WUNRN
WOMEN WAGE ANTI-TERRORISM &
ANTI-JIHAD ACTIVISM BUT RARELY MAKE HEADLINES
PHOTO: A
womanhuman rights activist holds a placard during an “anti-Talibanisation”
protest in
By Karima
Bennoune - October 1, 2014
As the UN Security Council
tackles the entity claiming to be “Islamic State,” and President Barack Obama
invokes global Muslim responsibility, many ask whether people of Muslim
heritage do enough to counter extremism.
The fact is, away from the
media spotlight, thousands wage daily battles in their own countries against
what President Obama called a “network of death.”
Unfortunately, jihadists make
headlines while those who wage the anti-jihad rarely do. After all, everyone
has heard of Osama bin Laden, but few know of those standing up to would-be bin
Ladens across the globe.
There is a long, untold
history of brave individuals of Muslim heritage who have challenged extremists.
In the 1990s, the women’s
group known as the Algerian Rally of Democratic Women or RAFD (Refuse) dared to
do just that during a “dark
decade” of jihadist atrocities committed by the Armed
Islamic Group battling the Algerian state. That violence claimed as many as
200,000
lives.
The demonstrations organized
by the women of RAFD drew thousands of protesters, despite the danger. In
October 1993, as the violence began to accelerate, they wore symbolic cloth
targets in front of the President’s office to decry the threats to women and
secularists. The entire roster of RAFD’s leaders ended up on a fundamentalist
death list, but still they would not be cowed.
The day after a deadly 1995 bombing on a crowded
street in
Then, in 1995, the women’s
organization held a mock trial of the Islamic Salvation Front’s leaders in
Through acts like these,
activists helped galvanize and display the population’s burgeoning rejection of
an Islamic State project in
Even worse, it sometimes
elicited criticism from the Western intelligentsia and press suggesting that
its members were inauthentic and Westernized.
Why were they labeled this
way? One reason is that the Western media often frames the conflict as one
between Muslim extremists and the West, rather than as a fight for human rights
within Muslim majority societies. In this narrative, opposition to extremism is
deemed Western. This is entirely mistaken.
When the West frames the
conflict in this way, it can come across as a “clash
of civilizations.” But this is not the case. There is a clash of
ideologies—not civilizations—and it is taking place within each and every
country affected by extremism.
The public relations battle
of the ‘anti-jihadists’ is a critical part of the struggle against groups like
ISIS—just as important as the military campaign. That is why the international
community must do a better job to support those who are today’s version of
RAFD, and to recognize that they represent a legitimate voice from within their
societies.
And there are many like them.
Inside the danger zone, the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq
(OWFI) publicly denounces
The Iraqi architect Yanar
Mohammed, an opponent of the
Despite her bravery, Yanar
once told me that she had limited access to Western media. This echoes what
RAFD spokeswoman Zazi Sadou recently told me about the international response
to their efforts: “No one wanted to hear us.” Even today, the West is still not
listening to the voices of Iraqis who are standing up to the extremists. This
must change.
If the international
community wants more individuals to fight back, it must offer them support.
While Qatari
coffers have nourished jihadists across the region, secular groups who
fight Islamists scrounge for
funds.
If all this is not addressed then there is a real risk that Muslim fundamentalists–armed with money, weapons, foreign fighters and emotive religious rhetoric– will win both propaganda and military battles.
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