ihath

I am the third one from the right

Several months ago a young woman named Hajera Rostam contacted me asking me if I would be willing to be interviewed for her masters thesis. She was working on the theme of how the reporting of the American led war on Iraq in 2003 was effecting Iraqis living in Canada. Recently she sent me her thesis which I found very interesting to read. I am posting it here after getting her permission. The document is a bit lengthy, but if you skip the parts about setting up academic paradigm and reviewing other reading material into the findings section around page 55, you will find very interesting stories and perspectives from a diverse groups of Iraqis about how watching the news on a daily basis has effected their lives. I found myself crying on several occasions while reading it. Each participant is given a code name different from their real name to hide their identity. The researcher has chosen the name Hadiya for myself, which means gift in arabic.

THE IRAQI EXPATRIATES’ EXPERIENCE OF THE NORTH AMERICAN MEDIA
COVERAGE OF IRAQ

by HAJERA ROSTAM
A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF ARTS
in
THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES
(Counselling Psychology)


Here is a short qoute

One major theme that three participants emphasized was, the way that North
American media was portraying the war as an “infomercial, ” “play-by-play update of a
game like football,” or a “commercial.” They felt that this reflected insensitivity on the part of the journalists as well as a trivialization of the crisis in the region.

It is like, there is this total insensitivity to the culture, so you are seeing it through the eyes of what they want you to see Iraq as. As (inaudible) as evil guy as
Saddam is, we are just gonna go in, and just take him, and it is this simple, and
we will just put our tanks in. And that is not the full story. So you are just gonna
get a snapshot of the story. Cause they, it was like a sales job, it is like watching a, what do you call those, infomercials. You are sold an infomercial on how, this was the only way to get rid of Saddam, and look we are doing it and you are soldon it, and they keep getting reinforced by the messages. (Rajab)

Others used terms such as “game,” “lottery,” “brainwash,” “ a lie,” or “skewed”
to describe the North American media. Terms such as “morons” or “idiots” were used to
describe journalists, and finally terms such as “sensationalization, ” “magnifica tion,” “shallow,” “crappy,” or “exaggeration” to describe the overall portrayal of the war inIraq.

Here is a leaflet produced by CanPalNet. It is thought provoking and I wanted to share it with my readers. CanPalNet will distribute this leaflet at different events in Vancouver in the coming weeks.

A woman is griped by a sudden sense of sadness. She is grieving but she is not sure why or for what. The feeling that something has gone missing in the world haunts her.

Such is the start of the movie “The Double Life of Veronique” which I had the chance to see last night.

An odd chance encounter with a children’s book author and a puppeteer leads helps Veronique to get insights into her condition and feelings. The puppeteer thinks he is making up yet another one of his stories, but unbeknown to him he is helping Veronique unlock the secrets of her existence.

I have always been a huge fan of the Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski. Unfortunately, most of his movies are not easily available to the North American Public. So when I heard the Vancouver International Film center is holding a two week focus on this brilliant director, I decided that I would go see as many of his movies as I could. With work, three kids and grumpy husband I can’t go to the movie theater nearly as frequently as I would like to so I had choose very carefully. Over the weekend I went to see some of his Decalogue movies. These are 10 one hour long movies each focusing on one of the ten Commandments. I covered the following Commandments

I am the lord thy God
Thou shall not take thy lords name in vain
Thou shall not kill
Thou shall not commit adultery

All were brilliant movie but the one I enjoyed the most was the one about adultery. After this awesome feast, I decided to go see “The Double Life of Veronique” last night. All of you that are familiar with Kieslowski’s movie should be familiar with his repeated use of the little old lady that is hunched over, walking with a cane limping along slowly, holding a heavy bag and struggling to reach her destination. Last night as I was standing in line waiting to buy my ticket, I saw a little old lady with white hair, hunched over, limping along, carrying a big bag and walking towards the theater. She wasn’t holding a cane but she looked straight out of a Kieslowski movie. It was almost eerie. I felt as if I was in one of his movies already. As if the movie had started as I stood in the line, there was magic in the air, at least that is how it felt to me. I felt as if Kieslowski was with us in spirit watching the movie with us.

I found the movie “Double Life” the most dream like and the most mystical of all his movies that I had seen. In fact it isn’t a movie, I would call it visual poetry. Since the plot and story are only a pretext to engage you on a subconscious level. The movie is starring actress Irene Jacobe and in the movie she is beautiful, child like in her innocence and passion for life. Yet a grown woman in her physical appearance. In the movie we get to see her in various states of dress and undress. As I watched the movie I had the feeling as if Kieslowski was in love with Irene Jacobe and he made the movie so that he could make love to her with his camera. The movie is erotic to the extreme, yet lovely and innocent in a way I can’t explain.

I am not going to tell you the ending, but the only thing I will say is that only Kieslowski could make a movie that has a tragically sad and immensely happy ending all at once.

There were a couple of elements I didn’t understand in the movie. I am sure they are in there for a reason, but I simply haven’t been able to place them. The whole subplot where Veronique agrees to testify in court that she slept with her friend’s ex … what was that about? The other thing I didn’t understand was the symbolism of Veronique rubbing a ring against her eye lashes.

I feel like I need to go see the movie again to fully understand it.

I found this review in the play that I participated in here.

Here is a qoute

Forum theatre (as I saw it) works like this: The actors play out a single scene involving an emotionally and politically charged inter-personal conflict. Just as the conflict comes to a boil, the scene ends, and the audience is left in the incredible, uncomfortable, unresolved tension of that moment. Then the actors do the show again, only this time audience members can 'freeze' the scene any time they see fit, and come onstage to take the place of one of the characters (called an intervention) and try to steer the situation toward safety and resolution. Neat, huh?

Only it's really hard! The actors (actually non-actors, in this case) did a wonderful job of staying true to their characters' motivations and beliefs, which made interventions very difficult... just like they would be in real life. In fact, the sense you come away with after the show is that this is a kind of rehearsal for real life, to help us get the tough things right.

I sometimes feel sorry for my children. What a horrible heritage we are leaving them with. An Iraqi mother and Palestinian father … could we have chosen a more unfortunate mix of nationalities for our children? They watch the daily emotional roller coaster we go through. They watch us getting depressed when hearing the news every morning. They see us despair and worry. They ask us questions that we don’t know how to answer.
“But why is Israel bombing Lebanon?”
“Why are people killing each other in Iraq?”
“Why did the US want to invade Iraq?”
“Why did Israel take land from Palestinians?”

I have no idea how to answer any of these questions, nor how to explain world events to any of children. If anybody has useful advice to give in this regards, I would appreciate it. How to explain what is going on in the world without depressing your children?

About the only question I know how to answer is
“Mommy! Are you sad?”

So the war on Lebanon was raging and my husband and I were oscillating between experiencing heartbreak over all the people getting killed and maimed in Lebanon and worrying about my in-laws that live in North Israel in danger of catching one of Hezbollah’s rockets. We were calling my in-laws on a daily basis to see how they were holding up.

I felt so mad at the coverage of the events in Canadian and American Media. Such racist and dehumanizing bias, so abhorrent. The Israeli deaths and suffering got covered in detail where the Lebanese were reported as mere numbers. I continue to get disgusted with North American media.

In the middle of all this, the Vancouver Folk Festival was about to take place. I didn’t feel like going, but I had promised my eldest daughter earlier that I would take her with me this year. She was looking forwards and I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I didn’t feel like going. My husband kept telling me that life must go on and that we need to proceed with daily life same as usual despite our feelings.

So on July 15th this year, I woke up bright and early and got everything ready for a day of fun and music with my daughter at the folk festival. I tried hard to forget all my worries and just enjoy the music. I have to admit that I wasn’t able to enjoy the folk festival as much as I usually do, maybe the performances weren’t as good as previous years or maybe it is my mood that was effecting me. But spending the whole day with my eldest daughter as seeing the excitement of a new experience through her eyes made up for everything else.

Below are a couple of pictures from the folk festival that my friend Terry took.





I felt that I was spending a day with a good woman friend. We talked about the different performances we saw and discussed the meaning of lyrics. We both got henna tattoos, which was daughter’s idea My daughter’s favorite was Dan Bern although she thought that some of the language was inappropriate for her child ears. Her favorite song of his was one called Jerusalem. I always enjoyed Dan Bern but this year he seemed a bit tired or depressed or something, maybe he listens to the daily news as well. The performers that captured my attention this year were Mihirangi and Ridley Bent. Mihirangi was absolutely amazing, producing all her own background music live as well as her powerful voice. Ridley Bent sand songs with interesting and playful lyrics and a bit of an attitude which I enjoyed.

All in all it was a good day, being with my daughter was the best part though.

I bid farewell to a moon in Baghdad
That rises over the skies above Al- Karkh.
Although wishing to part with life’s serenity instead.
And the Baghdad moon appealed as well
That I should not say goodbye.
But need, at times
Have greater ways of compelling.

Mabruk al-Iraq al jadeed … Congratulations to the new Iraq …. Aash al-Iraq …. Long live Iraq.

Such was the speech of Paul Bremer upon leaving Iraq in June of 2004, only it was read out in good Arabic. I provided here the English translation. I was surprised. It is not often that I hear on the radio somebody from the American administration that touches my heart and stirs my emotions, I found a single tear escaping from its cell and running down my cheek before it was swooped off with a quick brush from my sleeve.

“Is it possible that this guy actually cared?” … I found myself pondering.

Later when I heard that Special Envoy who was in charge of Iraq in its first year of occupation authored a book I remembered that speech and decided to put my skepticism on the side and read it.

My Year In Iraq, the struggle to build a future of hope - My Year in Iraq

In between preparing for back to school, nursing my middle daughter who had a minor surgery and preparing numerous lunches and dinners, You would frequently find my nose firmly embedded in the book.

As I was reading on our sundeck, my husband comes along and sits next to me attempting to engage me in conversation. I answer with yes or no answers and continue reading. Finally, my husband looks exasperated and tells me that chatting with my husband should be a higher priority that reading a book written by Paul Bremmer, he then tells me to put the book down and chat with him instead. I put the book down and start our chat with saying “You know! Paul Bremer wrote an email to his wife Fancie every single night before going to bed while he was in Iraq.” A hidden dig at my husband since I frequently complain that he doesn’t write or call enough whenever he travels with his work. My husband catches the drift and responds by saying: “He was probably afraid for his life and wasn’t sure if he would wake up alive or dead and that is what compelled him to write so frequently to his wife, when I travel for work I don’t have that same burden laying on my shoulders”. I respond by saying “I still think that it is sweet that he wrote so frequently to his wife, I am sure that she looked forwards to his emails every day”. My husband then changes the subject by talking about the tomatoes that he grew in our backyard. …… eh?

The book is a detailed account of what happened in Iraq the first year of occupation and how decisions were taken. Paul Bremer goes to great length to cite examples of the brutality of the Saddam regime, the mass graves and the torture chambers are described in different parts of the book, yet never are Iraqi causality of the American army even mentioned. The Abu Graib scandal is briefly mentioned in passing. It seems that Bremer’s heart bleeds for victimized Iraqis only when they are killed and oppressed by non Americans, however, when it is the American’s that do the killing and torturing Bremer is not able to see it. Kinda reminds of all those that claim to be in solidarity with the Iraqi people, but are only able to see the brutality of American administration but fail to even acknowledge the brutality of the Saddam regime. It seems that every body in the world suffers from Iraqi bleederitess “My heart bleeds only for Iraqis killed by those that I disagree with and when it is politically convenient for me.” Bremer’s book poves to be no exception to the Iraqi bleederites rule that is sweeping the world all over both on the left and the right equally. Over and over again, Bremer takes great pain to praise the “brave men and women” serving in the American army in their effort of “rebuilding Iraq”. There are so many paragraphs in the book praising the lowly American soldier that it gets nauseating. Not a peep in the book about the missing 9 billion dollars in reconstructions money that disappeared during his tenure, nor any reflections of doubt or remorse on decisions taken. In short, the book is biased, but then what did I expect from a book authored by somebody that served under Kissinger?

Despite the negatives, I found the book an interesting read. The insider look into the decision making of that crucial year in Iraq’s history was enlightening. There were many things in the book that surprised me. For example the role that Sistani (Grand Ayatolah of Iraq) played was a huge surprise. Although I knew that Sistani had a huge influence on Da’awa party politicians from behind the scenes, I was surprised at the direct level he was involved in all the small details of the decision making. The religious clerk, who never once met directly with a representative of the American Administration nor wrote a single letter to them, had constant interaction through intermediaries with Bremer, passing verbal messages through third parties. In most cases Sistani got what he wanted and in frustration Bremer acknowledges that they had to do what Sistani wanted even after he changes his mind several times. I was also surprised at the conduct of members of the Iraqi General Counsel selected by the Americans. Although Bremer praises some of them that impress him, he describes most of them as a lazy bunch who never accomplished much and were more interested in advancing their own personal agendas instead of focusing on facing the difficult tasks the country needed. This is a huge disappointment to me as considering the crises Iraq was going through you would expect that any Iraqi would be placing the interest of the country ahead of his own private interests, especially that each member of the counsel was risking his/her own life by participating in it. Two members of the General Counsel were assassinated during that first year.

Most of the book deals with the very delicate balance that Bremer attempts to strike between the ancient alleyways of the city of Karbala to the white house. Constant arguing and disagreements between the She’a, Sunnis and Kurdish leadership would be enough to drive any person crazy, but Bremer is able to diplomatically negotiate through all the hurdles without losing his sanity. I found that Bremer in his account displays good understanding of the complex and fractured nature of the Iraqi society.

Off course, No book about Iraq is complete without talk about food and Bremer mentions the various Iraqi dishes he had while in Iraq including Fasanjoon …. My favorite.

Below is a picture from the book of Bremer dining at the house of Hussein al-Sadr. It is my favorite picture in the book, Now that is a feast!




It turns out that the exit speech that impressed me so much was the clever idea of speech writer, I am still impressed that Bremer rehearsed the arabic well enough to be convincing. If only somebody would rehearse Bush to pronounce the name of our country correctly. Iraq … not Aiiii-raaaq. There should be an international law against people invading countries they can’t pronounce.

All in all it was a worth while read. The average person might find the book boring because of the level of details, but for somebody like myself who is always interested in learning about the history of Iraq I think that Bremer’s book is a usefull source because of the insider’s advantage the Bremer has.

Oh! And Bremer, you can tell Francie that she can stop praying for our souls already. The lord doesn’t seem to respond to her prayers anyway.

“Baghdad was burning” … is the very first sentence in the book.

Baghdad is burning still, it breaks my heart, I wish we could say something different three years on.