OPEN LETTER TO AFGHAN ACTIVIST MALALAI JOYA FROM THE AMERICAS

San José, Costa Rica, October 2, 2021

Dear Malalai Joya.

The subscribing organizations and activists of the American continent express our full solidarity with the people of Afghanistan and the region, who have suffered and are suffering the fierce onslaught, both by the culminated NATO occupation, and by the return of the Taliban, staunch enemy of women and the most basic democratic freedoms.  Here in the Americas we promote the fight of women against sexual violence, for equity, against femicide, for their right to decide, as well as against the devastating policies of the I.M.F. and the United States, which plunge us into misery, and support murderous regimes such as Duque in Colombia, Bolsonaro in Brazil and Piñera in Chile.

We share your categorical repudiation of the Taliban.  We denounce the virulent repression of the patriarchs of The Taliban, whose dogma is a misrepresentation and corruption of Islam, goes against the traditions and practices of the peoples and communities of Afghanistan, and leads to the brutal oppression of women.  We understand the repression of women by the Taliban as a key part of their regime of repression of the entire Afghan people.

At the same time, without any contradiction, we denounce the bloody farce of the endless “War on Terrorism.”  The horrendous massacre of thousands of civilians in the 9/11 bombing was cynically exploited by neoconservative hawks – unopposed by the Democratic Party – to unleash decades of terror in the service of America’s colonial interests, at terrible cost to the United States and to humanity.

To defeat terrorism, both by the imperialist states, and by the lackey dictatorships addicted to them, as well as by sectarian fundamentalist forces, such as the Taliban, we firmly believe that it is necessary to build solidarity with the struggles for self-determination of the oppressed peoples, with women fighters at the forefront.

Any progress that some section of the Afghan population has made with the NATO occupation was undermined by the bombing and corruption inseparable from it.  For every Afghan woman who has been able to access a university education, thousands more suffered the terror of bombings and war, impoverishment, hunger, the destruction of their communities.  We believe that you have expressed this lesson with success and clarity, because you live and feel it.

There is an urgent need for a dialogue between our peoples, crossing borders and seas to build solidarity in the face of the terrible crisis of humanity.  We invite you to a discussion, an exchange with activists from the Americas, in order to understand our struggles and promote international solidarity.

It is our intention to extend this invitation to other activists in the struggles against repression and for self-determination.

We denounce the repression of the Sisi dictatorship in Egypt, financed by the United States and the reactionary Saudi monarchy.  We demand the release of tens of thousands of political prisoners in Egypt.  We condemn the genocide of the people of Yemen. We condemn the repression of the Kurdish people, and we vindicate their struggle for self-determination.  We express our deep admiration for their long struggle to preserve their language and culture, and for the heroic example of Kurdish women fighting the misogynistic and backward ISIS (self-proclaimed “Islamic State”).  We support the Palestinian people in their just struggle against Zionist repression, against the siege of Gaza and the occupation of the West Bank, for the right of the exiled and expelled people to return to their homeland.  We wholeheartedly support the fight against the dictatorial regime of the assassin Assad in Syria and express our full support for Syrian women in organizations such as Families for Freedom, which fight for the release of political prisoners in Syria.  We take this opportunity to express our support for the tireless activist Wafa Ali Mustafa, who has been advocating for years for Syrian political prisoners and missing persons.
We publicly dissociate ourselves from regimes that falsely proclaim themselves the leadership in humanity’s struggle against colonialism and imperialism.  We refer to regimes and currents such as that of Maduro in Venezuela.  The Venezuelan people face hunger mainly because of the policies of the United States, but also because of the dictatorship of Maduro at the service of a corrupt military caste.  We also reject and denounce the dictatorial regime in Iran, without giving up in our rejection of the US sanctions that cause so much suffering there.  The true face of Iran’s theocratic dictatorship is seen in the suffering of the peoples in Syria and Lebanon, as well as in the repression of minorities.  We do not confuse solidarity with oppressed peoples with support for dictatorships.

From an anti-capitalist perspective, we turn to the brave Afghan, Syrian, Egyptian, Asian, Middle Eastern women and to women from all of the southern hemisphere, activists and organizations, to propose a broad campaign in solidarity with the struggles of women, of oppressed peoples, and for the most basic human rights, in the face of an increasingly grave crisis, and the resulting massive exodus of refugees and the increasing impoverishment of humanity.

We invite you to talk about how to understand each other and build international solidarity.
Signed: