Afghan MP to Canada: "Leave My Country as Soon as Possible"

Written by Toronto Media Coop Monday, 23 November 2009 23:36

Asks Canada to Stop Supporting Warlords, Mafia

By Geordie Gwalgen Dent, Toronto Media Coop, November 23, 2009

Malalai Joya Speaks In Toronto. Photo: Enid Godtree

Torontonians gave a standing ovation to Malalai Joya, a member of the Afghan National Assembly who spoke on November 18th in Downtown Toronto. Joya, who was suspended from the Afghan National Assembly in 2007 is on a cross Canadian tour supporting her new book, A Woman among Warlords which was edited by Derrick O'Keefe, an editor with Rabble.ca. 300-400 people attended the event.

Read more: Afghan MP to Canada: "Leave My Country as Soon as Possible"

The woman who dared to raise her voice

Written by Uptown Magazine Saturday, 21 November 2009 12:54

Afghan MP Malalai Joya has risked her life to speak out against violence, poverty, corruption and foreign occupation

By Marlo Campbell, Uptown Magazine, November 21, 2009

Malalai Joya has been called the "bravest woman in Afghanistan." It's easy to see why.

The 31-year-old has spent her life fighting for the rights of her people, and her story is a testament to courage in the face of oppression.

Joya grew up in refugee camps in Iran and Pakistan. It was here that Joya received her education and became an activist - after classes, she held literacy courses for other women, including her mother, who she taught to read and write.

When she was 16, Joya returned to Afghanistan, then under Taliban control, and set up a clandestine school for girls, smuggling books under her burka. At 19, she became the director of a free medical clinic and orphanage.

Read more: The woman who dared to raise her voice

Q&A: "Karzai Assigned a Rabbit to Take Care of the Carrot"

Written by IPS-Inter Press Service Friday, 20 November 2009 21:04

Chris Arsenault interviews MALALAI JOYA, author and Afghan parliamentarian

IPS-Inter Press Service, November 20, 2009

VANCOUVER, Canada - In the aftermath of national elections widely condemned as fraudulent, the United States and its allies are wondering what to do about Afghanistan.

Malalai Joya, an Afghan parliamentarian deemed "the bravest women in Afghanistan" by the BBC, has some unsolicited advice for Gen. Stanley McChrystal and other U.S. commanders. "They must leave my country today, it is much better than tomorrow," she said.

Read more: Q&A: "Karzai Assigned a Rabbit to Take Care of the Carrot"

'Liberation was just a big lie'

Written by Toronto Star Thursday, 19 November 2009 23:42

Outspoken Afghan MP says Canadian mission is a big waste of time

By Olivia Ward, Toronto Star, Nov. 19, 2009

Malalai Joya, who was in Toronto to promote her book, A Woman Among Warlords, says Canada and the United States should pull their troops out of Afghanistan as soon as possible. (Nov. 18, 2009) (CARLOS OSORIO/TORONTO STAR)

She sleeps in safe houses, with a rotating squad of bodyguards securing the doors. She goes out only in a billowing burqa. Even her wedding was held in secret.

Elected the youngest member of the Afghan parliament – and suspended for her outspoken criticism of the country's top officials – Malalai Joya has been labelled the bravest woman in Afghanistan.

Read more: 'Liberation was just a big lie'

ملالی جویا، زبان خروشان مردم ماست!

Written by انیسه طاهری Sunday, 15 November 2009 11:04

نوم چامسکی ملالی جویا را شایسته ترین کاندید برای جایزه صلح نوبل خواند

انیسه طاهری، افغان جرمن آنلاین، ۱۵ نوامبر ۲۰۰۹

از چندی بدینسو حملات پیاپی بر ملالی جویا، دختر مبارز و شجاع وطن اسیر خود را از جانب کسانی شاهدیم که ظاهرا از بستر "چپ" و ضد تجاوز بر او میتازند، او را در حد پایین تر از زنان زینت المجلس چون فوزیه کوفی، شهلا عطا، وژمه فروغ، قدریه یزدان پرست، مسعوده جلال و غیره قرار میدهند و بعد هرچه از ذهن حقیر شان تراوش میکند به این زن از جان گذشته و میهنپرست اتهام میبینند، و به این هم اکتفا نکرده مدافعان برحق جویا را نیز رد و بد میگویند و به شلاق میکوبند.

ادامه مطلب

Afghan women's leader Joya brings anti-war message to Vancouver

Written by The Tyee Friday, 13 November 2009 15:03

Joya wrote her memoir with Vancouver writer and anti-war activist Derrick O'Keefe

By David Beers, TheTyee.ca, November 13, 2009

Malalai Joya, the youngest woman ever elected to Afghanistan's parliament, is in Vancouver this weekend to speak and launch a book tour for her new memoir, A Woman Among Warlords.

The 31-year-old Joya has been called "the bravest woman in Afghanistan" by the BBC, having survived five assassination attempts, according to a press release announcing her visit. She grew up in refugee camps and worked as an underground activist during the Taliban regime. Today she tells Canadians: "Ending the war in 2011 is too late, this occupation of Afghanistan must end now."

Read more: Afghan women's leader Joya brings anti-war message to Vancouver

Ex-Afghan MP to speak in Victoria believes 'occupation' is no answer

Written by The Victoria Times Colonist Thursday, 12 November 2009 18:16

Joya is a fierce critic of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government, which she said is fraught with crime and corruption.

By Katie Derosa, The Victoria Times Colonist, November 12, 2009

2007: Afghan activist Malalai Joya addresses an anti-war rally in Victoria two years ago. She returns to the city today for a talk at the University of Victoria.
Photograph by: Bruce Stotesbury, Times Colonist

Canada must pull its soldiers out of Afghanistan and let the people of the war-torn nation overthrow the "corrupt Mafia system" that has been allowed to rule, says a former Afghan member of Parliament whose fierce criticisms of her government almost cost her her life.

Read more: Ex-Afghan MP to speak in Victoria believes 'occupation' is no answer

Afghan's 'Bravest Woman' Calls on U.S. to Leave

Written by WeNews Thursday, 12 November 2009 14:26

Joya called the current regime under the recently re-elected President Karzai "mentally similar to the Taliban,"

By Amy Littlefield, WeNews, November 12, 2009

Malalai Joya, called the "bravest woman in Afghanistan," is finishing up a U.S. tour where she has pressed the Obama administration to pull the military out of her country. She says nothing could be worse for women than what she sees as the current civil war.

(WOMENSENEWS)--Surrounded by powerful men twice her age, Malalai Joya, then 27 and the youngest person elected to the Afghan parliament, raised her hand to speak. She denounced the warlords and drug traffickers in the government and stood up in favor of women's rights.

Read more: Afghan's 'Bravest Woman' Calls on U.S. to Leave

Suspended Afghan MP Malalai Joya wants NATO's mission to end

Written by Vancouver Free Press Thursday, 12 November 2009 11:01

“Occupation will never bring liberation, and it is impossible to bring democracy by war.”

By Travis Lupick, Vancouver Free Press, November 12, 2009

Canada's scheduled 2011 pullout from Afghanistan can't come soon enough for Malalai Joya.

In an interview with the Straight, the women's-rights activist and the country's youngest member of parliament said she wants all NATO forces out of Afghanistan tomorrow.

“Eight years ago, the U.S. and NATO—under the banner of women's rights, human rights, and democracy—occupied my country and pushed us from the frying pan into the fire,” Joya said by phone from San Francisco. “Eight years is enough to know better about the corrupt, mafia system of [President] Hamid Karzai.”

Read more: Suspended Afghan MP Malalai Joya wants NATO's mission to end

Afghan politician visits West to call for withdrawal of troops

Written by Looking for Trouble Wednesday, 11 November 2009 21:27

“My people are fed up. That is why we want an immediate end to the U.S. occupation.”

By Larry Johnson, Looking for Trouble, November 11, 2009

Malalai Joya, an Afghan politician who the BBC has called “the bravest woman in Afghanistan” for denouncing the warlords in the parliament, was in Western Washington recently. You wouldn’t know it from reading any of our struggling online or print news media. The only coverage was an interview Wednesday on KUOW’s Weekday program with Steve Scher.

Read more: Afghan politician visits West to call for withdrawal of troops

Malalai Joya a 'worthy choice' for Nobel

Written by Rabble.ca Tuesday, 10 November 2009 23:11

Her autobiography impressed the heck out of America's leading intellectual Noam Chomsky

By Dave Markland, Rabble.ca, November 10, 2009

Malalai Joya, fittingly described by the BBC as the bravest woman in Afghanistan, begins the Canadian leg of her speaking tour this week in Vancouver. She has been in the US the past few weeks, where her autobiography impressed the heck out of America's leading intellectual. Noam Chomsky writes, a propos of Obama's Nobel win:

Read more: Malalai Joya a 'worthy choice' for Nobel

INTERVIEW MALALAI JOYA: Why the U.S. has to go

Written by Socialist Worker Tuesday, 10 November 2009 21:35

Abdullah is the main candidate of the warlords, and he is seen as a war criminal in Afghanistan

Socialist Worker, November 10, 2009

Malalai Joya has been called the "bravest woman in Afghanistan" for her outspoken opposition not only to the U.S. occupation of her country, but both the corrupt U.S.-backed government of Hamid Karzai and the Taliban-led insurgency.

Joya was elected to Afghanistan's parliament from Farah province in 2005, but was suspended several years later after other representatives claimed she insulted them. She has continued to speak out against war crimes and warlordism, in spite of numerous attempts on her life.

Read more: INTERVIEW MALALAI JOYA: Why the U.S. has to go

Afghanistan's Malalai Joya speaks in So Cal

Written by Los Angeles Times Friday, 06 November 2009 00:28

Her targets were warlords and corruption at home first, but it was her unflinching criticism of American policies

Carolyn Kellogg, Los Angeles Times, November 6, 2009

Photo: Malalai Joya speaks. Credit: Carolyn Kellogg

At age 27, Malalai Joya was the first woman elected to Afghanistan's parliament. She's an outspoken advocate for democracy -- so much so that she's been suspended from her job in the National Assembly for allegedly insulting her colleagues on television (the suspension has been criticized by the United Nations and Human Rights Watch). She's survived five assassination attempts and stays on the move to keep safe, although her friends will tell you that her car has been breaking down a lot lately. She's been the subject of a documentary and now has released a memoir, "A Woman Among Warlords"; tonight, she'll speak at All Saints Church in Pasadena.

Read more: Afghanistan's Malalai Joya speaks in So Cal

War, Peace and Obama’s Nobel

Written by In These Times Thursday, 05 November 2009 21:04

The Nobel Peace Prize committee might well have made truly worthy choices, prominent among them the remarkable Afghan activist Malalai Joya.

By Noam Chomsky, In These Times, November 5, 2009

Silence is often more eloquent than loud clamor, so let us attend to what is unspoken.

The hopes and prospects for peace aren’t well aligned—not even close. The task is to bring them nearer. Presumably that was the intent of the Nobel Peace Prize committee in choosing President Barack Obama.

The prize “seemed a kind of prayer and encouragement by the Nobel committee for future endeavor and more consensual American leadership,” Steven Erlanger and Sheryl Gay Stolberg wrote in The New York Times.

Read more: War, Peace and Obama’s Nobel

Afghan author speaks to members of Mercy HS community, Girl Scouts, Junior League

Written by Examiner Wednesday, 04 November 2009 22:23

Joya recounts in strong, uncompromising language her march to activism.

Meredith Bower, Baltimore Private Schools Examiner, November 4, 2009

Malalai Joya signs a copy of her book for Mercy student Sara Lindstrom

In the United States, it's not uncommon for women to be elected to positions of power. In fact, women occupy the top three positions in Baltimore City's government. However, a world away, in Afghanistan, freedom for females is a dream.

So, it was an unusual experience for women and girls from the Baltimore area to have the opportunity to hear a talk by Malalai Joya, known to some as the “bravest woman in Afghanistan.”

The Girl Scouts of Central Maryland, the Junior League of Baltimore and Mercy High School sponsored the talk, which drew a standing-room-only crowd. Promoting social responsibility and social justice, especially for marginalized women and children, are values held in common by the three organizations.

Read more: Afghan author speaks to members of Mercy HS community, Girl Scouts, Junior League