Review of: Behind the Burqa: Our Life in Afghanistan and How We Escaped to Freedom

Behind the Burqa
Our Life in Afghanistan and How We Escaped to Freedom
Batya Swift Yasgur
277 pp. Wiley Publishers. $23.27

Batya Swift Yasgur’s interpretation of Sulima and Hala’s tales of escaping Afghanistan, although seemingly bland at first, is a very interesting account of the sisters’ lives. However, the negative details in Behind the Burqa almost seem to be in place as an attempt at making Americans feel bad about invading the Middle East. Yet the book itself seemingly attempts to make Americans feel better about themselves after the United States began the war in Iraq.

Regardless, the book is written very well, it is a heart-touching story and it is very informative. “In Afghanistan, the father picks out a prefix or suffix for all his sons that stands for some ideal or important family value, such as courage or adherence to God’s will. Father chose Abdel, which means “servant of God.” But in day-to-day conversation, we called them by their individual names – Karim, Asim, and Zamin.”

This novel shows just how underdeveloped Afghanistan was. They allowed girls to go to school but didn’t prefer it. In fact, they were against school, period, for the most part. Also, they were not advocates of everyday hand-washing.

“What are germs?” Karim asked… “They are tiny things, so small we cannot see them… It is unsanitary to simple spread a cloth on the floor when we eat. I am having a special table built so that the food can be higher than the floor.”

On the other hand, Behind the Burqa seems to be in place with a very specific goal of making others, especially Americans, feel bad. The account of Suilma is told first. As a child, she began working, illegally and impressively, for women’s rights. As well, she survived a very abusive martial relationship that carried over into her escape to the United States.

During one account at a women’s meeting, she recalls, “One woman told me that the Qur’an specifically mandated this treatment of women and we had no right to violate the Qur’an’s words… Men are superior to women on account of the qualities with which God hath gifted the one over the other and on account of the outlay they make from their substance for them.”

After Sulima moves to the United States, her younger sister Hala begins doing good deeds of her own, such as secretly educating children when all of the schools are shut down.

When Hala tries to escape to the U.S., she is unable to speak English and she is put in jail. She relies on Sulima who attempts to help her gain asylum, as being deported back to their home country is one of Hala’s biggest fears.

“For all of us, healing from the wounds inflicted by our own governments was almost impossible. We felt no safety. We were in a harsh and alien world. And we had been caught completely off guard. We had come to the United States with high expectations… I thought people in America were treated equally. But when I came here, I found out that this wasn’t true. Bad things happen to people who come from other countries. You can be put in jail for no reason other than leaving your country to save your life.”