Subject: [fem-women2000 717] Fundamentalism the Root of Terrorism (Statement by AIWUSA)
From: AIWUSA <aiwusa@aiwusa.org>
Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 20:53:13 -0400
Seq: 717
AIWUSA-ASSOCIATION OF IRANIAN WOMEN-USA WEBSITE: http://www.aiwusa.org/ Email: aiwusa@aiwusa.org TEL: 703-941-8584 Contact person: Behjat Dehghan Fundamentalism the Root of Terrorism An act of violence and terrorism shook the American Nation in an unprecedented tragedy. After devastating the nation's heritage and killing hundreds of innocent victims; the country was plunged into pain and sorrow. The effect of this evil act crossed the borders of the nation and bound the international community with United States in their fight against the evil of terrorism. Association of Iranian Women USA (AIWUSA) expresses its deepest sympathy to the aggrieved, their families, and the nation. We read the statements made by some of the leaders of women's movement such as Anne Walker, Donna Hughes, Leslie Wright, Charlotte Bunch, and Elie Smeal. In her statement Elie Smeal from Feminist Majority Organization, made a connection between the terrorist act in New York and the Islamic Fundamentalism in Afghanistan. We believe her statement entails an instrumental value in the fight against terrorism. We believe the fight for terrorism should start from a deeper layer, which is fundamentalism. Terrorism is the tip of the arrow being fed and supported by the mother source, fundamentalism. We as Iranian-American, have witnessed the evils of fundamentalism, to name but a few are gender inequality, family violence, and constitutional violence. Fundamentalism is in direct antagonism with democracy. Fundamentalism believes western democracy leads to sexual promiscuity, and that all their affiliations stem from the social inclusion of an evil, seductive being, called women. When it comes to foreign policy, fundamentalists believe in meddling in the affairs of other countries by issuing "fatwa" to murder foreign nationals and launching terrorist operations. Such a foreign policy is an inherent nature of fundamentalism. Since the establishment of theocracy and ruling of fundamentalists in Iran, more than 120,000 Iranians have lost their lives for the aspiration of democracy. We must emphasize that the fundamentalists' misogyny is in no way related to Islam or the call to faith by prophet Mohammad. According to Quran and the teaching of some of the most authoritative sources of the Islamic sects, the Islamic fanatics have no Quranic justification whatsoever for their atrocities or denying women right to rule or to judge. These realities demonstrate how the ominous specter of religious fascism haunts global peace. The world community has a moral duty to confront and overcome this phenomenon. Since women are the first victims of this onslaught, they have a special role to play in the struggle against fundamentalism as a threat to world peace. For more information on fundamentalism please refer to: http://www.aiwusa.org/ _________________________________________________________________________ fem-Women2000@jca.apc.org for Women 2000, UN Special Session on Beijing+5 Searcheable Archive http://www.jca.apc.org/fem/news/women2000/index.shtml visit fem-net HomePage for other mailing lists http://www.jca.apc.org/fem