Friday, August 6, 2010

Western wars vs. Muslim women


A GOOD PIECE
By Marwan Bishara
Al-Jazeera

"Western media is awash with reports about Taliban mistreatment of women in Afghanistan and Pakistan that feature countless voices in support of the war to secure a 'brighter future for women's rights'. This week's Time magazine cover story is a case in point.

If Western wars 'liberate' Eastern women, Muslim women would be - after centuries of Western military interventions - the most 'liberated' in the world. They are not, and will not be, especially when liberty is associated with Western hegemony.

Afghanistan has had its share of British, Russian and American military intervention to no avail. In fact, reports from credible women's groups there signal worsening conditions for Aghan women since the US invasion a decade ago.....

White Man's Burden

The same Orientalist civilising rationale that was used over centuries to justify bloody colonial wars is being used nowadays to manipulate a war-averse public into supporting military escalation in Central Asia.

Western man's long-held fantasy of 'rescuing' veiled women from their repressive captors is being exploited to promote the idea that war can free women from the wrath of the 'bearded terrorists', as it 'liberates America' from their terrorism.

In light of such a heavy dose of surplus morality, it was particularly embarrassing for US leaders that their allies were making amends with the same shunned illiberal groups and practices.....

White Woman's Burden

The irony escapes the likes of conservative British politician Cyril Townsend who wrote in the Saudi owned pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat under the headline "Women's Rights in Afghanistan" that British female soldiers are fighting for women's rights to be realised there.

No explanation has been offered as to why, 18 years after the deployment of half a million US and British troops to liberate Kuwait and defend their ally Saudi Arabia, Saudi women still cannot vote or drive.....

Victims of the ultimate power abuse, wars

As the foremost victims of the abuse of power, Western women are uniquely positioned to reject the most patriarchal and destructive of all power abuses: Wars.

As for Muslim women, there is no room in this war for what they stand for, their hopes or aspirations. Their voice is progressively silenced by the deafening sound of bombs and explosions.

Eastern women have been the first civilian casualty of wars. How many mourning widows, mothers, sisters and daughters will it take to reject wars of choice and expose their alleged civilising mission?....."

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