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| Page Views: 3,321 | let there be love, let there be peace by irisbe - last update: Sep 3, 2007 |
| Rawa received a doctorate honores |
|  | RAWA, a cry for help from a liberated Afghanistan In May 2003 our University of Antwerp honoured the Afghan women organisation RAWA with a doctorate as recognition for their hazardeous work they do to protect women and children in the so called "liberated Afghanistan".
One dictator was replaced by other warlords. Just 4 weeks before the 11th of September the prevous one was donated 40 millions dollars by ? ... After the barbarian attack on the Twin Towers, Afghanistan was attacked. Osama Bin Laden was there and needed to be captured.
In the mean time it would be good to resettle the old regime by boys who would dance to the same rhythm as the liberators.
The planned and oh so wanted oil pipelines in the North could finally be arranged then.
The bad situation of the women could add to the humanitarian part to sell all this to the public.
Three necessarily ingredients, that you will find in any of these kind of actions, were present:
profit (oil) + creating fear (possible near future terrorist attacks on the homecountry) + humanitary help (in this case the terrible situation of the Afghan women).
The first 2 are prior to the last one.
It is this last one that will lose its importance once the coup is made.
It is a way to let an invasion sound to the public as doing a heroic humanitary deed and bring even euphory to those who believe they are the new police and peace keepers of the world.
Sadly enough, even in Afghanistan, it is proofed that the last part was soon to be of no importance anymore.
The women are treathed as bad as before.
The new government consists out of ex-warlords who just traded their uniform by civil cloths.
Women's lives are still at risk!
They can not go on the street alone (the only female minister better don't drive her car alone!).
They started up schools but they are regularly victim of terrorist attacks. Schools suffer granate or bomb attacks.
The RAWA ppl are secretly spreading clothing for women and children.
Cloths that are gathered together and donated by organisation as Unicef etc, are not of much use as they are so Western, that you will be eye catching and risk to be harassed.
You better wear that burka or risk to get attacked on the street or hear (in the best case) veil languange.
Medical help is organised secretly by the women and they organized a private healthcare for women and children as they can not go to any other place for medical help.
The pictures one filmed in the football station where a woman got beaten to death was clandestin filmed by a RAWA member. Risking their lives.
The "liberators"new about this situation long before the 11th September attack, yet ignored it and donated that cruel regime lots of money!
Now that they have more or less control over Afghanistan... everything returns to the previous situation, which is VERY WOMEN UNFRIENDLY!
There for, for risking their lives (the founder of Rawa was brutally murdered), and for not giving up, even not now, they deserved a recognition of all of us!
When the represent of RAWA held her speach, believe me, tears were falling in that huge Aula!
We were all touched and feeling ashamed that this could happen!
She ended however to say that they hold no hard feelings against American civilians, as they are people just like them. That it is their government that orgestrates all and that, as in many countries, sometimes that can go wrong and they will act or mislead their own civilians in order to obtain their goals.
She wished peace to all of us.
If you want to help, you can always donate money or invite a representative maybe to get you informed.
Note: Even if abroad, they have to go incognito in public because they can risk their lives when going back.
That is why she is wearing the black piece of cloth in front of her face.
Yes, it is that terrible!
Picture taken by the AV-Centrum of the UIA
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RAWA websiteRAWA support websiteThe RAWA awards (incl the doctorate at the University of Antwerp) received.
You can take an subscription to their online newsletter and be informed of what is happening in Afghanistan.
It still is a bad situation, especially for women and children, but the world stayes blind and even euphoric.
an recent article South China Morning Post, December 12, 2005
Ravina Shamdasani in Kwangju, South Korea
An Afghan rights activist has used a human rights forum to warn that despite the ousting of the hardline Taleban, women in Afghanistan are still suffering discrimination on a grand scale.
Contrary to what the world seems to believe, lifting the burqa has not eliminated the oppression, said Mariam Rawi of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA). She was speaking at last week's Kwangju Forum for Asian Human Rights in South Korea.
"There was lots of discussion in the media about women not wearing the burqa and going to schools and universities, but this was only happening in Kabul, which is where all the foreign aid agencies, journalists and peacekeeping forces were," she said
"The foreigners were not allowed to go outside of Kabul - if it is not safe for them to go, how unsafe the situation must be for the locals?
"With the burqa removed, everybody seemed to believe all the issues Afghan women were facing were suddenly finished. But the depth of the tragedy and misery of the women remains intact."
Ms Rawi said women in Afghanistan continue to be plagued by discrimination in every facet of life. Many are still not allowed to leave home or talk to men outside the family and are targeted by Islamic fundamentalist warlords who dominate many provinces. Forced marriages of young girls to elderly men continue.
Violence against women remains a serious problem, and victims of domestic violence dare not seek police assistance for fear they will be raped or beaten by officers, she said.
"People of the world should know that in the so-called 'liberated' Afghanistan, Afghan women are still suffering harshly," she said, citing the case of Amina, an Afghan woman stoned to death under a local court decree in northern Afghanistan in April this year.
"One elderly government official wanted to take a nine-year-old schoolgirl as his third wife, because his other two wives were uneducated and he wanted a literate wife."
In August, an 18-year-old girl was reportedly arrested in Herat province for running away with her boyfriend and was gang raped by officers at the police station. None of the cases documented by RAWA have been taken to court.
"The majority of women in Afghanistan are not happy - statistics show more than 95 per cent of the women have depression problems. Every 30 minutes, a woman dies in pregnancy, childbirth or from other gynaecological problems."
Ms Rawi said RAWA's main weapon against Islamic fundamentalist oppression was education. About 86 per cent of women in Afghanistan are illiterate.
"The men and women, particularly in rural areas, are ignorant and do not know the value of education. Women truly believe they were born only to serve their fathers, husbands and sons.
"Afghanistan has gone from one hell to another, from the Soviet repression to the dark period under the mujahedeen to the Taleban.
"The same fundamentalist leaders responsible for crimes under the mujahedeen have changed their clothes and their talk and are now in government." |
| | The so called liberated women of Afghanistan Once they made us believe (at least for those who are naieve enough to do so) that by bombing and "liberating" Afghanistan so many years ago, the people and especially the women in Afghanistan would be given liberation and a better life. We all know that the real reasons were oil and profit and the prevention of losing a part of the power over oil resources and let China gain theirs. But it sold well to the public... liberation of Afghan women... How much has actually been realised? Rawa, who still fights to get the news world known, is still battling against this evil against women but how much do we get to see and hear in the news? It is no hot topic anymore. No more National Geographic cover pictures to be abused in the media to buy credit from the people... no more blah blah ... it is deadly quiet now... why? because it was one of the so many excuses and not the real reason and now they have met their goal and put up Europe with the problem... it is all quiet. But if you want to stay tuned... if you want to know how things really are then visit today's site of RAWA newsletterPicture taken from the RAWA website. |
Dutch song of 1965 (sleep tight mr president) Welterusten mijnheer de president
Lennart Nijgh / Boudewijn de Groot (1965)
Mijnheer de president, welterusten.
Slaap maar lekker in je mooie witte huis.
Denk maar niet te veel aan al die verre kusten
waar uw jongens zitten, eenzaam, ver van thuis.
Denk vooral niet aan die zesenveertig doden,
die vergissing laatst met dat bombardement.
En vergeet het vierde van die tien geboden
die u als goed christen zeker kent.
Denk maar niet aan al die jonge frontsoldaten
eenzaam stervend in de verre tropennacht.
Laat die weke pacifistenkliek maar praten,
mijnheer de president, slaap zacht.
Droom maar van de overwinning en de zege,
droom maar van uw mooie vredesideaal
dat nog nooit door bloedig moorden is verkregen,
droom maar dat het u wel lukken zal dit maal.
Denk maar niet aan al die mensen die verrekken,
hoeveel vrouwen, hoeveel kinderen zijn vermoord.
Droom maar dat u aan het langste eind zult trekken
en geloof van al die tegenstand geen woord.
Bajonetten met bloedige gevesten
houden ver van hier op uw bevel de wacht
voor de glorie en de eer van het vrije westen.
Mijnheer de president, slaap zacht.
Schrik maar niet te erg wanneer u in uw dromen
al die schuldeloze slachtoffers ziet staan
die daarginds bij het gevecht zijn omgekomen
en u vragen hoe lang dit nog zo moet gaan.
En u zult toch ook zo langzaamaan wel weten
dat er mensen zijn die ziek zijn van geweld,
die het bloed en de ellende niet vergeten
en voor wie nog steeds een mensenleven telt.
Droom maar niet te veel van al die dode mensen,
droom maar fijn van overwinning en van macht.
Denk maar niet aan al die vredeswensen.
Mijnheer de president, slaap zacht.
All wars are civil wars, because all men are brothers ... Each one owes infinitely more to the human race than to the particular country in which he was born.
-- Francois Fenelon | | |
| | "Le Sud du monde ne m'intéresse pas
et je ne veux rien connaître de ce qui se trouve
plus bas que les Pyrénées " Henry Kissinger, prix Nobel de la Paix, 1969 |
vigil report 16th of March 2003 Why this vigil, why this location
The vigil was a major success. Approximately 250 people gathered together (I hoped for 100 seen the short time of organizing) at the little square called the Gemeenteplein at Mortsel, a city at 12 km from Antwerp city.
All generations were present, from the innocent very young ones to those who have suffered wars (some two World Wars!) and know what it feels like.
The square was deliberately chosen. This is the area that got hit the worst during an allied “precision bombardment” on 5th of April 1943. Almost 1000 died on that sunny afternoon, and a multitude got hit, some mutilated for life. It is the darkest day in our local history and engraved in our collective memory. The technique of precision bombing was just developing and we were among the first ones to be experimented on. Out of the 900 bombs only about 2 hit the focused target, the rest dropped on houses, busses, and, very sadly, on several schools. From all the schools that got hit, the school at the opposite side of the square, was hit the most: of the hundreds of children only 18 survived the raid, one of them is our present mayor’s mother. The school faces a monument that was put on the square, a monument for the “civil” victims of the war. Next month we will have a little ceremony again, locally. Our city government is still trying to be recognized as a city suffered during war and is applying for the “war cross” as token of this recognition. It would be a big comfort if this were offered. However, so far, this is still denied to us. I think it is because it was our liberators who bombed us. It was “friendly” bombing. (A crew of the bombing raid was celebrated in Nashville in 2001)
Hence we could not find a better location then this square to pray for peace for the sake of the population of Iraq. Isn’t “liberation of a dictator” one of the more noble reasons to justify on attack Iraq?
We know very well in Mortsel the consequences of such a war and that is perhaps the reason why the vigil was attended by so many. I am sure, given a reasonable organization time, we could have been with a thousand at least. | | |
| | vigil report part 2 How the vigil was happening
The location, at a junction of two main roads, didn’t really offered us much chance on silence.
Additionally, we felt we had to tell the world such an important message.
Between each person that told his or her message, we held a couple of minutes silence, accompanied by the soft guitar play of a participant who brought her music instrument with her.
The first quarter of an hour people were dropping by and every one was lightening their candle. We gathered together in a huge circle.
I opened the vigil with a speech that I made, explaining why this location was chosen and why we have to try to use all the peaceful possibilities to avoid this war.
Then the word was lent to one of our war veterans. His words were touching.
One of our young people came with an accurate and refreshing speech.
The mayor’s father who read a heart-breaking sonnet he created last year succeeded him. Suffered during the war his poetry is often referring to this topic. The sonnet he read will be printed out and put at the grave yard of Mortsel dorp, at the war cross and the area of this cemetery, reserved for the victims of war.
The vigil officially ended with a prayer the honorable Mr Mon van Hoof.
We ended with spontaneous singing several of our peace songs we know, accompanied by the guitarist of this evening.
The vigil lasted at least an hour, maybe little longer.
The press
A well-known local paper covers the vigil: “De gazet van Antwerpen”. They sent their photographer and the redaction called me later on that evening to ask some extra information.
I expect an article in Monday’s paper.
We got covered at the teletext edition of the Antwerp television (ATV) and by RADIO2 (probably regional). An article in a local paper is most likely to follow.
Extra pictures at higher resolution can be copied from:
http://www.fotki.com/irisbe
Got to the folder “Peace” and chose the album Vigil
Click on “see original size” and then right click your mouse and use “safe as”.
So far only the digitals are on it, in time I will put some more scanned pictures on it too.
Words of gratitude
The vigil was very peaceful and we thank our mayor and our governor to give us authorization. Many members of the city government were present as individual participants.
I also want to thank the local police for their discrete support and watching over our safety. However this could not prevent that afterwards one of our peace participant’s bicycle got stolen: a sad “reward” for this lady’s commitment towards peace. |
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 Comments for irisbe about World | | | | |
RoscoeGregg Sat Oct 24, 2009 14:47 UTC
We are just borrowing it!! I try to live that thought. When do you sleep? Happy Trails | ViajesdelMundo Tue Sep 22, 2009 00:04 UTC
You are Featured Member right now! Still love that sweet little 'Black & White' in your photo!! | Boniunia Sat Sep 5, 2009 12:39 UTC
"Hello" Dannie:) Yes, real life is much more demanding then virtual(tourist) It's hard to find time for everything, but when we finally find time then we enjoy the 'missed' activities much more intensively:)right? hugs! | hasanhanks Sat Aug 29, 2009 03:52 UTC
Dannie......No....No one ever told me.... It is with hope that all is well with you and your loved ones.... |
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