The North, Eid, and Elections
My husband went to Sulaimanyia (Kurdistan, in the north of Iraq) for business, so I had to sit alone with my daughter here. It was very hard to me and him, but he could not take me since he will be so busy with his work besides the weather is very cold now in the north, he said he saw snow on the top of the mountains.
I usually get depressed every time he travel for work, he used to travel outside Iraq every year for work and stay out for at least a couple of weeks and sometimes more. This time it is different, not far away from me, and not too long only few days, but it’s still very hard. The situation we have, makes me unable to leave the house alone, besides I was so worried about him till he called me and told me that he arrived safe.
We will celebrate Eid Al-Adha next Friday which lasts for four days. It’s similar to the one we had two moths ago. In this Eid we celebrate the people who went for pilgrimage in Mecca. I don’t think it will be good Eid, things are very tense here.
As for my sister in Mosul, well they got sick from the bad situation they have, her daughter could not had one of her exams two days ago. and today she went but she couldn’t return back. she stayed at school till the headmaster managed to take her back home. My sister wishes to come to Baghdad but my parents are afraid from the road and they told her it’s better to stay in your house than to have the risk of traveling to here. and I don’t know what will she do.
The only thing that I did as a preparation for Eid is buying some candies to serve them with the coffee. and I bought clothes to my daughter, I don’t want her to feel that a bad thing is happening in Eid. my parents will not have Eid since my grandma died only recently, our traditions prevent us from that. the first Eid after a person dies should not be celebrated, I mean they don’t go out to visit friends, the friends visit my parents and wish them the end of all sorrows and my parents serve them coffee only with no candies or pastries. Women who are relative to the dead person should wear black clothes for at least 40 days. I hate to see people wear black clothes it reminds me of death. Also my father hates to see my mother wearing black clothes all the time, It is his mother who died but the traditions force my mother to wear the black clothes. For me I love my granny very much but I did not wear any black clothes, this will never bring her back to life again. some people wear black clothes for the loss of their beloved ones for a year or more, especially if that person was young. now you can see many women wearing black clothes, many young men are dying every day.
Well I hate to speak about death. that’s enough, lets change the subject.
My daughter was eager to see her father back home, she asked him to bring her three things from Sulaimaniya, a mobile phone and it was hard for us until we convinced her to buy her a mobile toy. and a gift (she left it to her father to decide) and candies. When her father kissed her goodbye to travel, she kissed him three kisses, he asked her why only three give me some more, she said I only asked you three things!!!!. Well today he returned back, he had a good time there. He brought her what she wanted. she was so happy.
About the elections. I still wish to participate in it and I still think about it everyday, should I go? what if I die? who will raise my daughter after me and her father, we will go together. I hate to think that way, but still it’s impossible to have the elections in Baghdad and the Sunni triangle. I’m afraid of civil war between sunni and shia if the elections are going to be held in time. Shia clerics have their own list and they are working very well in advertising about it. I still don’t know who are on the other lists and what kind of people I’m going to vote for. they did not make any announcement about them in papers or TV they are afraid of being killed. Except Dr. Allawi’s list, whom I will not vote for, he couldn’t do anything for us till now so why should I vote for him.
For me, my decision till this moment is not to participate. I don’t think it worth to sacrifice my life for it, it will not make any difference and you will see. It will make things worse than before. when the Americans passed the government to DR. Alawi everyone wished that things would be better, because he is Iraqi, but things are still not, they became worse and now it is the same thing, we have many terrorists in our country and they will not leave us whether we have elections or not. and we are still not ready to defend our own country and we don’t have qualified people to do it. every thing is a mess here. Till now my balance goes to my family.
I usually get depressed every time he travel for work, he used to travel outside Iraq every year for work and stay out for at least a couple of weeks and sometimes more. This time it is different, not far away from me, and not too long only few days, but it’s still very hard. The situation we have, makes me unable to leave the house alone, besides I was so worried about him till he called me and told me that he arrived safe.
We will celebrate Eid Al-Adha next Friday which lasts for four days. It’s similar to the one we had two moths ago. In this Eid we celebrate the people who went for pilgrimage in Mecca. I don’t think it will be good Eid, things are very tense here.
As for my sister in Mosul, well they got sick from the bad situation they have, her daughter could not had one of her exams two days ago. and today she went but she couldn’t return back. she stayed at school till the headmaster managed to take her back home. My sister wishes to come to Baghdad but my parents are afraid from the road and they told her it’s better to stay in your house than to have the risk of traveling to here. and I don’t know what will she do.
The only thing that I did as a preparation for Eid is buying some candies to serve them with the coffee. and I bought clothes to my daughter, I don’t want her to feel that a bad thing is happening in Eid. my parents will not have Eid since my grandma died only recently, our traditions prevent us from that. the first Eid after a person dies should not be celebrated, I mean they don’t go out to visit friends, the friends visit my parents and wish them the end of all sorrows and my parents serve them coffee only with no candies or pastries. Women who are relative to the dead person should wear black clothes for at least 40 days. I hate to see people wear black clothes it reminds me of death. Also my father hates to see my mother wearing black clothes all the time, It is his mother who died but the traditions force my mother to wear the black clothes. For me I love my granny very much but I did not wear any black clothes, this will never bring her back to life again. some people wear black clothes for the loss of their beloved ones for a year or more, especially if that person was young. now you can see many women wearing black clothes, many young men are dying every day.
Well I hate to speak about death. that’s enough, lets change the subject.
My daughter was eager to see her father back home, she asked him to bring her three things from Sulaimaniya, a mobile phone and it was hard for us until we convinced her to buy her a mobile toy. and a gift (she left it to her father to decide) and candies. When her father kissed her goodbye to travel, she kissed him three kisses, he asked her why only three give me some more, she said I only asked you three things!!!!. Well today he returned back, he had a good time there. He brought her what she wanted. she was so happy.
About the elections. I still wish to participate in it and I still think about it everyday, should I go? what if I die? who will raise my daughter after me and her father, we will go together. I hate to think that way, but still it’s impossible to have the elections in Baghdad and the Sunni triangle. I’m afraid of civil war between sunni and shia if the elections are going to be held in time. Shia clerics have their own list and they are working very well in advertising about it. I still don’t know who are on the other lists and what kind of people I’m going to vote for. they did not make any announcement about them in papers or TV they are afraid of being killed. Except Dr. Allawi’s list, whom I will not vote for, he couldn’t do anything for us till now so why should I vote for him.
For me, my decision till this moment is not to participate. I don’t think it worth to sacrifice my life for it, it will not make any difference and you will see. It will make things worse than before. when the Americans passed the government to DR. Alawi everyone wished that things would be better, because he is Iraqi, but things are still not, they became worse and now it is the same thing, we have many terrorists in our country and they will not leave us whether we have elections or not. and we are still not ready to defend our own country and we don’t have qualified people to do it. every thing is a mess here. Till now my balance goes to my family.
posted by rose at 2:16 AM
15 Comments:
Hello-
So far 1,300 Americans have given their lives to give the Iraqi people a democracy and the right to vote. When you say it is not worth voting because nothing will change it is an insult to them and the thousands of Iraqis who have been killed so far who wanted democracy. If everyone is like you and refuses to participate, that is a huge victory for the terrorists and the Baathists. How can you not see that? You are teaching your daughter to be cowardly and accept life in a tyranny where your own wants are more important than trying to give your daughter a life in freedom and peace!!
Good for you Rose. You are braver than I hope I'll ever have to be, and smart to take care of yourself and your family.
The election scheduled this month in Iraq could further inflame the country's conflict and increase the risk of civil war, Brent Scowcroft, national security advisor to President Bush's father, said at a forum Thursday. Rather than leading to stability, Scowcroft said, he feared that the election would further alienate Iraq's Sunni Muslim population and that it had "a great potential for deepening the conflict." "Indeed, we may be seeing an incipient civil war [in Iraq] at the present time."
The Shias, who are not fighting the U.S. occupation of Iraq, will be voting under American auspices while the Sunnis, who are fighting, will refuse to participate in what the insurgents have already labeled a "quisling" election. The four million Kurds will vote. But however many seats they gain, they are not going to abandon their quasi-independence after the election. Thus the dangers of civil war - so trumpeted by the Americans and British - may be increased rather than suppressed by this much-touted experiment in democracy. In fact, Iraq is a tribal - not a religious - society and the real war, which some in the West might like to be replaced by the civil variety, will continue to be between Sunni insurgents and the United States military.
If the Iraqis wanted Democracy they would have had it during the 9000 years of their civilization.
The election scheduled this month in Iraq could further inflame the country's conflict and increase the risk of civil war, Brent Scowcroft, national security advisor to President Bush's father, said at a forum Thursday. Rather than leading to stability, Scowcroft said, he feared that the election would further alienate Iraq's Sunni Muslim population and that it had "a great potential for deepening the conflict." "Indeed, we may be seeing an incipient civil war [in Iraq] at the present time."
The Shias, who are not fighting the U.S. occupation of Iraq, will be voting under American auspices while the Sunnis, who are fighting, will refuse to participate in what the insurgents have already labeled a "quisling" election. The four million Kurds will vote. But however many seats they gain, they are not going to abandon their quasi-independence after the election. Thus the dangers of civil war - so trumpeted by the Americans and British - may be increased rather than suppressed by this much-touted experiment in democracy. In fact, Iraq is a tribal - not a religious - society and the real war, which some in the West might like to be replaced by the civil variety, will continue to be between Sunni insurgents and the United States military.
If the Iraqis wanted Democracy they would have had it during the 9000 years of their civilization.
Well - you have to do what you have to do. I am surprised that you haven't seen information about the lists as every other Iraqi blog has information about it and the debate is going on throughout your country. Even the Kurds who once were advocating refusal to vote are debating furiously about it. As far as Sistani endorsing a particular list - I had heard the opposite.
I am sorry that you are without hope. What a terrible way to live. I pray for you that you can feel hopeful sometime soon in your life.
Rose,
~ Here's a goodly amount of info on Iraq's various political parties: Iraq's major political groupings~ Here's a Listing of the Parties in the Election~ Rose honey, You need to vote. Don't worry about bad things happening to you, because it's out of your hands. It's whatever your destiny is. When it's your
time to meet your maker, it will happen no matter what you're doing, whether you're sitting on the toilet, going shopping, making love, picking oranges in your garden, or just dying from old age.
~ And think of the millions of Iraqis in the past who never had this opportunity and those that have died. You honor their memory by voting. Plus, you'll feel guilty if you don't vote. . .
Hi Rose,
I'm glad that your husband is safe and I couldn't imagine living with the worry that you have to have every day. It isn't fair and it makes me so angry that these terrorist put you through this while pretending that they actually care about you.
I guess you don't really need to worry about voting. There are Iraqi's all over the world voting from the comfort and safety of their new homes. On the radio this morning I heard a first generation Iraqi that lives here saying that she and her cousins, all first generation Iraqis, are very excited that they get to vote. This seems so wrong to me that people that weren't even born in your country can have a say in your government. In this country you have to be a citizen to be able to vote. Maybe these first generation Iraqis are able to have duel citizenship but I don't think that they should be able to vote when the turnout will not affect their lives one way or the other.
I hope that you and your family are able to have a happy or at least semi peaceful Eid. I'm sorry for the loss of your grandma. At least she is a peace now and doesn't have to deal with the stress anymore.
Your daughter sounds so cute! Aren't children fun? When my kids were young I started writing diaries to them. I would write about what was happening in their lives and all the funny things that they said/did. I was very glad that I did that. Recently my daughter who is 14 was having a bad day(one of many many many bad days) with the usual teenage adolescent "you don't love me" blah blah blah. So I told her 'I think that it is time that I gave you something' and I went and got out that diary that she never knew about. She was very touched. I was so glad that I had kept that little diary of letters to her.
Well Rose, stay safe and try to have a Happy Eid.
Lynn
Oops, I meant first generation AMERICANS of Iraqi descent.
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You are right, it wont make a difference!
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