lranian women — their own struggle and solutions

The Bieter media highlighted
the marches of Iranian women as
if they were protecting their his-
tory of fighting for women’s rights
in that country. The press was full
of stories of what they portrayed
as ‘‘anti-government’’ demonst-
rations.

CBS’s cameras were right
there and so was U.S. feminist
Kate Millet.

The revolutionary process
underway in Iran, including the
struggle for equal righis for wo-
men, is being discussed widely by
progressives everywhere.

How do Islamic laws affect
women? How did women in Iran
take part in the overthrow of the
Shah and how are they contribut-
ing to the process underway to-

?

Two articles discussing these
questions have appeared in the
U.S. Daily World part of each we
reprint below.

* * x

Tom Foley writes:

The Ayatollah Ruhollah Kho-
meini on March 7 criticized those
in the new Iranian revolutionary
government who thought that

“everything should be copied
from the West,”’ he said that
could not hold for a government
based on Islam, and that ‘““women
who work in government offices
should be appropriately and mod-
estly attired, not semi-naked.”’

The statement was im-
mediately pounced on, twisted
and distorted by the pro-Shah and
pro-U.S. imperialist forces in Iran
and abroad. They tried to imply
that Khomeini had ordered Ira-
nian women to wear the chador,
the Iranian ‘‘veil.”’

This was not true. Khomeini

Cuba’s health care

best in Latin America
Canadians facing médical

cutbacks in this rich,- indus-

trialized land, could consider

the following information from

socialist Cuba.

This year marks the 20th an-
niversary of the triumph of the
revolution there. Cuba before
that time was much the same as
its sister countries of Latin
America — poor, exploited, il-
literate, disease-ridden. It was
a haven for organized crime;
Havana was one of the world’s
capitals of prostitution; illiter-
acy was high and children died
hungry and homeless as they

still do in most of Latin
America under the heel of
multi-nationals and their pup-
pet regimes.

Twenty years later Cuba is
rated by the United Nations as
the Latin American leader in
public health services. In 1958
its infant mortality rate was 60

. deaths per 1,000 — today it has
dropped to 22.3 per 1,000.

Cuba has one doctor per 662

inhabitants and still more than
~ 2,000 of its doctors, nurses and
health technicians are working
abroad in some 20 developing
nations helping others.

Polio was eradicated by
1968, diphtheria disappeared

by 1971, tetanus, gastroen-
teritis and tuberculosis are the
lowest in Latin America.

-——International focus

never said any such thing. But re-
peated clarifications and explan-
ations of what he really did say,
by Khomeini, the Ayatollah
Mahmud Taleghani of Tehran, by
Premier Medhi Bazargan and
others, seemed to do no good.
Kate Millet, the U.S. feminist,

just happened to be in Tehran at”

the time. She apparently had been
invited there by a mysterious
12-member Iranian women’s
committee whose names have
never been made public. The dis-
torted version of what Khomeini
said supposedly served as a vehi-
cle for rallying thousands of Ira-
nian women for days of demonst-
rations and protests against
Khomeini and against the Bazar-

gan government. A U.S. support
committee and then -an interna-
tional support committee were
very quickly organized, allegedly
to prevent the new Iranian
government from forcing women
back into medieval servitude.

As the New York Post gushed
on March 12: ‘‘Many of the free-
doms Iranian- women are now
demanding were made available
to them during the reign of the
Shah, whose sister, Princess As-
hraf, was a leading feminist.’’ The
Post said that Khomeini’s alleged
edict has prompted American
feminists to form ‘a telephone
tree’ of support for their Iranian
sisters, Letty Pogrebin, an editor
of Ms. magazine, said last night.

‘This is an opportunity to have
worldwide expression of con-
cern, support and pressure,’ Mrs.
Pogrebin declared.”

Pressure? There were nightly

gun-battles in the streets of "yg
_ Tehran and other Iranian cities |

with armed gangs led by agents of
SAVAK, the Shah’s secret police.

SAVAK and pro-Shah forces
were trying to seize Iranian is-

lands in the Persian Gulf by mil-
itary force. CIA-armed Kurdish
tribesmen were attacking Iranian
cities. A U.S. Navy carrier task
force was steaming towards Iran
through the Indian Ocean. More
pressure?

Ms. Millet and the other rep-

resentatives of U.S. supremism

like her have ignore what Kho-
meini has actually said about
women. In an interview published
in the Feb. 23 Seven Days
magazine, conducted by Profes-

‘sor James Cockroft of Rutgers.

University, Khomeini said: ‘‘On

the participation of women in-

running the country, there is no
(islamic) prohibition. ... In the

_case of marriage, Islam has given

the women the right to choose
whatever husband she likes. ...
Islam is against abortion and for-
bids it. ... Women are free to be
in the Army. What Islam opposes
is corruption, whether it comes
from the man or the woman.”’
Khomeini said that pro-Shah
propaganda had misled people in

the West about Islam. He said:
“Why should we be against the _
education of women? Why should ‘

we be against women working?

What was Kate Millet doing in
Iran?

. Women just like men, are free
in all these activities. Women are
not different from men, by no
means. ~

“Yes, it is ‘true that according
to Islam, women should be prop-
erly covered, but not necessarily
by the chagor,’’ Khomeini said.
“*She can make any kind of dress
she wants to, and she can choose
her own (type of) dress.”’

Khomeini said: ‘‘What we
don’t want, and what Islam does
not want, is to make a woman an
object, a puppet in the hands of

_the man.” I believe that if Kate

Millet and the other U.S. femin-
ists were not completely blinded
by prejudice, they could agree
with many of Khomeini’s state-
ments. ...

* * *

Daily World writer Eliza Ben-
nett makes many of the same
arguments as Foley. She also de-
velops the point about Millet as
“spokeswoman”’:

Bennett writes:

So, who invited Ms. Millett?
And who appointed her spokes-
woman? And why does she con-
tinue to denounce Khomeini as a
“male chauvinist?”’ :

It~is not often that the New

York Times prints an article that

is frank and straightforward but
such an article appeared on
March 16, describing an interview
with four educated, upper-,
middle-class Iranian women who
shed light on this situation. Ac-

.. cording to the women, they are

concerned with their rights as
women (to pursue careers) and to
dress as they please, but they are
searching for these rights within
the cultural parameters of their
society. t

. those women who do wear ne

“Millett: ‘‘I think she has no Ti

They talk ‘of the misinter
pretation of the Koran that hasled)
to the lowering of the position of
women. In their study of it, they)
have found a granting of equality.

They also explain that th
chador, far from being a timeless
item of dress inherited from th
time of Mohammed is a fairly
cent development -that
women have turned to in ordert0) —
hide their poverty. In fact, they
point out that most rural wome
do not wear the chador and fot

not a choice, but a necessity.

“Most important, these wome
declare their allegiance to
revolutionary process that is tak
ing place now in Iran. As
continue to fight for the rights
women, they feel that the wome?
of Iran have won this point
they. showed concern that”
character of future demonst®
tions not divide the struggle. —

The article ends with their ¢
claration on the question of

to talk for Persian women ..+1
have our own tongues, our @ ‘)
demands. We can talk for us.”

The question of the behind te
scenes hand of the CIA cannd
help ‘but be raised. It has the
stamp of their typical handiwork: —
utilize a legitimate demand i
order to disrupt the unity of the
revolutionary process. Genuine
feelings of Iranian women ane
legitimate feelings of solidarity of
women throughout the wort,
could offer such an opportunity.
The CIA has a long history of f0
menting confusion over im-
mediate gains vs. pursuit of |
range solutions:’ Who ,elsé? has
these instant international con-
nections? One cannot prove 1
but one must ask the questions.

- Cuba Is rated by the United
Nations as the Latin American
leader in public health ser-
vices. In 1958 its infant mortal-
ity rate was 60 deaths per 1,000
— today it has dropped to 22.3
per 1,000. Ninety-eight per cent
of all births occur in hospitals —
an incredible statistic for Latin
America!

Ninety-eight per cent of all
births occur in hospitals (an in-
credible statistic in Latin
American terms), life expec-

tancy has risen to 70 years.

Even if we were to take
capitalist government
spokesmen at their word that
medical care is expensive —
and it is — the Cuban example
shows that regard for human
life and health under socialism
is not measured in terms of
profit, but is seen as a right for
which no effort is spared.

No talk there about cutting
back on essential social ser-
vices (health, education, hous-
ing among the first ones) but a
constant expansion of these
rights for all the people. -

Why isn’t Canada at ©
the Leipzig Fair?

Some 9,000 exhibitors from
more than 60 states took partin —
the 1979 Leipzig Spring Fair,
one of the world’s largest and
oldest commercial fairs where
mutually benéficial trade deals
are made. Canada, with its
economic woes, however was
still absent.

One of the' answers to this
country’s dangerous trade pat-
tern with our. southern
neighbor is to expand trade
with the socialist world and
developing countries. They
were all in Leipzig doing busi-
ness, expanding contacts and
signing SOULTACsS Canada was
not.

The naenonie however,
have no such problem when it
comes to commerce. They ~

were there. Here is the mes-
sage President Carter sent to
Leipzig last month:

“In the name of the people
of the USA, I would like to
heartily welcome you to the
numerous stands of American
products and achievements at
the 1979 Leipzig Spring Fair.
For many years the famous
Leipzig Fair has served as a
bridge between East and West

' and is proof that international

exchange of goods is to the ad-
vantage of all. j
“The participation of my
country reflects the important
role which such fairs play in
the development of interna-
tional trade and the desire of
the government of the USA to
further improve understanding
and peaceful cooperation with
the German Democratic Re-

_ public in those fields that

would benefit both countries.”

Ottawa takes its lead from
the White House on so many
other issues, most of them to ~
Canada’s detriment. Here’s
one we could follow to our ad-
vantage. :

The brave children
in Israel’s jails

Felicia Langer is a leading
member of the Communist
Party of Israel and one of that
country’s foremost lawyers.
She has been active in the de- '
fence of the rights of Palesti-
nians subjected to terrible

se

- three years younger. They did

repression. Langer recently |
wrote this account of her}
meeting with refugee children |
inside Damun Prison: |

.. The prison does not wel- |
come me. There is open hostil- || —
ity, more than in the past, the |
obstacles in the entrance are
more sophisticated, the wal
ing time longer.

At last they are brought in
front of me. A parade of small |
children, poorly dressed. They |
are about 13 years old but look

not grow up ina luxurious sub-
urb. Large eyes of a child are
staring at me. I am embarras- |
.sed. I don’t know what to say |
to him. The blue and yellow —
marks on his hands and legs |
prove, that for the inter- |
rogators he is not a child, and |
when I caressed his head he |
felt uncomfortable. <
He gives me his small hand
and declares: ‘‘We are not af-
raid of the prison. Prison is for
men’. One of the children,
pale, ill, speaks with difficulty,
embarrased: ‘‘I have read your |
books on the occupation.” Is
look at him in surprise: ‘‘When
did you manage to read |
them?’’ “‘Do you think we’re
kids? I’m thirteen!’’, he de- |
clares and stretches himself.
“We understand it all. The
interrogators have warned us
about you, so we understood.
that- oe are the one, who can
help us . |

|
|
|
ik
|

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—APRIL 20, 1979— Page 8

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