It was Ramiz Raja who reminded us to honor the littlest victims of the oppression of women on this International Women’s Day. This is little Asifa Bano who was monstrously tortured, raped, mutilated, & murdered in Jammu because she belonged to an oppressed nomadic caste. Authorities are attempting to deny justice.
#JusticeForAsifa
“Sorrowful faces of Kashmiri mothers on International Women’s Day.”
It’s hard to imagine Kashmiri, Palestinian, Rohingya, Syrian, Yemeni, Afghan, Iraqi, Somali, Libyan, Sri Lankan, Dalit, Black, Latina, Mayan, Mindanaon Muslim women feeling particularly celebratory about International Women’s Day. Their loss & terror are unimaginable. What we celebrate is their intransigent resistance to war, occupation, persecution, genocide & the encouragement that gives to suffering humanity & all who are oppressed. What there is for us, for Kashmiri & many other of these women to celebrate is their leadership in the fight against the systematic use of rape & sexual assault as a weapon of war, occupation, & genocide. Because they do not bend the knee to tyranny & terror, all of humanity is heartened to stand with them in the struggle for a world suitable for our children to come of age in, to live & love in.
(Photos by Junaid Bhat)
The brilliant Palestinian poet Rafeef Ziadah: Palestinian & all women freedom fighters come in all shades of anger.
One of my favorite dance videos. Because part of International Women’s Day is celebrating our sisterhood & because these dancers have some really cool moves.
https://www.facebook.com/shanghaiist/videos/10155521302086030/?
Or Moroccan version:
https://www.facebook.com/100002320936395/videos/1312306808856671/
By Zoya Khan:
“Today I dedicate this poem to all the wonderful women in my friend list. I have written it especially for my daughter
Happy Women’s Day.
Daughters ,the butterflies.
Varied and Varicolored.
Delicate yet Diligent.
Do not let your colorful wings be clipped or crumbled.
Your dreams may feel desolated.
The clouds of illusion and apprehension may dampen your face.
Do not let your soaring dreams be torn and tattered.
Your freedom may feel drenched.
The clouds of oppression and suppression may auction your existence.
Do not let fable and folklore drive away to fairyland.
You live as you may believe.
The clouds of rejection and elimination may chain your passion.
Daughters be the living legend.
Recuperate and recover.
Strong and Steady.
You are born with wings not meant for crawling.”
March 2017 ยท
Today is International Women’s Day, historically a day for women to stand together in struggle against injustice & inequality. Women’s unity & feminism are mocked these days in the most primitive, divisive, & desperate ways. Women’s leadership is mocked by those who choose to stand with the oppressors against suffering humanity. But there is a new energy, manifested by the upwards of four million women who marched in 2017 & 2018 on every continent demanding immigration rights, reproductive rights, protection in the courts against rape & sexual assault, economic justice & equality, the end of war, occupation, genocide.
We should particularly honor the women of Kashmir, Palestine, the stateless Rohingya, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Somalia, the oppressed castes of India, Black & Latina women in the US, Mayans in Guatemala, refugee women, & so many others on the front lines of struggle for women’s rights, human rights, & the end of war, occupation. persecution, genocide.
(There are hundreds of photos of thousands of Kashmiri women protesting, including by kicking army trucks, but this is one which captures the breadth & defiance. From Al Jazeera, 2017)
Nearly 10,000 viewed this photo from Al Jazeera & over 8,000 shared it a couple days ago. This morning it was covered with a FB warning claiming it “may show graphic violence or gore.” What it shows is Kashmiris grieving & protesting the execution of civilians in Shopian. That’s called a freedom struggle & not usually characterized as violence or gore–except when Muslims are involved. Or is the aggression of the Indian occupying army here shown what FB means by violence & gore? Because Kashmiris face that violence & gore every day & want us to know about it so we can stand with them in opposing it. Why the delicate sensibilities from FB censors when it was found fit to publish by Al Jazeera? Is is really not violence or gore that concerns them but the truth about India’s brutal occupation being exposed?
https://www.facebook.com/ajplusenglish/videos/1155478394593666/?
Apologies for the belated posting but compelling personal responsibilities interfered.
No one ever said it better than the detestable British racist Katie Hopkins: “You need to choose your monsters. And Assad is the best we have.” And Assad official Fares Shehabi reposted this.
Assad official Fares Shehabi claims Syrian & Russian bombers are fighting ISIS in Eastern Ghouta. He better straighten that out with his ventriloquist dummies Bartlett, Beeley, & Mackler who are gloating publicly that the Syrian army cleared ISIS out of Syria several weeks ago.