------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the March 20, 2003 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
AROUND THE WORLD, WOMEN PROTEST WAR By Kathy Durkin "No War in Iraq" was chanted around the world on the occasion of International Women's Day. From Manila to Istanbul, Seoul to Calcutta, Damascus to Santiago, women poured into the streets to protest a U.S.- led war in Iraq and express solidarity with their Iraqi sisters. The true spirit of International Women's Day--a day first proclaimed at a 1910 International Socialist Women's Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark- -is shown in the tremendous solidarity demonstrated worldwide for Iraqi women and their families as they face the horrors of war. Filipino students and women activists clenched their fists, carried "No to U.S. war" signs, and yelled anti-war slogans at the U.S. Embassy in Manila. Korean women in Seoul demanded better working conditions for women and protested a war in Iraq. Chanting "No war," Taiwanese women in Taipei called for their government to give humanitarian aid to Iraqi women and children in case of war. Shouting anti-war slogans, women activists burned a Bush-Blair effigy near the U.S. Consulate in Calcutta in a protest organized by the All India Women Cultural Forum. In Damascus, Syrian and Palestinian women held a sit-in in solidarity with their Iraqi sisters. In Manama, Bahraini women protested a war outside UN offices. In Islamabad, Pakistan, and in Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey, women carried colorful banners, flags and mock coffins. And, of course, the women of Baghdad, Iraq, marched for peace. In some cities, as in Tehran, Iran, women denounced a war in Iraq while promoting women's social and political rights and condemning all violence against women. Thousands in Dhaka, Bangladesh, also echoed those themes. Egyptian women aimed their protest in Cairo at a U.S.-led war in Iraq and at Israel's military assaults on Palestinians. Activist Fatheya el- Assal explained, "The first victims of aggression and war are women and children. This is why our slogan this year is set to counter the planned aggression on Iraq and the barbaric attacks on the Palestinian people." On the West Bank in Nablus, Palestinian women demonstrated against Israel's military assaults on their people and destruction of their homes. Sixty-five Palestinian women spent this year's IWD in Israeli prisons, subject to inhumane conditions in violation of international laws. Women in Latin America also voiced opposition to U.S. military aggression in Iraq. In Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo, Brazil, many banners and signs read, "Contra a guerra de Bush." Women Against Violence held an anti-war sit-in at Honor Square in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. "No a la guerra" was painted on banners and chanted by 1,500 Chilean women who rallied outside Santiago's La Moneda government palace. They called on their government to say NO to Pentagon war plans. Women led some European anti-war marches on IWD, as at the 60,000- strong protest in Pisa, Italy. Fifteen anti-war demonstrations took place across Ireland to coincide with IWD; 1,000 women marched in Cork, under a "Women against war" banner. Australian women took to the Sydney streets to strongly tell their government not to send troops to aid the U.S. assault on Iraq. Many IWD commemorative events demanded recognition of women's roles in society. In Katmandu, Nepal, women spoke out for equal rights and decent health care, including reproductive rights. Haitian President Jean- Bertrand Aristide addressed a IWD commemoration in Port-au-Prince. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez expressed solidarity at a Caracas IWD celebration. Some IWD protests were held in formerly socialist countries where women have lost ground since capitalism re-emerged. Polish women marched to regain reproductive rights and end increasing sexist discrimination. In Budapest, Hungary, women deplored domestic violence. Women also demonstrated in St. Petersburg, Russia. IWD has special significance in that city. It was the site of the women's demonstration for "peace, land, and bread" on March 8, 1917, which sparked the first Russian Revolution. After a second, workers' revolution, women won the most advanced rights in the world at that time. The New York Times of March 9 admits that in the Soviet Union, "A quota system ensured that women occupied a certain number of government posts. Women studied at universities alongside men. Cafeterias, laundries and daycare centers opened in cities to ease women's burden at home." Yet today, "women have all but disappeared from top government posts." And social services, like free day care, are now in decline. But women are beginning to organize against these developments. The socialist founders of International Women's Day in 1910 intended to promote worldwide solidarity among working and poor women. These expressions of solidarity were extended to South African women in their long, hard-fought struggle against apartheid, and to Vietnamese women during the heinous U.S. war against their people. Today, women worldwide are confronted with a new imperialist war. They are resisting, organizing and fighting back with strength, dedication and solidarity. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe wwnews- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. 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