Life in war-torn Iraq
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worker & community struggles and protests |
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Thursday April 05, 2007 15:24
by Gary Goff - Local 2627, AFSCME.
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Houzan Mahmoud speaks out.
Iraqi feminist and labor leader Houzan Mahmoud spoke to Gary Goff, Vice President, Local 2627, on life during the war, which can lead to unjustified jailing, kidnapping and rape. She lives under an open-ended death sentence from a religious court.
“We’re anti-occupation, therefore we’re illegal, but we still organize.”
Unlike the legal unions supported by the Iraqi government and the U.S.-occupation forces (“We call them ‘yellow unions,’ ”), the Federation organizes protests, conferences and strikes — “at least two a month,” says Mahmoud with pride.“ We’re anti-occupation, therefore we’re illegal, but we still organize. We’re gaining popularity among the working people of Iraq.”
In Iraq, the war “has created a breeding ground for the terrorists.” They “carry out all kinds of suicide bombings and attacks, all in the name of fighting the occupation,” she said. The terror groups use the American presence “as a cover to kill.”
Mahmoud sees women, youth, and labor unions as the keys to restoring a dynamic secular society in Iraq. But before that can happen, she said, the war has to end. “This war is not in the interests of the working-class in Iraq or in America.”
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