International Women's Day - Nothing to Celebrate in Ciudad Juarez

In the realm of non-justice
impunity reigns
total silence is imposed
identifications are hidden
clues, facts, and evidence
are ignored

In an act of complicity
requests are not listened to
meetings are not granted
questions are not allowed
laws do not exist.

In act of negligence
they act as if there have never been
evidence of the crimes of
abducting, torturing, raping,
killing girls
who are poor, fragile, defenceless

In an act of infamous impunity
No one discovers
No one accuses
No one judges
No one punishes
The murderer

In an act of absolute injustice!

From Marisa Ortiz of Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa:

Be away of the diversionary offers of governments designed to make us think - presenting us with a flower or opening spaces to speak - how beautiful it is to be a woman and to give us hypocritical recognition. If this consciousness of equality really existed, instead of reserving a DAY for women, they would give us a life and worthwhile social, family, and work-related space, treating with respect and recognition for what we do and what we are, not one day, but an entire life. We women don't need a day of tender attentions, or to be told that we very lovely, nor that a prize be given to the best of the year. To hold debates and conferences that remind us of how miserable are the lives of many women in the world, but .... our own lives? the subject of feminicide is avoided. There's no discussion that even recognises that it exists, because doing so implies the responsibity to be coherent and to act consequentially.

We women of Juarez serve our community, our country, and we make an effort every day to make our work better, we only ask for equality and that there should be justice for all.

On the other hand, what is there to celebrate if the macho attitudes of our governments and authorites continue to favour impunity and to look the other way when they know that women continue to be murdered, that hundreds of girls have been abducted by people known to be protected. Indeed, so far, no one has been found as a result of investigations and we have never found out who are the abductors. We know why, because their destroyed bodies, and their terrible wounds speak to us of horrific torture and violence to which they have been subjected before having their lives torn away.

These attitudes of the government have led to an increase in the murder of women, because there are no effective investigations and the perpetrators are never punished - or even looked for. An even worse, they imply that the girls are responsible for their own tragedies because they had relations with people from the world of drug trafficking, or they try to damage their reputations with false accusations.

The violence against women because they are women continues, and it's enough to look at the figures from CasaAmiga on domestic violence, and other figures never recognised by the government of the countless women abducted, raped, and murdered as has been happening since the 1990s - without even counting the hundreds of disappearances, where the family don't even have the consolation of being able to visit the cemetary with a flower or a prayer, because nothing has ever been found out about their fate, but day by day hope dies of finding them alive.

The autorities can no longer deny or hide the fact that the problem persists: there are 29 girls, almost all minors, about whose fate we know nothing; and a similar figure last year. This year 30 girls are being sought by their families. How many women have been murdered is also unknown, but last year more than 80 women were murdered with extreme violence, and no one even mentions the consequences of these losses for their families: damage to physical and mental health, a tremendous strain of the useless search for justice, disintegration of the family and serious economic, social, family, and scholastic problems when the victim leaves children.

Luckily, the National Observatory of Feminicide, of which we are part, has a register not only of every town but also maintains a count in those parts of the country where this terrible phenomenon is most present, and the figures continue to be alarming. Only last year, therewere 733 women murdered in 11 states of the country.

Faced with this, the question is: what is there to celebrate? It would be better that we dedicate this day to teh memory of the victims, and from now on dedicate or efforts, no matter how humble, to trying to put an end to this misogyny that has created this cultural model that permits and tolerates violence against women in this community that we love.

A strong embrace to all who love and defend life as an inalienable right, to my friends and companions ; HAPPY LIFE

In Ciudad Juárez, young women, mostly from humble backgrounds, have been abducted, kept in captivity, and subjected to ferocious sexual violence before being killed.

Juarez-libro[1]
Ciudad Juarez, la violenza sulle donne in America Latina, l'impunita', la resistenza delle madri.

A day without us

What would happen if the four and a half million immigrants who live in Italy decided to stop work for a day? And if the millions of Italians who are sick of racism supported their actions?

On March 1st 2010, at least 300 thousand people coloured the streets of Italy yellow - from Trieste to Siracusa, from Palermo to Turin. And so many workers, both Italian and non-Italian did really stop work witnessing to the fact that legal and constitutional instruments cannot have a copyright.

All the demonstrations were peaceful and well attended. And the success of each one cannot be measured only by the number of participants - the hundreds who filled the streets of Siracusa have the same worth as the 30 thousand in Milan or the 20 thousand in Naples. Each reality expressed what was possible to express and gave the best. .

The women in black took part - foreigners not from the point of view of registration, but foriegn to the climate of racism that is poisining Italy today.



We sign up to the manifesto of the 1st of May movement with all our hearts:

1st March 2010, a day without us is a non violent movement that unites people from all backgrounds, genderes, faiths, education, and political orientation.

We are immigrants, children of immigrants, and Italians, brought together by a rejection of racism, of intolerance, and of the closure that characterises Italy today. We recognise the importance of immigration (not only from an economic standpoint) and are indignant about the denigratory and xenophobic campaigns that, in recent years, have led to the approval of laws and ordinances that are far awy from the letter and the spirit of our constitution.

We condemn and reject stereotypes and discriminatory language, racism of every type, especially institutional racism, the manipulatory use of appeals to cultural roots and to religion to justify national and local policies of rejection and exclusion.

We recall that the right to emigrate is recognised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and that human history has always been a history of migrations without which there would have been no process of civilisation and construction of cultures. The violation of this and other fundamental rights damages and offends society itself, not just the individuals who are directly affected.

Seeing immigrants as an anonymous mass of parasites or an inexhaustible font of cheap labour represents an immoralf, irrational and counterproductive position.

The overwhelming majority of immigrants present in Italy work hard and fulfil functions that are essential for the maintenance of a complex society such as ours. They are an integral part of Italy today.

The counterposition of "us" and "them" "natives" and "foriegners" is destined to fall, leaving place for the recognition that today we are together, old and new citizens, involved in building the future.

We want an end, here and now, to the politics of double standards, both in law and in the actions of people. Our first objective is to organise a large non-violent demonstration on March 1st 2010,in common with other European countries, non only has France inspired us with la Journée sans immigrés, 24h sans nous, but also Spain, Greece and other countries are gradually taking action.

Together with them, we want to stimulate a serious consideration about what would happen if the millions of immigrants who live and work in Europe decided to stop work or go away . On March 1st, we will make our voices heard in various ways which will be defined in collaboration with regional committees on the basis of feasibility and effectiveness.

We do not rule out anything, but we will always act with respect to the law and to non-violence.

http://www.primomarzo2010.it

Appeal for Freedom and Gender Equality in Iran

We support this appeal by feminists and women's rights activists in Iran and invite everyone to sign it.

To put an end to violence, to repression, and to obtain the immediate release of all the arrested women activists, we call on the associations, the organisations for women's rights, and feminists throughout the world to show their solidarity with the struggle of Iranian women, by organising initiatives on the 8th March 2010, with the slogan "Freedom and Gener Equality in Iran" as a sign of support for the Iranian women.

For more than 30 years, the women's movement in Iran has been in the front line of the struggle for freedom and equality. Gender discrimination goes hand in hand with the other forms of subordination based on social class, ethnic group, political ideology, and religion.

The progress of democratic though is supported by the peaceful resistence of men and women in defense of gender equality in the judicial, cultural, social and economic areas. For years, Iranian women, using different individual and collective methods, have organised campaigns to change the discriminatory laws and have contributed to the diffusion of gender equality.

By doing this, we risk threats, arrests and trials - many are still in jail.

The 30th anniversary of the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) - which Iran has not signed - coincides with the anniversary of 30 years of discrimination against Iranian women and in view of the 15th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in which Iran participated, it can be seen that Iran has not committed itself to end discrimination againstwomen.

In such a delicate situation it become more than necessary to develope female solidarity at a global level with Iranian women, in particular with activists who work for equality of rights and to establish democracy in Iran.

We invite those who defend women's rights, associations, women's organisations, and international networks to show solidarity with the Iranian women and with the democracy movement in Iran.

Sign the Declaration of the Iranian Women

The following are some ways in which you can show solidarity with the Iranian women. These are only examples, don't hesitate to be creative in your expressions of solidarity.

• Mark the 8th March, concentrating on the situation of women in Iran in publications, blogs, public meetings, demonstrations, and assembies.
  
• Organise local events concentrating on the struggle underway in Iran as part of the World March of Women.
  
• Use the slogan "Freedom and Gender Equality in Iran" on web sites, Op-Eds, leaflets, publicity, demonstrations and in other innovative actions adopted by activists, artists, feminists, and intellectuals.
  
• Stay in contact (iran.genderequality@gmail.com) by way of our blog, Facebook group “Gender Equality” and the Twitter page, where news of the reactions to the freedom and gender equality initiative will be covered.
  
• Make short films and take photos of your actions and send them to href="mailto:iran.genderequality@gmail.com">

Not in Our Name

Israel's reaction in Gaza was just Silvio Berlusconi

With the recent visit of Prime Minister Berlusconi to Israel, the Italian government has made our country complicit in the oppression of the Palestinian people and in the possible escalation of war in the Middle East.

Italy is officially supplying armaments, economic investment, and scientific collaboration to anIsraeli government, condemned by international institutions for the construction of the segregation wall, for war crimes in Gaza and for the colonial occupation of the Palestinian territories.

We, as Italian citizens, do not accept complicity in this policy of oppression and war.

For these reasons

• We call for the revocation of the military, commercial, scientific and cultural agreements between the Italian and Israeli institutions.
  
• We call for the ending of the Italian and European participation in the shameful embargo of the Palestinian population of Gaza who have been under siege for 4 years.
  

There is no lasting peace without justice.

Make Afghan Women's Voices Heard

In the west there's the notion that Afghanistan has been liberated and the fundamentalists deposed, but it's not like that. There's an image of Afghanistan that the media provides and there's Afganistan described by Afghan women

But who will make the voices of Afghan women heard?

RAWA (Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan) has been fighting for 30 years in defense of women's rights and for a secular and democratic state, free of fundamentalism.

Rawa's founder, Meena, was assassinated in 1987 by Afghan agents of the KGB. Since then, the fate democratic opponents of the regime has not changed. Today, RAWA is still forced to work clandestinely, with serious risks to the lives of activists. RAW is active in both social and political projects. Activists perform many social activities in the fields of education, health care, providing microcredits for women's craft projects, while continuing to denounce the violence and the violations of human rights, reported on the site www.rawa.org that has been created by self-taught women.

After the last 8 years of "war on terrorism" with thousands of dead - the most part civilians - the situation in Afghanistan has worsened. 80% of the population live in poverty. Social reconstruction has not happened. Production of opium has increased, and now represents 93% of world production.

Conditions have not improved for Afghan women. On the contrary, the number of abductions, rapes, selling of daughters, forced marriages, prostitution, and suicide have reached unprecedented levels.

Everything is forbidden to women (studying, employment, going out alone) in spite of the fact that the new Afghan consitution recognises equal rights for men and women since 2004.

The Italian Women in Black have been supporting the Afghan women of RAWA since 1999 with direct relations, visits, meetings, and support for funding campaigns. In 2004 the Italian Coordination in Support of Afghan Women (CISDA) was formed on the initiative of the Women in Black, womens organisations, and individual women. It promotes international cooperation projects in favour of Afghan women.

This month, CISDA organised a series of initiatives with Mehmooda, a RAWA activist, in several Italian cities. In Ravenna, the Women in Black Organised two meetings to make afghan women's voices heard
Interview with Mehmooda

In December, at the request of the Legislative Assembly of the Marche region, on the occasion of the founding of the association "Peace University", the Women in Black of Fano invitied RAWA activist Zoya to bring her testimony.

Here are some of the points of Zoya's speech that impressed us all very deeply.

8 years ago, Afghanistan was occupied for three motives: liberation of women, establishment of a democracy, and war on terrorism. After 8 years, after troops from 42 countries have intervened militarily in Afghanistan, after billions of dollars have been spent, these three "aims" have not been realised.
Liberation for women	Domestic violence, rape, abduction - all these crimes remain unpunished, because often those who commit them are linked to those in power, including those close to the government and to the forces of law and order. In the west, it's said that we've been liberated, that the obligation to wear the burqa has been removed, that the law allows us to go to school. but many girls are attacked and acid is thrown in their faces, so they don't go to school and they put the burqa back on. The burqa has only disappeared in Kabul and only among women from the elite sectors. Women are very poor and hungry. There are families that are forced to sell their daughters for 400 dollars. We are told that so much money is arriving, but wear has it ended up? Because of government corruption, it goes to drug traffickers. In all this, what remains for the women? Only suicide! And unfortunately, it seems to be becoming a fashion among young women.
Democracy	It's not RAWA, but the UN who have said that the elections in Afganistan were fraudulent. There is no freedom of speech. Independent journalists have a very difficult life. Some are even killed. RAWA, for example, cannot speak openly. The democratic voices in parliament that denounced war crimes have been expelled.
War on terrorism	After 8 years and billions of dollars, 80% of Afghanistan is under Taleban control. At the beginning we were optimistic about the western intervention, but then we understood that western forces were making comprises and supporting fundamentalist groups.

Voices of Afghan women


Zoya's Story
Raising My Voice: Malalai Joya

Boycott the Fruits of Apartheid

Boycott is an instrument for the people and for individuals to express their solidarity concretely with those who are struggling in a just cause, and in today's world there is no juster cause that that of the Palestinians.

In 2005, Palestinian civil society made a united proposal to the international solidarity movements; identify ways of boycotting Israeli products, of disinvesting from commercial activities in Israel, of imposing sanctions on the state of Israel, of imposing academic and cultural boycotts on Israelis who do not take a position against the occupation and against apartheid.

All these requests have been coherently formulated in the BDS campaign, which has already achieved many successes (for example against Veolia, Africa-Israel, Motorola..) and has obtained support from organisations in civil society - accademic groups and trade unions from all over the world, including Israel. All the prAinciple unions that represent the Palestinian workers, often used as a workforce in Israel and in the settlements, are among the promoters of the BDS campaign.

Apartheid farms and Carmel Agrexco

In several European countries, a campaign has built up against Agrexco Ltd; the principle export company for Israeli agricultural products, which is partly state-owned.

With the Carmel lable, Agrexco sells around 70% of all fruit and vegetables produced in the Israeli settlements in the occupied territores, including those in the Jordan valley.

Some reasons to boycotto Agrexco:

• In the Jordan valley, which covers one third of the West Bank, the Israeli settlers control 95% of Palestinian land with military bases, 30 illegal settlements, and immense plantations, in violation of the Oslo accords.
  
• The agriculatural activities of the settlements have led to the illegal confiscation of land and the diversion of Palestinian water resources. Palestinians are not allowed to extend their houses, dig wells, or transport their few agriculatural products to market. So, while their products rot at checkpoints, those of the settlements are freely exported to Europe.
  
• The company has benefited from agricultural subsidies granted by the Israeli government to intensify colonisation of the Jordan valley, and has used them to increase production of fruit, flowers and vegetables, that are then sold in Europe, Latin America, Africa and East Asia.
  

80% of the Agrexco's products are exported to Europe, by way of France, Spain, and since last summer, also through Italia's Vado Ligure port in Savona. So, since 2009, Italy has become an essential link in the distribution of agricultural producs from Israeli settlements to Southern Europe.

Each of us can contribute to the construction of a different future for the Palestinian people, opposing Israeli violations of UN resolutions; boycotting Carmel-Agrexco, Israeli exporter of products from illegal settlements. protesting against the docking of the ships at the port of Vado.

Per further information about the StopAgrexco Italia campaign, write to savona@donneinnero.it


Report on Agrexco from Stop the Wall Campaign (Nov 2009)


Siti utili
http://www.boicottaisraele.it/
http://www.bdsmovement.org/
http://www.bigcampaign.org/
http://www.whoprofits.org/
http://www.coalitioncontreagrexco.com/

Break the Silence Break the Siege

A year ago, we were out on the streets to show our indignation and our pain for the massacre caused by the Israeli military intervention - Operation Cast Lead - against the Gaza Strip, to call for a ceasefire, to bring an end to the siege and to guarantee the right of life of Gaza's population.

In 23 days of bombardment, more than 1,400 dead (one third were children) and more than 5000 palestinians injured. 13 Israelis dead (10 soldiers and 3 civilians). Thousands of homes, many schools, 20 mosques, the water and electricity supply networks destroyed; UN centres, hospitals and ambulances struck by the Israeli army. Tens of thousands left homeless.

A year has passed and the siege continues

You can't get into Gaza and you can't get out.
Amnesty International described the blockade of Gaza as a "form of collective punishment of the entire population, a flagrant violation of Israel's obligations under the 4th Geneva Convention". The special UN rapporteur for human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Richard Falk, condemned the siege as "a crime against humanity". The consequences of the siege are undeniably causing a situation of mass suffering, created for the most part by Israel, but with the active complicity of the international community, in particular the United States and the European Union.

The illegal siege of Gaza isn't happening in a void. It is one of many illegal acts committed by Israel in the Palestinian territories, militarily occupied in 1967.

Illegal:

• The wall and the settlements
• The demolition of houses
• The indiscriminate destruction of agricultural land.
• Closures and curfews
• Roadblocks and checkpoints
• La detenzione
• Torture
• The occupation itself.
  

The ending of the military occupation which began in 1967 is a fundamental condition for bringing abouot a just and lasting peace. For more than 60 years, the Palestinian people have been denied their right to freedom, to self-determination and to equality.

1400 people from 43 countries (the Gaza freedom March) tried in recent days to enter Gaza, to join with thousands of Palestinians in a non-violent march which would have gone from the north of the Strip to reach the border with Israel, calling for the end of the siege.

Egypt stopped them leaving Cairo, allowing only around 100 to enter Gaza. Hedy Epstein, 85 year old Jewish pacifist and Holocaust survivor, started a hunger strike in protest.

“It is important that the population of Gaza, under siege, know that they are not alone. I want to be able to say to the people of Gaza that I represent many people in my city and in the USA who are indignant about the policies adopted by Israel, the USA and Europe towards the Palestinians and that ever more people are coming to think in this way.”

said Ms Epstein, who escaped from the Nazi persecution while her parents died in Auschwitz.


Together with the participants in the Gaza Freedom March who demonstrated in the streets of Caior on January 1st, and with all those who at the same time marched in Israel and in the Gaza Strip, with those who protested in Ramallah, Bethlehem and in other West Bank cities, joining the protests organised in many cities throughout the world, we continue to draw attention to Gaza. We do not forget the tragic attack on the strip and we demand justice.

We call on politicians - local and national, on the government, on the European Union and the governments that are part of it to ensure respect for international law that has been trampled on. And to the leaders of Israel, we say:

End the siege of Gaza, stop the building of settlements in the West Bank, end the occupation, respect and apply the UN resolutions. That is the only way to peace.