Welcome IRAQ!

Last-of-Iraqis

[Baghdad] -- "It has been about a month and we're still without electricity in the clinic I work in, it has been a month since I really treated a patient, I just write prescriptions now and I really hate working like this but what can I do…we don't have national grid support to the clinic because it has been built recently and as I said before it's in the outskirts of Baghdad so nobody cares about it since no one of the "hot shots" from the ministry will go there so our requests is lost between the awful Bureaucratic procedures …we used to have a generator to support us with the electricity that we need but it broke down about a month ago and we wrote countless requests to the manager of the whole health offices in the district and he didn't move a hair… 3 days ago we went to talk to him and he said it's not my business! Then whose business is it?" /snap/ [link]

Skies

[Hilla] -- "I went to Hilla before, few days. In the road I saw those magical palm orchards that I always dream I can go inside one day. I saw small villages that I feel myself belonging to.

I always think of myself as a person from a village. I hate cities. I hate car crowds. I hate huge buildings. I like those old brick factories which make bricks from mud. I like those factories even if they emit smoke. The pollution they cause is much less than that caused by cities. There smoke will be cleaned by the holy water, water of Hilla." /snap/ [link]

Baghdad's Kassakhoon

Alive in Baghdad

[Baghdad] -- Newspapers in Iraq have a long history during Iraq’s various regimes and government changes. These changes left a strong impact on writing, journalism, and educating the Iraqi population. There were very few newspapers or magazines in the 40s and 50s, and the number of news journals during the government of Abdul Karim Qassem was not more than five.

After the invasion in 2003, and the fall of Baghdad, more than 200 newspapers were published, some of the newspapers were daily, and the rest were released weekly or monthly. [..]

The Iraqi citizens now have a variety of newspapers, but it is still difficult to determine which are good or dependable and which are bad. It will still take time to see what direction Iraq’s new journalists will take and whether the new government will allow a free press to grow. -- /snap/ [linkto: VIDEO]

:: Stand up for Journalism! - A video by EFJ/IFJ

Emotions

[Mosul] -- "Now whenever we hear a gun shot we expect an explosion and house destruction, the shooting is very often, and therefore we feel tension all the time, the first few days we couldn't sleep even my 4 years old boy. He holds his torch during the night instead of holding his bear and other moppets, sometimes he screams, cry and ask if the windows would blow out. We leave our bedroom's door open, it's next to his room but he still cant's feel secured while he hears shooting all the time.

All mothers in every place and time worried about their children, whether they are hungry or not!, feeling cold or not!, sick!, worry about their future , and if there is some one could harm them. But to feel scared for their safety is the most difficult feeling." /snap/ [link]

Raed in the Middle

:: Israel Uses cluster bombs on Gaza

:: scenes from Gaza

:: Gaza missiles

:: Please donate to help Gaza

:: Are Israeli settlers really 'civilians'?

-- HAARETZ --

:: Yossi Sarid / If you (or I) were Palestinian
By Yossi Sarid:

"Suddenly I remembered: About 10 years ago they were uttered by our defense minister, Ehud Barak. Haaretz journalist Gideon Levy had asked him then, as a candidate for prime minister, what he would do had he been born Palestinian and Barak replied frankly: "I would join a terror organization."

:: And there lie the bodies
By Gideon Levy

[US] -- "There was a rally against the war on Gaza at the main mosque in Mosul on Wednesday.

The Shiite preachers of Kufa, Najaf, Karbala and Baghdad also condemned the Israeli attacks and called for urgent aid to be provided to the inhabitants of Gaza. Some 5,000 Shiite students protested Israel in Baghdad's Sadr City and cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called for international intervention to halt what he called a massacre of innocents in Gaza; he also called for humanitarian aid to be sent to the victims.

Sawt al-Iraq adds, "The Iraqi Air Force on Wednesday (12/31) made four flights to El Arish in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula to ferry humanitarian and medical aid to the residents of the Gaza Strip, which has been subjected to Israeli air strikes for several days, according to the press spokesman for the [Iraqi] Ministry of Defense."

Let me just repeat that. Iraq's air force is carrying aid to the Gazans via Egypt!" /snap/ [link]

Hoder

Iranian Hoder doesn't blog since the end of October. Not at his english, neither on his farsi blog. Hoder started the whole Iranian blog-world.

He was arrested in November 08, tells this WIKI: Hossein Derakhshan in Persian: حسين درخشان; also known as Hoder, is an Iranian-Canadian journalist and weblogger based in Toronto. [..] On November 20, 08, it was reported that Derakhshan was arrested in Tehran, after returning there less than a month before.

It is told that Hoder was accused with spying for Israel, but his friends tell me that's nonsense. According to their information is the faction that arrested him, not Ahmadinejad's faction, and the reason behind the arrest is believed to be a piece Hoder wrote, about 'pure imams'.

Canada, where Hoder lived until his return to Iran and his arrest, asked Iran questions about the arrest, but hasn't had response of the Iranian authorities, reports AFP.

Canadian radio program 'As it happens' recently interviewed Nazli Kamvari, a blogger and friend of Hossein. (Listen from the 10th minute on).

She tells Hoder has been calling home for about four times, each time less than a minute, but since the last two weeks there's no news anymore from him.

It's believed Hoder is in the Evin prison.

:: Iran: A Nation of Bloggers - Vancouver Film School

:: Another Irani Online: petition for Hoder.

:: RSF: Iran detains blogger

Neurotic Iraqi Wife

[Travelling] -- "I only realized how bad things were in Gaza when I immediately switched the TV on in our room. WOW.

The images only reminded me of Iraq. Of Lebanon. The graphic pictures of bloodied corpses of children shrouded in white being paraded in the streets made my tears stream down my cheeks. I am not a mother, yet I could feel their pain. I could feel their outrage. WHY, WHY I kept asking. Why do this. Im definitely not a Hamas supporter, but why this. Why innocent people?

Every cab we got into, the popular Quranic verses were substituted by the news. Every shop we entered had the TV's on with the same images over and over again. I came here to try and relax, yet I feel my blood boiling. [..]

Coincidently as we were talking to her, the restaurant we were supposed to go to, called us and said the New Years do was cancelled. Yes thats the best way. The mood is somber everywhere. Even in the malls, all you hear people talk about is whats going on in Gaza. Many have the Palestinian scarves wrapped around them showing solidarity. We even witnessed some protests, but to me protests mean nothing." /snap/ [link]

3eeraqimedic

[UK] -- "In the brief interval between 1988 and 1990 there was peace, and a number of relatives came home to visit.

A cousin living in America stayed for a few weeks, another living in the Emirates [..] they seemed so exotic and yet at the same time very familiar. [..]

After a few months of having these people sharing our homes the older generation was gradually becoming affected.

Parents wandered around with a smile on their faces, hope in their eyes, and dreams in their minds.

Here were people just like us, and yet not exactly like us, here was the future if we wanted it.

[..] when we woke up one morning to the news that our share of peace was soon to come to an end, a few days later a group of women sat in the front room drinking tea, when suddenly my great aunt sat upright and said:

I know what we should do we should all go out on a peaceful march, we are all mothers, it will be a mothers' march, we will request that our boys be kept safe, our brothers be kept safe, if enough of us march they will see that it was a mistake and withdraw the army.

The room went silent, [..]

As I watch in disbelief as the story of Mutather unfolds, I am the "relative from abroad" who thinks people have rights and can exert them, and I bitterly realise that almost twenty years, and two wars later Iraq remains unchanged, a place where people who want to stay alive never have such presumptions." /snap/ [link]

Baghdad's Kassakhoon

[Baghdad] -- "It is a really rare moment of agreement between Iraq's two main Muslim sects, Shiites and Sunnis, when both agreed on marking the beginning of the Muslim lunar calender on the same day which is Monday.

The 12-month calender, or Hijri calender as Muslims call it, is used to date events in Muslim countries such as celebrating Islamic holy days and festivals. It is called Hijri after the prophet Mohammed's Hijra (emigration) from Mecca to Madina before nearly 1430 years ago.Since then the calender started. [..]

For me, this thing is a good omen which I hope that both sects to come together and renounce all their differences... Happy New Year Muslim World." /snap/ [link]

Catharsis

[Amman] -- "PART1 includes: Shoes in Arab Culture, Shoes and Democracy, al-Baghdadiya's Background, A Brief History of the Political Career of Shoes in Iraq.

PART2 will include: Pro-Shoe Flagellation, Analysis of al-Zaydi's intentions, story of Abbas's Attempt To Throw Shoe At Authority Figure.

::||:: SHOES IN ARAB CULTURE ::||::

BY NOW many people have explained to you Americans the very insulting connotations a shoe hurled at your face has in our civilization-challenged culture, one of the more obnoxious jokes at Angry Arab's was to shoehorn (yeah) this significance as Western media bias against Arabs (the joke had a great payoff with al-Zaidi's farewell kiss) but the difference is vast and comes from very different perceptions of the world. I'm not an expert, but it seems to me that the insult stems from height (not smell, for example), with the association of shoes suggesting the lowest possible 'rung' in society, as opposed to the glory and pride with the highest possible point, such as the headgear which often has associations with 'honor', as well as the compliment ala rassi = on my head), I'm sure something like Hollywood Avenue would only be viewed as an extreme insult in the Arab world." /snap/ [link]

Baghdadentist

[Baghdad] -- "my vacation will start on tuesday, then after going back i will visit Mosul.
i was about to forget to tell you that my sister came and said that many college students of engineering in al-Mustansiriyah came at morning this day to the head of the university and the students union demanding to protest against the action of some military forces that entered the college and hit and drag many students, the dean was beaten and humiliated by the soldiers at the college center. my sister wasn't sure of those informations that was loudly declared by the shouting students and they were very angry. it seems that not only the dean of the medicine college of Mosul included, but in a different way.
i'm praying to end this mess. its not a life, it's just like a zoo.
from time to time i was trying to forget similar events and think of a better future but how it comes to be a good future with such events. it's been 5 years after war, and previously we lived in a blockade and war after war since i was born during eightys.
i feel that i'm losing my time. instead of being creative and make progress, we are spending our time and efforts on living only and how to save ourselves." /snap/ [link]

Namla 7ola

[Out-of-Iraq] -- "Like most people already know, the media’s been particularly busy with Muntather al-Zaidi and the shoe-hurling incident. Akhookum Choo8i whose days often revolve around the TV screen is no different.

9a7ebkum is actually upset now; why did the man hurl a shoe at George Bush, while he’s probably had numerous opportunities to hurl a variety of items at people who, on a national level, have gone above and beyond to deserve it. And though Choo8i didn’t really want to mention names, he was giving descriptions like ‘abu 3yoon’ and ‘abu karish’ and ‘abu sidara’ and ‘abu 3amama’ and ‘katkoot el 7awza’ and went as far as stating that there's at least 100 kalb ibin si66a3ash kalb yestahloon el 8undara taris, on an Iraqi level." /snap/ [link]

Alive in Baghdad

-- Just over a year ago, Ali Shafeya Al-Moussawi, a journalist and correspondent for Alive in Baghdad, received a knock at his door. It was just after 11:30 at night, outside Ali was greeted with an Iraqi National Guard convoy. Hearing gunshots, Ali’s neighbors frantically tried to reach him by phone, to no avail. When his cousin Amar finally arrived a few hours later, Ali was dead, shot to death in his own living room.

Horace Greeley once wrote that “journalism will kill you, but it will keep you alive while you’re at it.” No one understands this twisted fate more than the journalists of Iraq. From Saddam’s police state through the American invasion and occupation all the way through the darkest days of the civil war, Iraqi journalists have endured all manner of peril and treachery in their quest to deliver truth to the people, and in some cases, truth from the people. -- /snap/ [linkto: VIDEO]