Afghan women as force and Reason

Never has the situation been worse for women in Afghanistan. Any woman who holds public office, who has a non-traditional job or who fights for women's rights may well be murdered--many already have been. Rape, trafficking, honor killings, and suicides are all at unprecedented levels. Girls going to school are poisoned, have acid thrown in their faces, and their schools are burned to the ground. At the same time as Afghan women's security, safety, freedom and very lives are being destroyed, their struggle for freedom is seen by those in power as a diversion that threatens Afghanistan's shaky ruling coalition and delays stability.

As the U.S. ratchets up the war there (see Obama's Afghanistan surge) what we are for is the deepest solidarity that comprehends that Afghan women embody the revolutionary force and Reason necessary to transform their society into one that meets their needs, one that is based on new human relations.

SOME FEMINIST SQUABBLES

Given the need for this level of solidarity, it is disturbing that Sonali Kolhatkar, founder and host of "Uprising Radio," a progressive program that takes up global issues often concentrating on women's struggles, and Mariam Rawi, a writer and member of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, have launched on the website AlterNet an attack on the Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF), dedicated to women's equality, reproductive health, and non-violence.

Kolhatkar and Rawi attack the FMF for calling for the expansion of peacekeeping forces in Afghanistan. They use that information to show that U.S. intervention in Afghanistan has not helped women, but the exact opposite. The FMF does not deny the charge, but protests that if the U.S. pulls out, things will only get worse for women and girls in Afghanistan, and they document their considerable history of helping Afghan women, including sounding the alarm about the deadly Taliban as far back as 1996.

Both sides claim their stances come from Afghan women--Eleanor Smeal and Helen Cho, writing for FMF, base themselves on the director of the Afghan Independent Commission on Human Rights, Dr. Sima Samar. Kolhatkar and Rawi quote one sentence from Malalai Joya, who first spoke out at the Loya Jirga in 2004 and has been bravely speaking out ever since.

While I certainly agree with Kolhatkar and Rawi, that the sooner the U.S. military leaves Afghanistan the better, their argument is troublesome in several ways. First, in a patronizing statement they make a false dichotomy between sexist culture, what they call "patriarchy," and the war: "Sadly, as horrifying as the status of women in Afghanistan may sound to those of us who live in the West, the biggest problems faced by Afghan women are not related to patriarchy. Their biggest problem is war." Rather than counterpose these horrors--which means that first you must get rid of the U.S. and then you can fight male chauvinism--it is important to see that Afghan women fight both at once. That is because war always exacerbates the sexism inherent in all cultures, including in Afghan culture.

Second, they treat an entire women's liberation movement--one that exists in Afghanistan as well as the U.S.--as if it can be characterized by one, albeit one important, organization: "That is why it was so discouraging to learn that the Feminist Majority Foundation has lent its good name--and the good name of feminism in general--to advocate for further troop escalation and war." Yet there are many feminist organizations who disagree with the FMF keep-U.S.-troops-in-Afghanistan stance.

Third, their solution is not just a U.S. withdrawal, but a confusing, unexplained "negotiated settlement": "The first step toward improving people's lives is a negotiated settlement to end the war." Who is to negotiate with whom? The U.S. with the U.S.-puppet Northern Alliance warlords, whose previous reign was so brutal that the Afghan people first welcomed the Taliban as a better alternative? The inhuman Taliban with the equally horrible Northern Alliance? All three? Exactly how is that a solution? Or is it that what is most important to Kolhatkar and Rawi is that "the first step" is for the U.S. to get out?

While Afghan women fight and suffer, now is not the time for the old left cant that the "real enemy is U.S. imperialism," which gives homegrown thugs and dictators a free pass. While the withdrawal of U.S. troops is what most Afghan citizens are calling for--and we demand it as well--what is equally important is our continued deep solidarity with the aspirations of Afghan women for total freedom.

PASSIONATE SOLIDARITY REQUIRED

Afghan women have articulated for themselves in many speeches, acts of bravery, and forums what they are fighting for. One example is the Afghan Women's Bill of Rights, drafted by 45 ethnically diverse women from every region of Afghanistan. Each article was debated by all and unanimously agreed upon. Here are only a few of its 16 demands: mandatory education for women through secondary school and opportunities for all women for higher education; up-to-date health services with special attention to reproductive rights; security for women; the prevention and criminalization of sexual harassment publicly and in the home; freedom of speech; freedom to vote and run for office; full inclusion of women in the judiciary system; and minimum marriageable age set at 18 years.

Any movement forward for Afghanistan will come from women and others who are fighting the U.S. and their own internal sexist culture and rulers, with their hearts and minds determined to create freedom.

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