Angelina Jolie is using her (very new) social media platform for good. The actress joined Instagram on Friday, sharing a powerful letter she received from a teenage girl in Afghanistan.
The “Eternals” star’s first post featured handwritten letters from the “scared” young girl amid the Taliban’s takeover of the country.
“This is a letter I was sent from a teenage girl in Afghanistan,” Jolie’s caption began. “Right now, the people of Afghanistan are losing their ability to communicate on social media and to express themselves freely. So I’ve come on Instagram to share their stories and the voices of those across the globe who are fighting for their basic human rights.”
The Academy Award-winning actress explained how she’d visited the border of Afghanistan two weeks before 9/11, where she met Afghan refugees who had fled the Taliban.
“It is sickening to watch Afghans being displaced yet again out of the fear and uncertainty that has gripped their country,” her post continued. “To spend so much time and money, to have blood shed and lives lost only to come to this, is a failure almost impossible to understand.”
“Watching for decades how Afghan refugees – some of the most capable people in the world – are treated like a burden is also sickening. Knowing that if they had the tools and respect, how much they would do for themselves. And meeting so many women and girls who not only wanted an education, but fought for it.”
Last week, Taliban fighters marched into Afghanistan’s capital city, signaling a collapse of the Afghan government two decades after the U.S. invaded the country as part of the “war on terrorism.” Although the extremist group has publicly pledged to respect women’s rights, they have yet to specify any promises nor their interpretation of Islamic law.
“Like others who are committed, I will not turn away,” Angelina Jolie’s post concluded. “I will continue to look for ways to help. And I hope you’ll join me.”
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