Louisa Ait-Hamou (Published: December 2004)

Since 11 September 2001, the world, and particularly the United States, seem to have suddenly realised that Muslim fundamentalism, in its extreme form of terrorism, is a real threat. It is only now that the US and many European countries recognise that they have to build strategies across the world to ‘fi ght terrorism’. Many of us cannot help feeling bitter

about such a new attitude, for we have fought fundamentalism and terrorism in isolation with our bare hands for a good number of years, while those fundamentalists who committed the most atrocious crimes in our countries were getting support from the same governments that are now dictating to the rest of the world how to ‘fi ght terrorism’. Whatever the real reasons behind such a world policy,1 we need to understand as women that we have to build our own capacities to promote changes that would deconstruct the repressive patriarchy that is the basis for all fundamentalisms.

For us, religious fundamentalism is a form of terrorism against women. Its manifestations are varied but its purpose is the same everywhere: the control of women and therefore the refusal to recognise them as autonomous human beings and citizens.

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