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<h3><b>International Women's Day - 3 Stories<br><br>
Comandanta
Ramona</b></h3>
<img src="cid:6.2.5.6.2.20060308132031.029853e0@freedomarchives.org.0" width=148 height=211 alt="ramona.jpg">
</b></h3><font size=3> She left the world too soon, after a struggle
with kidney cancer. She was petite in stature but powerful in her
strength of character and commitment. Comandanta Ramona left a legacy
because of her struggle in Chiapas that Latinas and all mujeres can look
up to. She was the founding member of the Clandestine Indigenous
Revolutionary Committee (CGRI), the leadership body of the Zapatista Army
of National Liberation (EZLN). She consulted indigenous Zapatista
communities about the exploitation of women and subsequently penned the
Revolutionary Laws of Women which were passed on this day in 1993. During
the 1994 uprising in San Cristóbal, she was placed in charge of the
military. Comandanta Ramona was the first Zapatista representative to
speak during peace talks with the Mexican government subsequent to the
uprising.<br><br>
Comandanta Ramona was such a force to be reckoned with that the Mexican
government tried to undermine her power by making announcements of her
passing in 1997, claiming the mujer making a public appearances was a
body double. <br><br>
Some of the rights Comandanta Ramona fought for included access to power
in the decision- making process; the freedom to choose their partner; to
not be beaten or physically abused by family members nor others; to
decide on the number of children that they can bear and take care of, as
well as to have the right and the priority to nutrition and health
care.<br><br>
</font>In the words of Comandanta Ramona : <br>
<dl>
<dd>The women finally understood that their participation is important if
this bad situation is to change, and so they are participating although
not all of them are directly involved in the armed struggle. There is no
other way of seeking justice, and this is the interest of the women.
<br><br>
</dl>She was not just speaking to Indigenous women. Her words should
apply to all women. <br><br>
Via / Chiapas IndyMedia<br><br>
<h3><b>La Patria es Una Mujer: Lolita Lebron<br><br>
</b></h3>
<img src="cid:6.2.5.6.2.20060308132031.029853e0@freedomarchives.org.1" width=156 height=200 alt="lolita.jpg">
</b></h3><font size=3> With all the discussion here on VL around
Jen's post :
<a href="http://vivirlatino.com/2006/02/09/is-puerto-rico-latin-america.php">
Is Puerto Rico Latin America?</a>, and in light of today being
<a href="http://vivirlatino.com/2006/03/08/international-womens-day.php">
International Women's Day</a> I thought it would be appropriate to
highlight Latina mujeres who have impacted the world. One of my personal
sheros is Lolita Lebron. <br><br>
Lolita Lebron was destined to be a freedom fighter, as indicated by her
birth as Dolores Lebrón Sotomayor in 1919 in Lares, Puerto Rico, home of
the <a href="http://peacehost.net/PacifistNation/lares.htm">Grito de
Lares</a></font>. Lolita, a mother, migrated to New York City in the
1940's like many other Puerto Rican women to end up working as a
seamstress. Lolita went to school at night. It was also in the U.S.
(note: when the term U.S. is used I mean the mainland United States as
defined by the 50 states) where Lolita became a disciple of Puerto Rican
Nationalist leader Don Pedro Albizu Campos. On March 1, 1954, Lolita
Lebron, along with Rafael Cancel Miranda, Irving Flores and Andrés
Figueroa Cordero protested the 1952 creating of the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico by unfurling a Puerto Rican flag, shouting "Viva Puerto
Rico Libre!" and began shooting into the U.S. House of
Representatives. When Lolita was arrested she announced: <br>
<dl>
<dd>I did not come to kill anyone, I came to die for Puerto Rico!
<br><br>
</dl>. She was charged and convicted and Lolita was sentenced to 50 years
in prison for her act but was pardoned and released in 1979 by President
Carter. <br><br>
Some call Lolita a terrorist, other call her a hero who expected March 1,
1954 to be her last day alive, as she was prepared to sacrifice her own
life for what she believed in, as many have done in the United States and
across the globe.<br><br>
Via / <a href="http://virtualboricua.org/Docs/sl03.htm">Virtual
Boricua</a><br><br>
<font size=3><b>Interview: Palestinian Leila Khaled</b> <br><br>
By Sana Abdallah<br>
Published 7/21/2003 3:41 PM<br>
<a href="http://www.upi.com/print.cfm?StoryID=20030721-082110-7107r">View
printer-friendly version<br><br>
</a>AMMAN, Jordan, July 21 (UPI) -- Leila Khaled is considered the
world's first woman hijacker. She is revered by some and hated by others,
but is known across the world for her daring deeds. <br><br>
Leila, as she is known across the Arab world, was only 4 years old during
the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948. The war led to the creation of the
state of Israel and also rendered her homeless.<br><br>
She escaped to Lebanon from her hometown, Haifa, hoping to return soon.
She never was able to go back and her quest for a lost homeland set her
on a path that led to being branded as a dangerous terrorist by the
United States and other Western intelligence agencies. <br><br>
Leila's involvement with armed Palestinian groups began when she was only
15 years old and joined the Arab Freedom Movement under the influence of
her older siblings. In 1967, when Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza
Strip, she joined the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The
PFLP, a Marxist revolutionary group established in 1967, has a place on
the U.S. State Department's list of foreign terrorist
organizations.<br><br>
The refugee became an international figure -- admired in the Arab world
and despised in Israel and the West -- when she took part in hijacking
TWA Flight 840 from Rome to Athens on Aug. 29, 1969.<br><br>
With a pistol in one hand and a grenade in the other, the 25-year-old
hijacker instructed the American pilot to fly over Haifa to see it for
the first time since she left, then landed in Damascus. After securing
the evacuation of the passengers, who listened to her speak about
Palestine, her fellow hijacker blew up the cockpit of the Boeing 707. All
the passengers were released, except for six Israelis the Syrian
authorities took and later exchanged for 13 Syrian soldiers. <br><br>
Her second and last hijacking did not go as smoothly. On Sept. 6, 1970,
she and San Francisco-born Nicaraguan Patrick Arguello, armed with
pistols and hand grenades, tried to capture Israel's El Al flight 219
from Amsterdam to New York as two other hijackings were being carried out
by the PFLP. Arguello was quickly shot by Israeli security staff on the
plane and was later executed with four bullets in his back on the
aircraft. Khaled was overwhelmed by crew and passengers alike and was
beaten up until the plane landed in London. The British authorities
managed to break her loose from Israeli hands, and arrested her. She
remained in British custody until she was flown to Cairo on Oct. 1, 1970.
She soon resumed her activities.<br><br>
Since then, Leila has put on extra pounds, but her smooth dark face does
not give away her 59 years. She has been living in Amman, Jordan, since
1989, along with her physician husband, Fayez Rashid, and two teenage
sons, Bader and Bashar.<br><br>
In an interview with United Press International at her office in Amman's
middle-class commercial district of Jabal Hussein, she looked back at her
life without regrets.<br><br>
Her office wall is decorated with a poster of Abu Ali Mustafa, the PFLP
leader who was assassinated last year by Israeli helicopter gunships. She
smokes French Gauloises cigarettes because she is boycotting U.S.
products. <br><br>
Q. How did you start your activities with the PFLP?<br><br>
A. I was in Kuwait working as a teacher at the time. I tried to join the
training camps set up in Jordan, but I was asked to remain in Kuwait to
organize and establish cells. I did that for two years. Then I left and
joined the camps for military training. When the PFLP asked me to return
(to Kuwait), I insisted on staying, because I did not want to continue
leading a normal life. <br><br>
Q. Why didn't you want a "normal" life?<br><br>
A. I primarily had dreams about taking our cause into our own hands. Also
I had sisters and comrades in Palestine in Israeli jails and I thought
those of us abroad should not be different than those inside. The launch
of the Palestinian revolution caused me to take up arms for the
liberation of Palestine. I came to Jordan and joined the training camps
in 1969. After that, I was chosen to take part in the first airline
hijacking of TWA. <br><br>
Q. What were your feelings when you were given that first
assignment?<br><br>
A. For me, it was ultimate happiness and a great honor to be chosen, to
the point that I couldn't believe it. When they told me I was to go on a
mission, I thought: "Is it possible they are asking me to do
this?" This dream of mine was becoming a reality. And I was
imagining how I would finally see Palestine, because part of the plan was
to fly over Palestine. It was as if this operation would liberate
Palestine for me. I felt pride and honor to be part of this operation,
which I saw as important and necessary.<br><br>
Q. What was the objective of that operation?<br><br>
A. The objective was to free prisoners, and to bring the world's
attention to the Palestinian cause, since the world was dealing with and
seeing Palestinians as just refugees who need humanitarian relief, not as
a political cause of a people who aspire for their rights and to return
to their land. So I had convictions that made the act easy. It was also a
consolidation of the PFLP's view on women: That she is able to be equal
to a man in the national struggle, and therefore can carry out any
mission that can be done by a man.<br><br>
Q. What memory sticks out most in your mind from the hijacking?<br><br>
A. I remember when we reached the Palestinian coast, I said to myself:
"I don't care if I die or get killed now." But we had a
responsibility, which was the safety of the passengers and crew. Israeli
aircraft surrounded the plane to prevent it from landing, because I was
asking the pilot to land in the airport there. He was descending, but he
didn't intend to land. At the moment, I thought that this enemy was not
invincible, after all. I felt that with a simple operation, we could
defeat them like they subjugated us. One of the things I did was to
watch. So I was leaning over the pilot and looking down at our land.
<br><br>
Q. Did you achieve any political goals? <br><br>
A. In political terms, we managed to present an important question to the
world. The second achievement was showing that we could penetrate this
enemy, despite all its strength and power. The third objective was to get
the prisoners released, and this happened after the plane landed. They
released 13 Syrian prisoners, including two pilots, because we landed in
Syria, which had done the negotiations.<br><br>
Q. You were arrested in Britain after your second hijacking in 1970. What
was it like while you were in British custody?<br><br>
A. I was in a police station in London, not a regular prison. The day
following my arrest, a young unarmed Palestinian man hijacked a British
aircraft and brought it to Jordan to help in my release. And the whole
world was mobilized because three flights were hijacked at the same time.
So the first few days in prison, the authorities tried to talk to me, but
I refused, telling them they had to first recognize me as a fighter of
the PFLP and the Palestinian people. So they didn't speak to me for the
first few days. After five days, they said the British government had
agreed to recognize me, and indeed, some of them stood up and said they
recognized me as a fighter for the PFLP and the Palestinian people.
<br><br>
Q. How were you treated?<br><br>
A. They treated me with respect, keeping in mind that a British plane was
hijacked to Jordan. They took very good care of me. They had two women
with me in the room all the time. They allowed me to play tennis. A
physician visited me every day, and I showered twice a day. <br><br>
Q. Do you regret anything? Would you do things differently?<br><br>
A. I have no regrets. Every action at the time and within that situation
-- not at this time, but at that time -- was necessary. Part of the
objectives was achieved. We succeeded in presenting the Palestinian cause
with a force to the world. But freeing all the prisoners was not
achieved.<br><br>
Q. Would you like to see your sons follow your example?<br><br>
A. I wouldn't say I want them to do what I did. But I'd like them to give
importance to their cause. I'd like them to put their cause at the
forefront.<br><br>
Q. Would you like them to be active?<br><br>
A. The circumstances are now different. Therefore, their options have
changed. I can't impose anything on them. Both are still studying, one at
the university and the other just finished his high school. My older son,
who's studying computer science, says there are scientific means and ways
to participate in the struggle. I see my boys communicating with people
abroad on the Internet on Palestine. But they're not involved the same
way I was.<br><br>
Q. As the hijacker of two planes, what did you feel when the airliners
smashed into the Twin Towers in New York on Sept. 11, 2001?<br><br>
A. I saw it on television and thought it was a film. Then I realized
there were operations happening. We, at the Front, were always careful
not to hurt innocent crew because they were not responsible for anything.
Now, what happened on Sept. 11, flying planes into buildings, was
criminal. What do the passengers and people in the buildings have to do
with anything? It was horrible to see buildings collapse and people burn
and die. At the same time, I felt the danger of this thing, and saw the
repercussions. The question that comes to mind is who was really behind
this act?<br><br>
Q. How do you see the Mideast "road map"?<br><br>
A. The road map is a continuation of the Oslo accords. But it's a map
that does not lead to the Palestinian road. It leads to the Israeli road
in terms of its texts. The political reality says that everything
(Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon's government has done and is doing
indicates that this government is not serious about peace with the
Palestinians. All that is required of the "road map" is to stop
the intifada. <br><br>
Q. Do you think the intifada has already stopped, or at least, dwindled?
<br><br>
A. No one can make the intifada continue or stop. The intifada is an
expression of the people's choice. The hudna (the recent cease-fire
between Israel and the Palestinians) is just a pause. As long as there is
occupation, the intifada will continue.<br><br>
Q. What are you doing now?<br><br>
A. In Jordan, I am not active because we don't have an organization here,
since Palestinian activities are illegal. But I work with women groups,
federations and societies. Most of my activities are abroad, giving
lectures and talking about the struggle.<br><br>
Q. Are you comfortable with that?<br><br>
A. Of course not.<br><br>
Q. Have you visited the West Bank?<br><br>
A. I went to the West Bank and Gaza in 1996 for 40 days to participate in
the Palestine National Congress, but the authorities would not give my
husband and children permits to go there, so I came back to Amman. My
husband was deported in 1970.<br><br>
Q. Do you still dream of an independent Palestine?<br><br>
A. My dream hasn't changed, and will not change. All that's changed are
the realities. I still dream that millions of Palestinians like me can
one day return to Palestine, and have a state of their own. <br><br>
Q. What are the realities holding you back?<br><br>
A. All attempts are being made to conform to America's desires and
demands for the Middle East, especially after the invasion and occupation
of Iraq. That's why they're trying to calm down the situation in
Palestine. The Israeli Knesset recently voted that the West Bank and Gaza
were not occupied territories, which means a law that declares the
territories as part of Israel. Then there's the so-called security fence,
which is effectively apartheid. The Israeli crimes did not stop, but this
will create a new face of resistance because that's the natural
equation.<br><br>
The resistance in Iraq will also escalate, and that will confuse the U.S.
plans. The new Iraqi council is sectarian, which is always the basis for
civil war. If the resistance in Iraq escalates, it will create a new
situation that will affect the whole region and will reflect on the
United States when more American soldiers return in body bags. The
colonialist doesn't learn. As Ho Chi Minh said, the colonialist is a
stupid student. They don't learn unless they're struck on the head. <br>
Copyright 2001-2003 United Press International <br><br>
<br>
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