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Inside the Afghan Women's Resistance
by Cheryl BenardReveals the remarkable
bravery and spirit of the women of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of
Afghanistan (RAWA), whose daring clandestine activities defied the forces of the
Taliban and earned the world's fierce admiration.
In Afghanistan under Taliban rule, women were forbidden to work or go to school,
they could not leave their homes without a male chaperone, and they could not be
seen without a head-to-toe covering called the burqa. A woman's
slightest infractions were met with brutal public beatings. That is why it is
both appropriate and incredible that the sole effective civil resistance to
Taliban rule was made by women. Veiled Courage reveals the remarkable
bravery and spirit of the women of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of
Afghanistan (RAWA), whose daring clandestine activities defied the forces of the
Taliban and earned the world's fierce admiration.
The complete subordination of women was one of the first acts of the Taliban.
But the women of RAWA refused to cower. They used the burqa to their advantage,
secretly photographing Taliban beatings and executions, and posting the gruesome
pictures on their multi-language website, rawa.org, which is read around the
world. They organized to educate girls and women in underground schools and to
run small businesses in the border towns of Pakistan that allowed widows to
support their families.
If caught, any RAWA activist would have faced sure death. Yet they persisted.
With the overthrow of the Taliban now a reality, RAWA faces a new challenge:
defeating the powers of Islamic fundamentalism of which the Taliban are only one
face and helping build a society in which women are guaranteed full human
rights.
Cheryl Benard, an American sociologist and an important advisor to RAWA,
uses her inside access to write the first behind-the-scenes story of RAWA and
its remarkably brave women. Veiled Courage will change the way people think of Afghanistan, casting its people and its future in a new, more hopeful
light.
If you liked Veiled Courage, try these:
by Kim Barker
Published 2012
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by Khaled Hosseini
Published 2008
At once an incredible chronicle of thirty years of Afghan history and a deeply moving story of family, friendship, faith, and the salvation to be found in love.
A few books well chosen, and well made use of, will be more profitable than a great confused Alexandrian library.
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