I am delighted to be here with you today, and I would like to thank the International Humanist Organisation for inviting me to this conference, and I really appreciate it, because this is an opportunity for me as a member of Organisation of Women’s Freedom in Iraq, to get our message across to many people in the world and to be heard at all levels. Our message is the message of the most secular and radical women’s organisation in Iraq, which was founded in June 2003 and which I will be talking about later on in my speech.
Friends:
US administration in its plans, and false justification for war said that this war is to:
-End the terrorism.
-To establish a democratic state in Iraq.
We did not have any illusions about these false statements, and we knew that these were just war propaganda and that this is all about paving the way for its project - the New World Order to be established by victimizing millions of Iraqi people throughout the last 13 years. From the first Gulf war until this day, it was America’s project to assert its domination, and appear as a sole super power in the world against its rivals, and people of the world. For America’s hegemony, Iraqi people and in particular women had to suffer, and bear the most inhumane life conditions.
Women had to enter prostitution to provide a basic living, and later on they were beheaded by the Ba’ath regime in its so-called “Faithfulness Campaign”. The American Government is one pole of open state terrorism, and through its “regime change” policy it is terrorising millions of people. It is trying to destroy countries, and starve to death the entire nation by imposing sanctions on them, solely to overthrow the regimes that they have promoted and supported in the past. The two examples of this are Iraq, and Afghanistan. In the past they supported Saddam’s regime, and as in Afghanistan, they have created, supported and trained the Taliban against the secular, progressive forces in Afghanistan where they turned the women’s lives into hell. In contradiction to what Bush claimed, ending terrorism lead to more terrorism in Iraq, and many other places in the world because this war opened the borders widely for the Islamic groups to enter Iraq and to start imposing their oppressive ideology on people. This gave rise to political Islam, which is the second pole of terrorism, and the Islamization of Iraqi society began, which has lead to enslavement of women in their own houses. Terrorism in Iraq started from the moment that the oppressive Ba’ath regime collapsed. Looking at what has happened since 9th April 2003, we see the dramatic increase of terrorist activities in Iraq, as well as widespread terror against women, and their rights are heavily attacked but no one is saying any thing about it.
The emergence of Islamic groups has been a major heavy burden on women, and their liberties. Right from the first days of the collapse of the Ba'ath regime, Islamic groups emerged from Iran highly equipped with the dangerous ideology of political Islam, to use against the secular and radical forces in our society. They are working hard to manipulate and dominate the political stage by using force of arms and terror to impose themselves on people. They imposed veiling on women; they are not allowing them to go to work, universities, and even in the streets if they are not veiled. They have killed those women who were involved in prostitution. Islamic courts have been setup in Al- Najaf; men who have killed their female relatives under the pretext of these women being prostitutes have received the full support of these courts. Women have also been banned from working in certain professions such as being judges, because the Mullahs are refusing any nominations for female solicitors to work as judges. They clearly want to establish an Iranian or Taliban-style Islamic government, who treats women as second class citizens, and they are applying sexual apartheid everywhere against women. These are the kind of Islamic rules that are a major obstacles for women’s freedom, liberation and even their existence as a human being. In a country where there is no justice system or policing, Rape has become a norm. Women cannot even report rapes because they fear the consequences of possibly being killed by male members of their family for bringing 'shame to the family’. Raped women are paying double the price by being killed in the name of honour by their own families.
There is a massive problem with security, and even the women’s right to life is under threat because women are being raped, abducted, and killed any time or any where. This is happening because of the lack of basic security measurements for women, and the occupying forces are not taking any steps to prevent these crimes, because they are there for a different task, which is to protect America’s economic and political interest in Iraq. They are not bothered with what is happening to people in Iraq.
America in its plans to have a puppet government in Iraq which will guarantee the maintenance of its New World’s Order, brought to power the most right-wing forces in Iraq in its medieval style government, the so-called Ruling Council. This imposed Ruling Council is a group of religious leaders, tribal leaders, and nationalists who have no interest in improving people’s lives, freedom, equality, security or the welfare of people. They could only get to power by being imposed on Iraqi people by America, because few people would have voted for them if there were elections to give the people choice. So these are the American democratic values for Iraqi people. They divide the Iraqi people on the basis of religious sects and tribes, as if we are living in the dark ages. Of course this is America’s way of choosing government in Iraq, on the bases of clans, religious sects, or nationalist groups because these are corrupted, and to be in power they will of course carry out orders from America.
The Ruling Council in its attempt to be what America wants has decided to change the date of the celebration of International Women's Day from 8th March to 18th August. This is the date of birth of Prophet Mohammed’s daughter, Fatima Zahra, who has nothing to do with women’s rights. They do this to oppress women in Iraq, and bring down their expectations. These were just a few examples of the barbaric atrocities that are daily being committed against half of Iraqi society. The USA administration has brought Islamic groups into power again; the scenario of the Taliban is being repeated. They gave Islamic groups seats in their so-called Governing Council. In this disastrous situation our organization, the Organization of Women’s Freedom was courageously established in June 2003 with the most radical agenda, to defend women’s rights and raise their awareness. Our organization calls for the separation of religion from the state, and education system. We call for a secular constitution that grants unconditional equal rights between women and men, freedom of dress, and women’s participation in political, economic, and social spheres. Since its establishment, our organization is been heavily involved in organizing women, and advising them how to challenge these Islamic trends.
Our organization has major impact in raising international awareness about what America’s
“regime change” policy has brought to women in Iraq. Alongside our organization many other organizations have been established with secular and radical agendas to defend human rights and secularism in Iraq. There is for example, the Organization of the Defense of Secularism in Iraqi Society, the Union of Unemployed which held many strikes and demonstrations in which our organization took an active part to represent the unemployed women in Iraq. There are also the preparatory committees for the establishment of Worker’s councils, and trade unions. These are all the hopes of a secular, egalitarian, and socialist state in Iraq, not the imposed ruling council by America. Looking at what is happening in Iraq between these two poles of terrorism and their grim future for Iraqi people is a nightmare in itself, but having the potential for socialism, secularism, and egalitarianism gives our movement for equality a great meaning and continuity. In Iraq there are many people, in particular women who do not want Islam as a religion of state. They want a religion-free society, and they are organizing themselves in radical organizations to defeat political Islam, and end America’s New World Order once and forever.
Today’s conference is titled “Empowering Women”, so lets take the first steps to empower women in the Middle East, in particular in Iraq where women are stuck between two poles of international terrorism. The movement for freedom and equality already exists, this is good, so let’s empower it, and give our full support and solidarity to this light which came out from the most darkest times in Iraq in the New World Order zone. Lets get together to fight and end both poles of terrorism in Iraq.
Many thanks for listening
houzan73@yahoo.co.uk