<html>
<body>
<h1><font size=4><b>Time Magazine's Sneaky Way of Muffling the Message of
an Afghan Peace Activist<br><br>
</b></font></h1><h2><b>Malalai Joya gets named one of Time Magazine's 100
Most Influential People of 2010, but allows Ayaan Hirsi to make the
announcement and distort Joya's message.</b></h2><font size=3>By
<a href="http://www.zcommunications.org/zspace/malalaijoya">Malalai
Joya</a> and Sonali Kolhatkar<br>
<a href="http://www.alternet.org/world/146714?page=entire" eudora="autourl">
http://www.alternet.org/world/146714?page=entire<br><br>
</a>(May 3, 2010) -- Outspoken Afghan activist and former member of
the Parliament, Malalai Joya has been one of the most vocal opponents of
the US and NATO war in Afghanistan. In a
</font>
<a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-04-19/memo-to-america-stop-murdering-my-people/">
<font size=3 color="#0000FF">recent op-ed she
called</a></font><font size=3> on the US to "stop murdering my
people."<br><br>
Joya was suspended from the Afghan Parliament nearly 3 years ago for
challenging warlord domination and lives in constant fear of her life.
She has survived several assassination attempts but chooses to live in
Afghanistan. Her memoir,
</font><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/143910946X/?tag=gpfm-20">
<font size=3 color="#0000FF"><i>A Woman Among
Warlords</a></i></font><font size=3> with Derrick O'Keefe was published
late last year (Simon and Schuster). Last week Malalai Joya was named one
of
</font>
<a href="http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1984685_1984949_1985238,00.html">
<font size=3 color="#0000FF">Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential
People" of 2010</a></font><font size=3>. I reached her for an
interview via satellite phone in Afghanistan on May 3rd 2010.<br><br>
<b>Sonali Kolhatkar:</b> You were just named one of the 100 most
influential people of 2010 by TIME Magazine. But author Hirsi Ali, who
wrote the announcement, said "I hope in time she comes to see the
U.S. and NATO forces in her country as her allies. She must use her
notoriety, her demonstrated wit and her resilience to get the troops on
her side instead of out of her country." How do you respond to this
statement?<br><br>
<br><br>
<b>Malalai Joya:</b> I am very angry with the way they have introduced
me. TIME has painted a false picture of me and does not mention anything
at all about my struggle against the occupation of Afghanistan by the US
and NATO, which is disgusting. In fact every one knows that I stand
side-by-side with the glorious anti war movements around the world and
have proved time and again that I will never compromise with the US And
NATO who have occupied my country, empowered the most bloody enemies of
my people and are killing my innocent compatriots in Afghanistan. What
TIME did was like giving an award to someone with one hand and getting it
back with another hand. I have sent my protest through my
</font><a href="http://www.malalaijoya.com/"><font size=3 color="#0000FF">
Defense Committee</a></font><font size=3>, but TIME did not bother to
even answer than protest letter. Perhaps this is the kind of freedom of
expression exercised by TIME and the US. But I'm happy to see that many
of my friends and supporters have objected to the write-up and expressed
it by posting their comments on TIME's site or sending me many
emails.<br><br>
<b>Sonali Kolhatkar:</b> Earlier this year some journalists were able to
confirm that US troops had killed two pregnant women during a night-time
raid. How common are such occurrences in Afghanistan today?<br><br>
Malalai Joya: Yes, the US and NATO often lie when they kill innocent
people and also stop media from reporting civilian casualties. Most of
the civilian casualties take place in remote areas of Afghanistan where
there is no media to report it, so no one notices it. In many cases after
killing people NATO [releases] statements saying that many insurgents
were killed. When you try to find out from the local people, they are
actually women and children killed, not insurgents. Afghan media are also
mostly in the hands of the Afghan criminal bands. They rarely report
civilians killed by the US and NATO. In Afghanistan most media outlets,
especially TV channels, are a tool for warlords of the Northern Alliance.
For example warlords like Atta Mohammed, Qanooni, Mohseni, Mohaqqiq,
Rabbani and others, each have their own TV channel and they naturally do
not want to report civilian casualties by their US and NATO
masters.<br><br>
The US Embassy in Kabul has an office that carefully monitors all media
in Afghanistan and if they find any of them reporting against US
interests, they try using different means to stop it. Bribes are a very
common means used. For the US it's not just fighting a war through
military means, but also on the propaganda front. I think propaganda
plays a major role. They are trying to show the war is justified. When
they kill civilians they immediately deny it and say that all the people
killed are Taliban. When there is no chance for any independent
confirmation, the lies are the only things reflected in the world media.
There are only a few cases where some brave and justice-loving
</font>
<a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/afghanistan/article7060395.ece">
<font size=3 color="#0000FF">journalists like Jerome
Starkey</a></font><font size=3> have come forward to unmake their
shameful lies.<br><br>
<b>Sonali Kolhatkar:</b> Much has been made recently of Karzai's
statements in favor of the Taliban. How close is the Afghan central
government to forging a peace with the Taliban? What will that mean for
the US/NATO war? What will it mean for the people of
Afghanistan?<br><br>
<b>Malalai Joya:</b> I think Karzai cannot dare to make such a statement
or try to meet the Taliban and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's party leaders
without having an "OK" from the White House. Actually it is the
US that asks him to make peace with the Taliban and Hekmatyar's party or
at least share power with them. Also the US government needs to show the
people of NATO countries that it is not a war-monger and is in favor of
peace talks with the Taliban. But it is just a show. The US doesn't want
to fight the Taliban forever as it needs them as an excuse to continue
the occupation of Afghanistan in the implementation of its strategic,
regional, and military interests. I think some of the Taliban and
Hekmatyar's leaders are already part of Karzai's regime. One of the main
leaders of Hekmatyar's party called Hadi Arghandiwal is now the Minister
of Economy under Karzai.<br><br>
This is what the US wants. These brutal and inhuman leaders have been
created by the US in the past and are ready to work for the US as long as
their pockets are filled with dollars and high posts are offered to them
in the government. Actually the US government is trying hard to empower
reactionary forces and individuals in Afghanistan as they can use them to
stop the emergence of pro-democracy and nationalist forces and groups in
my country.<br><br>
<b>Sonali Kolhatkar:</b> You recently wrote in an
</font>
<a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-04-19/memo-to-america-stop-murdering-my-people/">
<font size=3 color="#0000FF">op-ed in the Daily
Beast</a></font><font size=3> that there are a lot of anti-US protests
happening in Afghanistan today that go unreported. Tell us more about
these protests - where are they happening, who is protesting, and are
they also against the fundamentalists or just the US/NATO?<br><br>
<b>Malalai Joya:</b> Yes, we have witnessed the protests of people
especially in the Eastern and Western parts of Afghanistan over the past
year. They are mostly reactions to civilians killed by the US and NATO.
With every bombardment by NATO, angry people come to the streets to raise
anti-US slogans. But unfortunately they are not organized and in some
cases the Taliban uses them. We have seen most of these protests in
Nangahar, Ghazni, Loghar, Herat, and Helmand provinces but they are
usually not reported. A few days ago angry protestors burned about 20
fuel tankers of NATO in Loghar which was one out of many such protests
reported by the world media.<br><br>
These protestors are not only against the US and NATO but also against
the Afghan government. People see that this government is deeply corrupt
and in the hands of looters and murderers of the Northern Alliance. So
they are deeply fed up. Last month a large crowd of thousands of workers
in Baghlan province protested against Mahmood Karzai [vice chairman of
the Afghanistan chamber of commerce and Hamid Karzai's younger brother],
head of the "economic mafia" of Afghanistan who has his hold on
some previously state-owned factories. The US and NATO and the Afghan
government usually ignore people's protests. But I believe that given
enough time, such protests will become even more organized out of
people's anger. Afghans are on the verge of uprising but poverty,
destitution, and the non-existence of powerful democratic-minded forces
in our country stops them from a very serious uprising. I'm sure in the
next few years such forces will emerge and these protests will turn more
powerful to shake the Afghan puppet government and the occupation
forces.<br><br>
<b>Sonali Kolhatkar:</b> The US has made no secret for many months that
it is about to launch an offensive against the Taliban in Kandahar. What
do you think will happen this summer as a result of this
offensive?<br><br>
<b>Malalai Joya:</b> As I said before, the US does not want to fight the
Taliban forever. They only fight with them here and there to show the
American people that the US is at war in Afghanistan and their presence
is necessary here. The offensive in Kandahar will not be different from
Marjah and other areas of Helmand where they had such operations in the
past. They make such a hue and cry about their military actions but in
fact they just push the Taliban to other areas and then install some
corrupt officials and police forces who are worse than the Taliban. In a
few days the Taliban return as we experienced in the past. They declared
Marjah as a Taliban-free district but in fact the Taliban has a permanent
presence there. They had just left the area for a short time.<br><br>
After the Marjah operation, a spokesperson of the Afghan Defense Ministry
was asked at a press conference why they allowed the Taliban to leave the
area and why the Taliban were neither killed nor arrested in Marjah. He
answered that the purpose of the operation was not killing or arresting
the Taliban, instead it was to push them out of the area.<br><br>
So we expect that they will do the same thing with Kandahar. They will
launch the operation and then allow the Taliban to go to another area and
then later start an operation there. This is a battle for show, not a
real war against terrorism. Otherwise for the US and NATO, it is a task
of only a few days to uproot the Taliban and defeat them forever. But
then everyone will ask them to end the occupation of
Afghanistan.<br><br>
The only outcome of the Kandahar operation will be civilian casualties.
Poor and innocent people are the only ones killed in the war. But the
Taliban do not experience any defeat or even major casualties. Afghans
know very well that the US will neither bring democracy nor peace to
Afghanistan. They know that the US and NATO are empowering the enemies of
democracy. But it is the duty of the Afghan people to fight for their
values and understand that the occupation will only drag us more deeply
into slavery. As always I pass this message to justice-loving people
around the world that no nation can donate liberation to another
nation.<br><br>
<b>Sonali Kolhatkar:</b> Can you tell us what the status of your own
parliamentary position is right now, since you were stripped of your
elected position by the fundamentalists some years ago. Have you ever
been made to face a court? Can you run again for parliament in the next
elections?<br><br>
<b>Malalai Joya:</b> In the last stage of the Interparliamentary Union
meeting, a delegation of Afghan parliamentarians promised that they would
end my suspension so I could return to Parliament. But it was just a lie
and they did not stand by their promise.<br><br>
I received a letter from the court some months ago and I answered
truthfully what my strong position was against the warlords. They asked
me to apologize [for my statements made in a
</font><a href="http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1076620.html">
<font size=3 color="#0000FF">TV interview</a></font><font size=3> --and
said that they would allow me back to the Parliament. But I stressed the
truth of my statements and said that I would never apologize to criminals
and looters. However, I still can run for elections which are due to
happen later this year. But I have not made up my mind to run.<br><br>
But whether I serve in Parliament or outside it, I will continue my fight
for justice, democracy and against the occupation. Parliament was just a
small part of my struggle but I still have many other options and fields.
Going to a Parliament of criminals was a big torture for me. It was a
torture everyday to see the faces of these brutal men such as Qanooni,
Sayyaf, Mohaqqiq, Piram Qul, Haji Almas, Haji Fayeed, etc there. But I
accepted the task on behalf of my people.<br><br>
I think the next election will be even more disgusting and full of fraud.
The new chief of the election commission is a known warlord of the
Northern Alliance and he will try to bring all these warlords to the
Parliament and stop the emergence of democratic-minded people like me.
Many people think that at this point they will never allow me to win the
election as they can't bear to have me inside the parliament once more.
But I will continue the struggle as long as these criminals are in power,
these sworn enemies of democracy, women's rights, human rights, and as
long as these occupation forces are bombing from the sky, and supporting
the enemies of my people and killing innocent people of my
country.<br><br>
<i>For more information, visit
</font><a href="http://www.alternet.org/world/www.malalaijoya.com">
<font size=3 color="#0000FF">malalaijoya.com</a></font><font size=3>.<br>
<br>
</i></font><font size=3 color="#0000FF">
<a href="mailto:Sonali@afghanwomensmission.org">Sonali
Kolhatkar</a></font><font size=3> is Co-Director of the
</font><a href="http://afghanwomensmission.org/index.php">
<font size=3 color="#0000FF">Afghan Women's
Mission</a></font><font size=3>, a US-based non-profit that funds health,
educational, and training projects for Afghan women. She is also the host
and producer of
</font><a href="http://uprisingradio.org/"><font size=3 color="#0000FF">
Uprising Radio</a></font><font size=3>, a daily morning radio program at
KPFK, Pacifica in Los Angeles.<br><br>
<br><br>
</font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font size=3 color="#FF0000">Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br><br>
</font><font size=3 color="#008000">415 863-9977<br><br>
</font><font size=3 color="#0000FF">
<a href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/" eudora="autourl">
www.Freedomarchives.org</a></font><font size=3> </font></body>
</html>