Malala faces backlash for working with Hillary Clinton on Broadway musical

Malala Yousafzai, a prominent Pakistani activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has come under fire for working with former US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton on a new Broadway musical.

The Musical, entitled 'Suffs', is about women's suffrage and follows the history of the fight for women’s right to vote, going back to the early 1900s.

Following the announcement of the musical production, many social media users hit out at Yousafzai.

"Very cool that Malala is working alongside the former Secretary of State who supported the CIA drone wars that killed and maimed countless in northern Pakistan, destroying access to education…" said journalist Sana Saeed on X.

"Celebrity activists are picked and chosen for a reason by elites – they serve the general function of providing proximity to ‘doing good’ for those who otherwise leech on this world and its vulnerable. They also can be trusted to never harangue oppressors with power," she added.

The New Arab reached out to Yousafzai for comments.

Very cool that Malala is working alongside the former Secretary of State who supported the CIA drone wars that killed & maimed countless in Northern Pakistan, destroying access to education; a former SoS who is actively supporting the genocide in Gaza right now.

Malala herself… pic.twitter.com/2EZygmihen

— Sana Saeed (@SanaSaeed) April 22, 2024

Malala rose to prominence after a masked Taliban gunman boarded her school bus in October 2012 and shot her in the left side of her head. Since arriving in the UK after the shooting, she has been an outspoken education activist.

When the Taliban took over Swat in northwestern Pakistan, where Yousafzai is from, the US government, where Hillary Clinton was in charge, oversaw a deadly campaign of drone strikes which claimed the lives of children like Yousafzai.

Others also highlighted Yousafzai’s apparent silence on Israel’s indiscriminate bombardment of Gaza, which has killed over 34,000 Palestinians.

"Couldn’t have paid me to believe that in 2024, during an openly broadcasted genocide in Palestine, it’d be Greta Thunberg courageously standing on business, while Malala is doing this abhorrent s***," another social media user wrote.

Others said they were once supporters of Yousafzai, but could no longer defend her.

"Malala said drone attacks are fuelling terrorism and killing innocents. She’s now partnering with Hillary Clinton, who oversaw the drone campaign. She exposed her double standards with Palestine and can safely be called a pawn for the imperial powers," one person said on X.  

The musical marks Yousafzai’s debut in co-producing the musical, where she is also serving as an ambassador and promoting it.

Israel’s war on Gaza has plunged the enclave into a deep humanitarian crisis.

Hospitals, residential buildings, schools, and other infrastructure have been targeted by missiles and bombs, while thousands have been rendered internally displaced.