From the land of Arabian Nights, comes a story teller of a different kind.
“Write what you know” I heard it said before. Hmmmm! …… I disagree. At age 19, I immigrated from the middle-east and found myself in an in-between state. Wet from the all immersive experience of being deeply embedded in a culture; dry as a cracker observing new set of social norms. The isolation had a [...]
Here is the written version of the story I love, love, love my Canadian passport. My sentiment might strike you as exuberant. You have not travelled around the world with an Iraqi passport; therefore I don’t expect you to understand. I have a ritual that I follow whenever I am about to travel abroad. I [...]
A translation into Arabic of a story of two soldiers, an Iranian and an Iraqi, meet on the battlefield. 20 years later, they meet in vancouver
Can the waste material veto right maintain the iron grip of ihath’s dictatorship?
Next time do the Iraqi thing and throw your shoe at the president. Given the state of the country it is clear that the Iraqi way is not always the best, but it is always more entertaining. I read in the news that Muntadhar al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoe at the then [...]
PALACE OF THE END: is Western Canadian premiere of Judith Thompson’s trio of monologues based around the war in Iraq. Contains three monologues: A portrayal of the soldier who took the fall for the Abu Ghraib prison scandal; the dying reflections of the weapons inspector who blew the whistle on government justifications for the invasion [...]
My uncle in Baghdad thinks that I have become too western.I live three blocks away from my parents, instead of living together in one big house.My friends in Vancouver think that it is weird that I enjoy hanging out with my parents as much as I do. Strong family ties don’t reconcile with the individualism [...]
Since we were growing up in an undemocratic country my father decided that he would teach us about democracy by instating it in our family. “We are a democratic family”, my father declared with pride one day. Every Thursday evening, the family central council would meet to discuss issues set in the agenda. Each member [...]
Recently I returned from a work related trip in Dallas Texas. While there, I had an unexpected encounter with a peculiar big little fellow. One evening as I lay in bed in my hotel, pondering the busy events of the day, I saw a cockroach climbing the wall of my hotel room. Immediately, I felt [...]
I just finished reading “The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future – By Vali Nasr”. It is a good introduction about the Sunni and Shia conflict over the last 1400 years. The book also describes how the new Shia dominant Iraqi government is tipping the status quo of the Shia/Sunni conflict [...]
At Last! Somebody decided to stop compailing about how the media always potrays us in a negative light (terrorists and fanatics) and decided to do something positive and constructive at last. I am talking about Zarqa Nawaz, the woman behind the new sitcom LITTLE MOSQUE ON THE PRAIRIE. A sitcom about a small muslim comunity [...]
I for one would like to devolve back into a monkey. Given how people have been behaving all over the world, the monkeys seem rather civilized. So I went and tried to join a monkey colony in Zimbabwe, I tried my best to fit in. But despite my best efforts to learn my ho ho [...]
Two weeks ago my mother dreamed that Saddam came into her living room and asked her to make him a cup of Turkish coffee. He looked tired and weary. He told her that he just wants to sit down and have some quiet for few minutes. “I just need to relax” Saddam told my mother [...]
I walk out the doorPast the newspaper stand againIraq in the news I don’t live there anymoreIt’s years since I’ve been there But now I’ve disappeared somewhere like CanadaI have found some better placeAnd I miss you – like the deserts miss the rainAnd I miss you – like the deserts miss the rainI have [...]
I have heard about the movie many times. But, the movie was banned in Kuwait where I grew up and not available in Canada. When my husband told me that he saw it at BlockBuster (our local DVD rental store), my heart jumped in anticipation. I went the same day to try to rent it [...]
I love it when people give me advice. Especially when it is from complete strangers. Usually those are the best kind of advice. Over the years I have benefited greatly from advice given to me by various people. Take the advice given to me by Abdullah (not his real name)., an acquaintance of the family. [...]
If somebody told me that I was prettier than Janet Reno I would feel insulted. That woman has the charm of a door knob. On the other hand, if I was compared to Kate Winslet I would find that flattering. You don’t even have to say that I am prettier than her only that I [...]
Mohammed sent me an email sharing a short story from his life which reminded me of this story. Thank you Mohammed and here it is. “Welcome to Canada”, said the immigration officer to me at Montreal airport. “You are now a landed immigrant”, he continued as he stamped my passport. “That means that you have [...]
I myself hoped that Adnan Pachachi would be the next Iraqi president. Anybody whose last name is that of an Iraqi national dish has to be ok. Pacha is a slowly cooked combination of sheep’s head, stomach, feet and other variety of meats in broth. It might sound disgusting to you to look into a [...]
If I hear one more American say that they are sorry about the pictures of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners, I will gag. A year ago, each time you said you were Iraqi, people would transpose the head of Saddam over yours in their imagination’s Photoshop abilities. Nowadays, each time you say you are Iraqi [...]
Did you see how excited that American chick got over seeing an Iraqi man in the nude? You would think she never saw a naked man before. But I have to remind myself that this woman grew up in America and not in the middle east. In the middle east “no sex before marriage” is [...]
The darnest things have been said about Iraqi people. Take this speech for an example. “ O people of Iraq! You are like a pregnant woman who, on completion of her pregnancy delivers a dead child and her husband is also dead and her period of widowhood is long and only remote relation inherits her. [...]
Let me tell you the story of my experience attending Hussieniya (a lament for the death of Imam Hussien performed by Shea muslim sect every year). The year was 1995 and I was living in Galsgow, Scotland. My husband and I became good friends with a religious Iranian couple, K. and S. Both become incredibly [...]
My friend told me that he is planning to go on a year long trip all over Europe in order to “find himself”. I told him, what if you find yourself and discover that you don’t like what you find? You will have to spend many more years wandering around aimlessly until you lose yourself [...]
Are you reading too many Iraqi blogs, how to tell the signs?
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