[Peace-discuss] Fwd: Afghan Activist Decries U.S. Bombing - Chicago Tribune

[Al Kagan]

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>Date: Sat, 10 Nov 2001 10:44:55 +0400
>From: Fiona Hunt <Fiona.Hunt at zu.ac.ae>
>Subject: Fwd: Afghan Activist Decries U.S. Bombing - Chicago Tribune
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>Dear Subscribers,
>
>This post does not have a direct connection with the WTO or 
>corporate globalization, but it is an interesting and important 
>posting, and so I am sending it to the list.  As you are no doubt 
>aware, Afghani women have been living under a reign of "terror" for 
>years.  Please read this posting if you find a minute to do so. 
>Regards, Fiona
>
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>The Chicago Tribune					   November 9, 2001
>
>Afghan Activist Decries U.S. Bombing
>
>      Woman Presents Sober Lessons on Impact of War
>
>      by David Mendell
>
>Dressed stylishly in a gray turtleneck, black knit jacket and suede leather
>skirt, the Middle Eastern woman could have been mistaken for just another
>American college undergrad as she stepped to the podium in a University of
>Chicago lecture hall Thursday evening.
>
>But Tahmeena Faryal, as she calls herself, is visiting Chicago this week not
>to receive an education, but to give one--a sad, sober lesson about her
>native Afghanistan.
>
>History of persecution
>
>Her first message: The people of Afghanistan, particularly women, have been
>persecuted for too long, and America's bombing campaign is only making their
>lives worse. The bombs must stop falling, she said, or the entire country
>will be so damaged psychologically and physically that it will take
>generations to recover.
>
>"We are more than a month [into the bombing] and we have seen hundreds of
>civilian casualties, but what are the positives?" she asked. "We want to
>combat terrorism, but not by bombing the innocent people of Afghanistan."
>
>Faryal is one of 2,000 members of the Revolutionary Association of the Women
>of Afghanistan, or RAWA, a political advocacy group based in Pakistan that
>has agitated for nearly 25 years to gain basic rights for women--and men--in
>Afghanistan.
>
>She arrived in the United States shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks to
>increase foreign support, financial and otherwise, for RAWA.
>
>Her visit to Chicago is sponsored by a variety of human and civil rights
>groups.
>
>Founded in 1977 in Kabul, RAWA is one of the most daring and controversial
>groups operating in the region. Its founding member, Meena, was killed by
>fundamentalists and the Russian KGB in 1987, according to the group.
>
>It is most famous for covertly filming atrocities committed against women
>and circulating the footage through its Web site (rawa.org) and the media.
>Members also operate underground schools for women in Afghanistan.
>
>Although she has appeared regularly in the media since her arrival, Faryal
>wants her visit to be as secret as possible because she worries her life
>will be at risk when she returns to Pakistan. She allows no photographs of
>her face and requests that her public appearances be known only to invited
>guests. Her name is fictional and used by many RAWA members.
>
>RAWA, which now operates primarily out of Pakistan, is highly political, not
>just humanitarian, and she could be targeted, she said.
>
>Family fled to Pakistan
>
>Since the early 1990s, women have been systematically beaten, terrorized and
>oppressed in her native country, which she left as a child when her parents
>moved to Pakistan to flee Soviet invaders. She said the situation first
>deteriorated during the Russian invasion in the 1980s and worsened under the
>rule of the "misogynistic and ignorant" Taliban, who came to power in 1996.
>
>The inhumane details now have been widely reported: Women were banned from
>work and forbidden to leave their homes without being shrouded in clothing,
>called a burqa, and accompanied by a male. They have been denied schooling,
>medical care and been forced into marriage, according to human rights
>organizations.
>
>"The women feel helpless, hopeless, and I am worried that their lives are
>getting even worse," she said, estimating that there are 70,000 widows in
>Kabul alone.
>
>"For many women there, there is no option left but begging and prostitution.
>They have no breadwinner. They see no future for themselves or their
>children. I talked to a woman who said she would rather commit suicide than
>beg for a living. But she had children and she could not commit suicide
>because she had to support them."
>
>But the bombing has only deepened the suffering, Faryal said. She advocated
>that the United States combat terrorism through United Nations diplomacy and
>the sanctioning of countries that aid terrorists.
>
>Finding allies in U.S.
>
>Despite RAWA's anti-war stance, she said she has found much support for her
>organization in the United States--and that has encouraged her immensely.
>
>"This is a situation that cannot last for a very long time," she said.
>"There is a ray of light at the end of the darkness, I believe. We have
>found committed supporters all over the world and, because of this, I
>believe the people of Afghanistan will have freedoms again someday."

-- 


Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu