Monthly Archives: March 2006

Lacing her trembling fingers around a cup of green tea, Malalai Joya lowers her voice and explains, “Every day as I am leaving the Parliament building in Kabul, I wonder if someone is waiting outside to kill me.”
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Rahmatullah Hashemi and Malalai Joya seemingly have much in common. Both are 27, come from the same region of Afghanistan and are interested in international relations. But the similarities between Hashemi, silver-tongued former spokesman for the Taliban, and Joya, one of the new Afghani Parliament’s youngest members, end there. Not long ago, while Hashemi toured the United States defending the public murder of unchaste women, Joya risked her life to teach girls — which at the time was a capital crime. Continue reading →

The BBC calls Malalai Joya the most famous woman in Afghanistan. On Thursday the 27-year-old women’s rights activist, a member of the Afghan Parliament, mounted a stage at Yale and turned her fire on the university’s decision to admit a former Taliban official as a special student.
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Female Afghan parliamentarian Malalai Joya criticized current U.S. policy in Afghanistan, as well as the presence of former Taliban spokesman and foreign ministry official Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi as a special non-degree student at Yale, both during and after her speech, “Women’s Rights, Warlords, and the U.S. Occupation of Afghanistan” on Thursday night. Continue reading →

“I come from a land where our people simply see (the) U.S. bringing a mock democracy,” Joya said, adding that U.S. officials should apologize to Afghanistan’s people for “fueling and supporting the most brutal and ignorant fundamentalists.” Continue reading →

Afghan Parliamentarian Malalai Joya knew she would face a divided crowd of mostly Afghans before she spoke Thursday at the Century House on Fremont Boulevard. Continue reading →

The warnings come by telephone or in leaflets: We will kidnap you, then kill you. You stand to benefit if you stop your struggle. But Malalai Joya , 27, a member of Afghanistan’s parliament and a former refugee turned activist, is determined to tell it like it is, regardless of the risks and fear. Continue reading →

Joya, who has been hailed by the BBC as “the most famous woman in Afghanistan,” told an audience of more than 100 students, faculty and local residents about her struggles as one of the few women in the male-dominated Afghan government. Continue reading →

Malalai Joya, 27, was recently elected to the Afghan Parliament and was called by the British Broadcasting Corporation “the most famous woman of Afghanistan.” She addressed about 100 people in a crowded room of the small church, during a tour of the United States to describe to Americans the true situation in her country. Continue reading →