“War is not only for the battlefield,” Mrs. Ebadi noted, warning that “a hidden war is about to unfold” and referring to “a war that places religions and civilizations against one another.” “Let us separate the wrongs of individuals from the religion or civilization to which they belong,” she urged. “If an individual or group perpetrates wrongful deeds, let us not count that against Islam….Why do we even use concepts or phrases like Islamic terrorism? Religions and civilizations do not clash — they share many commonalities.” Mrs. Ebadi, the first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, spoke before more than 500 people at a symposium on the role of women in world peace. The event was sponsored by Lehman and the International Health Awareness Network. In her address, she discussed the inequality of women, which she attributed to a patriarchal culture that she believes is more prevalent in Islamic societies, where women confront polygamy as well as discrimination in the penal code. In western society, however, she said, this culture is also present, with the result that women face other issues, ranging from a disproportionately low number who serve in legislatures to the commercial use of women’s bodies to sell products. Mrs. Ebadi was one of Iran’s first female judges and was president of the Tehran city court from 1975 to 1979. After the Iranian revolution in 1979, she was forced to resign her position. She now works as a lawyer and teaches at the University of Tehran. With Islam as her starting point, she campaigns for peaceful solutions to social problems and promotes new thinking on Islamic terms, arguing for a new interpretation of Islamic law that is in harmony with equality before the law, religious freedom and freedom of speech. Taking an active part in the public debate, she has defended victims in several controversial political cases. President Ricardo R. Fernández presented Mrs. Ebadi with the Lehman Leadership Award for advancing “the march toward peace” and for articulating the ideals of justice and human rights. The College has established the Shirin Ebadi Peace Scholarship to enable outstanding students to continue and complete their Lehman education. During the afternoon session, three distinguished scholars spoke on the role of men and boys in gender equity:
Following the presentations, the Bronx Repertory Company presented a scene from Lysistrata by Aristophanes, which was first presented publicly in 411 BC. The women of Athens, weary of the Peloponnesian war, devise a plan with women of the other warring states to withhold the pleasures of the flesh from their men until they stop fighting.
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obel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi told an audience at Lehman College
May 24 that “fighting terrorism is a logical and legitimate fight,
and arresting terrorists and taking them to the courts of justice is necessary,
but the most important need is to fight the roots of terrorism,” which
she described as prejudice and injustice. Education and literacy, she added,
were the best tools in that struggle.
