this medieval line into practice.
several rallies and demonstrations.
themselves.
Three weeks before International Women's Day on 8 March, an ad hoc committee for organising a celebranon was set up.
250 women representing wide spectrum nurses, teachers, office workers, students and women - • were present. There was a lot of enthusiasm for the 8 March celebration.
Other women's groups had been organised by Communist Party and Maoists. The ad hoc committee contacted them to organise a united march and rally.
The CP accepted, but no reply was received from the Maoists. Though even the CP withdrew three hours the rally.
also contacted interAZAR TABARI, who is in London for a few days, will be speaking on the situation of women in Iran at the Socialist Feminist Conference on Saturday 24 March, 6pm Starcross School, Risinghill Street, (off Penton Street), London NI national speakers such as Kate Millett from the United States, feminists in France and Italy, Bernadette Devlin On 1 March the Ministry of Health reaffirmed the ban on abortions. Birth control pills *Men have authority over women because Allah has made the one superior to the other', says the Koran. But large numbers of women in Iran have mounted a challenge to the Ayatollah Khomeini's attempts to put AZER TABARI is a militant of the Iranian Socialist Workers Party. She also played an active part in the recent women's demonstrations in Iran and spoke at A leading member of the Women's Rights Defence Groups which are being formed in many localities in Tehran, she describes here how the women organised began to be removed from chemists shops. On 3 March the pills were put back on the shelves after injunction.
At the same time two letters appeared in the press -from a judge and addressed to veiled Khomeini • asking for advice on the Family Protection Act.
According to this Act both men and women have to obtain divorce permits from a Family the Court, and the Court has to grant permission before a man the can marry for the second time. restricted the rights of Islam.
Khomeini's reply was published the next day. He said that the Act should suspended because against the laws of Islam.
This created resentment and anger. reambiguan went unambiguous: make a revolation to get a worse situation.
On 7 March, Khomeini dropped a new bombshell. He declared that the compulsory. Women work, but they had to wear the veil.
That this statement came on the Women's appeared to us as a deliberate provocation.
On the morning of 8 March there eruption of anger. took place in several girls high schools. They were angry. They voted to go on strike and join the rally at Tehran university.
At the University there were nearly 15,000 women. It was a heartening sight.
The Maoist League for the Awakening of Ministry Women') marched off separLately. The rest of us, numbering about 12,000, marched to the HQ of the Imam Committee.
The ad hoc committee put out a leaflet inviting everyone to a rally at the Sports Stadium at 5pm to discuss what to do next. It was agreed that there would be an occupation of the Ministry of March.
At the rally in the stadium polygamy Millett as well as French and there were greetings from Kate Italian women. woman drew massive applause as she greeted the women of be it was fra spoke as well and argued lot of thạt radical social change was The necessary and that we should not sit passively and take all didn't VERISE We muse work a not take word COVCHHCHE appointed governmen The rally launched Women's all Was could Rights Defence urged the formation of local groups. The groups are fighting for equal pay, child care, equal rights Day economic and judicial spheres.
On March thousand women gathered at 9am outside the Ministry spontaneous Justice. At the same time other Meetings women activists went to high schools, hospitals, and offices to bring back contingents to the Ministry. COMMITTEE AGAINST REPRESSION IN IRAN CONFERENCE Saturday 31 March, 11am, University College, Gower Street, London WC1 Delegates' credentials E2, observers' El, from CARI, Box 4, 182 Upper Street, London N1.
on the way back they molested and group ('The 'Prostitutes' dolls'.
Ministry the first over, for it was sit-in.
between Justice on militants disagreed.
An Arab . Then TEne statement position.
ourselves build the defence groups least of all an Freedom Square.
Groups were 15,000 of us.
political, but no attacks.
several serious of situation.
SUDDOT
HOW difficult days ahead.
mentioned American joined these contingents, but Several thousand womer penetrated by were agoats, elc. physically attacked by hoodlums chanting, and *Pahlavi By the time they got to the sit-in was 3pm. They immediately started a new Nazi films A rally was planned for 11 March, but a split opened up women the Lawyers Association (reputedly sympathetic to the CP) and the The former wanted no rally if the government retreated on Devonshire the question of the veil. The campus.
women lawyers an unilaterally put out a press Hitler youth;
that there would be no rally. But despite this sabotage the rally went ahead with 6,000 women. Russia I spoke and reiterated our viewpoint", Our fight had to continue. We had to organise independently and After the rally we marched to knuckles.
More and more women joined the march, and by the time it ended there There was a lot of hostility The Fedayeen provided armed defence guards and their presence prevented a deterioration in the broader We want solidarity and allover the world. For the euphoria has The and there are change was attacked for regarding the outcome of the Ford strike as a victory despite the productivity deals. He was of confusing 'the particular' with 'the general' was disgusted and the walked out. He was thereupon summarily expelled.
Johns had been accused of being a Kantian rather than a Marxist. The WRP's erstwhile organiser admitted his own Kantian philosophical deviations, but claimed that the WRP as a whole was Kantian. For this he was expelled - and good Kantian that he is, he voted for his own expulsion.
The Ayatollah Healy and be two others were given authority to root out anti-party elements from the WRP. It should be and that the main campaign of the WRP for a peried was to accuse the SWP of being this, KGB and FBI Its present campaigns are to denounce Iranian women being pawns of the CIA and to justify the execution of Iraqi LEEDS student union recently gave fascism the biggest boost it has had on the campus for many decades by authorising the showing of three famous Nazi propaganda films in the Hall the The films? Labour Camps, exhortation to the Ein Volk. Ein Reich, Ein Fuhrer; and Nazi lavasion of Russia, described on the poster as 'the invasion of German The showing of these films in a totally uncritical context is a disgrace, and the union should be rapped sharply on the Broaderleft AT A MEETING in London on 11 March the student Broad Left finally voted to wind itself up. It will be replaced by a still alliance which will the participation Liberals and others.
Broad Left had
originally intended to make the public until PURE