Um Khalid

Um Khalid has an ideal situation for an Iraqi refugee. She’s an engineer working in the private sector who’s married to a Jordanian Sunni. She had a satisfying life living in Amman, Jordan that was quite balanced between caring for her kids and working in their family “water purification device” business. However, as prices got higher in Jordan following “The Kuwait War” and her longing for her homeland got more intense, her family moved to Baghdad. Even during the sanctions, they did well economically since they had their own company. Those who were working for the government at that time had their salaries reduced to a pittance, which of course led to widespread corruption.

Life was reasonably good there until her son, Khalid, a university student who sported a shaved head and a long unkempt beard, was kidnapped. Under Saddam, her son’s beard, which to some indicated sympathy to the Wahabbis (or Salafis) of Saudi Arabia wasn’t a problem because Saddam had an intelligence system that enabled him to know about each and every family in every district. These folks knew that Khalid had no such allegiance nor fanatical intentions. After the fall of Saddam, that intelligence apparatus fell apart, and after several warnings to cut his beard “like a proper Shia” the militia took him off to prison. He remained there for 14 days until his family could locate him and pay the ransom. The night he was released, they moved back to Jordan.

Life for Um Khalid changed. Before, she was friendly with her Jordanian neighbors, enjoying pleasant light conversation over cups of coffee. After this experience, she became passionate about helping less fortunate Iraqi refugee families and the former small talk became unpalatable. Because of her legitimate residency status she’s a lot freer to speak out and stand up for herself when taxi drivers try to drive her “the long way” to her destination or shopkeepers overcharge her once they hear her Iraqi accent.

 

Um Khalid, a Shia, told me that while she believes Malaki (and his executive branch) to be “worse than useless”, she thinks the parliament is filled with reasonable people who, given the chance and support, can rule Iraq constructively. These are people, she says, who are willing to compromise and that once the Americans leave they will be able to make the concessions necessary to create a functioning government that represents all of the people. Some Sunnis and Christians I talked with think the Parliament is against them.

The sectarian violence going on now does not stem from an age-old religious schism, but rather intentional favoritism towards Sunnis, Palestinians and Christians as well as persecution of the Shia and Kurdish communities under Saddam. The continuing violence since his fall exacerbates this. Now the Shia are taking their comeuppance. Once the violence subsides, if there is justice in the new leadership of the Iraqi government, there is a chance that the population, hungry for peace and security, will join in the rebuilding of their country. The sooner that the violence subsides, the more likely this is to come about.

 

Again, I’d like to invite those of you who live in Austin, TX to A Gathering Under the Oaks, a backyard event as a benefit for Austin Center for Peace and Justice. I will be the featured guest along with Oliver Rajamani. It will be held at the home of Steve and Rene Morris Larson (2703 Bridle Path, Austin, TX) on June 14^th from 6:30-9:00 pm. The event is a fundraiser for ACPJ with a suggested donation of $25/student $20. For more information, call 799-5117. I will give a short presentation followed by an informal discussion. I hope you can come.

This is the last entry for the section of my blog on Iraqi women refugees. Postings after this one will come as I feel inspired to write.

Thanks for joining me on this journey. Peggy

Rawa

Rawa is Um Rami’s oldest daughter. Her older brother is 19, she is 16 and her other brothers and sisters are eight and eleven. I met her while at Zahra’s house one day when she and her mother dropped by. While Um Rami and Zahra were working out some plans, Rawa began plying me with questions about English. Her English and my Arabic were at about the same level, so we had a great time trying to understand each other and exchanging vocabulary.

I saw her again a few weeks later when I interviewed her.

In Baghdad, where she lived up to the age of 13, she had a relatively carefree life until the war began. Her family lived in a nice house, she was doing well in school and she had girlfriends to hang out with in her free time. With the war came the bombing which was very frightening for her. Lying in bed at night listening to explosions and wondering if she knew anyone who was being hit wracked her nerves. She and her family moved around to different areas of Baghdad when her father’s store got blown up and he started getting death threats. That’s when she lost contact with most of her girlfriends. Her family finally came to Jordan in 2005, via a scary ride in a taxi to the Jordanian border. They saw some people being pulled over ahead of them so they took off across the desert and circumvented the danger. Being Sabean, a religion that predates Judaism, they likely might only have been robbed….

Rawa’s biggest concern right now is for the well being of her father. He had gotten a phone call about 3 weeks before informing him that his cousin had been killed. He flew into a rage and stormed about for several days before one day taking his passport and leaving. The family hadn’t heard from him since. Rami misses him a lot.

She also misses school. Besides her father’s safe return, she wants to go to school more than anything. Her mother had wanted to be a teacher but her father wouldn’t allow it since it would involve working with men. She has her chance now and is one of the few women I met who makes a special effort to teach her children academic subjects. Rawa has a special drive to learn English, perhaps from seeing Zahra and her work with foreigners.

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One of the sad things about Iraqis having the status of “guest” in Jordan rather than refugee status is that the children aren’t allowed to go to school. Jordanian schools are mostly already full, but even schools created by Iraqis for Iraqi children, are not allowed. This doesn’t make sense when you look down the road and realize that these Iraqi kids will likely be in Jordan for a long time and will grow into uneducated adults which will create another kind of social problem. The fear on the part of the Jordanian government is, however, that Iraqi-only schools may become like some of the madrassas in Pakistan, that is, become schools of terrorism or at least sectarian propaganda. Nevertheless, some Iraqi children are able to attend Jordanian schools. From what I could gather, it depends mostly on the headmaster of the school and whether there is any space.

There are also efforts to start some “informal” schools. These would exist under the radar of the Jordanian government and wouldn’t award grades or diplomas, but would give the kids a chance to socialize, have some regularity in their lives and keep their minds active until they can attend a regular school. A priest at one of the Catholic churches has started an art-based school that meets several afternoons a week. It’s open to any children and encourages their parents to participate as well. One of the best things about this school is that by being open to everyone, the Iraqi kids have the opportunity to mix with Jordanians and Palestinians in a supportive, fun atmosphere.

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Before I left, I found out that Rawa’s father is alive and well and living with relatives in Southern Iraq. He won’t be allowed to return to Jordan and rejoin his family there, however.

Differing Perspectives

A few weeks ago I said I’d write about different groups having different perspectives.

My last interview in Jordan was unsettling. It wasn’t with a woman but a sweet, gentle man who had worked as a translator for the US forces. This man, Abu Muber* loves America, and during his year working with the US soldiers he was treated with more respect than he had ever received in his life. He’d worked for the British and been treated like a low-level lackey and so quit after a few months to translate for the Americans. He was a great asset, translating the deeper meanings and giving insight into the Iraqi culture and mind-set rather than just giving verbatim translations. In mid-2004, an envelope with three bullets in it was delivered to his house. He had been discovered to be a collaborator and the extra bullets were a warning that it wasn’t only he who was at risk. So, he quit and moved his family to Jordan where he’s currently waiting for his visa application to be processed. It costs $565 or $755 per person, depending on the type of immigrant visa one applies for. The truth is that although he has many glowing recommendations, he is unlikely to get his wish and his money will be wasted.

Later in the conversation I asked him what should be done to resolve the situation in Iraq. His response was that the US should “clip the toenails” of Iran. Being Sunni, he believes that Shia Iran wants to take over Iraq. What does he mean by “clipping toenails”? We should nuke Iran’s 30-40 (his figure) nuclear power plants. But… wouldn’t the radiation blow back over Iraq? No worries. Use the neutron bomb.

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This was the first time I’d heard the suggestion from an Iraqi that the US should attack Iran, but other Sunnis have told me that US troops should stay in Iraq until they are sure that Iran won’t attack them. I guess they have a legitimate fear since Iraq had attacked Iran beginning the eight-year long Iran/Iraq war in 1980.

The various Shia (as well as UN reps and other outside observers) to whom I posed this question told me that Iran has no such intentions and that at most, they just want some influence over the outcome and that Saudi Arabia is also in the fray trying to exert it’s own influence.

A Christian ex-translator (who also loves America and is also waiting for his visa) told me that it is only the Christian translators who can be trusted; that the majority of the Muslim ones are actually terrorists in disguise. He also believes that both Muslim sects are out to commit genocide against the Christians. Many Shia believe that the Sunnis are doing the same to them as evidenced by the Sunni gangs and militias that line the road from the Jordanian border through Faluja to Baghdad. I have heard many reports that along this border the first question you are asked when stopped is about your religion and that unless you are Sunni, or can convince them that you are, you are shot. Unfortunately, the Jordanian police (with encouragement from the King as evidenced in a recent speech) are targeting Iraqi Shia for deportation.

During this blog, I have tried to dispel the myth of “The Iraqis” or “The Shia” or “The Sunnis”. Within these broad categories there are many subgroups and within them, many individuals. There is a joke that says that if you have two Iraqis in a room discussing politics, you’ll have three political parties. I will say, however, that the vast majority of Iraqis I met believe that the US forces will be unable to accomplish any success militarily and that the solution to the “Iraq problem” can only be found via negotiation. More on this later.

It seems that I’ve gotten in to a pattern of writing each week on Sunday. By Monday mornings, you can find a new entry.

*Not his real name

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I’m back from Jordan! I’ll be the featured guest along with Oliver Rajamani at A Gathering Under the Oaks, a backyard event as a benefit for Austin Center for Peace and Justice. It will be held at the home of Steve and Rene Morris Larson (2703 Bridle Path, Austin, TX) on June 14^th from 6:30-9:00 pm. The event is a fundraiser for ACPJ with a suggested donation of $25/student $20. For more information, call 799-5117. It will consist of a short presentation followed by an informal discussion. I hope you can come.