Þórhildur Sunna Ævarsdóttir var meðal þeirra sem sögðu nokkur orð til minningar Farkhunda, 27 ára gamallar námsmeyjar frá Afghanistan sem var myrt á hrottafenginn hátt í Kabúl 19. mars síðastliðinn.
Lesendum Kvennablaðsins er einnig bent á undirskriftasöfnun sem fram fer á change.org til þess að krefjast réttlætis fyrir Farkhunda.
Ladies and gentlemen,
A young woman was lynched in the streets of Kabul not too long ago. Her name was Farkhunda and she was studying to become a teacher, she was getting ready to graduate. She had found purpose in her life and her life was taken away from her in the most brutal way.
Farkhunda was 27 years old when she was killed. Like me. But unlike her I do not live in a reality were I would have to fear dying at the hands of an angry mob of men with police officers standing idly by, watching. With some of the angry men, filming. I can not imagine the terror that must be felt by the women of Afghanistan after such a horrifying event, which began by one angry man shouting lies at anyone who would listen.
I can not imagine because my life has been too safe, too secure so far.
Afghanistan is a place far removed from security after decades of war, and I do not know how I would fare should my destiny have been to be born there. A woman. What I do feel is immense sympathy, anger and regret.
Regret, because I feel it would be hypocritical of me to stand here and pay tribute to Farkhunda without reflecting on my part in her death. Reflecting on the fact that we here in Iceland are part of the problem in Afghanistan.
Let us not forget that our nation fully supported our American allies in an illegal war. We took part in invading a country that posed no credible threat to us or America. Rather, Afghanistan was a convenient scapegoat, a strawman enemy that had seen too many wars before the 2001 invasion and is made to suffer them still. It is not surprising to me that empathy, justice and fairness be removed from a part of the Afghan nation, that have experienced too little love and too much war. These young men grew up in a war zone. Their crime unforgivable, unspeakable, but perhaps to be expected.
Not only did Iceland help fund this war, we sent armed men to participate in it; Iceland, the most peaceful country on earth.
We form part of an empire by the name of NATO. Nato or it´s member states have directly or indirectly caused the death of over a million people since it decided to become a henchman in Americas empirical war or terror fourteen years ago.
The number of people killed in Afghanistan is unclear, as our great allies didn´t think it was worthwhile to count the bodies until six years after the invasion.
Let us not forget that part of the propaganda for the invasion into Afghanistan was to improve the lives of women and girls in Afghanistan. I cannot help but feel that all we have done is bring them more death and destruction.
I cannot help but feel, that unless we take a stand against aggression and war and speak out against the countless war crimes perpetrated by our allies we are no different to those policemen, who stood idly by and denied Justice to Farkhunda.
I came here to ask for justice for Farkhunda, but I want more. I want justice for Afghanistan.
Thank you