Stand for Something

It is interesting, since I decided on coming to MIIS and study Human Security and Development, many people have asked me what in the world I'd do with such a degree, and better yet what could I possibly do here in the US with that degree? I always have at least a semi answer for the first half of that question (work for the UN), but always struggled with the second half myself. I want to move back to WA one day and never know what in the world I can do locally with such a degree. Kael's steadfast answer is always that I should be a teacher. He is adamant I should become a teacher so that I have the ability to share my knowledge and passions with the next generation...AND as he says since I love what teenagers love anyway I'll get along with them! :) (meaning my love for Disney and other teen pop sensational people/movies/things) While being a teacher would be an honor, especially because the teachers in my life have given me everything, that answer has never settled my quest for figuring out how in the world I can put my human security degree to work in a local setting. Until now.

If you read my post on our Nepal site, you will read about my experience meeting with a major human rights defender from Nepal. He speaks so passionately about the rights abuses in Nepal, the suffering, the poverty, the inequality, and as well about the remarkable beauty of the country. This talk has me thinking about way too many issues per second. Women, poverty, land grabs, political instability, communism and why Americans hate communists, torture, human rights, feminism.....but oddly enough through all the discussion of issues in Nepal, issues you would assume only developing or conflict ridden countries go through, I was comparing them to our situation at home. Take land grabs for instance. In Nepal a big problem is the government taking over people's lands because they are in debt and can't pay. Sound familiar? What about here in America where the government and banks are repossessing homes? No, we are not forcing people to do manual labor on their lands like what is happening in some rural places in Nepal but the rest of the situation is similar right? What about income inequality? The former King and a few other autocrats hold the majority of the money and largest share of GDP in Nepal....sound familiar? In Nepal if you have a lot of money and/or guns you live above the law....familiar? People and corporations who have billions upon billions of dollars can just buy legislators and live above the law by changing the laws to favor themselves. These are all issues WE are facing here in AMERICA! Not just in Nepal, or Lebanon, or Sierra Leone, or whatever other developing country you can think of. That is powerful. The Global North (The US, Europe, Canada, Australia) are facing similar issues as the countries they are normally trying to help.

What does all this have to do with me finding a way to put my degree to use locally you ask? Well, it means that the issues that I am learning about in my quest for my MA, women's rights, conflict resolution, structural and cultural violence, and many others are all happening here in the US. Our educational system isn't what it used to be. Corruption and inequality are increasing. I grew up watching shows like American Dreams, The West Wing, fascinated with the 1960s and political and social struggle. And now I am realizing this is OUR Time to stand for something. To stand in solidarity not just with the developing countries who have very real, difficult issues to solve, but with the people in our own country. With the 99%. We have to stand up. Stand up for the men and women who come home from war without any help from our government to reintegrate into society, stand up to a government who is always more willing to send more men and women to die for our country than men and women to speak for our country. Stand up to banks and big corporations who are not only putting small businesses (you know the businesses Republicans swear they stand by and protect?) out of business but are controlling the fabric of society through media monopoly and political influence. Stand up against people who think that government is too big and shouldn't provide its citizens with healthcare or education or good infrastructure, but think its perfectly suitable for that same government to tell its citizens who can and cannot get married or who can and cannot decide whats right for their own bodies. I am finally realizing that the issues that are so important to me are not just being violated in other countries, they are being violated right here at home. Maybe I can actually make a difference here, not just in Lebanon or Nepal or wherever my life takes me. I can put my degree to work right here at home...that is if there is a job when I get out in this broken down economy.

Stand up for something. I stand with the 99%. I stand for human rights. I stand for freedom and equality, much like my country's founders.

Get involved. Stand for something.

Much love,

Sasha

If you haven't already seen it, take the time to watch this video and listen to this song, it is a really great summary of what the 99% is really about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq3BYw4xjxE

Nepal Blog

Our Nepal blog is up and running! My professor and a few of my colleagues have already posted their first entries. I am drafting up my first post tonight! Again the site is: blogs.miis.edu/miisinnepal2012

We are required to post before, during, and after the trip so be sure to check it out! It should be pretty interesting to see everyones thoughts and analyses of the situation in Nepal!

Also: T-1 week until THANKSGIVING!! I can't wait to get home to see my family! I haven't seen my grandparents, cat, or hometown in over a year!!! WAY WAY WAY To long!

Changes are coming

Hello everyone!

It is official, I am going to Nepal!! Why official now versus Friday when I announced this before? I BOUGHT MY TICKETS!!! YAY! I am so excited. Its for sure happening! We have our first meeting on Tuesday where we will watch a documentary and then Friday where we will begin to discuss more about Nepal and what we will be doing there. I will keep you updated!

Speaking of keeping you updated, I may start moving away from this blog and towards the blogs our school offer us. I will be required to blog before, during, and after our trip on our Nepal forum for my class credits. The website is not totally ready yet, our professor is just starting it, but in a week or so it should be up and running with blog posts beginning from our class. There are 15 of us going and all are required to blog so it may be interesting to read not just mine but some of the other posts for other perspectives! The webpage is: blogs.miis.edu/miisinnepal2012 So bookmark that site for this winter! :)

I also am creating my own web portfolio through our school site for more academic postings, versus here where I write more for my family and as a diary almost. I am still playing with that site and haven't put any substance up on it yet but I hope to post things like my resume, some good papers I write, videos of my arabic presentations and others. There is also a blog section of it and I am debating starting to blog there versus here, but I haven't decided. For future reference, bookmark it if you'd like :)

Those are some of my updates! I'll keep you updated as I learn more!

Much love!

Sash

To Nepal We Go

Myself and 14 other students are going to Nepal January 10-24th 2012 and I am so excited! We are going to study conflict resolution and peacebuilding in the field! Nepal's civil war just ended in 2006 and are still working on reconstructing their country. Turns out travel to Nepal takes around 32 hours! YIKES! But some of us are hoping to have lengthy lay-overs somewhere like Hong Kong, Beijin or Seoul so that we can maybe step outside and do a little sight seeing! We'll see!

It is going to be a lot of work both before we leave and on the ground. So I am going to have to be ultra productive from now until we leave. Lots of additional readings, documentaries, and the first weekend in December dedicated to training! Its going to be fun though! Seems like a really great group of people!

I will keep updating as things develop! We are also encouraged to keep a blog while we are there and when we come back from Nepal. I'll find out if that has to be on the school webpage or if I can continue it here...either way you will be informed! :)

Lots of Arabic homework to do today! Until next time....

Much Love,

Sash

So much to think about

I am swamped this morning with a paper about Honor Killings, then class, then work. (Where I will hopefully work on a reflection paper of this weekend's workshop which I will share with you on the blog.) Alas, I wanted to say quickly that I have a lot to share with you!! I had a great weekend in class (WAIT WHAT?), yes we had class this weekend for my Women's Human Rights class. We hosted a panel of 3 Muslim women and 1 Muslim man to discuss "changing gender identities in Islam" and boy was it great! 2 of them were professors of Arabic at the school, 1 community member who has done a great deal of research in Palestine and other countries who is also the daughter of a Jordanian man, and our classmate who is a Saudi native who has lived in the US on and off since 1996 and is finishing her MA in Conflict Resolution here at MIIS. Great discussion! Such an array of opinions and viewpoints on women in Islam. I wish the world could have tuned in! Anyway, I will share my reflection paper that I am required to write when I finish with it tonight.

Now back to my honor killings paper. UGH the things I could share with you on that! Maybe I'll share that paper also when it is done being edited! Have to finish it today to send to the writing center, then I'll polish it off and turn it in (and maybe post?) on Friday! It is such an interesting subject and one that is actually a bit misunderstood I think. Biggest misconception: while honor crimes do happen disproportionately in the Middle East, Islam actually does not condone this behavior and it is no where in the Qur'an that this action against women is at all tolerated. Interesting how PEOPLE can twist Religion. Maybe I should get into theology because what we has humans do to the word of God just kills me sometimes. I think my lovely minister Grandfather would agree. Ya?! :)

Until next time...Much love,

Sasha


PS Positive thoughts please please please! Come Thursday I'll either have a very exciting blog announcing I'll be going on a 2 week research trip to Nepal with a professor....or not...we'll see! Keep your fingers crossed for me, ask God for a favor for me, or just stay positive with me, whichever mode of happiness works for you! I'll be doing all 3, for good measure! ;)

PPS As if you all are not busy with your own lives, please let me know if I ever bring up issues that you may be interested in also, I can send you many readings :) I really want to share everything I am learning with as many people I can!

Must Do Something

Warning: I am still collecting my thoughts and drying my tears of frustration as I write this, so my thoughts may not be completely hashed out, and subject to change.

The complexity of women's human rights is great and far too expansive to completely cover in a blog post. There are books and books written on the subject, so I will not attempt to say anything too profound here in one blog post. That being said the situation of women in Afghanistan is one that is improving since the fall of the Taliban but threatened today. The international community must put more than just words behind. The international community must actively support women in Afghanistan, not just through the arm of the military but by pressuring the government for the inclusion of women at the peace table. It is becoming clear to me that inclusion of women in decision making is my passion. To get to that point, where women are capable of participation you need education. It infuriates me that women all over the world are being kept from gaining an education, kept from participating in their local, regional, national governments, and are rendered almost incapable of making decisions at the international level. We must change this. But how? Through the readings I've done and discussions I've had at MIIS, I'm realizing that empowerment and change must come from within a country, not from imposing foreign views. So what does this mean for me? Or anyone like me? What does it mean for Western women and men who are outraged by the exclusion of women in other countries, and for that matter in their own? I want very deeply to get these Afghan women to the peace table. After watching the PBS Documentary Peace Unveiled (Watch here: )I was moved to tears out of frustration with the Afghani government, the US, and the UN. But I am realizing now it is not my place to go into a country like Afghanistan and "empower" women. That is counter intuitive. Maybe the role for someone like me is influencing my own government and other Western countries to change the way we see and treat women in countries like Afghanistan. Pressure my government to pressure governments like Afghanistan to include its own women.

I have to learn more. I guess that is why I am in graduate school. This documentary is perfectly timed to further invigorate me a about a development project I am doing with a team on Women in Afghanistan. We are proposing a policy plan for an international aid organization CARE. My section of the project is to talk about the role women have in politics and governance. I was extremely interested the topic in when we started but now am even more dedicated to crafting realistic, feasible, and helpful recommendations that incorporates what I learned from this documentary. I have to learn more. Women are dying on their way to the peace table. There has to be a better way at getting them there. This is the most important struggle in my mind. Maybe what I need to work toward is gaining knowledge and a strong research background in women's role in governance and peacebuilding. If I am an expert with field research to back me up I will be better equipped to influence our government to change the way we interact with countries like Afghanistan. One of the most infuriating parts of the documentary is when a group of Afghani women went to the US Embassy in Kabul and spoke with our Ambassador and his wife. They had the audacity of telling them they should be more positive and they should keep the American people in mind. That is not a direct quote, please watch it for yourself but my goodness am I shocked he and his wife had the audacity to say that to them. This is what I feel like I have an opportunity to change and to work with. Our own US officials. What our US Ambassador and his wife said to the women they met with in Afghanistan in 2010 is embarrassing.

I think I have a new goal, we'll see how this evolves. I have amazing professors to guide me while I am here at MIIS. I am incredibly passionate that women should be brought to the peace table. Countries need to uphold United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 which stipulates that women should be included in all post conflict reconstruction and peacebuilding efforts. So far, as evident in Afghanistan and plenty of other countries, this isn't happening. Women must be educated equal to men, given opportunities equal to men, so that they can participate in decision-making at a policy level. Particularly in my opinion in post conflict decision making. Women must be a part of the reconstruction process. I want to be apart of getting women to that table. I want to help women get there. I want to help change our own national view on women's role in decision-making here in the US which is flawed, in my opinion.

Secretary Clinton should be applauded for her efforts in this issue. She needs help. I want to follow in her footsteps, hers and other strong, capable women who are fighting to increase women's representation at peace tables around the world. If only our own country would have elected her to the highest decision-making office in our own country. Only 19% of the US Congress is women. We are flawed. The situation of the women in Afghanistan infuriates me and fuels my passion for this issue; but we too have problems.

These are just my thoughts....

Goodnight world.

Militaristic Empowerment: The Deceiving Equality of Women Soldiers in Libya

It is deceiving to say war empowers women, yet there are those who argue it does and they can be compelling. You see, in war women can seize opportunities to break away from their traditional roles as homemakers. This allows them to provide, monetarily, for their families unlike before the war due to the absence of their husbands, fathers, uncles, or brothers. Additionally, they can join the military and thereby dually fight the enemy and the system that subordinates them to men. However despite these instances I disagree that women’s participation in the military is empowering. Critical Feminists would agree and further argue that military institutions are inherently engendered, promoting masculinity and heterosexism.(i) The idea that women’s involvement in the military will “feminize” the institution is dangerously deceiving because in reality (thus far) military institutions merely militarize and subjugate women further, not truly empower them.(ii) While war can provide women with opportunities outside the home, the roles women take up are typically only in times of war and aren’t sustained in post-conflict society without a supportive social revolution. We have seen examples of deceiving empowerment in Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Lebanon where women took up arms in hopes that they would gain equality by fighting alongside men; however after the conflict they were relegated back to their original roles without significant contributions to post-conflict reconstruction.(iii)

Currently in Libya women are flocking to the military to be trained as soldiers in order to participate as equals to men in rebuilding and protecting their country.(iv) Women’s participation in Libya’s armed forces is not a new phenomenon; during Gaddafi’s regime he was famous for having women as bodyguards and elsewhere in his personal army. Past involvement of women was not motivated by gender equality and Gaddafi had little commitment to improving women’s lives.(v) Today, women are eager to join the forces for a new reason: equality, but I worry this will not achieve their true goals in the long run. If the experiences of Nepalese, Sri Lankan, and Lebanese women tell us anything, it is that taking up arms will not provide women with lasting equality they seek without participation in other spheres outside of the military. Real commitment to gender equality in Libya during this transition phase requires more than just an increase in women soldiers. Instead of the military, Libyan women need a place at the negotiating table, not just a token seat; they need a voice that people listen to. Women’s equality takes a long time to achieve and I would argue that there are very few, if any, places in the world that have truly achieved this goal. However, to those who are trying there must be more options for empowerment than military participation. While women’s active role in militaries may be a stepping-stone for some, I fear that too much emphasis on equality by way of the military is not only unsustainable for women but also troublesome for society because it only increases the militarization of society.


i. D’Amico, F. (1998) “Feminist Perspectives on Women Warriors.” In L.A. Lorentzen and J.Turpin (Eds.), The Women and War Reader. New York: New York University Press. pg. 120 & 122
ii. Ibid
iii. Shehadeh, L.R. (1999) “Women in the Lebanese Militias.” In L.R. Shehadeh (Ed.), Women and War in Lebanon. Tampa: University Press of Florida. And, Alison, M.H. (2009). “Women’s Experiences in the LTTE in Sri Lanka: Gender relations and feminist nationalism.” Women and Political Violence: Female Combatants in ethno-national Conflict. New York: Routledge. And, Thapa, R. (2007). “On the Edge: The Impact of Insurgency on Nepali Women.” In A.D. Shrestha & R. Thapa (Eds.), The Impact of Armed Conflicts on Women in South Asia. Colombo: Regional Centre for Strategic Studies.
iv. Al-Shaheibi, R. “Libyan Women Train for Military.” Time World Online. September 27, 2011. Retrieved from: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2095154,00.html
v. Ibid