Malalai Joya: A Woman Among Warlords

Violation of human rights and oppression is ubiquitous, but "war is no gentle tool for transnational social engineering". Certain aggressive activists and feminists insist that waging war will improve the status of women in Afghanistan. Although modest gains have been made for women since the fall of the Taliban, their situation remains frightening and uncertain.

Malalai Joya, a women's rights activist in a country where few women's rights exist to begin with, informs Westerners: "Your governments have replaced the fundamentalist rule of the Taliban with another fundamentalist regime of warlords." The claim that the US and its allies have brought justice, democracy and women’s rights to Afghanistan “is all a lie, dust in the eyes of the world," says Joya.

Malalai's life is marked by more than just the average oppression, second-class citizenry, and social scrutiny that most Afghan women experience. Joya has been the target of 5 assassination attempts since 2003. At one time the youngest member of parliament in Afghanistan, Malalai now lives on the run. Constantly in danger, she hides beneath a burqa when traveling at home as do many women - in addition to her 5 body guards.

It isn't without reason that her life seems to be so valuable. Malalai has been writing and speaking out around the globe about the situation of the Afghan people during last decade. Joya published her memoirs A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared to Raise Her Voice in Fall 2009, revealing the many tragedies of her country, most notably the lingering plight of women. She recently spoke at Brown, MIT, Harvard, and Emerson as part of her book release to raise awareness about the real implications of U.S. occupation in Afghanistan; a timely appearance considering President Obama's decision to increase troop presence by 30,000 in the past months.

Afghan Women's Writing Project

Allowing women a direct voice in the world: The goal of the AWWP is to encourage Afghan women to share their stories - a luxury rarely afforded to them without the fear of threat. Originally conceived by author Masha Hamilton during a trip to Afghanistan in 2008, the program connects Afghan women with talented women authors and teachers in the United States in secure online classrooms.

Change Our Story by Shogofa

I am one who faced those opposing my studies,

Humiliated by those who said

"A girl can't do anything."

I am one forced to accept the reality of today,

trying to be strong.

I am one who bent to my family's wishes,

Sacrificed my dreams in quietness.

But who still dreamt of success

Beyond reach.

I am one who dreams of peace, but am caged,

Desires to fly, but am female,

Still, I am one who flies against the wind of our time

And beats the challenge.

I am one who believes these black clouds will change into Spring.

I am one who vows to stop the tears of those who suffer from being women.

I am one who will free women whose dreams aren't

Already killed by their cages, women who still desire to fly.

They hide their stories behind their tears

They are not allowed words.

But I will tell their stories, and change our story.

I am one whose voice of today promises tomorrow.

Indonesia and Australia Absorb Illegal Refugee Overflow

The number of Iraqis and other refugees from Afghanistan, Iran and Burma fleeing to Indonesia has greatly increased from 369 in 2008 to 2,504 in 2009. Refugee candidates applying to the UNHCR for resettlement must wait in a first country of asylum to be processed. Indonesia is a choice location due to the ease with which tourist visas can be procured. Additionally, a thriving human smuggling business provides transport for asylum seekers from Malaysia to Indonesia by boat. When the wait is months or even years, desperate refugees can pay up to $8,000 instead to be transported to the northernmost shores of Australia, thinking the chances of resettlement are better. Host countries struggle to deal with the problem of illegal refugees, while meanwhile refugees labor for freedom and a better life.

Because Good Stuff Happens

From peace negotiations in the Karabakh conflict to Ohio cheerleaders raising spirits to fight cancer, our world is filled with positive stories of hope, courage and change. Finally, there's a website devoted to telling these stories: www.brytside.com

It's a chronicle of human achievement and positive news. What's better than that? The site went live yesterday, and already it's on my list of top five favorite news sites. Check it out, become a Facebook fan, and help founder Jarod Gordon succeed!

Mobile Cinema Helps Women in Mali

Outdoor screenings of films about children's and women's health travel from village to village in Mali to encourage dialogue about the harmful effects of female genital mutilation/cutting or FGMC.

Combating Maternal Mortality in Afghanistan

UNICEF developing a midwifery training program countrywide to help reduce one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in rates in the world.

Midwife training programme aims to reduce maternal mortality in Afghanistan
Uploaded by UNICEF_Television. - Up-to-the minute news videos.

In addition to the risks attributable to lack of transportation and familial/cultural issues, most women abide by the ban for attending male doctors which means that for 6 million child-bearing aged women, there are fewer than 16,000 skilled midwives. The new program aims to train female community health members in life saving delivery skills

The Girl Effect

The Nike Foundation, in conjunction with other organizations such as the United Nations Foundation and the Coalition for Adolescent girls, created The Girl Effect - a domino-like strategy that begins with young women and ends with a better world.

Although little research has been done about the impact of investments in girls on economic growth and the well-being of communities, the potential benefits are endless. When women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90 percent of it into their families, as opposed to only 30 or 40 percent reinvested by men. With more than 600 million girls living in developing nations, there's a lot of opportunity for growth. Tune into The Girl Effect and become part of the movement that just might save the world.

Women Make Music in Herat

Afghan musician Jawad Tabesh runs a music training center dedicated to educating women in Herat despite threats from religious fundamentalists. Consisting of only a small room in an old apartment building, the center is a haven for the 10 women who dare to pursue their passion for music. However, Tabesh fights an uphill battle against conservative Islamists who believe singing is forbidden for women. Despite the struggle to secure funding and support, Tabesh is determined to keep providing an oppressed generation of women with the opportunity to pursue their creative desires.

OHCHR Opens Online Discussion: Women and Human Rights

February 1-28th: The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights launches online discussions aimed at identifying good practices contributing to the realization and advancement of respect, promotion and protection of Women’s Human Rights. Each week will be focused on a sub-theme.

Week 1 | National legal frameworks

Week 2 | Accountability

Week 3 | Access to justice

Week 4 | Summary, wrap-up and observations

Join the discussion on Women's Human Rights this month.

Screening of "View from a Grain of Sand"

Directed and Produced by Meena Nanji, award-winning "View from a Grain of Sand" was shot in refugee camps of Pakistan and the war-torn city of Kabul. Three remarkable Afghan women lead us through the maze of Afghanistan's complex history, informing this examination of how international interventions, war and the rise of political Islam have stripped Afghan women of their freedom over the last thirty years.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the director.
First Parish Church, UU, 10 Parish St, Meetinghouse Hill, Dorchester, MA 02122
Thursday, February 11, 2010
6:30pm - 9:30pm
http://www.viewgrainofsand.com/

Great Facility Opens for Rural Afghan Women

Women in Bamyan, Afghanistan are celebrating a newly constructed community center, ARZU STUDIO HOPE. The unveiling happened on December 15th in front of 50 guests and Bamyan Govenor Habiba Surabi.

Funded with major support from Beyond the 11th*, this facility includes a Community Center, a Community Garden/Greenhouse, and a Sports/Wellness Complex. For the first time the women of rural Dragon Valley will now have access to indoor laundry, uch as an indoor "laundromat", a weaving room with looms, a tea room for socialization, and a large classroom for income-generating programs.

*Beyond the 11th was founded by Susan Retik and Patti Quigley, the two women featured in the film Beyond Belief.

The Military Intelligence Oxymoron in Afghanistan

A new report titled Fixing Intel: A Blueprint for Making Intelligence Relevant in Afghanistan blasts America's intelligence gathering in Afghanistan. Written by Major General Michael Flynn, U.S. and NATO military intelligence chief in Afghanistan, the 26-page report says analysts are more like fortune tellers than informed, knowledgeable information gatherers. While damning, the report does offer positive steps for turning things around. "Analysts must absorb information with the thoroughness of historians, organize it with the skill of librarians, and disseminate it with the zeal of journalists.”

After Fallujah

The "Marlboro Marine" is how Marine Lance Corporal James Blake Miller came to be known after this iconic photo was taken of him by LA Times photojournalist Luis Sinco. This story of how the two men's lives became intertwined after the battle of Fallujah is beautifully told - powerful images, haunting sound design and music (written by Corporal Miller himself). "How I feel about the war today," Miller reflects, "I can sum up in one question. It's the same question that can be asked of Vietnam: What have we accomplished? What have we gained other than the loss of some damn fine people?"

Is Yemen the next Afghanistan or Somalia?

The BBC reports on how poverty, illiteracy and a growing Al-Qaeda network are the perfect storm to further destabilize a state already on the brink of failure.

Access to Federal Benefits for Iraqi Military Interpreters

Congress has finally fixed a poorly drafted law that had barred Iraqi translators who came to the United States on Special Immigrant Visas from receiving the same federal benefits given to refugees and asylees.

Special Immigrant Visas or SIVs were created by Congress in 2007 so that Iraqis whose lives were in danger because they worked for the U.S. military as translators could be quickly evacuated to the United States, bypassing the normal refugee processing. Last year, immigrant advocacy groups discovered that, due to drafting issues in the federal law, many of these SIV holders are legal permanent residents who are now subject to the five-year bar on federal Food Stamp/SNAP benefits, Medicaid, TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), employment services and not eligible for Social Security.

For SIV holders, the current federal law permits only 8 months of the Refugee Resettlement Program (RRP) and all other federal benefits, and then they are treated like all other Legal Permanent residents and required to wait an additional 4 years and 4 months before they can qualify. (Keep in mind that Iraqi nationals who entered with refugee status do NOT have this five year wait and are eligible immediately - and indefinitely - for most federal benefits beyond the 8 month limit on RRP cash benefits.)

On December 19, Congress passed the Defense Appropriations Bill (by an 88-10 vote) that eliminates this 5-year wait for both Iraqi and Afghan SIV allies. Specifically, it makes Iraqi and Afghan SIVs eligible for federal public benefits "to the same extent, and for the same periods of time, as refugees." (pdf p.119)

The List Project, other advocacy groups, and thousands of Iraqis are celebrating the end of this disparity.

Principle Pictures Teams up with WCVB's Chronicle Series

We've formed a new venture with WCVB’s award-winning Chronicle program. Throughout the year, you can stay up-to-date on our films and projects as Chronicle features our work and producers. The first joint Principle Pictures/Chronicle program is tonight at 7:30 on Channel 5. I will be on set for an interview as Chronicle highlights two Principle Pictures’ projects: BEYOND BELIEF and WHAT TOMORROW BRINGS, our newest Afghanistan film. If you’re outside New England or miss the broadcast, you can check it out online.

Mind Over Martyr

In Mind Over Martyr, a new article in Foreign Affairs, Jessica Stern takes a look at what works - and what doesn't - to deradicalize terrorists.

Iraq's Bob Dylan

If you're following the candidates for Iraq's upcoming parliamentary elections, one candidate in particular is worth a close look: Nabeel Yasin. Known as "the poet of Iraq," Yasin was a defiant symbol of resistance to Saddam Hussein. His most famous poem, "The Brothers Yasin, Once Again," (see poem below) was secretly distributed by one of Baghdad's most reputable tailor shops - sewn into the lining of clothes or hidden in pockets. A new BBC film by Georgie Weedon captures Yasin's honesty, humor and humanity. This poem is a tear-jerker in English, I only wish I could read it in Arabic.

The Brothers Yasin, Once Again

Once again
On the road to the family

On the road that crosses the barbarian world to the family
Dumbfounded people waiting for a long, long departure to the family
And me, I stand in life’s deserts preparing my song to cross this evening
I gather my questions in my hands
Ready to understand the land
And the road becomes longer and my steps to the family shorter

O family
My angels did not return from their feasts
And me, I am getting ready for my last slumber on linens of dew and a bed of tears.

Like those voyagers who calmly craft their hymns
I will craft my hymns
And welcome tomorrow alone
I will make my wisdom a morning coffee
And with my middle age facial expressions
I will make light for my home
And go slowly to my cave
I will aim for my freedom in solitude
And turn over my past to search for an herb under the stones
The stones that are found on the road to the family
The road to the family is gloomy and its outlines are made of dust and mud

Its outlines seem to move from one sand dune to another, battered by wind
Wind on the road to the family
And the road to the family is a mystery of a distant light
And secrets of a sobbing woman
Years are frozen to stone
Like the pillars of a bridge – the bridges of Al Rusafa and Al Karkh – they are frozen in time.

And Baghdad is the last of places
God, at the apocalypse, where the dead will rise up and the noise becomes deafening
And me, I am the last of the wise men, miserable wise men, in a time where wise men are despised
And me, I am the last to grab smouldering embers before being consumed by fire

I am the last pillar
On which people lean
Silent as they are
On their way to the family
On the road to a woman, bent and curved like mirrors
On the road to a house that has been shattered with yearning

On the road is a man, exhausted and burdened by commandments
To those who suffer from the estrangement of their souls
Or the moaning of the heart in times of togetherness

On the road to my homeland
I saw mirrors
With dust on them
I saw stars dispersed in sand
On the way to Yasin’s tomb
I was stopped by frozen time on the riverbanks
Time is short
And me, I am ageing in my solitude
And my soul is growing older
On the road to my homeland
I saw mirrors
With dust on them
I saw stars dispersed in sand
On the way to Yasin’s tomb
I was stopped by frozen time on the riverbanks
Time is short
And me, I am ageing in my solitude
And, faced with my dilemma, my soul grows older

Me and my road to the family
Both are lonely
Both ended on his loneliness
And we both were united, the road,
Reaching the end, with my steps
And the road to the family
Is my road
The last song in my mouth
And the last grass will be stolen from my garments by a snake.

What can I give O Yasin?
As I do not have my freedom
Enslaved to the bones by an infidel Iraq
I feed him solace and comfort
In return he gives me shit and zaknabout

And the road continues from Eridu to Karbala
From Karbala to my desolate soul
As I stood in the alleyways of Babylon engraving on the stones of houses
The foreboding of a child
The estrangements of an old man from the family

And the road to the family is wide and prodigious
My road to the family
On both sides of which stood pondering angels
The candles of eternity of my road to the family
On both sides of which stood pondering angels
The candles of eternity and creation
Lit both sides
Dead steps and those who were killed can be seen looming
And on both sides caves’ paintings emerge
Along with my blood and my vows.
My soul’s foreboding
My God’s
And my eternal flood, my Noah’s Arc.

As I stood on my way to the family
Seeing the reflection on the water of the Euphrates
The eyes of those who drowned
They glistened like stars
And on top of palm trees dead stars
Shedding ash on the river’s embankment
And standing still I draw aeroplanes on the bodies of the dead
I take their eyes down to serve as shelters
To be shut down in the morning by butterflies which also strip drops of dew from a flower

O Nada, O Nada,
Every time I protect myself against the arrows of ruin
In the shelters of my soul
The echo passes
And in passing it tells me
That my soul is wandering aimlessly
That my ardent love was in vain

As I stand still on my way to the family
I see on the river Tigris
Between Al Amarah and Al Kut ships sails
And angels flying on water
And I see the angels carrying coffins lit by candles
I stand and my angels are stunned
They are wearing gasmasks
And when they ask me about my misdeeds
And write down what I have done
They go in search of God
Asking him to take a look at this country
And bless it with his peace

Yasin, then, knew what would happen
He then bid us farewell under the rain
He did not hear the cock that Thursday
And before he took leave of us he said ‘wait for what will happen’
But his sons fragmented into pieces.

Then he asked after them
As they were in the wilderness of their souls
As if they were the offspring of Gods left behind after Armageddon
To reshape creation in a second image
And prepare creation for another departure
On the road to the family
An event after an event.
Anguish after an anguish
War after war
As if the road of anguish is the road to Golgotha
That is then the road to the family
And Yasin is no more than an echo


He sometimes appears after the massacres take place
So much so that I saw Ilham by his tomb crying, ‘what have you done?’
Have you not any wisdom?
Or certain country to live in?
Have you not been on the road to the family?
Watching for symbols and signs that will show you the way?
Have you not?
And then I shouted
No, we have not.

On the road to the family
I walked all alone
Followed by my victims in a funeral and a song
And the long road to the family gets longer,
From Eredu to Babylon
Then the road turns to where there are shattered hearts.
This road, this prodigious and long road
On his sides there are trenches, and eternal corpses
Kites pick on the eyes of the dead
And bite dry flesh
Wind whistles inside helmets made of sand
Wind pushing through torn garments
And letters
This is the road drawn by the homeland, for her and for us.

When Seen dropped her here
Here in between the water of the Gulf and a chain of mountains
And the road to the family became longer than ever and more terrifying.

Lesson From History

As I meet Iraqis here in the Middle East who helped the U.S. try to bring peace and security to their country, we discuss what the military draw-down taking place right now means for this already imperiled population. It's worth taking a page from history - so as not to repeat the horrific fates that have befallen other collaborators. Look, for example, at what happened to the Hmong people after the Vietnam War.

During the Vietnam War, the Hmong were recruited by the CIA to join a "Secret War" in Laos. (It was a Secret War because even though a Geneva agreement barred America from sending troops into Laos, the U.S. pumped $20 billion into an air and ground campaign to stop the spread of Communism there.)

Like Iraqis today who serve(d) as military translators, secret CIA operatives and reconstruction specialists, the Hmong put their lives on the line to support the U.S. by blocking supply lines, gathering intelligence and flying combat missions. And while 15,000 died during the war, that number doubled when the U.S. pulled its troops out of South Vietnam, abandoning the Hmong, and forcing them to flee to Thailand for refugee.

Today's Thailand is here in Jordan. Today's Thailand is Syria (where we're headed tomorrow). Today's Thailand is Lebanon and Egypt. These are the countries where Iraqis who have been abandoned by the U.S. are fleeing.

One man I met today - Hamad*, a prominent sheik who lived near Abu Ghraib, described how he befriended the Americans who moved in to nearby Camp Bucca. As Hamad got to know them, and they got to know him, mutual trust and respect developed.

"When I had a heart attack, they promised to get me medical attention." Hamad understood it would be a difficult process to secure medical clearance to leave Iraq - but he believed the process was underway. So, when American officials asked him for a favor, he was eager to help: assist the U.S. in rebuilding Abu Ghraib. He was now an official employee of the U.S. government. Any by becoming such, Hamad essentially signed the death sentences of his three brothers and an uncle, and was responsible for the kidnapping of his 18-year-old son.

This afternoon, sitting on a faded sofa as a fan hummed overhead in his Amman apartment, he reflected on the abandonment he feels, "I never did get any help for my medical condition... But, it has been five years since all of this happened, and it's time to move on. America did nothing to help me - but I'm focused on the future." All the while he tells his story, he is smiling. Smiling because he is preparing to move to Australia in two weeks.

"You want to know how it makes me feel?" asks Kirk Johnson, founder of The List Project to Resettle Iraqi Refugees who is traveling with us on this shoot. "I'm embarrassed. I'm embarrassed that Australia is doing more to help this family than we are - and we're the ones who tore them apart and put them in so much danger."

After the Vietnam War, the U.S. denied there was ever a Secret War in Laos. It wasn't until May 1997 - 24 years after America withdrew its support of the Hmong guerrillas that the Secret War was officially acknowledged. Let's hope it's not 2033 before our Iraqi allies experience some sense of justice for all that they have sacrificed.


(*Hamad's name has been changed for his protection)

Final Prep for Mideast Trip

After a week of much trepidation, I'm happy to say plans are falling into place. Iraqis who are on "the list" are signing up in droves to meet with Kirk Johnson, founder of The List Project, and Chris Nugent, a Holland & Knight attorney who is working pro bono on cases of U.S.-affiliated Iraqis who are in danger. As soon as we hit the ground, we expect to be bombarded by Iraqis who are desperate for help. We'll be flying, driving and taking buses around the region...