Women as Agents of Change

The U.S. mid-term elections were good news for progressive women, writes Ellen Goodman. Not because of greater representation at the national level, though:

Alas, this was not The Year of the Women Redux, although Speaker-elect Pelosi has broken the "marble ceiling" and has the bruises to show for it. Yes, there will be more women in Congress than ever before, but so far the percentage has only gone up from 15.4 to 16.4485981. Hold the applause.

According to pollsters and a post-election survey done by Ms. Magazine and the Women Donors Network:

[A] majority of women listed rebuilding after Katrina as a top priority for the next Congress. Katrina was a turning point for women who saw the government's reaction as cold indifference. Katrina also became a stand-in for the issues of poverty and division. ...

[F]or many [women voters], the biggest concern still is healthcare. As Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, one of the new breed of young moms in Congress, says, "I don't want the next generation of moms hand-wringing over how to deal with the sniffles and waiting until it turns into pneumonia." It's past time to make healthcare available to all kids.

On a broader level, a panel seeking to make the United Nations more effective has suggested forming a single women's agency with increased stature and involvement in decisions, reports Bojana Stoparic.

International policy-making for women is currently handled at the U.N. by the Division for the Advancement of Women and the Office of the Special Advisor on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women. Among other things, they organize world conferences on women and monitor governments' compliance with the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, known as CEDAW.

Representatives of current U.N. women's programs, professional women's rights advocates and human rights groups such as the Center for Women's Global Leadership and London-based Amnesty International, have endorsed the idea of a single agency.

"A strong women's presence on the country level would allow us to ensure that whatever commitments are made at the inter-governmental level get translated on the ground," Noeleen Heyzer, executive director of UNIFEM said in an interview earlier this month. "Work on gender equality at the U.N. is fragmented and does not have enough status or resources to achieve a world that is free of violence and poverty for women."

I tried to find the U.S. government's reaction to this exciting proposal, but to no avail. One Associated Press story quotes Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who co-chaired the UN panel, as saying, "We very much believe the recommendations will be implemented. ... We have never seen this kind of broad support." However, the article makes no mention of the U.S. stance on the panel's proposals.

The website for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations also does not mention the panel's proposal for a unified women's agency -- at least not anywhere that I could find. Ditto for the White House and State Department websites. Perhaps this is another reason to oppose John Bolton as U.S. Representative to the United Nations?

Calls for Justice

Perhaps the biggest problem with U.S. foreign policy is that it ignores -- or even opposes -- legitimate calls for justice ... except when trials and convictions further U.S. goals. As Gregory Erlich wrote about the recent sentencing of Saddam Hussein to death:

There was little in the proceedings that could justify reference to "the rule of law." The trial was a U.S.-directed effort, intended to paint the occupation of Iraq in the best light. ... At one time, Saddam Hussein was backed and promoted by the U.S. His brutal methods were regarded as effective tools in the struggle to further U.S. objectives. But as his actions began to threaten U.S. interests, he earned opprobrium. A closer look at the history of Hussein's relationship with the U.S. reveals much about how foreign policy is conducted.

Unfortunately, peace activists are often the only U.S. voices joining international calls for justice. This weekend's protest at Fort Benning, GA, the site of the School of the Americas military training institute (now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation) is one example. From The Capital Times:

The move to close the school was fueled by the slayings of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter by soldiers in San Salvador, El Salvador, on Nov. 16, 1989. ...

Opponents of the military school point to a 1995 United Nations report that linked School of the Americas graduates to the Jesuit deaths in 1989, as well as the assassination of Salvadoran Bishop Oscar Romero that year, and the raping and killing of four American nuns in 1980.

[Madison solidarity activist Mary] Sanderson said she has wanted to participate in the Fort Benning vigil since it started 16 years ago, but added that family and job obligations prevented it. Now, at age 58, she is preparing to go.

"As an older lady, I have an image of America as a shining thing guiding the world - a big experiment in self-government. The School of the Americas is an oozing green sore on the face of my America," she said.

Lastly, reporter and Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman reflected upon another war-torn nation denied justice -- East Timor -- in a recent column:

It was Nov. 12, 1991, a day that would forever be seared into my memory, and into history. I was reporting in East Timor, a small island nation 300 miles north of Australia, brutally occupied by Indonesia since 1975. A third of the population -- 200,000 Timorese -- had been killed in one of the worst genocides of the 20th century. ...

At least 271 Timorese died that day, in what became known as the Santa Cruz massacre. Indonesian troops went on killing for days. It was not even one of the larger massacres in East Timor, and it wouldn't be the last. It was simply the first to be witnessed by outsiders.

I write about the massacre this week not just to remember the 15th anniversary of that event and those who died that day. President Bush is headed to Indonesia on Monday. This will give the president and Congress an opportunity to show they are serious about holding terrorists accountable. If they were to cut all military aid to Indonesia until those responsible for the massacre and for the policy of genocide are held accountable, they would be showing the world that the United States stands on the side of justice. The U.S. Congress must hear the East Timor Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation's call for an international human-rights tribunal and for reparations from the countries and corporations that supported the brutal occupation.

The definition of terrorism is the same in all languages, whether carried out by individuals or states, by al-Qaida or, in our name, by U.S.-supported governments abusing human rights. Sad to say, the Bush administration and Congress have so far ignored the call for justice. What we witnessed and survived 15 years ago was terrorism, pure and simple -- the killing of innocent civilians.

Art for Change Sun Nov 12

A visual reminder, to join us on Sunday November 12, from 2:30 to 5:00 pm at Winnebago Studios (2046 Winnebago St in Madison), for Art for Change: A Peace Campaign.

For a $100 donation, you will receive a work of art donated by locally- and nationally-known artists. All proceeds benefit orphanages run by RAWA, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, and Women for Women International, an organization supporting women's projects in war-torn areas. Tickets can be purchased at the door, the night of the event.

For more information, see the previous post on the event, below.