Iraqi Women Hasten End Of USA Occupation By Refusing To Participate

Iraqi women know that the occupation forces are in the country to guard 
their own interests, not those of the Iraqis.

In refusing to take part in any initiative by the US-led occupation, or 
its Iraqi allies, women are practicing passive resistance.

They adopted the same technique against Saddam's despised General Union 
of Iraqi women. Then, they managed to cause the collapse of one of the 
richest, most powerful institutions for women in the Middle East. 
Perhaps they will do so again.
+++



Iraqi family law is the most progressive in the Middle East.

The "liberators" of Iraq can take no credit for this. The secular family 
code was introduced in 1959.

Now it is under threat from the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council.

IGC resolution 137 will, if implemented, eliminate the idea of civil 
marriage and place several aspects of family law - including divorce and 
inheritance rights - directly under the control of religious authorities.

I asked every woman I met why she seemed not to give a damn about a 
resolution that is surely going to change women's lives for the worse. I 
was met with kind smiles and the same weary reply: it's not going to 
change a thing.

Ten months after their "liberation", Iraqi women have only just started 
to leave their houses to carry out ordinary tasks such as taking their 
kids to school, shopping or visiting neighbors. They do so despite the 
risk of kidnapping or worse.

It is women and children who bear the brunt of the absence of law and 
order, the lack of security and the availability of weapons.

Ten months on, most women graduates are still unemployed. Seventy-two 
per cent of working Iraqi women were public employees, and the public 
sector is in tatters

She is unemployed now because she refused to get a tazkia (a 
recommendation form) from one of the main political parties represented 
in the IGC.

The electricity supply hasn't improved in the past 10 months either, 
despite Paul Bremer's claims.

The second source is the local mosque, which acquired a generator during 
the looting and now supplies 100 houses with three hours of electricity 
per day.

To add to the general misery, there is still no postal service in the 
country and no telephone services in most areas.

Condoleezza Rice opened a center for women's human rights in Diwanya. In 
her opening speech - delivered via satellite - she assured Iraqi women 
that "we are with you in spirit". It was attended by commanders and 
soldiers of the occupying forces, but by very few Iraqi women.

Meanwhile in Diwanya itself, local farmers (many of them women) were 
unable to start the winter season because of unexploded cluster bombs on 
their land.

So why are Iraqi women not welcoming the chance to be a model for others 
in the Middle East?

Over countless coffees, the women explain. They are educated, resilient 
and survivors of atrocities of Saddam's regime. They replaced male 
workers during the eight years of the Iran-Iraq war, and set up cottage 
industries to support their families during 13 years of brutal 
sanctions. They are not about to forgive the US or British governments 
for strengthening Saddam's regime, imposing sanctions, and destroying 
their cities in two wars.

Iraqi women know that the occupation forces are in the country to guard 
their own interests, not those of the Iraqis.

In refusing to take part in any initiative by the US-led occupation, or 
its Iraqi allies, women are practicing passive resistance.

They adopted the same technique against Saddam's despised General Union 
of Iraqi women. Then, they managed to cause the collapse of one of the 
richest, most powerful institutions for women in the Middle East. 
Perhaps they will do so again.
+++


Why Iraqi Women Aren't Complaining
Their Secular Family Law is about to be Overturned and Placed under 
Religious Control. So Where's the Outcry?
by Haifa Zangana

Published on Thursday, February 19, 2004 by the Guardian/UK
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0219-06.htm
 

Iraqi family law is the most progressive in the Middle East. Divorce 
cases are heard only in the civil courts (effectively outlawing the 
"repudiation" religious divorce); polygamy is outlawed unless the first 
wife welcomes it (and very few do); and women divorcees have an equal 
right to custody of their children.

The "liberators" of Iraq can take no credit for this. The secular family 
code was introduced in 1959. Saddam Hussein weakened its inheritance 
provisions but left it mostly unchanged. Now it is under threat from the 
US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council. IGC resolution 137 will, if 
implemented, eliminate the idea of civil marriage and place several 
aspects of family law - including divorce and inheritance rights - 
directly under the control of religious authorities.

I was in Baghdad when the resolution was issued, on my first visit home 
since 1975 when, fearful for my life and the safety of my family, I left 
the country of my birth. I noticed with amazement how little attention 
any of the women I met paid to resolution 137. Only 100 women 
demonstrated in the city's Firdose Square to condemn it. Where was the 
outcry?

I had been terrified that my years away would have made me a stranger. 
But the minute I stepped into my family's house, I was at home. Over 
countless cups of Turkish coffee, I asked every woman I met why she 
seemed not to give a damn about a resolution that is surely going to 
change women's lives for the worse. I was met with kind smiles and the 
same weary reply: it's not going to change a thing.

Ten months after their "liberation", Iraqi women have only just started 
to leave their houses to carry out ordinary tasks such as taking their 
kids to school, shopping or visiting neighbors. They do so despite the 
risk of kidnapping or worse. It is women and children who bear the brunt 
of the absence of law and order, the lack of security and the 
availability of weapons.

Ten months on, most women graduates are still unemployed. Seventy-two 
per cent of working Iraqi women were public employees, and the public 
sector is in tatters. Other workers are suffering too. My niece, Luma, 
is a biologist. She was unemployed during Saddam's era because she 
wasn't a member of the Ba'ath party. She is unemployed now because she 
refused to get a tazkia (a recommendation form) from one of the main 
political parties represented in the IGC.

As a housewife and a mother, her daily life, like that of most Iraqi 
women, follows the same tedious routine: get gas for the cooker (make 
sure the cylinder doesn't leak - gas explosions are not unusual); buy 
oil (make sure it's not mixed with water); buy petrol for the car (she 
will queue for three hours, but the men's queues are even longer so the 
task falls to her).

At the sound of special hooting many of Baghdad's women rush outdoors to 
pay the refuse collectors to collect the rubbish (in the heart of old 
Baghdad, rubbish piles as high as the buildings. Women and children 
search there for anything they can sell or eat).

The electricity supply hasn't improved in the past 10 months either, 
despite Paul Bremer's claims. In my family's house in Palestine Street, 
a middle-class area, the women have to deal with three different supply 
sources to get just 12 hours of power a day. The first source is the 
national grid, from which we receive electricity for two hours then are 
cut off for three (we're lucky - in al-Adhamia the on/off ratio is 2:4; 
residents there believe that they are being punished because they 
support the resistance). The second source is the local mosque, which 
acquired a generator during the looting and now supplies 100 houses with 
three hours of electricity per day. The third source is the house 
generator, which must be handled with special care. To add to the 
general misery, there is still no postal service in the country and no 
telephone services in most areas.

There has been no shortage of initiatives to "enlighten" Iraqi woman and 
encourage them to play an active role in the country's reconstruction. 
In one, the Department for International Development and the Foreign 
Office declared "the need, urgently, for a women's tent meeting in 
Baghdad with a declaration in compliance with 1325".

Patricia Hewitt tried to establish a high council for Iraqi women. 
Condoleezza Rice opened a center for women's human rights in Diwanya. In 
her opening speech - delivered via satellite - she assured Iraqi women 
that "we are with you in spirit". It was attended by commanders and 
soldiers of the occupying forces, but by very few Iraqi women. Meanwhile 
in Diwanya itself, local farmers (many of them women) were unable to 
start the winter season because of unexploded cluster bombs on their land.

Iraqi political parties are also desperate to employ women to boost 
their own credibility. So why are Iraqi women not welcoming the chance 
to be a model for others in the Middle East?

Over countless coffees, the women explain. They are educated, resilient 
and survivors of atrocities of Saddam's regime. They replaced male 
workers during the eight years of the Iran-Iraq war, and set up cottage 
industries to support their families during 13 years of brutal 
sanctions. They are not about to forgive the US or British governments 
for strengthening Saddam's regime, imposing sanctions, and destroying 
their cities in two wars. Iraqi women know that the occupation forces 
are in the country to guard their own interests, not those of the Iraqis.

In refusing to take part in any initiative by the US-led occupation, or 
its Iraqi allies, women are practicing passive resistance. They adopted 
the same technique against Saddam's despised General Union of Iraqi 
women. Then, they managed to cause the collapse of one of the richest, 
most powerful institutions for women in the Middle East. Perhaps they 
will do so again.

· Haifa Zangana is an Iraqi-born novelist and painter. She is a former 
political prisoner of the Ba'ath regime.


"[C]apital comes dripping from head to foot, from every pore, with blood and 
dirt."
--Marx, Capital, Vol. 1, Chapter 31

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