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Contents:
What Women Are Saying about the Violence in the Middle East, by Lucinda Marshall
Iraq: Women Attacked for Removing Headscarves, NGO Says
Towards a Better Future for Women: War on Domestic Violence in Palestine, by Benaz Somiry-Batrawi, WIFP Associate
Statement of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom Regarding Possible Use of Nuclear Weapon
Bush's Nuclear Proliferation: Dangerous and Costly
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What Women Are Saying about the Violence in the Middle East
By Lucinda Marshall
September 11, 2006
http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2006-09/11marshall.cfm ZNet Commentary
There has been no shortage of punditry when it comes to the current crisis in the Middle East, however most of the published and broadcast voices have been male. If there is to be any hope of a sustainable peace in this region it is critically important to also listen to what women are saying.
As Professor Cynthia Enloe has pointed out many times, we must ask how armed conflict and militarism affects women. How are their lives impacted, what are their needs, and what are their thoughts. Unfortunately, every time anyone fires a rocket or a gun, real news about women and what they are saying (not to be confused with sensationalized coverage such as the Jon Benet Ramsey 'story') is almost completely blacked out. We get a few pictures of anguished women holding dead children and husbands, but mostly we see pictures of tanks, mobs of men and the voices of generals and politicians, with only a token woman or 2 thrown in to 'balance' the picture.
While many women have offered thoughtful and intelligent analyses of what is happening in the Middle East, very few of these voices have made their way on to the Op Ed pages. One of the exceptions is a piece by Nobel Peace Prize winners Shirin Ebadi and Jody Williams that appeared in the International Herald Tribune http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/07/31/opinion/edebadi.php , where the authors write,
"We do not understand how the international community can continue to stand by while entire populations are held hostage in what has been described as "self defense."
No deliberate attacks against civilians by armed groups should be condoned by the international community, either explicitly or implicitly through inaction. Every new attack leaves dead and wounded in its wake. Every new attack makes another woman a widow and more children orphans. Every new attack demonstrates the inability or unwillingness of governments to exercise their moral obligation to stop the violence. Every new attack underscores our collective failure to stop making violence our preferred choice for confronting the problems facing us all."
In a piece originally published by Newsday http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0804-27.htm , author and Holocaust survivor Silvia Tennenbaum makes these wise observations about the Jewish response to violence between Israel and its neighbors,
"No matter what great accomplishments were ours in the diaspora, no matter that we produced Maimonides and Spinoza, Moses Mendelssohn and hundreds of others of mankind's benefactors - not a warrior among them! - look at the world of our long exile always in the dark light of the Shoah. But this, in itself, is an obscene distortion: Would the author of "Survival in Auschwitz," Primo Levi, or the poet Paul Celan demand that we slaughter the innocents in a land far from the snow-clad forests of Poland? Is it a heroic act to murder a child, even the child of an enemy? Are my brethren glad of it and proud?"
Tennenbaum concludes,
"The time is long overdue for Jews to return to their role as the world's conscience, who come to the aid of the dispossessed, the wretched of the earth. Once again, we must join those who demand the end to unjust wars - in Iraq as well as Lebanon - and an unjust occupation in Gaza. We must honor the example of American civil rights workers Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, not that of the mass murderer Baruch Goldstein or Yigal Amir, killer of Yitzhak Rabin."
Finally, in a Letter to the Editor of the New York Times, published August 10, 2006, Gila Svirsky, co-founder of the Coalition of Women for Peace writes about Israelis who oppose the violence:
"There is a continuing, vocal and visible Israeli opposition to the war. Every day, the Women Against War Movement holds vigils in three cities: Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa " yes, Haifa, even under shelling. Every Saturday, we hold mass marches through Tel Aviv, the most recent one 5,000 strong."
Other women, such as activist Kathy Kelly, co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, have found voice in the alternative media of the web. Kelly addresses the futility of violence in "Approaching a Ceasefire" http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0814-28.htm , one of several of her essays that have been published in Common Dreams.
"If equipping an area with weapons, including nuclear weapons, was a reliable way to ensure security, Israel and Palestine would be paradise by now. Has the U.S. policy toward Israel safeguarded homes and towns in northern Israel in this sorry saga of spiraling hatred?" She continues:
"How desperately we need trustworthy advocates of unarmed conflict resolution, dare I say nonviolence, who can lead us, the willing and unwilling "displaced," to a place wherein we reclaim our collective capacity to share resources, live simply, and put an end to war."
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Numerous women's organizations from around the world have also weighed in on the violence in the Middle East, however these statements remain all but invisible to the general public, circulating primarily by internet listserv.
The Canadian Voice of Women for Peace offers these thoughts in a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Harper,
"Where parties will not talk directly together, we urge on-going shuttle diplomacy " Track 1 or 11 or both " where a small number of men and women, governmental or non-governmental, familiar with the nuances of the conflict could be selected to carry demands and responses back & forth. We warn of a failure to consider this: In WW1 this shuttle diplomacy was done exhaustively and exclusively by non-governmental women led by Canadian Julia Grace Wales. All heads of state visited thought it a fine process but in the end dismissed it in favour of letting the war "run its course. The lesson should be very clear. "Run its course" meant MILLIONS of deaths, unfathomable costs, and ensured the cycle of revenge."
And a statement by the Australian Section of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) points out that,
"A just solution is possible to the conflicts between the Israeli, the Lebanese and Palestinian peoples but can only come when the peoples' representatives come to the negotiating table with a commitment to achieving a good life for all the peoples involved, not for one people seeking profit, privilege and advantage at the expense of the other. Only in this way can nation states finally emerge that truly respect each other."
And further, ".if past injustices are accepted as sufficient reason to oppress and kill others, then there never can be an end to war and oppression."
Several women's organizations have also pointed out that in resolving the violence in the Middle East, it is critically important that U.N. Security Council Resolution 1325 be followed. In a letter of appeal for an end to the bloodshed, the International Coordinators and Board Members of Peace Women Across the Globe write,
"We appeal to the Israeli government and all parties to the conflict to meet at the negotiating table to begin a serious, multilaterally negotiated, peace process. We also demand the adherence to UN Resolution 1325 that requires women be involved centrally in the formal peace process. Women are central to creating and sustaining peace in communities all around the globe."
However the voices that perhaps mean the most are those of women blogging amidst the violence in Lebanon. The excerpts below are just a few of the many, it is highly recommended that you visit these blogs and see the pictures posted there as well. Joumana, a graphic designer expresses her anguish at the carnage that is taking place around her on Hopeful Beirut http://www.hopefulbeirut.blogspot.com/ ,
"My words echo and return to me, distorted. We are all prisoners, they say - trapped in our house - in our land - in our nation. We are being isolated and left to ponder the fate of others, like us, stuck with no way out. As blasts of light fill an empty sky... and then darkness... I wonder... How many families will be offered on the altar of sacrifice? How many will leave their homes? How many will have nothing to return to? How many will not return? Today, they found people buried alive in Houla. Can anyone imagine a more torturous situation?
While I still have the comfort of my home, they were trapped under theirs, huddled together, not knowing their fate. Parents and children, sharing a cramped, dark space; the sound of lullabies filling the air as mothers sing their babies to sleep. This was their prayer... And this is mine... as long as I still find the words..."
On Beirut Update http://www.beirutupdate.blogspot.com/ , Zena writes about how war transforms lives."In the beginning of war, one is concerned about their personal safety... then after a few days, you realize that you are still alive.. so your thoughts then go out to those around you... you start spending your time trying to help others in need... then you reach out and start thinking about all those who are dying or being displaced...
you try and help them.. if you can't, you end up spending all your time thinking about them.. writing about them.. then you realize how much time has gone by.. how much you miss your old life... you try and pick up a few pieces.. you try and give yourself some personal time during the day to do the stuff you miss doing... then you start to feel selfish... i went to the studio, but i could not work. i will try again. and again. until something happens."
And a woman writing under the pen name of 'Delirious' writes about what 'normal' means in a time of war at Life or Something Like It. http://computeraidedelirium.blogspot.com/
"In a normal world, the masses would not be slumbering while their fellow human beings are being killed. (I wonder, how does everyone still go about their business normally? Do they wake up, switch on the news, and go: "Oh, it's these Arabs and Jews that are killing each other again, pfffffff.... bo-ring. Hummm... what am I going to wear today?")
In a normal world, the UN would be something other than just a prefix for the world UNABLE.
In a normal world, the media would not be biased or misinformed. (too many examples to link to here, but you all know what I'm talking about -- here's one anyways).
In a normal world, children and infants would not constitute 1/3 of killed civilians in a war.
In a normal world, a cease-fire would have been decreed a long time ago.
In a normal world, humanitarian convoys would not be bombed, and fuel would be allowed to reach port at least to prevent hospitals from shutting down.
In a normal world, bombs would not be dubbed as birth pangs of a New Middle East (Rice's now infamous metaphor).
In a normal world, an end to all this madness would have been sought a long time ago, instead of finger-pointing and more destruction.
But then... who am I to define what is normal?"
One wonders if things would be different if these were the predominant voices that were being heard?
Footnote: Women in Lebanon and Gaza are in urgent need of humanitarian aid. Donations to specifically help women in these war-torn areas can be made by visiting Madre, www.madre.org. The Global Fund for Women also has links to organizations working in these areas, http://www.globalfundforwomen.org/work/programs/middle-east-crisis.html.
The Coalition of Women for Peace in Israel is also in need of contributions to carry on their urgent efforts to end the violence, http://coalitionofwomen.org/home.
Lucinda Marshall is a feminist artist, writer and activist. She is the Founder of the Feminist Peace Network, www.feministpeacenetwork.org. Her work has been published in numerous publications in the U.S. and abroad including, Counterpunch, Alternet, Dissident Voice, Off Our Backs, The Progressive, Countercurrents, Z Magazine , Common Dreams and Information Clearinghouse. She blogs at WIMN Online.
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BAGHDAD, 7 Mar 2006 (IRIN) - Since the fall of Saddam Hussein in early 2003, the number of women attacked for choosing not to wear head scarves and veils has more than tripled, according to the Women’s Rights Association (WRA), a local NGO in the capital, Baghdad.
“Women are being killed because they don’t wear headscarves and veils,” said WRA spokeswoman Mayada Zuhair. “A life is being taken because of a simple piece of cloth, and someone should prevent more women from being killed by these ignorant people who that believe honour depends on what you’re wearing.”
According to WRA, there have been 80 attacks to date against women and reports of four women being killed by their families in 2005. This is compared too 22 attacks between 1999 and March 2003 and one death.
“Women’s interest in using headscarves/veils in Iraq has decreased, not because they’ve forgotten their religion, but because, when Saddam’s regime was ousted, modernism and development stood before us and everyone wanted to be part of the change,” Zuhair maintained. “Not wearing the headscarf/veil is one of the characteristics of modernisation.”
Zuhair explained that the choice not to wear headscarves is much more pronounced in the capital because society there is more open to modernisation. This is opposed to the south of the country, where traditional family life has changed very little since the war in 2003.
“It’s difficult to say how many women wear headscarves and veils,” Zuhair added. “But, before 2003, roughly, seven out of 10 were wearing scarves and coverings, whereas now, four in 10 do.”
The three recent deaths happened in and around the capital, according to Zuhair. Two of them were single girls found walking in local markets without the covering, while the other two were married women who had abandoned their scarves and veils after marriage at the request of their husbands, Zuhair explained.
Often, women receive threats but are too afraid to seek help from organisations such as the WRA, Zuhair said. In many cases, fearing reprisals, women who feel threatened will ask a friend to approach the association for them, she added. Some women have reportedly been kept prisoners in their own homes or have received threats from parents or relatives.
Occasionally, the WRA has requested protection for women from police, but conservative social attitudes often prevent what is commonly viewed as “interference” in private matters. “Police interference is very difficult. In most cases, the husband is the one who has to search for help because we can’t interfere in issues related to traditional values,” Zuhair noted. “The husband is the only one who has this right.”
According to Sheikh Ali Muthilak, a spokesman at the Rahman mosque in Baghdad, women become the “property” of their husbands after marriage. “The husband makes decisions about their lives,” he said. “Sometimes you get the impression that women are vegetables that can be easily exchanged, without feelings or ideas.”
Compounding the problem, the law allows for abuses against women, say women’s rights activists. The Iraqi Penal Code, for example, states that "the penalty for killing a woman should be reduced if a crime was committed for reasons of honour". A so-called “honour killing” is where a woman’s relative kills her for what is described as an act which brings dishonour to the family. Not covering up, according to Zuhair, can be perceived as such an act.
Yehia Abdul Salam, 37, says his wife was strangled by her father in Baquba, some 70 km north of the capital. “My wife, Leila, was killed by her father because she went to visit him without her veil, which I asked her to take off after our marriage,” said Salam.
“They [the parents] thought she had destroyed the honour of her family, and death was her penalty.” Leila’s father has never been investigated for the crime, Salam added.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi police describe the issue as “delicate,” involving a volatile mix of religion and tradition cultivated by Iraqi Muslim families for decades. “We’re in a Muslim country… if you interfere in family cases concerning veils, you’re considered a betrayer of Islam,” explained police officer Ali Zacarias. “We cannot touch such cases.”
Rahman Ala’a, a senior official in the interior ministry, blamed the constitution for not setting down women’s rights more clearly. “For the police to interfere in women’s rights issues, we need to have it well explained in the constitution, which at present doesn’t address such issues,” he said.
Zuhair concluded that the challenge was therefore left to Iraqi women to assert their rights for themselves.
Towards a Better Future for Women: War on Domestic Violence in Palestine
By Benaz Somiry-Batrawi WIFP Associate
Women, like any other Palestinian, have for long been subject to all sorts of Israeli violence including killing, injuries, and arrests. Under such circumstances of insecurity and absence of law and order women also are subject to other sorts of violence including the so-called honor killing.
According to the Women' s Center for Legal Aid and Counseling, 33 cases were found in police records during 2002 that were mostly committed by family members. Maha Abu Dayyeh, Director of WCLAC: "there is a clear link between the Israeli occupation and the level of domestic violence, one can see a systematic destruction of the human being under the Israeli occupation
An opinion poll conducted by the Working Women Society for Development in 2002 shows that the level of domestic violence had risen by 86.9% compared to previous years. This alarming fact rings the bell for the dramatic situation Palestinian society is going through since the eruption of the current Intifada in September 2000.
Abused women and children find it difficult to report violence committed against them, due to the sensitivity of the issue since Palestinian culture considers as a family matter that is usually solved internally, if solved at all. Others, who are willing to speak out, rarely find a place to report to in a male-dominant society.
Responding to this need a number of Palestinian women organizations initiated the launch of an open telephone line where abused women and children can call for advice or help and sometimes for shelter.
I'tidal Jareery, Open Line Counselor at the WWSD states that although she is noticing an increase in the number of phone calls asking for help in the last three years, she still believes that all the society-provided services are not enough, "women need protection, the existing two safety houses are not enough, they are small and need more security in addition to a better trained staff" she added.
For decades women organizations have worked continuously to fight for the protection of women and children, but in many cases these organizations find it difficult to protect those raped or sexually assaulted. Even social and legal workers are sometimes afraid to intervene due to the lack of the legal support they need to conduct their work, due to the lack of implementation of laws dealing with such cases.
Despite all threats, women organizations have stepped their action and are now working in cooperation with the Ministry of Women's Affairs that was recently established to build a shelter for abused women and children.
According to Maha Abu Dayyeh, the need for a shelter is a must "since our work at the Women' s Center for Legal Aid and Counseling involves women's issues such as divorce, custody rights, honor killing, and domestic violence, our social workers and lawyers find that building a shelter for abused women and children is badly needed." The shelter explains Abu Dayyeh "is not the first one of its kind in Palestine, but the modernist, largest, and best equipped."
Designed to host 35 women with their children, the shelter is expected to be completed in two years and will be built in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. Funded by the Italian Cooperation, the project will be run by several parties including WCLAC, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Ministry of Women's Affairs.
The newly established Ministry of Women's Affairs will play a key role in securing the proper shelter for abused women and campaign against domestic violence says Minister of Women's Affairs Zahira Kamal "the community should be sensitized about domestic violence and the importance of having such a shelter. Abused women should go through a rehabilitation process in order to get back to their families and get integrated in the society rather than be isolated."
Work with local communities, believes Minister Kamal, is one approach but most important is the ratification of relevant legislations for the protection of women and children "as a Minsiter for women's affairs, I will work on legislations like the family law and civil law and will lobby with Palestinian law-makers whether secular or religious."
The establishment of the Ministry, explains Kamal "came due to the urgency to fight discrimination against women, and in response to the massive pressure from women directories in the different Palestinian ministries as well as other civil society organizations."
Statement of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom Regarding Possible Use of Nuclear Weapon 1213 Race Street Philadelphia, PA 19107
We, in the United State Section of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), are outraged by the recent secret report prepared by the Pentagon, at the administration's request, regarding possible use of nuclear weapon against seven targeted countries including China, Russia, Iraq, North Korea, Iran, Libya and Syria, and the proposal to bring a new generation of weapons of mass destruction to battlefield situations.
First of all, it is appalling to note that the leaders of this country have not learned the lesson of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Did more than 210 thousand people die in vain a half a century ago? Regardless of the nature of international conflicts, use of nuclear weapon is not acceptable not by a rogue state, or by the United States. The United Nations has worked and many treaties have been signed to discourage research, testing, production, and further proliferation of nuclear weapons. Disregarding these treaties is affront to basic human decency.
There is a general understanding that efforts should be made to work with other countries including some of the targeted nations, to eliminate terrorism. Threatening these countries with possible use of "tactical nuclear weapons" will destroy any credibility and any chance of developing normal diplomatic relations based on the mutual trust.
This hostile posture of George Bush will adversely affect potential trade relationships that the US tax payers have supported over years and nullify much of the work that has been done by the US diplomats since President Nixon reopened the trade relationship with China and other countries. Instead, we would see even greater arms race, in this post cold war era.
Increased production of radioactive weapons would increase risk of contracting cancer and other diseases connected to radioactive contamination in US soil, water and air posing immediate dangers to the residents of this country.
There will be a grave danger that nations bearing unfriendly notions against our country will be even more emboldened to go forward with their hostile actions, and the US people will be exposed to escalating NATIONAL INSECURITY, and the added danger of presumed retaliation, possibly even greater than the attacks perpetrated on September 11.
Therefore, as the oldest peace activist organization of women we are committed to take a leadership role in protesting the preposterous war making activities conducted by the current administration. We were compelled to issue this statement because we deeply love our country and the people in it.
Originally drafted by WILPF Disarmament Campaign Cochairs
[Following is a statement of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy & Socialism (CCDS) 116 West 111th Street NY, NY 10026 (212) 663-3526; national@cc-ds.org]
We should be clear about the meaning and consequences of the Bush Administration's recent Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) targeting seven nations--Russia, China, Syria, Iran, North Korea, Libya, and Iraq--with weapons of mass destruction.
First, it will shatter the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which guarantees that nuclear-armed nations will never use such weapons against those with no nuclear capacity. That pledge is at the heart of the Treaty. Non-nuclear nations will only adhere to non- proliferation if they are assured that the major powers will not attempt nuclear blackmail or target them in the case of war. But the NPR proposes not only to target non-nuclear nations, but also to use such weapons in the event of a war between China and Taiwan, North and South Korea, or Israel and Iraq. Indeed, the document proposes launching nuclear weapons in response to "surprising military developments," a term so vague that it could cover virtually any American military setback. Under such a threat, non-nuclear nations will have no choice but to develop their own nuclear weapons.
Second, the NPR calls for creation of a whole new generation of so-called "bunker busting" nuclear weapons. Since no nation will deploy such weapons without testing them, the U.S. will have to violate the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which has been so successful in slowing the development of new and deadlier weapons. Again, other nations could well think they have no choice but to violate the Treaty as well, reigniting a global nuclear arms race.
If one adds to this the Bush Administration's abrogation of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, and its recent plan to stop destroying decommissioned warheads and to store them instead--a violation of the Strategic Arms Limitation Agreement--the White House has succeeded in dismantling every single major nuclear treaty on the books.
The consequences abroad are obvious: The world is going to become a much more dangerous place.
There are tradeoffs on the home front as well. Ramping up the nuclear weapons industry will not only cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars; it will spread a deadly shroud of nuclear wastes across our communities. Each year the U.S. military produces 500,000 tons of hazardous wastes, more than the five top chemical companies combined. It generates 99 percent of all high level nuclear wastes and 75 percent of all low level wastes. The new NPR will significantly increase these dangerous poisons.
Instability abroad, peril and economic crisis at home is the meaning of this new policy. It must be challenged.
In the interests of both world stability and its own constituents, the Congress must oppose an Administration that has cavalierly violated legally binding treaties, eviscerated social programs to pay for military spending, and is even now planning a new war against Iraq. Resisting this madness will require Congress to rejoin the vertebrates, put the brakes on our unconscionable military buildup, and to begin representing the people in this country who are rapidly losing their right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
The Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism appeals to progressive and peace-loving people everywhere to urgently take steps to register opposition to the plans of the Bush Administration and to insist that political leaders and elected officials take effective action to counter this threat to the well-being of the planet.
