Zainab Salbi: Women, wartime and the dream of peace

SUMMARY:

In this video, the speaker, Zainab Salbi, shows us another side of the coin.  War is also like a coin and we know only one side of it that there are soldiers who fight from both sides, but on the other side, there are women who keep the daily life going during the wars.  During the war, everybody thinks about the destruction, military power, count of deaths, area to be conquered, and so on, but nobody thinks about the women who lost their loved one like their father, brother, and husband.  In addition to this, it is a universal truth that the women always pay a high cost for war just due to man’s ego and his unlimited desires and also they are being raped by soldiers during the wars and they die several times internally in their lives.  It is time to think about the fact that the women are the only hope for peace.  They can heal their children who always think about to take revenge from the killer of their father, by teaching them a lesson of love, peace, and brotherhood.  Moreover, at least 50% of the women should be included in negotiating table for peace.  If this will happen, there is no more war in the future because everyone has feeling of love and brotherhood and this world would become better place to live.(Word count:223)


RESPONSE:

I agree with the speaker’s view that women always pay high cost for wars and they die several times from inside in their lives.  Actually, this world is a male dominant world, they are the decision makers and they want to fulfill their unlimited desires and wishes at any cost.  They do not think about the women and children who suffer a lot physically, emotionally, as well as mentally during and after the wars.  We have so many examples of wars like wars of Iraq and Afghanistan and so on.  Every time why women should pay for this, so we should think about peace and in light of this, women are the only hope to fulfill this goal.  If we change our thinking, there are lot of things to do in our lives.  Many countries face so many problems like poverty, unemployment, disease, natural disasters, and so on and if governments can reduce their military budget, they can spend money to solve these problems.  Then, this world would become better place to live where everybody lives with the feeling of love, friendship, and brotherhood. (Word count:182)