Part 2: Canada in Afghanistan – What Should Our Role Be?

1. Part 2: Canada in Afghanistan – What Should Our Role Be? Who Are Our Troops Struggling Against in Our Efforts to Help Afghanistan? Is this a fight worth fighting? Key Questions: What is an insurgency? Who are the Taliban?

2. Instructions: Who are the Taliban? • Fill in the following slides which ask questions about the Taliban in Afghanistan by clicking on the following Wikipedia link. • You will also be asked to find school appropriate photos to illustrate the information you will be asked to find. You will have to create hyperlinks to the pages where you found your photos. http://info-wars.org/2009/04/26/american-taxpayers-finance-the-taliban/

3. Who Are the Taliban? • Read the first paragraph on the Wikipedia page about the Taliban and then answer the following questions. • 1. What does the word Taliban actually mean? The word Taliban actually means “student” in Arabic. • 2. When did they form the government of Afghanistan and who forced them from power? They formed the government of Afghanistan from 1996 and it went from there. The September 11 attacks was what caused their government to be forced from power from the Operation Enduring Freedom. • 3. Click on the links for the following concepts and then define them in your own words: • Insurgency Insurgency is an armed rebellion against an authority. It can also be seen as an uprising of a revolt • Guerilla War Involved small groups, and usually included mostly raids, element of surprise, ambushes, and harassing a less capable group or army as soon as you could • 4. The Taliban as a social and political “movement” (group) is made up of “volunteers” from which Afghan tribe and people of what neighboring countries to Afghanistan? The volunteers that help Afghanistan include the Pakistani army, and Arab and Central Asian Militants. The Pakistani government provided supplies to the people of Afghanistan. • 5. Where does the US government believe that the Taliban’s headquarters is (city and country). They think that their headquarters are near Quetta, Afghanistan.

4. Taliban Leadership and Organization • 1. Who is considered by many as the current “leader” of the Taliban? Mullah Muhammed Omar is considered the current leader of the Taliban. • 2. Follow the link to his page and then answer the following questions: • This man is on the US government’s most wanted list for what 3 activities? • Sheltering Osama bin Ladin • Sheltering al-Queda • He is against NATO forces • What is one of the only physical details really known about this man? He is missing one eye. • How did he get this physical feature? He lost his eye from a shrapnel from an explosion. • As leader of the government in the 1990’s, he made it illegal to take pictures of him. There was no cameras allowed at all in that area.

5. Origins of the Taliban Scroll down the main Taliban Wikipedia page until you find the heading Origins in order to answer the following questions: 1. What are the two competing stories about the creation of the Taliban? • THINKING QUESTION: • Of the 2 stories a supporter would choose to believe which one? • Of the 2 stories an opponent would probably choose to believe which one? PUT A PHOTO OF THE TALIBAN HERE. Make sure you provide the link and be sensitive to what you include – make sure it is school appropriate.

6. Taliban Treatment of Women • For the following slides please follow this link • Taliban Treatment of Women • Read the very first paragraph and then summarize the Taliban’s quotation about its reasons for harsh treatment of women below: “ The face of a woman is a source of corruption”. This means that they believe that women just cause problems and should not been seen. • Under the Gender Policies heading, summarize the 8 points about the treatment of women by the Taliban provided: • Women should not be seen on the streets unless they are with something that is blood related to them • Women are not allowed to wear high heels because that allows for them to be heard • Women should not speak loudly because then people can hear them • If a women lives in a room near the ground, it needs to be covered or painted so they cant be seen • If the word “woman” is in public, it needs to be changed to something else • Women are not allowed to stand on the balconies or decks of their house • You are not allowed to film women or take pictures of them • Women are not allowed to appear on the radio or tv or any public gatherings

7. Dress Code and Mobility • 1. Scroll back up the page to find the definition of “mahram”. Mahram is an unmarriageable kin with whom sexual intercourse would be considered incestuous • What are some other restrictions that women faced regarding moving around the cities and countryside in Afghanistan under the Taliban? (3) 1) Women cannot ride their bikes or motorcycles no matter what 2) Women cannot ride around in a taxi unless they are with a Mahram 3) Segregated bus services were introduced to so that males and females had to ride on sepereate buses • Why would an all girls’ orphanage be practically a prison under this system? Even if they were in an orphanage, chances are it would be run by men, and they would treat them very badly and take advantage of them. • Dress code stuff: • What is the name for the traditional outfit that women had to wear in Taliban Afghanistan? The outfit the women traditionally wore was called a burqa. It covered them from head to toe. • What was the main reason for this strict control of women's’ dress? They were strict with women’s clothing because they did not want women showing their body off. They wanted them as covered as possible. It was believed that seeing a woman’s face may excite a man, and they did not want that.

8. Employment and Education • Were women allowed to work at all under the Taliban rules (tricky question)? MaulviKalamadin said that women and girls would return back to work once streets and facilities were under security so that males cannot associate with females and vise versa. • What industries were particularly hit hard by the Taliban’s work policies for women? Pick 2. The education system was effected greatly by the Taliban’s work policies. 63 schools ended up closing due to the lack of people that could teach, and also attend the school. Universities were also effected because no one wanted to go into that field of work. • Were women allowed to be educated under Taliban law? What age did they have to stop going to school? They were allowed to be educated under the Taliban, but only under the age of eight. • Find the quote that illustrates that the Taliban actually thought that they had increased women’s rights in Afghanistan. “No other country has given women the rights we have given them. We have given women the rights that God and His Messenger have instructed, that is to stay in their homes and to gain religious instruction in hijab.”

9. Health Care and Forced Confinement • Give 2 reasons it was really tough for women to receive health care when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan. Male doctors were allowed to treat women, but were not allowed to touch them. There was very few female doctors employed, which made it very hard for women to receive proper health care. Many women suffered greatly because no one could help them. Women were also banned from the public baths, because it was believed that it would be wrong if a woman used them. • A study done in 1991 concluded that roughly what percentage of Afghan women they surveyed were showing signs of mental distress and depression? A survey of 160 people showed that 97 percent showed signs of mental distress, and 71 percent reported a decline in their physical well being. • Describe 3 other cultural prohibitions that were imposed on women or about women if Taliban ruled Afghanistan 1) Women were not allowed to laugh loudly because it was considered wrong for a stranger to hear a woman’s voice 2) Women could not enter sports clubs or play sports 3) Beauty salons were closed and make up was banned

10. Punishments for Breaking Taliban Laws • Read the information about the types of punishments women (and men) were subjected to in Afghanistan during the Taliban’s rule and summarize 2 extreme examples below: • Who is the woman in the photo on this part of the web-page? Zarmina • What is happening to her? She is being executed because she murdered her abusive husband. • Where is it happening? Ghazi Sports Stadium • What crime is she accused of? Murdering her abusive husband • What happened to her for 3 years before this event? She was imprisoned and tortured extremely. • What organization took the film this photo is a screenshot from? Unicef

11. Women’s Resistance to the Taliban • Explain what the Golden Needle Sewing School was. It was an underground sewing school for women when the Taliban were ruling. Women were not allowed to be educated, but they would keep it a secret. They would sew and also hear lectures from different professors. Kids that were playing outside of the underground area would warn the women of religious police if they came around. This would give them time to hide all of their sewing and books. • How did women “sneak in” 2 details. They would arrive in their baggy garments that hid their materials like scissors. Once they got inside they would take everything out, but not until they knew they were safe. • Why was the area that this school was in one of the most oppressed by the Taliban? 2 reasons. Herat was oppressed by the Taliban because it was a cultured city and also very historic. • What is RAWA? It stands for the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan. They wanted to make sure women had equal rights as men and everyone around the world. Although they have been threatened, they keep their association going regardless of what happens. It provides education for children and literacy training for women. It also offers physical and economic support to the females that have been involved and became victims of the war. Families of prisoners are given information and legal advice. • Who was the founder of RAWA and what happened to her? MeenaKeshwarKamal was the founder of RAWA. She was assassinated in Quetta, Pakistan on February 4, 1987. No one knows for sure who killed her. • What does RAWA work for? 3 main things. 1) To establish women’s democracy and freedom 2) To launch education and health care 3) To support the freedom loving movements all over the world

12. Now that you know … • Write a personal reaction on this slide (3-4 sentences) in which you express your opinion about the treatment of women in Afghanistan by the Taliban. How does it make you feel? Why? I personally really do not agree with the way women were treated in Afghanistan. It makes me feel like we are understood and doubted. Being a woman myself, I see even today, how much we are looked upon. Woman have a lot of hard responsibilities in life, and those men in Afghanistan need to realize that. We are perfectly capable of doing the things men can just as good or probably even better!

13. Do we … • As citizens of a country in which we are relatively free, safe, and equal do we have the responsibility to help places like Afghanistan become more like us? Why or why not? Explain your answer in 3 – 4 sentences. I believe we have the responsibility to help a place like Afghanistan to become a little more like us because I believe if they do change, that everyone will be happier. Afghanistan will become a safer place that will no longer have anger or war. We can teach them everything we have learned along the way, which may help them.