INTERVIEW: The Biggest Casualty Of a War Are Women
Winner of 2011 Arab American Book Award, Manal Omar has worked for over 15 years in the field of women's rights, peace-building, humanitarian aid and development. Manal is devoted to creating a safe space for dialogue on current events on identity, civil society, and women's rights in the Muslim and Arab world. In 2007, Islamic Magazine named her one of the 10 young visionaries shaping Islam in America. She is currently the Associate Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa for United States Institute of Peace (USIP).
As Country Director for Iraq, Iran and North Africa at USIP, Manal set up the operations of ‘Women for Women International' in Baghdad.
Barefoot in Baghdad is a memoir of her experiences in Iraq from 2003 to 2005 and gives the authors perspective of the situation in Iraq, as the author experienced it during the course of her work as Country Director and as a Muslim woman brought up in the USA. Earlier this summer, Manal was in Doha for a book reading session at Georgetown University.
The book is written in a simple voice, particularly suitable for young adults or for people who know nothing about Islam or the Middle East.
While the book elucidates the issues facing women in Iraq, it also prompts the reader to ponder upon the wider context of “women in conflict and post-conflict transitional societies and is as relevant today, 10 years after the Iraq war, as it would be any other time.”
According to Manal Omar, international activist and author of Barefoot in Baghdad, “the biggest casualty of a war are women.” Excerpts …
There are repeated references in your book to the word: “Listen”. Do you think the world has listened? And what are the lessons we should be taking from Iraq and Afghanistan and use them looking forward to Syria?
Looking back at Rwanda, Bosnia and others, I don't think so. In terms of international development, humanitarian response, using war and other tools and particularly in reference to Iraq in 2003, I don't think we have really listened. From day one the Iraqis were very clear about what they wanted and needed. I think if we had listened to what the Iraqis needed in terms of their own country, we would have a very different picture to what we have today.
It goes without saying that every country is incredibly different politically, internally and in many other respects. It's very hard to compare Iraq and Afghanistan and even harder to compare Syria because it is something that started internally versus something that started externally but unfortunately I have to say, we haven't listened enough!
The international community as a whole should really step back and think of what are the alternatives to standing by and letting atrocities happen. There are a lot of lessons to learn but what happens every time is that we tend to have a kneejerk reaction, we throw up on lessons learnt and almost make the same mistakes again and again. My argument is that, when that happens, women pay the highest price as they are the most vulnerable and the least protected. You are definitely seeing that in Syria now.
I volunteered outside of my capacity at a Syrian refugee camp and it was a difficult experience for me to see how much history was repeating itself, how vulnerable they are and until now the international community hasn't learnt the best way to respond and to support.
What inspired you into writing this book?
I wanted to tell the story of my experiences in Iraq from my own perspective. All too often, analytical works and research into war-torn countries mostly paint the picture of a faraway place with a lot of violence and bombs. My experience had shown me another side — of the women in war-torn countries.
From that experience I also learnt that women have a very powerful voice and they are able to make very important points through storytelling and I took to it as well.
During the Iraq war, there were times when there were hundreds of deaths a day and people, particularly in the US, got what we call the ‘Iraq and Afghanistan fatigue.' I felt that we had a duty to not feel ‘fatigue', to actually understand reality and I hoped that through this narrative there was a possibility to recapture people's attention.
When you wrote the book originally, the ending in the book was different and subsequently you changed it. Why?
When I wrote the book I think I was at a very difficult stage because I had seen how far women had actually gone backwards in Iraq and in Afghanistan. There is still a struggle, a lot of rhetoric and a lot of positive words given to the issue of women in Iraq but very little muscle, very little political will in the world to actually do things.
I am happier with this ending because I think the other one was something that sounded like I was ready to give up, ‘everyone just go home and stop trying'. But when I spoke to some of the women in the country recently, I realised that they haven't given up hope and they are still willing to fight, which has been a lesson for me.
It made me think that if they are not giving up, if they are at the forefront, still very eloquently defending their rights and if they are not losing their optimism, then I should continue to be hopeful as well. That's what brought about a change in my tone, in how I was feeling, as well as in the way the book concludes.
What is the protection available to women's rights under Islamic law? Does anything need to change in this context?
One of the biggest challenges is specifying very clearly the legal laws and urban realities. When we are saying “Islamic Law”, we are saying Islamic doctrine which is recognition of my favourite word, the “Process”. If you ask me to define Islamic law, it's like me asking someone in the USA to define the “Justice” factor. Within the Islamic doctrine we need to be open to the recognition. So it's not as much as defining what men have, which is the trap we keep falling into. It's not defining the specifics of the law. It's not defining the approach.
It is defining the process…what are the courts, the reviews, appeal process… how many higher courts…what is the law of the religious leaders versus the law of the courts versus the law as per the lawyers.
And that is in the legal system. So whether you are talking about justice in the West or Islamic doctrine in the East, for me it's the process, the checks and balances, the system that we setup which is the most important thing. And I think if we take it from that approach, we can begin to unpack this very confusing term of Shariah and Islamic law and Madhhab. It's more a process of how we are going to use and what are we going to reference. I think that discussion is essential.
What is happening now is that we're getting over arching general statements in the constitution without answering these questions. In my opinion that is very dangerous. Which is what resolution 137 in Iraq was — an overarching general statement that then leads to very monolithic interpretations and we lose the beauty, the science and the precedence which makes up the law.
What is the importance of women's involvement in political and constitutional decisions? Why do women not seem to be a part of this process, particularly in the Arab world?
The one important lesson I have learnt from my 15 years of experience is the importance of constitutional rights! Women are very action- oriented and that is something I really admire. So country after country, women are occupied in trying to solve day-to-day problems facing them to the extent they get so occupied in sorting problems on the ground and responding to IDPs (internally displaced persons) that they are left with no time to negotiate power.
The same is happening now with Syrian women and I think it's a crucial mistake. The challenge is women do not have decision-making power and as a result too often are left out of the process and as a result we see how conflicts can escalate and be prolonged.
The constitution as a document isn't very useful but constitution as a process is incredibly important. As I see it, it's not about negotiating power, it's about negotiating a whole new contract between the citizens and whatever government will emerge and women really need to be able to find a way to be at the table.
In Iraq, Egypt and Libya, women were missing at the negotiating table when the constitution was being formulated and that's why it's important to work on the tools and templates ahead so you're focusing on the process and not as much the outcome.
Once you have that, you have a whole lot of work ahead of you but at least you have a point of reference that solidifies your position in the rule of law.
* Manal Omar with other USIP panel members, have called for more activism in Iraq and Syria.