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R.A.W.A.

19:08 / 25.09.01

quote:
They wear the concealing clothing that is obligatory for all women who wish to move in safety in this part of the world - but this is not a reflection of their beliefs or piety.

Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan.

Glad to see so notice of this...

20:58 / 25.09.01

Brilliant. Thanks for that link PATricky.

09:37 / 26.09.01

Sure...

um... after reading it, am I mistaken in having noticed a subtle pro-war bent in the article?

They want the exiled King back... the Bush boys have also contacted him in hopes of having him lead a "rebellion" in Afganistan...

or am I being paranoid?

09:37 / 26.09.01

YEah....

Damn those clever reporters!!!

momentary case of the paranoids.... I'm better now.

15:44 / 27.09.01

I've been trying to ascertain whether the website is 4 real- I'd like to donate what I can. I found an article in todays Scotsman that covered this lot. Any of you with better web-fu than I able to offer further verification?

If I'm sure that my cash won't buy bullets, I'd say RAWA is the single most worthwhile recipient of my money right now... empowering these women sounds better to me than paying for aid handouts.

Frances Farmer

22:05 / 27.09.01

On a cursory glance, it looks like it could be legit :

--
Registrant:
Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA3-DOM)
PO Box 374
Quetta,
PK

Domain Name: RAWA.ORG

Administrative Contact, Billing Contact:
Danish, Sohaila (SDF442) rawa@INAME.COM
RAWA
P.O.Box 374
Quetta
PK
0092-300-8551638 001-760-2819855
Technical Contact:
Support, Technical (TS8123) tech@HOSTINGS.COM
Hosting Masters
PO Box 6464
Freehold, NJ 07728
732-577-8899 (FAX) 707-313-0377

Record last updated on 05-Jul-2001.
Record expires on 14-May-2003.
Record created on 14-May-1998.
Database last updated on 27-Sep-2001 08:20:00 EDT.
--

RAWA is not without some history.

Their site is being hosted by AXXS, whose webpage can be found here.

They (AXXS) appear to be primarily concerned with offering instruction on intermediate to advanced web design functions, in addition to training on popular design packages (i.e., DreamWeaver).

Quetta, PK is a legitimate location.
The website for AXXS, however, appears to be the financial responsibility of a somewhat mysterious administration department based out of Trumbull, Connecticut, in the US :

--
Ad ministration (template COCO-849410)
admin@axxs.net
4 Trefoil Drive
Trumbull, CT 06511 US

Domain Name: axxs.net
Status: production

Admin Contact, Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
Ad ministration (COCO-849410) admin@axxs.net
999-999-9999

CORE Registrar: CORE-95

Record last modified: 2001-04-09 13:40:34 UTC by CORE-95
Record created: 1997-08-21 00:00:00 UTC by NSI
Record expires: 2002-08-19 00:00:00 UTC
--

Sorry for the line-format issues.

22:05 / 27.09.01

There's more about the R.A.W.A from Polly Toynbee in the Guardian today -

Behind the burka

quote: With such a dearth of satisfactory allies, the coalition should turn to one Afghan group completely ignored so far - the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan. Their leader was a poet called Meena, who was assassinated by the KGB with fundamentalist help, in exile, in Quetta in 1987. They are secular, sane and working hard in the camps of Pakistan, running schools and clinics. They get no help from any government because rationalist feminists naturally have no sway with any tribal warlords. With all the money now flooding in, pushing these women forward and backing their progressive work would be an act of good faith in a democratic equal rights future. Or will realpolitik come before real women?

[ 28-09-2001: Message edited by: Wheaty Goodness ]

17:56 / 28.09.01

Political cartoons:

10:41 / 25.10.01

From the "Lyrics in English" section of the site:

quote:The Curse

Get out! Get out of our land, O shameless one!
Out of the land which has nothing left for you.

The blade has reached the bone
We can bear no more.

O you who hate your people and your country!
Since decades you are engaged in slaughtering.
You are exposed, your mask has been ripped off
Despite the beard and the cap * you are the same old hyena.

In your lust for power you have made yourself Sultan and Vizier,
Your are crazed for power, you are evil!

That was a sly trick, that mask of religion!
Under the name of "Banner" and "People" ** you served alien masters
But it is your nature and your instinct that has made you
Lap the blood of our countrymen and Kabul citizens

You hammer nails into skulls, you cut of the breasts of women ***
You are crazed, you drink blood.

- - - - - - - - -

* - The male beard was formerly revered as a sign of piety and
kind-heartedness. The traditional round felt cap has become a
trademark of the "Mujaheddin", Islamic "warriors of Allah", i.e.
fundamentalists.

** - "Banner" [Parcham] and "People" [Khalq] were the nicknames of
the two rival factions of the stooge People's Democratic Party of
Afghanistan, both of which pandered the Soviet aggression and occupation
of Afghanistan.

*** - Atrocities committed by Islamic fundamentalist parties against
members of opposing ethnic minorities.

[ 25-10-2001: Message edited by: grant ]