Interviewer: What is your opinion regarding the abuse on women’s rights considering the culture in which they have been raised? Does it make them submissive? Does it make them more willing to accept the injustice that is forced upon them?

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Marianne Pirilo: Not all Muslim women in the Middle East culture are oppressed and lack any rights. While this is true for some cultures – some more than others -, it is important to understand the  nuances of Islam as reflected in their culture, and how women themselves internalize their own religion and faith. Take for example, veiling. It’s viewed in the West as something that is forced upon Muslim women and a symbol of their oppression. For many of these women this is not the case, but rather an individual choice reflecting their deep devotion to their faith. While some women no doubt have been imposed by their families to wear the hijab (veil), I have met many women in the Middle East whose husbands oppose it but the women choose to do so because of their own personal faith as signs of their modesty, privacy and spirituality.

 

As far as submission and accepting the status quo...again this is a very nuanced answer. The Quran never justified the superiority of men to women. The only distinguishing factor according to the Quran is level of piety. In fact, it says that God created men and women equal, and that their relationship should be one of consultation, cooperation, not domination and conflict.

 

It’s important to look at the history of Islam and how it was founded during a period of history when all societies were patriarchal, and therefore many elements of patriarchy are clearly present in Islam. Muslim jurist were men who were living in a patriarchal society said, ‘Let’s make women beneath men” and this patriarchal assumption has been the basis of state laws that have oppressed women. These interpretations of the Quran were therefore products of their time and culture.

 

Some leaders in Muslim countries promote discriminatory power relations between men and women but others don’t. And some women themselves have internalized the patriarchal dimension of Islam and accepted it as the way God intended things to be. But things are changing now and there are many Muslim women who are calling for a revision of these assumptions and for their God given rights to be honored as was intended according to Islam.

 

I: What do you think was the aim of Al-Qaeda when they hijacked the four commercial airliners, crashing them into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, DC?

 

It was a bold statement of power against the West. A spectacular massive attack to draw the world’s attention to their cause and to inflict as much damage on the global economy (NY being the center of world capitalism) and death and destruction on the US.

 

I: What is your view on NATO? Is it efficient?

 

MP: I think NATO can be effective when its goals and objectives are clear, controlled and well organized.   For example, when it went into Libya with a very clear agenda to avert a humanitarian disaster and massacre by Qaddafi of his own people. It was able to prevent it and then ended it’s bombing campaign in Libya. However, when it’s objectives are blurred, it involves a multifaceted approach, and timing or goals are unrestrained; then it can either be ineffective or have unwanted negative consequences such as the wars and presence in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

Recently it has been somewhat effective, or at least helpful, in the counter piracy efforts that are gaining momentum. It hasn’t been able to completely eliminate them so I’m not sure how effective they are.

 

It has been useful in certain peacekeeping efforts like in the Western Balkans in maintaining and preserving the peace that was made by NATO earlier.

 

‪I: What is your view on the origins of the situation in Afghanistan? Do you believe it relates to the bad distribution of the Ottoman Empire? Or is it all about the terrorists group? US intervention? Afghanistan post-soviet civil war?

 

I think colonial and imperial power does play a part in the developments in Afghanistan, and helped to set up the conditions for the Taliban and Al Qaeda presence. The cold war ramifications - Soviet intervention, then US supporting the Mujahideen against the Soviet communists essentially led to the birth of Al Qaeda. Osama Bin Laden, once an agent of the US against the Soviets, then turned his attention against the West and its allies in the Middle East, justifying terrorist actions with fundamental Islam – so called “Jihad”. So to answer the question, I think all those factors played a part in laying the foundation or backdrop for the Afghanistan of today.

 

I: How does the religious aspect of the Afghan culture influence the submissiveness of the people to the leaders of the Al-Qaeda? Do they support it?

 

MP: It’s not the Afghan culture per se. It’s the Taliban specifically. Similar to Iran, Afghanistan had a much more open and modern culture before the Taliban took over. It is important to make that distinction. From all that I have read, although Muslim, most of the Afghan population does not support the extreme views and interpretation of Islam of the Taliban nor of Al Qaeda. It was forced upon them.

 

I: To what extent are the Al-Qaeda’s acts religiously driven and to what extent are they politically driven?

 

MP: They justify their actions through religious ideology, but many Muslims today view their extremist interpretations of the Quran on the struggle for Jihad as misplaced and misguided. Aggressive jihad in the name of religion was for a particular time and period in History when the nascent Muslim community was being established and the entire world at that time was in a “state of war”. The political landscape since WW1 and WW2 has changed to a “state of peace”, and the normal behavior of nations is to try to establish a peaceful co-existence with their neighbors.

 

In light of this, Al Qaeda’s motives are most likely politically driven. They are ultimately trying to wrest control over territory and to “liberate” Islamic lands from the grip of the infidels (the Western world = particularly the US).  Through ideological means they attempt to recruit radical Muslim youth who are angry towards the West for it’s imperial interest in the Muslims lands, it’s support for Israel, and for its “satanic” culture and ideology that is polluting the minds and hearts of Muslims.

 

I: How is terrorism viewed by the inhabitants of Afghanistan? Is it supported?

 

MP: Answer is similar to the one above about Afghans. No doubt, they do not support it. The Taliban on the other hand is sympathetic to the extreme views and violent approach of Al Qaeda, and they continue to employ terrorism in Pakistan against both the US armed forces and the Pakistani population.