Posted by CODEPINK Staff
A photo of Malalai Joya, a former parliamentarian of Afghanstan, holding hands in triumph with war resister Matthis Giroux, of Iraq Veterans Against War, is the screensaver on my computer, a photo of mutual respect and dignity for all. Joya, who was suspended from the parliament and lives under constant threat of death for speaking out against the government there, gives me hope that together we can build a world beyond war, where women's rights are never used as a justification for military violence. I've even more hope after reading this essay about Joya, "The Woman Who Would Not Be Silenced." Here's the beginning:
"I am not sure how many more days I will be alive," Malalai Joya says quietly. The warlords who make up the new "democratic" government in Afghanistan have been sending bullets and bombs to kill this tiny 30-year-old from the refugee camps for years - and they seem to be getting closer with every attempt. Her enemies call her a "dead woman walking". "But I don't fear death, I fear remaining silent in the face of injustice," she says plainly. "I am young and I want to live. But I say to those who would eliminate my voice: 'I am ready, wherever and whenever you might strike. You can cut down the flower, but nothing can stop the coming of the spring.'"
I am so looking forward to her speaking tour this fall!