How an Iraqi widow's resistance became a symbol of hope

(The Christian Science Monitor) When Khalid Ismael got a desperate call from an army friend saying militants had surrounded him and five other soldiers, Ismael’s mother didn’t hesitate. Alia Khalaf al-Jabouri ordered Ismael to take his sister and drive through 30 miles of enemy territory to rescue them.

The sister was there for a reason: the extremists known as the Islamic State weren’t stopping vehicles with women. 

“I told Khalid ‘you have to go—Iraq needs its sons,’” said al-Jabouri, known as Um Qusay.