Against Occupation *and* Terror

Against Occupation and Terror

Interview with Aso Jabbar of the Iraqi Worker-Communist Party

from the German left newspaper Jungle World

December 10, 2003

[English translation of excerpts: Alex LoCascio]

Aso Jabbar is a member of the Worker-Communist Party of Iraq, a
coordinator of the unemployed trade union in Iraq and the
"Organization for Woman's Liberation in Iraq" in
Switzerland as well as editor-in-chief of the newsletter
"Forward Brief," a German-language publication of the
Worker-Communist Party. The Worker-Communist Party is a Council
Communist group active in the Northern Iraqi city of Sulemaniya,
which predominantly consists of young Kurds. Although it won only
300 votes from the almost one million residents of Sulemaniya in the
elections for city council, the Worker-Communist Party is, after the
Communist Party (which is represented on the City Council), the only
regionally active Communist group. The interview was led by Thomas
Schmidlinger.

Q:The Worker-Communist Party demands a prompt end to the occupation
of Iraq and supports the protests against the occupation troops.
What is your position to the occupation, to the governing council,
and to the attacks in Iraq?

A:What we are seeing today in Iraq is the continuation of a terrorist
contest between the United States and political Islam, which began
after the events of September 11. The USA wants to impose its
hegemony and military dominance on the world. Political Islam wants
to impose its goals and inhuman politics with violence.

The conflict in Iraq cannot be reduced to a conflict between
occupiers and resistance. Just because people are against the
occupation, does not mean that they represent a progressive movement.
The resistance of Arab nationalists or of political Islamists is
extremely reactionary and contemptuous of human life. These groups
have nothing to contribute to the liberation of the Iraqi population.
The traditional left in Europe commits a serious mistake, when they
view the military and terrorist attacks of Islamist and nationalist
groups as legitimate attacks on US-Imperialism. Obviously, after
decades of the Baathist dictatorship and the gruesome embargo against
the Iraqi population, there is a mood of discouragement in Iraq,
which the Baathists and Islamists want to make use of. These
attacks, which are regularly committed against civilian targets and
civilian infrastructure, cannot make an emancipatory contribution,
and we condemn them. We are against the occupation, but our efforts
for an independent Iraq have nothing to do with the terrorist methods
of this "resistance."

We believe, that a political mass struggle represents the suitable
form of resistance. This political struggle can help to organize
millions of people, who support an Iraq which will not be defined
ethnically or religiously. We use these methods to fight for a
secular, socialist republic in Iraq.

[...]

Q: Not just in social questions, but also on the issue of Women's
rights the Worker-Communist Party has one of the most uncompromising
positions. The WCP has expressed the suspicion that the growing
power of the Islamist groups puts the rights of women in danger.
What does the reality in Iraq look like today?

A: The main problem for women in Iraq is the insecurity and pressure
from their families and the Islamist groups. For example, there are
no courts which prosecute the murder of women by their families.
Rape is also a daily reality. The Organization for the Freedom of
Women in Iraq (OFWI) has documented in recent months 400 occurences
of rape.

The OFWI is the only Iraqi women's organzation, which is openly
against both the American occupation and the Islamic reaction. The
American war has not led to the "liberation" of women, but
rather to a violent backlash against the freedoms of women.

Q: What was the situation like for women under the Baath regime?

A: Women's rights, which made big progress in the 60s, and the right
to travel, to higher education, and the choice of marriage partner
were not broadened during the Baath regime, but rather dismantled.
In the 1980s, women were, under the pretext of the Iran-Iraq war,
pressured to remain at home and care for the children. Family laws,
which defended women, were changed from the mid-80s to the
early-1990s. The criminal courts no longer prosecuted perpetrators
of the public murder of women.

Q: What roll do women play in the Worker-Communist Party?

A: Socialism and Communism are not imaginable without the liberation
of women from sexual discrimination, the control of men, and
Capitalism. In our party, the percentage of women is higher than in
any other Iraqi political party. In the last election rounds for the
Third Party Congress, Women were more than 50 percent of the
candidates. Three women, Yanar Mohammed, Nadia Mahmoud, and Nasik
Ahmad, won the most votes.

Q: What future do you seek for Iraq?

A: Without a movement of the Left, considerably represented by our
party, the UUI, the women's movement, and the trade unions, the
future of Iraq looks dismal. We represent the main opposition to
both the US-occupation on one side, and the attempts by the
Islamists, which want to turn Iraq into an Islamic state, on the
other side. As long as we fight for our goals, I see, despite the
the negative developments of the occupation and terror, changes for
an emanzipatory development in Iraq.

Original in German: http://jungle-world.com/seiten/2003/50/2192.php