Malala Yousafzai's Fame in the West

[ola.]

Since Malala Yousafzai showed up on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart a few days ago, well, the media hasn't been able to talk about anything else. I've seen her labeled as "the Girl who Saved Pakistan", "the Daughter of Pakistan", "the Crusader for Education", on and on. There's also all the talk on why the Nobel Committee was wrong to overlook Malala.

What do you think of all this... attention? Now, this is in no way downplaying her traumatic experiences. Her activism is noble and ought to be an example for the rest of the world, the young woman is a role model in her own right, but isn't the media just exploiting her at this point to say "See? This is why we need to be there in the Mideast, we need to save girls like Malala, she's on our side"? Are they really going to pretend to care for the poor children of Pakistan now, when hundreds of Pakistani children continue to die from drones?

Her anti-drones message, too, for instance, has never made it into the media and was conveniently left out of the White House statement after her meeting with Obama a few days ago. She is also a staunch advocate of socialism, and there is a picture of her seen standing at a podium with the pictures of Trotsky and Lenin where she talks about the importance of socialism in Afghanistan, (I can't post pictures at the moment but if someone can google it, that'd be appreciated), but that's all being ignored of course.

[RedHal]

She's still pretty young correct? So I don't feel right in criticizing her, but I have to question, if Bush was the one droning Pakistan would she still have met the president?

[Red Commissar]

She is also a staunch advocate of socialism, and there is a picture of her seen standing at a podium with the pictures of Trotsky and Lenin where she talks about the importance of socialism in Afghanistan, (I can't post pictures at the moment but if someone can google it, that'd be appreciated), but that's all being ignored of course.

I don't think she was talking about socialism specifically, she was in some sort of event sponsored by the Pakistani branch of the IMT (I don't remember though if it was about women or about the ongoing war in the region). That doesn't mean she's a "staunch advocate of socialism" though, she just took advantage of using a platform/topic that is not covered by Pakistani media, much less to people of her background (ie not from a major business/political family). The IMT shortly afterwards tried to claim basically that she was one of their members, which came off as very crass and opportunistic to me.

As to why she's come back into more attention- she's more healthy and recovered from the Taliban attempt on her life, so she's been able to make a lot more media appearances. When she was nearly killed, there was a similar focus on her life and circumstances for a few months until they moved onto something else. Media and civic groups see her as a useful way for the westerners to present a picture of what happens when they leave the region ("What we're doing isn't imperialism, see!"), which is why they've ignored her comments on the drones and the war in the border regions. Plus, there was the recent UN meeting and then some people speculating she'd be in the running for a nobel peace prize. Her message regardless is an important one though, even if capitalists have latched on to it and suddenly act concerned about inequities of education in the third world, even when the same exists in their own countries. She's taking advantage of the platforms being opened to her like she did with the IMT event, nothing wrong with that (the Taliban were reactionary shitheads for what they did and continue to do, it doesn't excuse their actions). Criticism should be directed at people trying to take advantage of her to push their own agenda.

[brigadista]

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/assed-baig/malala-yousafzai-white-saviour_b_3592165.html


When Malala Yusufzai was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen simply because she wanted to gain an education it sent shockwaves around the world.

Straight away the Western media took up the issue. Western politicians spoke out and soon she found herself in the UK. The way in which the West reacted did make me question the reasons and motives behind why Malala's case was taken up and not so many others.

There is no justifying the brutal actions of the Taliban or the denial of the universal right to education, however there is a deeper more historic narrative that is taking place here.

This is a story of a native girl being saved by the white man. Flown to the UK, the Western world can feel good about itself as they save the native woman from the savage men of her home nation. It is a historic racist narrative that has been institutionalised. Journalists and politicians were falling over themselves to report and comment on the case. The story of an innocent brown child that was shot by savages for demanding an education and along comes the knight in shining armour to save her.

The actions of the West, the bombings, the occupations the wars all seem justified now, "see, we told you, this is why we intervene to save the natives."

The truth is that there are hundreds and thousands of other Malalas. They come from Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and other places in the world. Many are victims of the West, but we conveniently forget about those as Western journalists and politicians fall over themselves to appease their white-middle class guilt also known as the white man's burden.

Gordon Brown stood at the UN and spoke words in support for Malala, yet he is the very same Gordon Brown that voted for the war in Iraq that not only robbed people of their education but of their lives. The same journalists that failed to question or report on the Western wars in an intelligible manner now sing the praises of the West as they back Malala and her campaign without putting it in context of the war in Afghanistan and the destabalisation of the region thanks to the Western occupation of Afghanistan.

Malala's message is true, it is profound, it is something the world needs to take note of; education is a right of every child, but Malala has been used as a tool by the West. It allows countries like Britain to hide their sins in Afghanistan and Iraq. It allows journalists to report a feel good story whilst they neglect so many others, like the American drone strikes that terrorise men, women and children in Pakistan's border regions.

The current narrative continues the demonization of the non-white Muslim man. Painting him as a savage, someone beyond negotiating with, beyond engaging with, the only way to deal with this kind of savage is to wage war, occupy and use drones against them. NATO is bombing to save girls like Malala is the message here.

Historically the West has always used women to justify the actions of war mongering men. It is in the imagery, it is in art, in education, it is even prevalent in Western human rights organisations, Amnesty International's poster campaign coinciding with the NATO summit in New York encouraged NATO to 'keep the progress going!' in Afghanistan.

Shazia Ramzan and Kainat Riaz were also shot along with Malala, the media and politicians seem to have forgotten about them. Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi - how many of the Western politicians and journalists know about this name? She was the 14-year-old girl gang raped by five US soldiers, then her and her family, including her six-year-old sister were murdered. There are no days named after her, no mentions of her at the UN, and we don't see Gordon Brown pledging his name to her cause.

I support Malala, I support the right to education for all, I just cannot stand the hypocrisy of Western politicians and media as they pick and choose, congratulating themselves for something that they have caused. Malala is the good native, she does not criticise the West, she does not talk about the drone strikes, she is the perfect candidate for the white man to relieve his burden and save the native.

The Western savior complex has hijacked Malala's message. The West has killed more girls than the Taliban have. The West has denied more girls an education via their missiles than the Taliban has by their bullets. The West has done more against education around the world than extremists could ever dream of. So, please, spare us the self-righteous and self-congratulatory message that is nothing more than propaganda that tells us that the West drops bombs to save girls like Malala.

[ola.]

I don't think she was talking about socialism specifically, she was in some sort of event sponsored by the Pakistani branch of the IMT (I don't remember though if it was about women or about the ongoing war in the region). That doesn't mean she's a "staunch advocate of socialism" though, she just took advantage of using a platform/topic that is not covered by Pakistani media, much less to people of her background (ie not from a major business/political family). The IMT shortly afterwards tried to claim basically that she was one of their members, which came off as very crass and opportunistic to me.

Malala has been quoted as saying,

"First of all I’d like to thank The Struggle and the IMT for giving me a chance to speak last year at their Summer Marxist School in Swat and also for introducing me to Marxism and Socialism. I just want to say that in terms of education, as well as other problems in Pakistan, it is high time that we did something to tackle them ourselves. It’s important to take the initiative. We cannot wait around for any one else to come and do it. Why are we waiting for someone else to come and fix things? Why aren’t we doing it ourselves?

I would like to send my heartfelt greetings to the congress. I am convinced Socialism is the only answer and I urge all comrades to take this struggle to a victorious conclusion. Only this will free us from the chains of bigotry and exploitation."

[Red Commissar]

Malala has been quoted as saying,

"First of all I’d like to thank The Struggle and the IMT for giving me a chance to speak last year at their Summer Marxist School in Swat and also for introducing me to Marxism and Socialism. I just want to say that in terms of education, as well as other problems in Pakistan, it is high time that we did something to tackle them ourselves. It’s important to take the initiative. We cannot wait around for any one else to come and do it. Why are we waiting for someone else to come and fix things? Why aren’t we doing it ourselves?

I would like to send my heartfelt greetings to the congress. I am convinced Socialism is the only answer and I urge all comrades to take this struggle to a victorious conclusion. Only this will free us from the chains of bigotry and exploitation."

I don't think she's a full, committed member of the IMT, even if she shows sympathy to socialism. My point was that the attempts to adopt her as a socialist and representative of their organization only after she got international recognition comes off as very opportunistic and crass to me. She didn't do what she did because of the illuminating thought of marxist-leninst-trotsky-alan woods thought.

[Realzowi]

I don't think she's a full, committed member of the IMT, even if she shows sympathy to socialism. My point was that the attempts to adopt her as a socialist and representative of their organization only after she got international recognition comes off as very opportunistic and crass to me. She didn't do what she did because of the illuminating thought of marxist-leninst-trotsky-alan woods thought.

She has been no member, but she participated in a National Marxist School in Swat. However, her uncle Faiz Mohammed is a member of the IMT. And it is he who introduced Malala and her father into secular left-wing politics.

See this recent article by Lal Khan from the IMT in Pakistan: www[dot]marxist.com/malalas-ordeal[dot]htm

I find this a little dishonest. The IMT has never stated she was a member, but a sympathiser, what she clearly is. Also the IMT has never claimed that it was their ideology that determined her actions.
What should they have done then after she was shot? Keep silent about it?

[hashem]

She is also a staunch advocate of socialism, and there is a picture of her seen standing at a podium with the pictures of Trotsky and Lenin where she talks about the importance of socialism in Afghanistan, (I can't post pictures at the moment but if someone can google it, that'd be appreciated), but that's all being ignored of course.

if we take her political positions seriously, she is just a bourgeois reformist. standing by pictures of communists cant change that. some opportunists (especially IMT) like to use her for their sectarian propaganda but in practice, they are cooperating with bourgeois and reactionary Peoples party of Pakistan.

[Nakidana]

She is also a staunch advocate of socialism

Really? In her autobiography this is the only mention of socialism I could find:


My father was very impressed by Faiz Mohammad and thought he talked a lot of sense, particularly about wanting to end the feudal and capitalist systems in our country, where the same big families had controlled things for years while the poor got poorer. He found himself torn between the two extremes, secularism and socialism on one side and militant Islam on the other. I guess he ended up somewhere in the middle.

Somewhere in the middle huh, I guess that's code for social democrat.

I really think people are deluding themselves portraying Malala as some kind of socialist. She was at one IMT event, so fucking what. Now she wants to become the prime minister of Pakistan, probably sees herself as the new Daughter of the East. :rolleyes:

Anyway, you can all torrent her new autobiography, it's called I am Malala. I'm currently skimming through it, reading bits here and there.

[Realzowi]

Her social environment has changed and this is an important factor in her political development.
If she would not have been shot, the chance is big that she would have become a socialist and an IMT member, like other members in Swat. But then, she would not have become that famous and we wouldn't talk about it on this forum now...

[Nakidana]

Her social environment has changed and this is an important factor in her political development.
If she would not have been shot, the chance is big that she would have become a socialist and an IMT member, like other members in Swat. But then, she would not have become that famous and we wouldn't talk about it on this forum now...

I don't know about that, apparently she was a great supporter of the corrupt Benazir Bhutto (you know, the one who was sympathetic to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, dined with the Israeli ambassador to the US and pledged to "wipe out terrorism" in PK) before she was shot and moved to the UK:


This was the start of real trouble. Fazlullah could now carry out his threats and mobilise support for his Taliban in the name of Lal Masjid. A few days later they attacked an army convoy travelling in the direction of Swat and killed thirteen soldiers. The backlash wasn’t just in Swat. There was an enormous protest by tribesmen in Bajaur and a wave of suicide bombings across the country. There was one ray of hope – Benazir Bhutto was returning. The Americans were worried that their ally General Musharraf was too unpopular in Pakistan to be effective against the Taliban so they had helped broker an unlikely power-sharing deal. The plan was that Musharraf would finally take off his uniform and be a civilian president, supported by Benazir’s party. In return he would drop corruption charges against her and her husband and agree to hold elections, which everyone assumed would result in Benazir becoming prime minister. No Pakistani, including my father, thought this deal would work as Musharraf and Benazir hated each other.
Benazir had been in exile since I was two years old, but I had heard so much about her from my father and was very excited that she would return and we might have a woman leader once more. It was because of Benazir that girls like me could think of speaking out and becoming politicians. She was our role model. She symbolised the end of dictatorship and the beginning of democracy as well as sending a message of hope and strength to the rest of the world. She was also our only political leader to speak out against the militants and even offered to help American troops hunt for bin Laden inside Pakistani borders.Don't worry Malala, the US never really gave a shit what the people or government of PK thought, they bombed and hunted regardless. ;)

[Halert]

Malala is a very smart kid. She fights for a just cause, education for all is very important education for boys only is hideous and it enslaves woman. While she mostly fights against the taliban she also criticizes the US for it's drone program(last part is mostly ignored by the media).

But like many said the west is trying to use her as a puppet to legitimize the war on terror. I really hope she can stay out of their grip, but i fear the worst.