Ark of the Lost Angels

Afghanistan Girl in Burqa _{(Credit: ArmyAmber)}

The Women of Afghanistan and Iran are suffering at the hands of restrictive laws, and the world isn’t paying attention the way it should.

Only fourteen countries around the world have full equal rights for women. Obviously, there are some countries with better ratings on this spectrum, and this isn’t a binary status. However, there are very few places that reach the vile depths of Afghanistan under Taliban rule. It’s important to recognize that what’s going on in Afghanistan is happening along with suffering in other parts of the world. Lately, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and the conflict between Israel and Hamas ravaging Gaza are capturing the world’s attention. In Afghanistan, and its neighbor Iran, the rights of women are being assailed and the world seemingly has no interest in paying attention.

Politics are one thing; human rights are another. In a perfect world, everyone would hold everyone else accountable for their failures on human rights because every society would attempt to build the best society for all of its citizens. Oppression should never be the goal of any nation across the world. However, speaking on human rights abuses, or the lack of rights for groups isn’t a political thing, nor should it be. Politics are disagreeing over tax code, or global trade vs. domestic production, not whether a certain group deserves to be treated as a full member of society without harassment or punishment simply for what they look like, who they love, or how they worship.

The world is very far from perfect.

The Women of Afghanistan Cannot Speak

The Office of the Commissioner of the United Nations Human Rights Council put out a statement declaring Afghanistan as the most oppressive nation in the world for women’s rights. The reality of the situation has worsened dramatically since the Taliban took over the country in the wake of the American withdrawal three years ago. Last week, the women of Afghanistan had their permanent punishment worsened when the Taliban officially banned the sounds of women’s voices in public.

Most people never cared about Afghanistan until the Soviet Union invaded in 1979 and stopped caring after they retreated ten years later. People didn’t care about Afghanistan again until Al Qaeda launched their attacks on September 11^th, 2001, from their bases in the country. NATO launched an invasion to depose the Taliban and hunt down members of Al Qaeda. The United States then turned its attention towards justifying a war of aggression against Iraq and left Afghanistan in the lurch.

The conflicts in Afghanistan and the War on Terror were covered on this website in Parts II, III, and IV of the series of articles entitled The Child of Two Shadows. It’s important to reiterate a few painful truths here. The lives of many Afghans improved drastically during the period of American presence in the country. However, America did not dedicate itself to building a nation which was acceptable to the people of Afghanistan, opting to impose a western-style secular democracy on a poor, fragmented, extremely religious society. The United States kept Afghanistan as a quasi-colony, reliant on America for political and military support until deciding it wasn’t convenient to continue doing so. Afghanistan had women influencers in the country, and the first generation of Afghans who knew a national identity to be proud of and could interact on the world stage had finally come of age only to have those chances ripped away from them by America’s betrayal.

Donald Trump crafted a peace deal with the Taliban to ensure Americans were safe during the withdrawal, but the Afghan National Government (the one the United State ostensibly supported) was left in the lurch. The confidence of the people abandoned the Afghan National Government the moment the United States did. The Taliban were virtually unopposed when they took the country back, and after promising they wouldn’t be as restrictive the second time around, they have proven themselves to be liars.

The Taliban are adherents to a branch of Islam that bears little resemblance to spirit of the Quran. In the same way the Prosperity Gospel movement in America bears little resemblance to the Bible, the Taliban use a religious text to justify their own backwards beliefs and oppression. Their interpretation of Islam treats women as little more than objects. Music is forbidden. Dancing is forbidden. Men must wear long beards. In fact, they recently fired large numbers of men who were unable to grow beards from the security services in Afghanistan. So absolute is the belief that they are executing the will of a higher power that it necessitates sacking otherwise able individuals from jobs simply because they cannot grow hair on their face. It would be laughable…if women weren’t punished for laughing in public.

The recent set of laws codified by the Taliban also requires women to completely cover themselves in public. One gets the impression that, if the Taliban did not recognize the need for women to keep house and bear children, that women themselves would be outlawed in their Afghanistan. Women are restricted from being in public unaccompanied by their husband or father or another male relative. They are not allowed to speak unless spoken to. They must keep themselves covered to avoid tempting men and are now permitted to look at any male in public. They are banned from attending school, learning how to read or write, or expressing themselves as individuals through song or laughter.

Afghanistan is not optimal for human rights overall either. Strict laws left open to wide interpretation allow for great misuse. Public executions, torture, and other harsh punishments begetting minor offenses such as practicing a different religion or peacefully demonstrating in favor of a cause are the norm in Afghanistan. It is tremendously hard for Afghans to leave. Firstly, it is a very poor nation. Second,

In spite of all of this, the Taliban want Afghanistan to be a destination for tourists.

In keeping with tradition for the last several decades, many Afghan refugees are fleeing to neighboring Iran. The same Iran who practices similarly horrific treatments against its own women.

The same Iran whose cries for help are similarly ignored by the West.

The Brave Ones

In September 2022, a twenty-two-year-old woman named Mahsa Amini was beaten to death by the Guidance Police for wearing her hijab “improperly.” The government’s morality police beat a young woman to death for her hair not being covered to an acceptable extent by a piece of fabric. Put so simply, the concept seems laughable again. Sadly, this is the grim reality for many Iranian women. Earlier this year, a UN fact-finding mission announced that Iran’s government was to blame for her death.

As a result of Amini’s death, massive protests broke out over Iran. And as the Islamic Regime cracked down harder and killed, jailed, or disappeared more people, the protests grew more and more intense, and the movement threatened to turn into a total revolution. The Iranian people, in massive numbers not seen in years, took to the streets to deliver an outright rejection of the Islamic Republic, its oppression, and the corrupt men who benefit from it. The people screamed chants such as “Death to the Islamic Republic!” and “Death to the Dictator!” and “Death to Khamenei!”

Entire industries went on strike, such as the oil industry, which Iran’s flailing economy needs in order to function. Shops and businesses closed in solidarity with the people on the streets. The Iranian parliament overwhelmingly voted in favor of supporting the death penalty for anyone who had been arrested, and authorities arrested well over 22,000 people.

Mahsa Amini’s death kickstarted a movement in Iran, but it only caught the world’s attention for too short a time. Protesting in the face of such oppressive regimes is practically a death sentence. Many Iranian dissidents have been put to death in the last two years for speaking out against their oppressors. Yet they still continue to do so. The movement has continued, adopting an existing Kurdish phrase, “Jin, Jiyan, Azadî” translated into Persian as, “Zan, Zendegî, Azadî.” Translated to English, it means, “Woman, Life, Freedom” and appeared countless places across Iran and spread around the world.

Exiled Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani wrote an open letter shortly after the Mahsa Amini protests began about the urgency of the movement. Earlier this year, after the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (also known as “the Butcher of Tehran), the Islamic Regime called for new elections to replace the president. There was a reaction in the streets, to say the least. Outside Iran, prominent activists exiled from their homeland have continued to fight for the liberation of Iran and Iranian women from the oppressive chokehold of the Islamic Regime.

Toomaj Salehi is an Iranian rapper who has written several anti-government songs, and was arrested early on for his outspoken support of the protests. He recently had his death sentence overturned. Many in the international community have been calling for his release since he was first arrested on sham charges. Music, not restricted in Iran the way it is in Afghanistan, became a very powerful tool of protest. One of the earliest pieces of art to come out of Iran after the Woman, Life, Freedom movement started was Shervin Hajipour’s song entitled Baraye. Translated to, “For…” the song was written using a collection of social media posts by Iranians explaining why they are protesting. A video translating the song helps put into perspective the reasons why the people are standing up against the Iranian government.

Masih Alinejad, a prominent Iranian activist, has recently spoke about the Taliban’s new laws. Alinejad is a journalist who was born in Iran and now lives in the United States. She has drawn clear parallels between the actions of the Islamic Regime in her homeland and the Taliban next door.

The Mahsa Amini protests and the rise of attention on the Taliban’s curtailing of women’s rights are part of a concentrated effort by many activists to push back against the “Gender Apartheid” occurring across the world. Afghanistan, having been part of the Persian Empire a long time ago, has cultural connections with Iran, and the struggle on one side of the border is felt on the other. In many ways, the movements are intertwined with each other.

Inside Afghanistan itself, the protests are sounding where they can. Women are posting videos of themselves singing in defiance of the recent ban. All around the world, women are filming videos of themselves singing in solidarity with those in Afghanistan. Music is one of the great connectors throughout the world, and to have that taken is an affront to the human dignity of Afghan women. And their defiance is a continued testament  to the bravery and spirit of the women of Afghanistan, who defy the Taliban’s edicts in other ways as well, such as finding ways to learn despite being banned from schools.

And protesting on the global stage is not out of question for Afghans either. At the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, Afghan breakdancer Manizha Talash showed a message on her outfit after her routine and was disqualified for making a political statement at the Olympics. It said, “Free Afghan Women.” It was a message to the Afghan girls back home who were not as lucky as she was to have escaped the Fall of Kabul in 2021 that “they have the strength to transform things.” At the Paralympic Games in Paris a few weeks later, taekwondo competitor Zakia Khudadadi is competing for similar reasons. She says this is her chance, “To show that the women of Afghanistan are strong and can achieve great things.” Khudadadi went on to speak of how she is not just competing for Afghanistan. “Currently, there are women all over the world suffering. This is not just a problem in Afghanistan. You can see it in Gaza, in Sudan, in Ukraine, that women all over the world are struggling.” These are women who are now, not living in Afghanistan, but who will never stop doing what they do for their homeland and the women they left behind.

Women, Life, Freedom

As the world’s eyes turn to Gaza and Ukraine, it is important to keep in mind the struggles not thought of in mind. The women of Afghanistan, Iran, and many other places are struggling as well. Those women should be kept in mind. It is important to recognize what is happening in these countries, and to these women. It is also important to put pressure on elected leaders to do all they can to support these movements, and fight for basic human rights for everyone across the globe. Soft power and hard power alike can produce the desired results, and it is the responsibility of the powerful to look out for those who are weaker.

It is doubly important to push back against those who seek to implement similar things in the so-called “developed world.” Project 2025 represents a dangerous threat to American society, for it is a roadmap to implement similar laws in America. The oppression over there may be much closer to home. Project 2025 underscores the importance of fighting back against religious extremism and oppressive restrictions of basic human rights. Every person deserves the right to live and work and contribute to their society free from discrimination or danger based on what they look like, who they love, or how they express their faith. The women in Afghanistan and Iran do not have the freedoms to do so for themselves. They are not allowed to speak for themselves. Therefore, it is up to those whose voices can be heard to speak on their behalf.

In essence, speaking for the women of Afghanistan and Iran is speaking in defense of the women at home whose voices are in peril of being silenced.