isqineeha:Dr. Naziha al-Dulaimi (1923-2007) was an Iraqi feminist leader who served as Iraq’s Minist
isqineeha:Dr. Naziha al-Dulaimi (1923-2007) was an Iraqi feminist leader who served as Iraq’s Minister of Municipalities in 1959 under the government of Abdul Kareem Qassem, making her the first female minister not only in Iraq’s modern history, but as well as the first female minister across the Arab world. Dr. Naziha attended and graduated from the Royal College of Medicine at the University of Baghdad in 1948, and in that same year she became a full and instrumental member of the Iraqi Communist Party.In 1952, al Dulaimi cofounded the Iraqi Women’s League and become its first president. With the support of her organization, she was instrumental in the formulation and implementation of the Personal Status Law #188, which is considered one of the most progressive women right laws in the middle east. Personal Status Law #188 is the same law the Iraqi government has been trying to eradicate and instead replace with a religiously conservative, sectarian, and reactionary bill. Al Dulaimi was also an active member of the Iraqi Peace Movement and the World Peace Council. At the time of the assassination of Abdul Kareem Qassem in 1963, Naziha was travelling between Moscow and Prague, and following the assassination she became an instrumental critic of the new government by joining the Council for Iraq’s Defence that was headed by Iraqi poet Mahmoud Mahdi Al Jawahiri. She returned to Iraq however in 1968, during a period that saw the Ba’athist government trying to reconcile with previous members of the ICP, only to later implement more control over the organization and its eventual banning. Since then, the ICP became a relatively secret organization in which Naziha was also a member. In 1979 she decided to leave Iraq and reside in Europe until the 9th of October 2007, when she passed away in Germany. Here it is important to note that the ICP went through a massive split after the Ba’athist government took control according to Haifa Zangana, and the communist ideals that they once upheld were completely disregarded, which saw many members abandon the organization, including Zangana herself. This can also be seen in recent post-2003 history with the involvement of the ICP leader in the Interim government installed by the American Occupiers (Paul Bremer), and the organization’s later involvement in the political process of Iraq’s new governmental institutions, which highlights more than anything its abandonment for the revolutionary ideals they once fought for. #HappyInternationalWomensDay -- source link