12 March 2007. A World to Win News Service. The chants “No to US imperialist war, No to the Islamic Regime of Iran!” echoed through the streets of The Hague (Netherlands) as some 700 protesters who had travelled from all over Europe took part in the central demonstration organized by the “Women’s Campaign for the Abolition of all Misogynist, Gender-Based Legislation and Islamic Punitive Laws in Iran” (Karzar) on the occasion of 8 March, International Women’s Day.
As the march started, Dutch women and men drummers beat harder and harder, in a build-up of excitement and also to express their solid support for the second successive year of this event. The demonstrators first marched to the US embassy to convey their opposition to American imperialism that might use women’s oppression as an excuse to invade Iran. There they chanted in English “Down with US imperialism, Hands off the Middle East, No to war in the name of Iranian women!” They also shouted “US out of Iraq and Afghanistan!” , declaring their solidarity with Iraq and Afghanistan’s women and people. A slogan on a banner signed by supporters of the Communist (Maoist) Party of Afghanistan, said, “The occupation has worsened the situation of women in Afghanistan”. Then the demonstrators – Dutch, Turks, Kurds, Afghanis, Germans, Nepalese and others – headed towards the embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran to protest that regime’s 28 years of oppression of Iranian women. They chanted, “Banish anti-female laws, Come and join us in our cause”, “Down with tyranny and the forced veil, Women’s freedom will prevail” and “A woman’s body, a woman’s right!”
According to the organisers, more than 15,000 leaflets were given out in the city in the days before the demonstration, and distribution continued during the march. Passers-by stood and watched the demonstration and listened to the slogans; people looked out of the windows of their homes and offices and many waved their hands in a sign of solidarity. Construction site workers stopped work to come and see the demonstration. Despite the disruption of traffic, drivers waited patiently and were curious to learn more about the demo when activists handed out leaflets to them. The presence of numerous journalists was an indication of the sensitivity and importance of the issue.
As the march approached the Iranian embassy, the cries of “Down with Islamic regime of Iran!” grew louder and louder. Street theatre featured women covered in black with white masks and a heavy chain on their shoulder, symbolising women’s situation in Iran. On the podium set up in front of the embassy, the revolutionary singer and Karzar activist Gisoo Shakeri sang her song “This is the time to launch the campaign” as excitement among the demonstrators reached its highest point. Then Leila Parnian read a statement by Kazar emphasizing the need to struggle against imperialism and reaction and build a new world where not a single woman suffers gender-based discrimination. Ania Merlanberg, a well-known leader of the women’s movement in the Netherlands, gave a speech praising Iranian women for fighting on two fronts, against the Islamic Republic of Iran and against anti-immigrant laws in countries such as Holland. Women from Afghanistan, Turkey, Germany also gave solidarity messages. Mina Asadi, also a Karzar activist, read some of her powerful poems, condemning the Islamic regime of Iran. At the end Azar Shaibani from London read the resolution of the campaign.
This year’s Karzar demonstration was supported by many women’s and other political organizations in Europe and elsewhere, including 33 Dutch groups and personalities and many others in Iran, Turkey, Germany, Belgium, the UK and Sweden. Mary Lou Greenberg of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, who participated in last year’s march, sent a solidarity statement.
The fact that 8 March fell in mid-week made coming to The Hague more difficult. Immigrant women also faced visa and other restrictions. However many who couldn’t make it to The Hague had the opportunity to raise their voices and protest in their countries of residence in the 3 March activities Karzar organized in many European cities and Toronto.
In bitterly cold Toronto, about 40 demonstrators marched with the slogan “No to the Islamic Republic of Iran, No to the imperialists, We will build another world” as they sought to bring the voice of Iranian women to the people of Canada. More than 100 people attended an indoor International Women’s Day celebration organised by Karzar. The meeting started with the slogan, “No one is free as long as there is one woman oppressed in the world.” Ex-political prisoner Anahita Rahmani and Shahrzad Mojab spoke on the present critical situation in terms of the confrontation between the US and the Islamic Republic and what that means for the women’s movement. There was also a rich artistic programme of theatre, films, poetry and dance related to the oppression of women. Representatives from other groups including the Revolutionary Communist Party of Canada, the Communist Party of Iran and Iraqi women also gave solidarity messages.
Also on 3 March, in London about 80 people marched from Bush House (the headquarters of the BBC World Service, meant as a symbol of British imperialism) . They chanted “No to US imperialism, No to the Islamic regime of Iran!” as they passed through some of the most crowded areas of central London, including the Strand, Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus to the Iranian Embassy. The antiwar drum band known as “Rhythm of Resistance” kept the pace brisk all along the way.
In Frankfurt (Germany) Iranian and Afghanistan Karzar activists organized an assembly of 30 people in a central square. The international crowd included people from Afghanistan, Germany, Turkey, Nepal, Kurdistan and Iran. An action supported by various anti-racist groups was held in an “alternative” neighbourhood in Bremen to popularise International Women’s Day and build for the Hague demonstration.
Two rallies were held in Belgium, one on 5 March in front of the European Union building in Brussels and another the same day in Gent.
Turku (Finland) saw a rally on 4 May, where about 20 people took part in a hot discussion on the woman question. Distance and financial difficulties prevented many of the participants from going to The Hague. An International Women’s Day meeting scheduled for Copenhagen’s famous youth community centre could not take place because the police had just attacked the Ungdomshuset, and after a street battle, took it over. Other programmes meant to build toward the central march in The Hague were held in Stockholm (Sweden) and Gutingen (Germany). Karzar also organised a discussion on the woman question on the evening of 7 March in The Hague in the building of “Prime”, an organisation that helps immigrants in Netherlands and generously supported this year’s march.
After the Hague action, about 150 demonstrators who stayed in the city met to celebrate their success and advance their struggle. The evening’s highlights included a message from the “8 March Organizing Committee in Iran”, a reading by the young poet Ziba Karbasi, Mitra Sarve’s “Dance of Freedom”, songs by Gisoo Shakeri and revolutionary music. While expressing different views, most of those who participated that evening emphasised the role that Karzar has played as the voice of the radical section of a women’s movement in Iran. The meeting finished at around 11pm but the discussion went on until early morning among those who spent the night in the building.
Karzar stands out as an alternative for the women’s movement, opposed to both imperialism and the Islamic regime. This is all the more important at a time when the women’s movement is taking on increasing importance in Iran and different class forces are trying to mislead it in the direction of exactly those two reactionary poles.
As part of what was openly called an effort to prevent 8 March actions, the Islamic regime arrested 33 women, including some of Iran’s most prominent women activists, as they demonstrated in front of a Tehran courthouse 4 March. Large numbers of anti-riot and plain clothes police were stationed in front of the Iranian Parliament on International Women’s Day itself, attacking some women as they attempted to gather despite the repression. This is an indication that the Islamic regime is unwilling to compromise on women’s issues, since a basic component of their ideology is what is at stake.
Yet dozens of demonstrations were held on the occasion of International Women’s Day in different parts of Tehran and other cities. There was hardly a university that did not see a demonstration on that day to protest women’s oppression, especially the compulsory veil.