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Typed out the article in question from Metro World News:

Uprisings in the Middle East have been called a feminist revolution, but for the past several years women have quietly been gaining more freedom – through sports. Today the Arab world is abuzz with female football players, track and field athletes, even weightlifters.

Article by Elisabeth Braw in Metro World News

Honey Thaljieh loves watching international football from her home in Bethlehem. Soon, Thaljieh herself might play on global television: She’s the founder of a new Palestinian women’s soccer team.

“In the beginning it was very difficult,” recalls Thaljieh, 26, who also founded the West Bank’s first female football team seven years ago. Today, there are no less than 16 Palestinian female outdoor teams and 10 indoor teams.

Welcome to the revolution. “During the past five to 10 years, we’ve witnessed success stories in the Muslim world,” explains Sertaç Sehlikoglu, a Turkish PhD student in social anthropoplogy who runs the blog Muslim Women in Sports (muslimwomeninsports.blogspot.com)

“Love of sport seems to be female athlete’ primary motivation. They also want to gain physical strength and become fit. Many of them are interested in sports for self-defence purposes, which they hope will provide them a higher self-esteem.”

Today, nine Middle Eastern countries, including the UAE, Qatar and Iran, have women’s football or futsal (indoor football) leagues.

“People used to think that football was a strange European thing,” says Farrah Sheikh, a 19-year-old who plays in Dubai’s women’s league.

“I had to get special permission to play football in school. Now people are getting used to us playing, though at my university the women’s team is only allowed to play indoors, while the men have two outdoor fields.”

Thaljieh sets her aim on the 2016 Olympics. “Of course we’re not as good as other Arab countries, because we don’t have good facilities to practice in,” she says. “I want to improve women’s chances of doing sports.”

But she has another goal, too. “People think of us Palestinians as terrorists. I want to show them that we’re peaceful and well-educated.”

Quote from Thaljieh: “People said it wasn’t a game for women. Some thought men would look at us in our T-shirts.”

On the same page:

Girl Power: “Women’s Success Is Valuable”

This spring Turkey’s Nurcan Taylan won three gold medals at the European weightlifting championships. Along with Iran, Turkey has the region’s most female athletes.

Bahrain also actively promotes female sports, though women point out that male athletes still receive more money.

Last year, Bahrain hosted the world’s first Women’s Football Cup Arabia.

“There were over 50 female athletes from the Middle East in the last Paralympics in Beijing, China,” said Sertac Sehlikoglu.

“We can certainly expect more women from the Middle East in the 2012 Olympics. Especially since the female athletes’ success in the South Asian Games last year, several Middle Eastern countries have realized that women’s success is valuable for their country.”

On the same page:

Headscarves:

Iran’s football association is on the warpath with FIFA, which bans female players from wearing headscarves. The Middle East’s top female athlete, Ghada Shouaa, is a Christian. But her sisters’ success has created a new market: Athletic gear for Muslim women. For instance, Montreal designer Elham Seyed Javad has created a “sports hijab.”