Following is a link to video/audio for the program Democracy Now! which aired last week featuring a young Afghani woman, Malalai Joya. Joya was the youngest person ever to be elected to the parliament in Afghanistan in 2005, but was suspended in 2007 and has since been forced to stay constantly in hiding in order to stay alive. She has written the story of her experience called - "A Woman Among Warlords" and considers herself a committed activist for democracy in her country. She doesn't intend to leave Afghanistan, as so many people have had to do in order to either 1)stay alive 2)maintain their livelihood 3)keep their families together 4)speak their minds. Malalai Joya is only in her mid 20's. She is young, intelligent and incredibly outspoken. The program includes a clip of her forcing her way to the front of the speaker's box and making a statement on behalf of the "young people of Afghanistan" - it was after her bold statements that she was booted out. Malalai is vehemently opposed to American intervention in Afghanistan. She succinctly and strongly explains her opposition to American troops being in her country - just as she vehemently opposes the tyranny and misogynistic rule of the tribal warlords who have historical hold of Afghanistan's politics and only benefit from the current chaos because it allows them to stay in power. Listening to her, it becomes apparent that she does not equate American military presence with promotion of democracy in Afghanistan. She sees it as harmful and believes the U.S. needs to leave and make amends for the destruction it has been complicit in.
Whether or not her argument is militarily/strategically compatible with our mainstream understanding of Afghanistan's position - it is extremely important that the quick glimpses given to us in the media don't allow us to imagine that because America is a democracy, therefore American military presence in a foreign area will spread democracy. That is flawed logic. Any news source, in order to be timely and engaging must present us with generalizations - sometimes dramatic generalizations. It is our responsibility to think past the news, outside of the news. We must listen, and think about real individual people - even if they seem strange to us, remembering all the time that WE are strange to them! Malalai Joya is certainly someone worth listening to. I hope you all get to hear her story.
I am really glad I watched this video. I think it allows us to see the situation through an Afghani's eyes and it gives some insight as to how American policy looks from overseas. The part that I found to be most interesting was her viewpoint that American occupation has made things more dangerous and that conditions for women are even worse than before. Our media certainly tells the story differently, so this is a good example for us as students to consider when reading from most sources.
ReplyDeleteIf any of you guys watch this I would strongly suggest scrolling down after you start the video and reading the transcript as you listen to the audio; it's easier to understand, especially if you retain more by reading. Just don't miss the part where she stands up at the Loya Jirga! It's so interesting to see the actual footage. I really admire her for what she has done.
Also, am I the only one that thought it was weird that Malalai Joya sounds very similar to Malia Obama? Just pointing it out.
The little bit I saw of this video was very interesting but it stopped loading after 4 to 5 mins so I didn't get to see it all.
ReplyDeletethanks for posting it.