Vancouver, BC

Don't miss this special forum and book launch with Afghanistan's Malalai Joya in Vancouver

7:00pm
Saturday November 14 2009

 Please join us for the Canadian launch of Malalai Joya's book, A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared to Speak Out. People's Coop Bookstore will have books available for sale and signing at this event. "The bravest woman in Afghanistan" - BBC Co-written with StopWar activist and writer Derrick O'Keefe, A Woman Among Warlords is an important and timely book. Malalai Joya's personal story is inspiring, and her political message is an uncompromising appeal for an end to NATO's occupation of Afghanistan and the impunity of the warlords in the Karzai regime. Don't miss this rare chance to hear Malalai Joya in person. Organized by StopWar.ca. Sponsors: Simon & Schuster Canada, the Canadian Peace Alliance, Voice of Women - Canada, rabble.ca, Iranian Centre for Peace, Freedom and Social Justice. More information on Malalai Joya

Malalai Joya has published her memoirs, A Woman Among Warlords: TheExtraordinary Story of an Afghan Woman Who Dared to Speak Out. You canpurchase the book at your local independent bookstore, or online now at: http://books.simonandschuster.com/Woman-Among-Warlords/Malalai-Joya/9781439109465 Joya, now 31, was the youngest ever woman elected to the Afghan Parliamentin 2005 and is an outspoken critic of the Karzai government and NATOoccupation. With U.S. President Obama considering escalating the war in Afghanistanwith over 40,000 more troops -- and the Canadian government signaling thatthis country’s forces will in fact not be coming home at the end of 2011-- Joya’s speaking tour and book release is timely. “Afghan women like me, voting and running for office, have been held up asproof that the United States has brought democracy and women’s rights toAfghanistan,” Joya writes. “But it is all a lie.” Her book tells the story of her life in the context of three decades ofwar. Joya details her reasons for opposing NATO's war and suggestsconcrete steps for building an independent and genuinely democraticAfghanistan. Malalai Joya, often compared to Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi, has emerged as asymbol of Afghans’ desire for freedom from corruption, warlordism andforeign occupation. Her father, who lost a leg fighting the Sovietoccupation of Afghanistan, named her after a 19th century hero in thefight against the British Empire, Malalai of Maiwand. Today, Joya brings to a North American audience the lessons ofAfghanistan’s long history of occupation and resistance. And she hopes herbook will “correct the tremendous amount of misinformation being spreadabout Afghanistan.” “Afghans are sometimes represented in the media as a backward people,nothing more than terrorists, criminals and henchmen. This false image isextremely dangerous for the future of both my country and the West. Thetruth is that Afghans are brave and freedom loving people with a richculture and a proud history. We are capable of defending our independence,governing ourselves and determining our own future.” For book tour details in the United States (Oct. 23 - Nov. 12), see:http://afghanwomensmission.org/awmnews/index.php?articleID=85For a complete listing of events with Malalai Joya across Canada (Nov. 13- 27), see: http://rabble.ca/malalai_joya_tour.