be with you in all your good endeavors! @PenPath1

DC National Guard terror suspect suffered mental problems from fighting for CIA-backed ‘Zero Unit’. ⁦@nypost⁩ nypost.com/2025/11/27/us-…

RT @OmaidSharifi: My deepest sorrow on the tragic loss of two West Virginia National Guardsmen. During a week when families come together f…

I am so heartbroken for the families of two young national guards who were killed by an Afghan national yesterday. I can’t even imagine how their thanksgiving day is going to feel today and all their lives from today. But I am also so scared for the so much hate towards all Afghans since yesterday! I am not against extra vetting and security check but I know the hate will not end there 😞

I agree with @shawnjvandriver that the perpetrator should face accountability but the entire Afghan community must not be punished due to the actions of one individual. That would be terribly unjust and complete nonsense. Cool heads must prevail. #Afghanistan

If you read just one thing today about the betrayal of the Afghan people and the handover of Afghanistan to the Taliban, let it be this powerful piece. Four years on, life remains an open wound for millions. By Dr. Lima Halima-Khalil. wearethemeteor.com/afghanistan-fo… @Limaahmad

It has been four years that on this day I could not make peace with myself or what really happened. These 4 years have taught me what it means to hold on to identity, and test the limits of how much hope a heart can bear before breaking. @themeteor wearethemeteor.com/afghanistan-fo…

For you my sister @NKhalilAhmad. It is a wrap! @OmaidSharifi

When people ask why Afghans are not becoming a nation, one of the answers is “we don’t like each other” I was told this by one of my study participants. Below thread is about an Afghan who might have proven this point. Read this third 👇

⁦@NKhalilAhmad⁩ it is again June 27, and I am again here trying to make sense of what happened limaahmad-25416.medium.com/i-stayed-i-for…

“NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE” after bombing them?

Personal Reflections on the Recent U.S. Visa and Travel Ban on Afghanistan Afghans have repeatedly faced harsh blows, often unjustly and undeservedly. Reflecting briefly on Afghanistan's contemporary history, it becomes clear how external forces have significantly shaped and sometimes derailed our trajectory. In the early 20th century, King Amanullah Khan passionately pursued modernization, education, and cultural revitalization. Yet his ambitious plans were disrupted, notably by the interference of British intelligence, ultimately contributing to his downfall. One cannot help but wonder how different our present might have been had we continued that progressive path without such external meddling. Afghanistan was unwillingly drawn into the Cold War, becoming a battlefield between superpowers. Afghan soil, blood, and future were mercilessly exploited as one empire sought to defeat another. Once their geopolitical objectives were fulfilled, Afghanistan was abandoned, leaving behind thousands of radicalized Afghan fighters and foreign extremists who saw Afghanistan as the gateway to paradise. Tragically, Afghanistan also paid an immense price for events unrelated directly to its people. Despite none of the 9/11 attackers originating from Afghanistan, nor any masterminds or funders being Afghan, Afghanistan was the first nation invaded in the aftermath. Two decades of war brought immense suffering, only to culminate in returning control of the country to the very terrorist group that had been ousted two decades earlier. Moreover, Osama bin Laden was found and killed in Pakistan, a country known for harboring and nurturing extremism. Similarly, the recent Boulder, Colorado attacker was Egyptian. Yet, paradoxically, Afghanistan is the nation targeted by travel bans. I acknowledge our internal flaws; corruption, incompetence, and the shortsightedness of preceding generations have contributed to the vulnerabilities we experience today. However, the disproportionate punishment and indignities currently imposed on Afghans, be it in Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, or the United States, remain profoundly unjust. As we face yet another setback with the recent visa and travel ban, we must reflect critically on how fairness, responsibility, and historical accuracy are continually disregarded when it comes to Afghanistan.

Today, once again, I find myself struggling to find the words to express my feelings. For nearly four years, Afghans have been trapped in a relentless limbo, their lives consumed by a crushing uncertainty shaped by U.S. bipartisan politics. To call Afghan lives pawns in a game of electoral chess feels far too small to capture the weight of this reality. Since August 2021, I’ve carried the burden of witnessing and experiencing countless uncertainties—not just for myself but for my friends, family, colleagues, and community. I cannot forget what happened to those stuck at the gates of Kabul airport, clinging desperately to the hope that they might escape to safety. Many never made it—hundreds were killed, countless lost their children in the chaos, and thousands were left behind, losing not only their homes but their dreams of a future. In refugee camps, messages flooded in, pleading for answers I didn’t have—families wondering if their tomorrow might hold even the faintest promise of certainty. Today, some families are still scattered across the globe, stranded in hostile or precarious environments, clinging to the hope that the U.S., once their ally, might fulfill its promises to them. In the past three and a half years, I’ve met U.S. senators who expressed empathy with their words but wielded the Afghan cause as a weapon in their political games, exploiting our suffering to discredit the opposing party. Their concern always felt conditional, their actions fleeting. I’ve filled out countless forms, attended exhausting meetings, and begged lawyers to help families who couldn’t afford the obscene legal fees demanded of them. I’ve knocked on the doors of charities, leaving no stone unturned, desperate to find even a glimmer of hope. Yet despite all the effort, clarity about what comes next has remained out of reach. Even today, I woke up to the same questions and unrelenting uncertainty. I am scared to look at my phone, and I die every day because I don’t know what to tell anyone asking me what will happen to them and they feel I may be able to help. I’ve paid rent for Afghan girls in Pakistan who were sexually harassed by their landlords—knowing it might leave me short for my own rent in this country. I’ve watched the dignity of friends and colleagues crumble in refugee camps and neighboring countries, their lives reduced to waiting in squalor for the faint hope of a secure future for themselves and their children. Why are Afghans considered as illegal immigrants? Thousands of Afghans were put onto planes in August 2021, treated not as people but as problems to be managed. These were allies who served the U.S., people who risked their lives for promises of solidarity and safety. They did not arrive here illegally; they came because they were invited because they were owed. Yet today, they are dehumanized, left in a cruel limbo—floating in a void of fear, uncertainty, and abandonment, victims once again of partisan politics that treat Afghan lives as disposable. Why are Afghan lives so undervalued? Why must their dignity, their humanity, be questioned again and again? I don’t know if I’m more sad, angry, helpless, or hopeless—or if I am all of these at once…

I’ve only voted twice in my life, and the last time was in Afghanistan’s 2019 presidential election. I remember the fear—the constant threat of explosions or Taliban attacks had paralyzed the whole country. According to UN, over 100 security incidents were recorded that day, with more than 277 civilian casualties. I thought I might not make it home. But I went, and I voted. In the U.S., voting is so much easier. So, make your voice heard. Your vote matters—not just for the U.S. but for global affairs. #Vote2024 #USAElection2024 #USAElections2024 #Election2024

It is again that day and again that hour my sister 💔 Difficult Year, Lost Dreams @NKhalilAhmad search.app/YPpz4fa6fNbwHC…