Who is the enemy of Arab women
By Joyce Chediac
Who is the Arab woman? What are her concerns
and problems?
To hear it from the Clinton administration, Arab
men-especially leaders like Saddam Hussein-are the Arab woman's
problem. And the U.S. government is the Arab woman's
friend.
But in the two Arab countries where women have made
significant gains-Iraq and Libya-U.S.-imposed sanctions are
eroding these gains. And in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, whose
governments are U.S. allies, women have few rights and little
economic opportunity.
U.S. sanctions target women
Between the 1958 revolution and the Gulf War, the Iraqi
nationalist government used its oil wealth to build modern
cities for 70 percent of the people. Iraq's model medical
system, probably the most advanced in the region, was free.
Food was readily available and affordable. Overall health
was among the best in the entire Arab world.
Such gains made life better for all classes of Iraqis, and
met many of the special needs of women concerning child-bearing
and rearing and managing the home.
But in 1991 the U.S. and its imperialist allies bombed
Iraq's infrastructure, then imposed sanctions making it
impossible for this oppressed country to rebuild. The economic
and health-care system, the joy of the Iraqi people and pride
of the Arab world, was destroyed.
Food became scarce. Jobs disappeared. Raw waste filled the
streets of cities unable to repair sewage processing
plants.
How did this change women's lives?
Eric Hoskins, a Canadian doctor who recently visited Iraq,
found food so scarce that "securing adequate quantities of food
has now become the main preoccupation of Iraqi women."
Mothers often go hungry to feed their children.
The Iraqi health-care system has been so hurt by shortages
of medicine and anesthesia that Caesarean and premature
deliveries are now high-risk procedures.
"Women and children are bearing the brunt of these
sanctions," says Margaret Papandreou, former first lady of
Greece.
"Women whose partners were lost were thrown into the job
market to feed their children. Divorce rates are up in
two-parent families because of the stress and strain. Girls are
dropping out of school to help in the home.
"The acute shortage of basic food and medicines as well as
their soaring prices has triggered a nearly 550-percent
increase in the mortality rate of children under 5. And women
are withdrawing from political activity, unable to handle the
added responsibilities," says Papandreou.
Yet U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright had the nerve
to say Feb. 18 that the U.S government cares more for the Iraqi
people than Saddam Hussein does.
Gains for Libyan women
Under British rule, Libyan women were illiterate,
sequestered in the home, and had no means of support other than
their husbands and fathers. But in 1969, an anti-colonialist
revolution kicked out the British and placed Libyan oil in
Libyan hands.
As a result of that revolution, today more than half of
Libya's university students are women. Women workers are
guaranteed a 30-day maternity leave. The retirement age for
women is 55.
Libyan women have equal rights with men under the law.
Remember, there is still no Equal Rights Amendment in the
United States.
These are remarkable gains in only 30 years. Does Washington
care? Not at all.
By imposing sanctions on Libya, the U.S. government-the
so-called "friend" of Arab women-is doing its best to undermine
Libyan women's gains.
U.S. backs Saudi chauvinism
In oppressed countries under U.S. domination, Washington
finds the most modern ways to exploit the population and
natural resources-while backing outdated, feudal-based legal
systems that would have been overthrown long ago if women had
their say. For instance, in Morocco, a U.S. client state, women
need the permission of a male relative to marry, name their
children or work.
Urban women were the immediate beneficiaries of the 1978
Afghan revolution. Washington was so opposed to the revolution
that it gave weapons to the most anti-woman forces. They shot
women teachers on sight. They believe women shouldn't even have
names.
Saudi Arabian women are not allowed to drive cars. In 1992,
when women demonstrated for the right to drive and have freedom
of movement, the protesters lost their jobs and the Saudi
government jailed their husbands.
There was no outcry from Washington. Why? Because the Saudi
monarchy is a client of the United States.
This means that Wall Street decides how Saudi Arabia spends
its vast petro-dollars. And Washington is determined to keep it
that way.
In 1981, President Ronald Reagan promised U.S. troops would
put down any popular movement that tried to overthrow the Saudi
monarchy.
Wall Street impoverishes Egyptian women
What's the status of women in Egypt, another key U.S.
ally?
Washington loans Egypt billions of dollars every year. This
money is for military hardware, not economic development.
Because Egypt must pay this money to Wall Street banks, the
banks decide how the economy should be run.
These banks have steadily impoverished Egypt's workers.
Women are hit the hardest.
Today, housing is so scarce in Cairo that over a million
people live in cemeteries. Imagine a mother trying to raise
children under these circumstances.
"Egypt is drowning in debt," says Nawal Al Saadawi, M.D.,
whose book, "The Hidden Face of Eve," gives voice to many
oppressed Arab women. "Egypt is a fertile land. We have the
Nile Valley. But we are forced to produce what we do not eat
and eat what we do not produce."
The Middle East is oil-rich. But the people, especially the
women, are poor and oppressed. Why?
"There are 190 million people in the Arab world. They have a
debt [to U.S. banks] of $280 billion," says Al Saadawi. "That's
imperialism. That's colonialism. They do all that under the
name of development, democracy, human rights and women's
rights."
The Arab woman stands alongside her Arab brother. Her main
fight is to kick out U.S. imperialism, reclaim the resources
that rightfully belong to the people, and develop the Middle
East free from imperialist interference.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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