Mission Possible
In the book One Thousand and One Nights. Scheherazade has to tells stories in order to survive. She tells such interesting and compelling stories that Schehrayar can’t help but let her live one more night and then another and then another. After a thousand and one nights, Schehrayar gets attached and forgets his murderous desire. By salvaging her own life with her stories, Scheherazade in turn liberates Schehrayar’s heart from its darkness.
As war and terrorism rage, so grows the antagonism between the Middle East and the West. People are seeking insights into the dark heart of this spiral of violence. This blog is the personal journey of a Czech-born Iraqi woman who walks the tightrope between East and West. The narrative is an unconventional, funny and often moving voyage of uncovering, discovering and discarding of identity. It tells stories about undoing childhood conditioning, understanding the past, and telling new stories in order to embrace the future. By relating these tales of transformation, I hope the reader will grow attached and come to understand the Middle East’s many contradictions and failings and there are many.
King Schehrayar started as a loving young husband, until one day he came home to his palace to find his wife with another man. The hurt was deep. In a rage, he kills his wife. He declares a war on women. He marries frequently, only to murder the bride the morning following the wedding night; therefore ensuring that no woman would ever hurt him again. His heart is safely sealed behind a security barrier that no feminine intrusion could breach. The mother of all sex battles rages until he encounters the wise and enchanting Scheherazade. On the wedding night she tells him a story; but right at the crucial point of the story she starts sighing and tells him that she is tired and goes to sleep. The next morning, Schehrayar decides to let her live one more day so that he could hear the end of the story. Scheherazade weaves a tapestry of stories inside stories but each night stops at a suspenseful point in order to save her live one more night.
My name is Elen Ghulam, but readers of this blog frequently call me ihath. I am an Iraqi born in the Czech republic and raised in Kuwait. At age nineteen I immigrated to Canada, where for the very first time I was able to read censored Arab authors, leading me to a new understanding of my country of origin. Later I married a Palestinian professor and together we lived in Scotland and Israel. In Israel, I learned Hebrew, worked for an Israeli company and experienced the military occupation of Palestine first hand – albeit from the perspective of living within Israeli society. In September if 2000 I moved back to Vancouver,BC where I currently live with my family.
I attempt to tell it like it is. I tell you what I saw and how it felt. I avoid giving opinions. Mostly because I find that opinions are useless. I don't believe in opinions I believe in taking actions. I will not tell you what I think, only what I did about it or didn't do. I will tell you where I managed to make a difference and where I failed. Frequently I fail miserably. I am not here to preach or change your mind about things. I trust that you are intelligent enough to make up your own mind. I frequently tell people that send me emails "Don't tell me your opinions, those are a dime a dozen. Write to me with a story from your life about how you dealt with it. That is 10 times more valuable.". So be warned. If you write me an email telling me about how I should do this and I should do that, you will get the standard reply.
This blog draws from my experience of the many facets of Arab, European, North American and Israeli society to portray life in the conflict zone. I was inspired by two books: Rian Malan’s My Traitor’s Heart: a South African Exile Returns to Face His Country, His Tribe, and His Conscience and Carol Shield’s (et al) Dropped Threads. Much as My Traitor’s Heart attempts to illuminate Apartheid South Africa’s poisonous race relations through Rian Malan’s personal journey, “ihath” attempts to shed light on the poisonous clash between the Middle East and the Western world through an honest portrayal of an individual journey. Much as Dropped Threads is an examination of the secrets women keep, “ihath” is Dropped Threads with the common thread of a single person. The stories examine the secrets we keep in the Middle East. Those things that others avoid talking about.
In addition to English, I speak Arabic, Czech and Hebrew. I work as a computer programmer and have earned a B.Sc. in computer science in 1991 from University of British Columbia. I currently live in Vancouver, Canada. I am a mother of three children. Two girls and a boy. I dance flamenco, enjoy painting with acrylics and have an interest in the field of computational linguistics.
I am also the author of the book titled "Don't Shoot! ... I have another story to tell you". Which you can purchase here
.
A while back somebody told me that he felt the blogging was a waste of time that it had no purpose. I disagree. If we tell interesting and compelling stories, shooting us will be more difficult.
Sometimes the keyboard is mightier than a cruise missile and other times it is not.
When you are imperfect, you better be charming. People will forgive the imperfections.
As war and terrorism rage, so grows the antagonism between the Middle East and the West. People are seeking insights into the dark heart of this spiral of violence. This blog is the personal journey of a Czech-born Iraqi woman who walks the tightrope between East and West. The narrative is an unconventional, funny and often moving voyage of uncovering, discovering and discarding of identity. It tells stories about undoing childhood conditioning, understanding the past, and telling new stories in order to embrace the future. By relating these tales of transformation, I hope the reader will grow attached and come to understand the Middle East’s many contradictions and failings and there are many.
King Schehrayar started as a loving young husband, until one day he came home to his palace to find his wife with another man. The hurt was deep. In a rage, he kills his wife. He declares a war on women. He marries frequently, only to murder the bride the morning following the wedding night; therefore ensuring that no woman would ever hurt him again. His heart is safely sealed behind a security barrier that no feminine intrusion could breach. The mother of all sex battles rages until he encounters the wise and enchanting Scheherazade. On the wedding night she tells him a story; but right at the crucial point of the story she starts sighing and tells him that she is tired and goes to sleep. The next morning, Schehrayar decides to let her live one more day so that he could hear the end of the story. Scheherazade weaves a tapestry of stories inside stories but each night stops at a suspenseful point in order to save her live one more night.
My name is Elen Ghulam, but readers of this blog frequently call me ihath. I am an Iraqi born in the Czech republic and raised in Kuwait. At age nineteen I immigrated to Canada, where for the very first time I was able to read censored Arab authors, leading me to a new understanding of my country of origin. Later I married a Palestinian professor and together we lived in Scotland and Israel. In Israel, I learned Hebrew, worked for an Israeli company and experienced the military occupation of Palestine first hand – albeit from the perspective of living within Israeli society. In September if 2000 I moved back to Vancouver,BC where I currently live with my family.
I attempt to tell it like it is. I tell you what I saw and how it felt. I avoid giving opinions. Mostly because I find that opinions are useless. I don't believe in opinions I believe in taking actions. I will not tell you what I think, only what I did about it or didn't do. I will tell you where I managed to make a difference and where I failed. Frequently I fail miserably. I am not here to preach or change your mind about things. I trust that you are intelligent enough to make up your own mind. I frequently tell people that send me emails "Don't tell me your opinions, those are a dime a dozen. Write to me with a story from your life about how you dealt with it. That is 10 times more valuable.". So be warned. If you write me an email telling me about how I should do this and I should do that, you will get the standard reply.
This blog draws from my experience of the many facets of Arab, European, North American and Israeli society to portray life in the conflict zone. I was inspired by two books: Rian Malan’s My Traitor’s Heart: a South African Exile Returns to Face His Country, His Tribe, and His Conscience and Carol Shield’s (et al) Dropped Threads. Much as My Traitor’s Heart attempts to illuminate Apartheid South Africa’s poisonous race relations through Rian Malan’s personal journey, “ihath” attempts to shed light on the poisonous clash between the Middle East and the Western world through an honest portrayal of an individual journey. Much as Dropped Threads is an examination of the secrets women keep, “ihath” is Dropped Threads with the common thread of a single person. The stories examine the secrets we keep in the Middle East. Those things that others avoid talking about.
In addition to English, I speak Arabic, Czech and Hebrew. I work as a computer programmer and have earned a B.Sc. in computer science in 1991 from University of British Columbia. I currently live in Vancouver, Canada. I am a mother of three children. Two girls and a boy. I dance flamenco, enjoy painting with acrylics and have an interest in the field of computational linguistics.
I am also the author of the book titled "Don't Shoot! ... I have another story to tell you". Which you can purchase here
.A while back somebody told me that he felt the blogging was a waste of time that it had no purpose. I disagree. If we tell interesting and compelling stories, shooting us will be more difficult.
Sometimes the keyboard is mightier than a cruise missile and other times it is not.
When you are imperfect, you better be charming. People will forgive the imperfections.
There is a way between voice and presence where information flows.
In disciplined silence it opens.
With wandering talk it closes. .... Rumi
11:36 AMThis post has been removed by a blog administrator.
2:01 PM
I love reading everything you write, humorous or deep.
3:49 PM
losing myself
the arabic burg (nick?!) and "ihath love", friend, about words
iraqi..? swear!
(people for you, woman, naked with hate (quotes -- how nude!))
women husband men, pictures, things, stories, hijab...
... hebrew?! gobran?!
your what-when religion, driving angry, iraq-afghan dragon relationship, prisoners
family poem
picture! not man, palestinian
http://extremetracking.com/open;ref2?login=ihath
3:59 PM
My favorite google search terms for arriving at ihath.com are:
1 - driving nude with my family
2 - ugliest Iraqi woman.
Try it in google yourself.
5:44 AM
Ihath,
you are looking down on opinions but are stating them all the time: don't listen to your dentist/ arabic women are strong/ american people are "going for immediate satisfaction" to name just a few.
Why is that:
Because opinion is interpretation of facts meaning all is opinion. Life is opinion even when you talk about personal experiences because everybody gives his own twist to things happening.
This world is one big manifestation (battle or cooperation) of opinions.
your statement "opinions are nothing" for example is an opinion itself.
Freedom of expression (opinion) is the very basis of our western society and our success because when people can try out different political opinions they will know what works and what don't in a system called democracy.
If opinions are worth nothing then you are saying at the same time democracy is worth nothing because again it is the core of our civilisation.
Voltaire great french philosopher said something like this: I don't like your opinion but will fight at the same time for your right to express it.
Europe began to flourish when they got freedom of thinking first when protestants began to read the bible itself and attacked catholicism, later when socialists and atheists criticised christianity in general for lack of sincerity. These battles of opinions first with weapons later on with words let to our current blooming societies.
You were desperately asking why is Iraq still in trouble: it is because minorities are forcing their opinions with violence upon others thinking that their opions are worth nothing or worse dangerous for their own so needs to be crushed.
The whole middle east suffering from ages of suppression still don't know how to deal with differences in thinking. I personally think the clergy made a deal with the turks who ruled the arabs for centuries: you keep them poor, then I keep them dumb.
If you are publicly question islam (even overhere sometimes remember Rushdie) you are playing with your life: that has to change if the middle east really wants to go forward.
Talking about dentists: one humurous but at the same time alarming statement from a syrian: we are only allowed to open our mouth at the dentist.
It's in interaction people and countries move forwards.
If you don't value opinion you don't value the basic heart of freedom and democracy.
9:53 AM
I enjoy every word you write :)
11:10 AM
Ihath,
By the way,
my statement isn't meant offensive I only strongly disagree with your opinion about opinions.
1:36 PM
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10:29 PM
Oh valuable Opinion, such dazzling Emperors clothing. Such sparkling veneers conveniently concealing such cheap composite ply.
I understand the desire to delve beneath the surface of belief. To question the belief systems that prop up our valuable Opinions.
Oh yes it is wonderful to freely express Opinion, although Opinion alone cannot be mistaken for freedom. Opinion becomes somehow more intriguing more valuable when trading in metaphor and anecdote. With these small evidences opinion becomes a black market commodity, unseemly, sought after. Human.
12:27 AM
My opinion is that everything is going to turn out great. It feels like the world is finally confronting its problems - sort of like an intervention for an alcoholic!
2:08 AM
emigre,
all you said about opinion is an opinion itself. you know that.
freedom and freedom of expression are two sides of the same coin: they don't go without each other.
4:47 AM
Alan
Why yes, of course, how could you ever think i disputed that? Ah, and here comes the but ~ but are you not tempted to revel in the murky psyche upon which opinion rests, from whence opinion flow'th?
You offer a coin in analogy, i offer the ocean. Opinion alone it is a veil, a balsa raft, flimsy though floatable. Opinion with a story attached, now that is a craft with a paddle.
6:07 AM
Emigre,
Thanks for your reaction,
If you prefer opinion with or without a story is again a matter of opinion. In my view a clever spoken or written statement purely based on sharp logic and smart insight is as worthwile as a good story.
I don't think it's (when stated in the right way) more easy or less valuable.
Especially in politics you often need a certain kind of abstract thinking to get where you want.
9:18 AM
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
9:30 AM
Alan and Emigre,
I propose an experiment to examine our debate.
"Smoking is bad for your health". That is an opinion. It happens to be one supported by tons of research and most people would not dispute it.
Now each one of us will find one or more long time smokers and tell them "smoking is bad for your health" and report back our findings here.
What do you think?
12:02 PM
Hi ihath,
good question,
It depends to whom you are saying it.
For example I opposed very much the smoking habits of my sister and younger brother.
Both stopped smoking with succes: not only because of me, but I think I played at least a small part in it.
Sometimes people first don't want to listen but in the long run it still has a positive effect.
I for one am glad I did oppose it and they stopped: smoking is indeed about the worst thing you can do to your body.
3:45 PM
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
3:51 PM
you are cool
3:56 PM
أولادك متل القمر يا ايلين
الله يسعدهم و يسعدك وياهم و ويا "زعترة"
4:31 PM
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
5:10 AM
ihath & alan
an 8 yr old once learnt that telling her long time smoking family members "smoking is bad for your health" was not very popular. especially when she hid their tobacco pouches and cigarette papers. especially when her younger brothers found the hidden tobacco and papers and started smoking themselves. some good intentions just backfire, opinion is a risky business.
5:28 AM
btw ihath
got distracted by your smoking proposition. i really was just stopping by to say boo, spooky :)
7:48 AM
Emigre,
good intentions sometimes backfire, bad intentions almost always. I would say good intentions with a close eye to reality are the best.
opinions are not so much risky as well the only game in town.
6:12 PM
emigre and alan,
Here is my attempt at giving people my opinions. Over the weekend, I told my brother that smoking was bad for his health. He looked in the other direction and started talking with my dad instead. Then this morning I told my coworker that smoking was bad for her health while she was smoking on the outside. She laughed and laughed and then she patted me on the head in a condesending way. I think I am gonna stop before somebody punches me in the nose.
I propose a second test. We each think back to a time when somebody told us an opinion that we didn't want to hear and then we need to recount how we reacted. That way we can truly examine if opinions are valuable. If they are valuable then we should be able to accept them as well as give them.
5:11 AM
ihath & alan
hmm, a challenging test. How best to determine the value of opinion.
The value of opinion, i suppose, depends entirely upon what one wishes to achieve with it. If one desires to change another's opinion, then one might say an opinion requires persuasion to be truly valuable (and here one would find a story rather handy). If one desires to hear the sound of ones own voice accompanied by applause then one might say an appreciative audience raises the value of opinion (and here one would find crowd control techniques handy).
Or perhaps one wishes only to hold a conversation, in which case one might say that the value of opinion depends upon friends.
8:32 PM
Thank you for all your wonderful stories. Reading them allways reminds me that world is not black and white, but a wonderful shade of gray.
Regards, Alex.
(Toronto)
7:17 AM
wow, you wrote your own review of your website. how egotistical.
1:22 PM
Thank you for all your wonderful stories. Reading them allways reminds me that world is not black and white, but a wonderful shade of gray. www.umutbilgisayar.com.tr
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