It is something else!!

I will call it Thing

2008-05-21T08:22:35-03:00

I have been to the depth fo my soul and back.

Looked in every corner of my mind.

Ridden the roller coaster of emotion.

What I have found is still brewing and better left to develope.

If it is examined to closely it will weeken and die.

This thing that growes is new and has a thin skin....

The Reality Tour

2007-12-12T19:02:13-04:00

With 'Silence' we permit...

Monday, December 4th, 2007

Peace be upon you…

I spent last week with a delegation of the American Organization: "Global Exchange", as they came for a tour in Jordan and Syria which they call: A Reality Tour; meaning- to see things in reality concerning the Palestinian and Iraqi refugees. The program was crowded; meetings with organizations offering services to the refugees, then meetings with some families to observe things in reality, and to see their sufferings….
We met with organizations like UNHCR, UNRWA, Caritas, and Save the children. We listened to the representative of each organization as they explained the role their respective organizations played in soothing the suffering of the refugees, whether Iraqis or Palestinians…
But they were all angry at the bad behaviors of the politicians; waging wars, displacing people from their countries, putting them under cruel, difficult circumstances, and at the same time there is a somewhat slow response to fulfilling people's needs, people who live under the strain of displacement, asylum, and the shortage of financing these organizations to help them perform their humanitarian duties…
By God it is a saddening thing; the world's money being misused because of the corrupt politicians; as they exploit these moneys for wars, shedding the blood of the innocent, displacing people from their countries, and increasing people's suffering because of hunger, poverty, the shortages of medications, water supplies, electricity, fuels, and job opportunities… and at the same time, there aren't enough budgets to help the victims of those stupid, silly wars…
Where is justice? And why do we, the Earth's people, stand aside like dumb, helpless, negative creatures and watch a bunch of criminals who hold the political decision in their hands, watch them while they destroy this earth and whoever lives on it, and we haven't yet found a way to confront this destruction and ruin, or at least stop it at certain limits?
Isn't this a shame upon us?

*******************************
Then we went to Syria, and that was the first time I met with Iraqi families there…
The conditions of the Iraqis in Syria are indescribable…
The international organization's work there is limited and restricted, compared to the wide space they have in Jordan, in spite of some families' complaints because of the slowness and injustice of the given aid, but at least here there are some doors which the poor Iraqi family can knock upon in the hope that one of these doors might open to them…but in Syria, all doors are almost closed….
All my life I have never seen poverty like I saw among the Iraqis in Syria… widows or women who lost their sons because of criminal gangs and militias that entered Iraq after the occupation, and killed all Iraqis alike… whenever I met a woman who told her story while crying, I cried with her, at her situation, at the conditions of the sad Iraq, and at what happened to it; the destruction, the shredding. And when the women all gathered and we heard their stories with a member of the American delegation, I had my friend with me; Selma; a Turkish-American, a Muslim… I asked the women, with sorrow- but I had to ask the silly question: Are you Sunnies? Shia'ats?
It turned out they were a mixture of both sides…
This woman was a Sunnie; they threatened her and killed her son…and this is a Shia'at; threatened, and her husband was killed…
There is no difference; the Sunnies and the Shia'ats were displaced from Iraq to live side by side in exile, waiting for that who would pity them, give them a charity of food rations, a blanket, or a heater because winter is near, await some humanitarian organization to take care of their disabled children, or afflicted with cancer as a result of the depleted Uranium, with which the Iraqi environment is contaminated, since the Kuwait war in 1991, then the occupation war in 2003.
And…all is in God's will…..
*****************************
And there in Syria, the story spread about the Iraqi government's request for the Iraqis to return home, as the government would pay their return fees by bus to Iraq. I wondered at a government which abandoned its displaced people, not recognizing them, nor sending them food or medical aid for years, and now volunteers a free home- journey for the citizens, so the propaganda would spread that conditions are stable in Iraq, and this is an excellent, successful government….
I went to a bus terminal, and saw busses leaving with about 650 people. We asked some people- why did these people leave for Iraq; did they really believe the story of the returning stability, calm, and security to Iraq?
They answered; we don't know, but people got tired of poverty, the scant revenues, and waiting without effect, they would go back; they might live, or might die; only God knows, but perhaps this is better than staying here in exile without a result…
Others were talking in front of satellite-channels cameras, saying- we are Ba'athies, we ran from Iraq after being threatened to be killed, here we live through difficult conditions, but cannot go back for we will surely face certain death…
I stood aside watching the scene…. Exiled Iraqis, scattered around earth, poor, miserable, and sick. The reasons are many, but they are all deprived of aid, suffering from neglect, forgetfulness, and denial…
I don't know whether to be sad, or angry?
And what shall sadness or anger change?
******************************
And there is another sad phenomenon among the Iraqis in Syria, especially the women… the phenomenon of prostitution because of poverty…
I mean- here in Amman we hear about Iraqi women working in night clubs, more perhaps because they are professionals than being poor women driven by poverty into this path… but in Syria, when I met the women at the Sayeda Zainab area; the widows or the young women with children and a crippled, disabled husband; who shall stop those from drifting into the road of depravity if the doors of honest living were closed into their faces?
One women said- I work as a maid in a house, they give me (6,000) Syrian Liras a month, and my apartment rent is (7,000) S.L. a month. Another has a 15 years old son who works at a café, for a daily wage of (250) S.L.…(= 5 $)
We were staying in a hotel at Al-Marja Sq. in Damascus. I went to have a cup of fruit juice at the restaurant next door; I asked him what he thought about the Iraqis here. He said- their numbers are high, perhaps two millions, they caused a rise in rents in the country and a shortage of housing. "They also say, and please, Madame, don't be cross", he said, "that anyone who goes to Al- Sayeda Zainab area can get an Iraqi woman for 250 S.L…."… ( =5 $ )
I remained silent, and smiled….
This is the new Iraq that Bush and the villains who came with him, built for us….. This is the liberation of the Iraqi women that we got…. The free women became prostitutes….
Well, well, well….
And where are the leaders of Islam, and the Arab Nation? Are they a sleep or ignorant about what is happening to the Iraqi men, and women? Or are they Bush's partners in the "Liberation of Iraq"?
I don't know….
Each person should look for the answer….
My heart is sad, my soul is tired….but I am a faithful believer, and this is trial by God, The Lord of all creatures, hoping we will be among the enduring… not among the spoiling…
Hoping we will be among those who construct the land and what's on it… among those who aid the weak, the poor, and the deprived, and reproach the unjust until they stop their injustice…

****************************************
That reality tour wasn't only for the American organization and the delegation members, but was for me also; it opened my eyes more, and showed me more facts…
And I always say: the first step open your eyes; the second step put a plan of action to change the painful reality. And if you keep silent after what you learned, you are an accomplice in the crime….
You are an accomplice in what is happening to the Iraqis; the calamities, the disasters, the hunger, the poverty, the displacement, and the depravation….
And- peace be upon you, with God's mercy, and His blessings……

# posted by Faiza Al-Arji

From Iraq

TRUTH

2007-11-29T23:17:12-04:00

Making love with truth

Is like drinking sea water

The more I drink

The thirstier I become

Untill nothing can slake my thirst

But to drink the entire sea

Dividing Iraq....posted by Faiza Al-Arji .....Monday, October 15th, 2007

2007-10-20T00:27:14-03:00

Peace be upon you…
The holy month of Ramada is finished, and Al-Fiter Feast is here; we exchanged congratulations with each other; in person, or by mobile phone messages and phone calls. We prayed to God that the next Ramadan and Feast would come and we are in Iraq, and Iraq would be well, basking in peace and security, without a hateful occupation…
But we all realize that wishes cannot be achieved by prayers alone; action is very necessary to achieve wishes, and God will help his followers who work, try hard, and seek, but wouldn't help the lazy who sleeps while hoping God would grant him his wishes…
And we all know our wishes are very difficult to achieve, for after four and a half years it is becoming clear what is the goal of invading Iraq and occupying it; not just the oil and monopolizing its exploitation to American companies in the first degree, but there is also the spite against something called Iraq, the civilization of Iraq, the history of Iraq, and the unity of Iraq… and everything was shredded to pieces since the occupation entered into the Iraqi land, and they are still there…
The Iraqi Museum was bombarded and plundered since the first week, and thousands of valuable ancient pieces disappeared; pieces telling the story of the Mesopotamian civilization, one of the oldest civilizations on earth…
Then the National Library was burned down, which used to house thousands of historical documents of various Iraqi times…
Then, an ugly distorted constitution was composed under the supervision of Paul Bremer, the American civil governor after the invasion. He put down a constitution comprising the foundation to create a torn ethnic, sectarian state, which they called- Federalisms; meaning- giving it any name as long as it covers up their vicious intentions, trying to show that the principle of Federalism is democracy and freedom for the regions, while in truth it means tearing apart the country's unity, placing the heads of ethnics and sects to govern each region, and those will control the wealth of each region as they please. The wealth of Iraq will be crumbled in a suspicious rather than a just way, and the occupier will establish special relations and special interests with the leaders of each region, and bye-bye to Iraq… meaning- the entity called "Iraq" will be no more… just like they did as a first step when they divided us into Sunnies, Shia'ats, Arabs and Kurds, so that when we meet someone abroad they confront us with the stupid question: are you Sunnies or Shia'ats? Arabs or Kurds?
And after the division of Iraq, the question will become: are you from Kurdistan, Shia'atstan, or Sunniestan?
Just like they dissolved the word- Islam in Iraq after the war, and people came to be categorized into Sunnies and Shia'ats, now the name of Iraq will be dissolved and lost, after it will be divided into regions, or federalisms, or any other mishap, and people abroad will ask us their stupid question: from which federalism are you? From which region? Just like what happened to Yugoslavia, for example, when it's name disappeared from the map, and turned into regions like- Croatia, the Serb, Montenegro, and so on…
**********************************************
Every time it gets more gloomy in Iraq we say: soon things will be better…. But it seems such a notion will not take place, as long as there is an occupier residing with his military power on the land of Iraq. Why? Because the American administration is using the military power to carry out its political intentions….
Two days ago, the former American troops general commander in Iraq, Sanchez, said that the war in Iraq is an endless nightmare, that the American politicians are using the army to achieve their own interests…
By God this is something sad; the armies are the power of any country, and that power consumes up the country's budget to become highly ready with weapons, equipments, and trained personnel. That money spent to develop the army is taken out of the country's budget and out of people's pockets; I mean- from the tax money cut out of their salaries and earnings. And as a result, the ordinary American people are the financers of this war against Iraq, and the majority of American people, according to public opinion polls from time to time, are against the war in Iraq, or the continuing presence of the armies there. Who can believe that this is happening in America, and not in a country of those whom they call- a third world country, that doesn't respect democracy and human rights? Who can believe that in America there is a tyrant, corrupt minority that controls a weak, overwhelmed majority?
Perhaps America is like this for a long time now, but the people were busy with their own daily lives, and the war on Iraq changed a lot of things. People are no longer negligent as they used to be…
********************************************
Since the beginning of the invasion and the occupation of Iraq, we passed through a lot of hard times and many calamities. And whenever things calmed down a bit and headed towards a national reconciliation or an agreement among the contradicting parties to calm down the situation in Iraq, things somehow would turn back on to crises again. There is someone who kindles the fire so Iraq would keep on being in a state of fighting and conflict, without peace.
In 2006, the Dome of Samara shrine was blown up, right after the Iraqi's happiness with the elections, the beginning of uniting their ranks and putting down a program to get out of the ordeal. But the evil hands moved forth to scatter the Iraqis anew, and the sectarian death gangs spread to kill Iraqis from all sides, to blow up their houses and burn down their mosques… then, the situation became tense again, things kept on deteriorating until the "phenomenon" of displacing the Iraqis from their homes became one of the daily rituals, as if there was someone who put down a division map to every town and city in Iraq and was pushing on into the direction of implementing it on the ground; these are Sunnie towns and these are Shia'at towns, these are Sunnie neighborhoods and those are Shia'at neighborhoods… and in this chaos, millions of Iraqis emigrated to neighboring countries or asked for humanitarian asylum in various European countries…
And, the pressure kept on going in the issues of killings and sectarian displacement every day........ Veiled armed gangs would come from outside the neighborhoods and start writing threats on the walls of the houses, or send threatening messages to the families demanding they should leave the neighborhood… and of course, these mercenary gangs collaborate with the lowly people of that neighborhood; the criminals, jail-birds, and drug addicts, so they can be their eyes to watch the neighborhood and write them reports against the families, and then the houses would be attacked and burned, and its inhabitants would be threatened and forced to leave….
This series has been going on since 2006 until now, ignored by and met with the silence of the occupation forces and the present Iraqi government, but the Iraqis refuse the idea of a sectarian division and see it as the biggest catastrophe that could befall Iraq since it existed on the face of earth…
And in the middle of this daily violence and clashes, there were some parties in the parliament in opposition of the government and the occupation, who wanted to form an alliance to make the government fall and demand new elections, to pull the country out of this crises of violence, chaos and bloodshed… all the Iraqis' eyes were open and their hearts hanging in wait for the positive change on the ground last month, I was one among them, and I wrote the last post in which I said- Iraq is boiling in wait for change… but what happened?
There came the declaration of the American Congress suggesting to divide Iraq, to be a big rock falling over the poor Iraqis' heads, to be the uncovering of the real intentions of the American politicians; neither the Democratic Party nor the Republican have any vision that would satisfy the Iraqis about their future…
The Iraqis remained astonished!
We endured a lot, we were very patient, and sacrificed our souls and money, then, a decision to divide Iraq comes from America itself?
We were awaiting a decision to pull out the troops from Iraq, so we could begin our march of rebuilding our country and going back home.
Who gave them the right to issue decisions about the future of Iraq? Where did the 27 million Iraqis go, or- what is left of them, Where are they? Don't they have the right to decide the fate of their country and future? In all our lives, we never saw such rudeness and such venom directed against Iraq and its people…
But, they revealed their fangs, and it is very obvious now that invading Iraq wasn't only for the oil and monopolizing it, but to tear Iraq and its people apart, to turn them into shreds that cannot stand up one day united and strong enough to drive them out of the country…
Then, some of the Iraqi government people appeared to give justifications, to patch up the disaster that took place after the people rejected the decision. They declared that- the division is a federalism to ease up democracy and freedom…
Poison put into sweet words…
Then they said that the occupation forces will withdraw from Iraq, but will leave some camps and bases, to ensure the ""security of Iraq"", and a long-term treaty with the Iraqi government….
Aren't these the same old-new, repeated, boring stories?
Do they think that people are stupid and naïve?
**************************************
Anyway; let them do what they will…
For this world has a mighty creator who controls it, who is looking down upon all from high up in heaven, smiling; He gives one round to the unjust, then blows up the ground from under their feet, when He so wills…
We ask Him to aid the free, honest Iraqis in their struggle to liberate their country from the occupation and its followers… and to give patience to the poor, weak Iraqis who suffer still, whether they were inside, or those who had to emigrate to different exiles… and to have His mercy upon the martyrs whose blood filled the streets, walkways, and the cities of Iraq…
Amen.........
My conviction will not shake:
Victory is coming… no matter how long it takes…
And the occupation will walk out, defeated, let down, from Iraq…
No matter how long it takes…
………………..
May peace be upon you ......

SPP ???

2007-08-09T17:02:36-03:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBw7cjxZ7-A&NR=1

North American Union

2007-08-08T00:58:56-03:00

NOW Is the time to learn about the SPP. A tutorial

by Virginia Simson

http://www.opednews.com

Recent list of URLS re the SPP and the North American Union

Despite the deafening silence in the US and Canadian media (Have they put ANY reporters on this in the lamestream media? one wonders .. hard to find them!!) the purpose of the upcoming conference to be held in Montebello, Quebec is to ratify the Security and Prosperity Protocol (SPP) of North America, which was initiated by Bush, Martin and Fox in 2005.

This so-called ‘partnership’ will result in what the politicians refer to as ‘continental integration’-newspeak for a North American Union- and basically are a harmonization of 100’s of regulations, policies and laws. What we have here, really, is the plan to highjack the North American continent by a very small contingent of industrialists, government cronies and thinktanks. following the clampdown after the 9/11 synthetic terror event. As the slogan says .. Security and Prosperity for WHOM?

For the rest of the article, click here.

--------------------

As I lay with my Head in your Lap, Camerado

The confession I made I resume, what I said to you and the open air I resume,

I know I am restless and make others so,

I know my words are weapons full of danger, full of death,

For I confront peace, security, and all the settled laws, to unsettle them,

I am more resolute because all have denied me than I could ever have been had all accepted me,

I heed not and have never heeded either experience, cautions, majorities, nor ridicule,

And the threat of what is call'd hell is little or nothing to me,

And the lure of what is call'd heaven is little or nothing to me;

. . . Dear camerado! I confess I have urged you onward with me, and still urge you, without

the least idea what is our destination,

Or whether we shall be victorious, or utterly quell'd and defeated.

- Walt Whitman

Emails from Iraq .....

2007-07-28T00:25:20-03:00

Saturday, July 21, 2007

posted by Faiza Al-Arji

Peace be upon you…
These are samples of the Iraqi's suffering in their own country, recorded here for history, so we can remember what the occupation did to us.
These are live testimonies from inside Iraq, now.............

***************************************
Email No. 1 ,from Baghdad:

Good morning, my dear lady:
At last I managed to get out of the house. In the last four days there were daily clashes in Al-Adamiyah, causing most secondary streets to close down, as for the main streets, they are almost always closed, and most people who work outside get to their houses around 5 pm, through one outlet (in and out of Al-Adamiyah) subjected to a slow search procedure.
Yesterday they targeted and hit a humvee vehicle on the main street, around 11 am, so the Americans put a post at the street's end and started shooting every passer by in our smaller streets. They hit five pedestrians, who all died, including an old man who was out shopping and a young boy on a bicycle. They kept bleeding till death under the watchful eyes of people who gathered around the corner, and they shot at everyone who tried to get to them. We opened the doors of our houses and brought in the people who couldn't get to their homes, until the afternoon. Things remained like this until around 6.30 pm, then the shooting resumed, they hit two more people and one of them died. Then the ambulance arrived, and they shot at it too.
After about half an hour, they permitted the ambulance and the morgue car to enter.
Today Al-Adamiyah as a whole is closed to the outside, and traffic through "Anter Square" is not allowed, under orders of direct shooting, (as the soldiers who stood guard there said). So, everybody went back home, and God knows how long it will last this time.
I take God as my aid, for there is no power, no might, and no hope, but by Him.
************************************

Email No. 2,from Al-Kut , south-east from Baghdad

Dear Um Raid:
Peace be upon you, with God's mercy, and his blessings…
Regarding the information you requested from me about the displaced people from Baghdad; today, since morning and until about 4.30 pm, I was in a field round concerning them, but the battery of my camera ran out so I couldn't send the photos with this e-mail. But after my tour around the province in general I found that the total and actual number of the displaced is (1180) families. We visited some of these famines in the places listed here by:
1- the center of the province- as follows:

a- Al-Kut amusement park- the number of families there is ninteen families, a total of 46 people residing there, the rest of the families went out to camps in other locations.
b- Hay Al-Jawadain town, which is one of the largest gatherings for displaced, number of families there is 185 families, originally from Al-Naser and Abu Ghareeb in Baghdad. They need aid and their conditions are very bad.
c- Al-Thaqalain Hussayniya, at Hay Al-Jamaheer Dist., the number of families is- 120 families.

2- Al- Hussayniya Precinct, Al-Ahrar area in Kut, the number of displaced is- 50 families.
3- Al- Nu'maniya Precinct, Wasit province, number of displaced is-120 families.
4- Al- Hay Precinct, number of displaced is-90 families.
5- Al- Suweara Precinct, number of displaced is-58 families.
6- Al- Azeeziya Precinct, number of displaced is-44 families.

And we noticed some things that were painful and very impressing indeed. While we were in a visit to Hay Al-Jawadain area, the Salvadorian troops came to give them some aid, which were some gifts to the children, but the people burned the gifts in their mud furnaces. When I asked them why, they said- we, Iraqis, do not agree to take aid from foreigners while those nearest to us look at us without helping us, did the dignity of the Iraqis reach that stage, we do not need milk and toys, we need a facility for clean water, we need electric power, and a school for our children, because schools here do not take them, and besides, they are very far.

My thanks to you, I send here a part of the photos, and the rest, tomorrow.

Some day we could share a similar fate.....We are from a country that floats over lakes of oil....posted by Faiza Al-Arji

2007-06-30T20:59:39-03:00

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Tuesday, June 19th, 2007

Peace be upon you…
Through my work and visits to the Iraqi families here in Jordan for some months, I found that a lot of them live here without a legal residency permit, without the right to work, the right of free education for their children, or someone to cover the cost of their medical treatment if they suffer an accidental or chronic health condition…
I tried to visit rich Iraqi families; merchants, contractors, Sheiks, or parliament members, I tried to push them to donate something to such poor families, but they turned their heads away with disturbed moods, or either they changed the subject. I always tell them- let us make a donation box from the rich to the poor, don't we all love Iraq? Let us express our love by helping each other; a $100 from me, a $100 from you, a $100 from this and that, and we can come up with $1000 a month from 10 families, a fine figure, with which we can cover the needs of 10 poor Iraqi families, or more, or less, which means we can reduce the feelings of estrangement, loss, and sadness for each other…
But no one responded…
One day, someone called me from Baghdad to ask for help for an Iraqi girl called "Zemen"; she is sixteen years old, she was at school when a mortar shell fell in the school yard, a shrapnel piece hit her in the back of the neck, causing a paralysis of both hands and legs…
We joined efforts and bought a wheel chair for her, then I started the journey of looking for a way to treat the girl inside or outside of Iraq…
I cannot recall how many times I called Baghdad and talked to her father and mother, to tell them where to go to get a medical report of her case, to send it to me by e-mail, so I could show it to a doctor in Jordan, and get his opinion if there is any hope in treating her case? About a month and a half of efforts went on, until I met a doctor here from the Al-Adamiyah hospital who helped me, spoke with another doctor from the same hospital and gave them the girl's name, so we called her to go with her father for examination. And finally the doctor sent a hand-written report, describing the girl's case as he saw it…
I typed the report and took it to an Iraqi doctor in a private hospital here in Amman, I told him: tell me how to help the girl; do we bring her to Jordan for treatment, or do we keep her in Baghdad?
He read the report calmly and said: the hope, in this girl's case, is to strengthen her muscles and make her rely on her self to move the wheel-chair into the toilet or to take a bath, we do not hope to see her walking on her feet…
- well, ok., we agree, do we bring her here?
- He said: I wouldn't advice you; here, there is a state hospital for physical therapy, but the equipments in it are half there is at the Ibn Al-Qaf hospital in Baghdad, treat her there, let her stay in hospital for months, they will give her a long treatment program, and she will get well, by the will of God…
- I said: she is poor, the doctors and nurses won't take care of her, for they all seek money now; humanity is no longer in the hearts…
- He said: so, you assign a budget for her; some $1000 or a little more, out of the donations, and follow up her case, this is better than bringing her out of Iraq; for then you'll pay $500 for each passport, $500 for the car that would bring them from Baghdad, or some $1200 of plane tickets for her and her father, and then, she might be allowed to enter Jordan or they might refuse, so, why take the chances with all this? Send her a $1000, and let her go to Dr. "……." At Beirut Sq. in Baghdad; he will examine her case and refer her to hospital, and there she will find good care, as long as she has that much money to pay tips to the nurses or buy better food than the hospital's…
Well; I liked the idea, so I called her parents and told them, gave them some money to help…
A few days later, I received a donation from a friend in America, which he said was devoted to treat the girl "Zemen". I told him I would give her only a $1000 of the money, and can use the rest of it here in Amman to help poor Iraqi families. He sent me an e-mail saying- do what you see fit, I trust you, just notify me how you spent the rest of the money…
Ok., that's a deal…
I sent $500 to Zemen's parents; they took her to a good specialist, who directed her to the x-ray lab, where he discovered more shrapnel pieces in her neck that should be removed by another operation and to correct the position of the vertebra, then perhaps her condition would become better, the paralysis would be gone and she won't need the physical therapy…
By God I felt happy, this was good news…
Today they called and said- the date of the operation became near, and I promised them I will send another $500 soon so they could pay the doctor and the hospital…
I kept thinking how to use the rest of the money to help people?
I don't know where I got the idea to give loans without interest to some of the families I visited…
I found that a $100 or $200 might save a family from doom and loss, a family of five children plus the mother and father, for instance…
Now, after two weeks of intensive visits to the houses, I completed giving loans to five Iraqi families, something I consider as a first experience in my life…
The loans varied between buying an oven for baking bread to sell to the neighbors or to the Iraqi restaurants here, or to buy a sewing machine for a lady who can use it to sew for the neighbors or to nearby shops, bringing a small income to the family that can provide for their basic necessities. Or to buy a skin-cleaning set for a lady who works in a beauty salon, who wants to become a partner instead of a worker in the shop, threatened to lose her job any minute…
To another lady I gave a capital to manufacture straw baskets, very beautiful, and she also wants to make pickles to sell to neighbors…
The ladies I gave the loans to are either widows, or their husbands are around but are not allowed legally to work, and who are afraid to work illegally as they would then be liable to be deported from the country, according to the law here…
How can a family of six or seven people live, if the mother and father aren't allowed to work? How will they earn their daily bread?
These small loans brought happiness into their hearts, and sunshine into their homes. They might be temporary solutions until the fire in Iraq dies down, and we go back home one day….
I wrote a small agreement with each lady, like a small contract, in which she takes upon herself to pay back the price of the item I bought for her after two or three months, by small installments alternating between 10 to 20 Jordanian Dinaars a month, without any interest. This is called in Islam: the fair loan.
I ask God to grant me success in this- small project, so I can, through it, help the largest number of families in need… and they all know that when they pay back the loan, it will go to other families… I called my friends to buy the products of straw or embroidery the women made, and we actually sold some pieces, making us all happy.
This is better than knocking on the doors of the stupid, hard-hearted rich, who turn away their faces when we ask them to help a poor family.
I am so happy with this project, I have a feeling it will grow day by day, that I will visit more Iraqi families here to see how they are going, and to think of other small projects to help them… the money I have comes from private donations from friends in America, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. God bless them for helping their brothers and sisters in humanity.
The sum of the loans for five families cost about $950 only. We also collected donations from my small family and other friends, and sent 21 thermoses of 40 liters capacity each, to fifty displaced families living in skeleton houses on the outskirts of Baghdad, after they were driven away by sectarian militias… I sent the money to Baghdad to a friend I trust, he bought everything, and sent back the receipts and photos.
The weather is very hot in Baghdad now, and a drink of cold water is a blessing to poor and displaced families, as there is no electricity available. The water could be provided by tankers, and ice could be bought from factories that have generators to produce it. These thermoses are used to keep cold water so the young and the old could drink from it…
We also collected donations and sent them to Baghdad to buy two sewing machines that can be operated by hands and by feet, to send them to that same fifty families' camp, as there are four professional seamstresses among them. We also bought them 300 meters of summer cloth to make some summer nightdresses to boys and girls under 12 years of age. These cost $600, and everything is documented by receipts and photos.
I mean- these projects didn't cost large sums of money, but reduced a lot of the suffering of poor, displaced Iraqi families that endure poverty and negligence, in these tough conditions that befell Iraq… and to bring joy into their hearts with small projects, is to tell them- we are with you, we remember you while you suffer the ordeal.
**************************************************
Then I visited some Iraqi families whose children are being treated here from Cancer… I mean; every family is living a catastrophic condition that cannot be described, so that I found the afore mentioned poor people live in an indescribable paradise, for they are healthy… I found the others afflicted with legendary expenses; most of their children passed the critical stage, the tumors were removed and their conditions stabilized, but they need radio-chemotherapy, one year long for each case. And this treatment costs $1000-$3000 a month. Meaning- each family needs an average of $15,000- $40,000 a year…
The families say- in that Cancer hospital there are families from Yemen, Libya, and Qatar treating their children, and all their expenses are covered by their respective embassies, even down to the transportation and taxi fees are paid by the embassy, so why has the Iraqi embassy abandoned us, and we come from a country that floats on top of lakes of oil?
And where are our food monthly rations? Doesn't the Iraqi Trading Ministry import food rations for the citizens? Where are the rations of the families that emigrated from Iraq to neighboring countries? Where are the rations of the families that were displaced from their houses to other provinces in the west, south, or north of Iraq? Why do they live without their food monthly rations?
I don't know who has the answers to these questions.
The Iraqi government lives in another world, of tittle-tattle, armed and non-armed conflicts, and empty talk; who cares about the suffering of the afflicted Iraqis, as if they are orphans, without a father to protect them, or a mother to care for them.
So, for how long will this extraordinary situation go on, this suffering, and who will put an end to it?
Shall we blame the international organizations because they abandoned the Iraqis?
Shall we blame the American government because it destroyed Iraq and scattered the Iraqis?
Shall we blame the Iraqi government because it stole Iraq's money and didn't provide security, settlement or happiness to the Iraqi families inside Iraq and outside?
I don't know who to blame…
But I personally do not clear any of these parties from blame about what happened to the Iraqis; the calamities, the disasters…
And they will carry that responsibility until the day of judgment…
Where will they go, from facing God?

Watch!!

2007-06-11T12:20:01-03:00

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3320922145165829917

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXmQPCcuGjo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8S_vOZqJbE&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GT7ti8LZ6A&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkOtqGNJ8qI&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C02QHS0D44&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwZaWh0cJPQ&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YlcpXBFOXA&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kBX00TR-aA&mode=related&search=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kBX00TR-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jghh00bn_DA&mode=related&search=aA&mode=related&search=

We have none but patience ....

2007-05-11T00:13:38-03:00

Monday, April 30th, 2007

posted by Faiza Al-Arji

Peace be upon you….
I haven't written for a long time, I no longer have the temperament to write.
I don't know; is it because of the silly, frustrating news from Baghdad, the continuance of violence, killings, the bloodshed of the innocent Iraqis, the plundering of the Iraqi wealth; or because I am busy with the people and their distress, for I receive calls from families in Baghdad or Amman asking for medical or humanitarian aid, or from Iraqi hospitals calling for help, asking for the most simple supplies, like Insulin, which was supposed to be available in all Iraqi hospitals, being the responsibility of the Iraqi Ministry of Health. Or they might ask for the medical Oxygen bottles, manufactured in Baghdad, but the bad security conditions prevent the medical supplies from reaching hospitals situated on the outskirts of Baghdad, or farther….

My mind is confused; I don't know where to start every day… I thought I'd write down the items I follow up in a small notebook so I would remember them everyday…
Ok; I'll try to organize my thoughts.
There are some water purifying units sent from an organization
www.iraqwaterproject.org

I work with them as a volunteer in Amman, bought to be sent to Iraqi hospitals. Up till now, we sent six units, as follows:
Al-Qa'aim Hospital, Falluja, Samara, Al-Diwaniyah, Hadeetha, and Al-Ramadi.
And I cannot describe my suffering and anguish to conclude each shipment; going between telephone calls to Iraq, sending daily e-mails to the doctors, following up buying the units here, then sending them either by cars or by plane to Baghdad, then the worries and waiting, until they notify me that the shipment arrived to Baghdad, then arranging a way to send it on to its final destination.
Sometimes, the doctor I was arranging things with would disappear, like what happened in Samara. I don't know where the man has gone; all news of him were completely cut off, no e-mail, no phone calls, and I don't know whether he traveled away, was arrested, or killed…
We had to send the unit with a driver from the transportation center to Samara, then wait until he delivered a signed receipt from a doctor there to assure the delivery…
As for my suffering with the transportation companies, well; it is of another type; most of them are deceitful and tiring, with whom I reach an agreement for a price, then they would turn around and ask for higher prices, under the pretext of the bad security conditions… I mean- I can hardly send one box or two, unless with a lot of hardship…
I sometimes feel we are trying to do the impossible, inside a whirlpool of chaos, terror, and ruin. But we make all possible efforts to accomplish something small, or perhaps to light a small candle in the middle of this intense darkness….
All this makes me happy, in spite of all my sorrow for what is happening to Iraq, but I console myself that there are those who make an effort to save the lives of Iraqis, either by sending a water purifying unit, a box of medicine and medical supplies, or food donations to displaced families that left their houses and live now in mere construction frames…
****************
The other issue that is hurting and worrying me that I do not sleep at night thinking about … there is an Iraqi child here, four years old, her name is "Eelaff", from Baquba. Her father called me asking for help; she has a malignant brain tumor, which was removed by an operation, and she is now undergoing chemical therapy…
I went to visit her at Al-Hussein Cancer Center; I found her with a shaved head, or perhaps her hair fell off because of the chemical therapy, her face was pale. An innocent child of four years, what has she seen of life?
I stood and put my hand over her head, reciting a verse from the Quran, or a prayer, I felt the high temperature of her body; she looked at me with withered eyes. Sorrow and sadness burned my heart for what befell her, what befell the children of Iraq because of this dirty war. I couldn't hold myself, and I burst into crying. Her father came to console me, and apologize….
I took some photos of her to send them to some friends, hoping that someone would take pity upon her and send some money to help her father pay her treatment fees. He said he needs some $1500 only to complete the treatment and get her out of hospital. I sent photos and hospital reports by e-mail, but nobody took the trouble to answer, not even with an apology….
And another child from Baghdad. Her name is "Zaman", and she is 16 years old, the age of flowers…
They sent me her photos and a brief medical report…
The girl was in school, in Al-Ada'amiyah, and in the recess between classes, a mortar shell fell upon the school, killing a number of students, and this girl was hit with a piece of shrapnel in her neck, causing a quadruple paralyses.
We joined as a group and bought a wheel chair for her. I asked them to send me her picture with a brief medical report. There is some hope in her treatment by natural therapy, but who would get her out of Iraq? And who will take care of her therapy expanses? I don't know. I sent her photos and report to many friends on the internet, but no one answered…
Each passing day, my sorrow for these two girls grows, and there are perhaps thousands like them in Iraq now, but I wanted to help these two because we learned about their names, photos, and the details of their cases…
***************
Thought the e-mails to the hospitals, I arranged with them how to send the water purifying units for the operating theaters. The doctors usually sent thankful and grateful replies, followed by aid requests, for medicines or medical supplies. I usually apologize, but with time, a load of requests accumulated; mostly similar requests, astonishing me …
For example: everybody wanted Insulin, to treat diabetics for children and adults…
Well then; here in Amman, an insulin bottle of 10 MLL is sold for $16, in Baghdad, I could get it for $10.
And when I ask a doctor: How much do you need monthly? The answer is usually: at least 40 bottles, for emergencies, not to cover the patient's requirements…
Well then; the smallest hospital needs some $400 to $500's worth of insulin a month? And in truth, they probably need some 100 bottles a month, as an average, meaning- a thousand dollars a month…
I said: there is no organization that can cover these requirements, these requirements should be provided by a government, not an organization…
Where is the Iraqi Ministry of Health? Where are the millions of dollars from the general budget allocated for the health sector in Iraq?
I don't know, and all the doctors have no answer…
Well then; is it bad management, or corruption and thefts…
The answer is usually: Both…
I read a report prepared by an official in the American administration some weeks ago, about the average daily thefts from the illegal leakage in the Iraqi oil, estimating it at about $20-30 millions a day… and the Iraqis are begging for medicine and treatment from organizations outside Iraq?
Where is justice?
*******************
Here in Jordan, all the stories of the Iraqis are sad, ranging from the humiliation of expatriation, the tight budgets, and the lack of resources. Even the rich Iraqis yearn for Iraq, not satisfied to take on another substitute country…
Amman is filled with Iraqi restaurants, and Iraqi bakeries, whose customers are Iraqis…
The restaurants closed their doors in the hell there, and moved on here, and the Iraqis are happy with them, for they remind them of their heritage and their past days, when they used to go their in Baghdad, and other, safe, Iraqi cities…..
As for the news from Baghdad; they are frustrating, as usual…….
Someone blasted the piers of the beautiful Al-Sarrafiyah Bridge, blowing it into Tigris…
And the occupation army is building a buffer wall around Al-Ada'amiyah area…
Doesn't this look like the acts of Israel against the Palestinians, by besieging towns and villages, erecting separating concrete walls, displacing and starving the population?
My sister used to live in a historically mixed area, as is usual in most residential areas in Baghdad, but Baghdad started to split into Shia'at and Sunnie neighborhoods, like Beirut… and someone started writing on the walls, writing threats against the Shia'at families, that they must leave the area, or else be killed……
My sister is looking for a house in another area, she will be forced to leave her house, a house she suffered a lot to provide its price, and bought some years ago, for she and her husband are state employees, and with very tough management they bought this small, modest house, and now they will have to leave it to rent another in another area, saying goodbye to the house, its memories, and their neighbors, whom they loved, and lived with through all their sweet and sad memories, for long years…
And so is the case with my brother, who lived with his family in another area in Baghdad, where the Shia'ats were threatened and displaced, so he left his house to another small house, rented in another area; an area wearing a purely Shia'at guise…
All this is happening now, and everyday, while they are filling the media with news of the Baghdad security plan, and its brilliant success…
The sectarian militia is still chasing the Iraqis, pushing them out of their houses; the kidnapping gangs are still kidnapping, threatening, and extorting people…
The unemployment is still high, and hunger entered Iraqi houses more than it did during the time of the embargo…
And shedding the Iraqi blood is still a daily ritual, morning and evening…
The terrorists entered Iraq to target the Iraqi people? Why?
No one knows the answer…
Everyday, some 100 Iraqis die, victims of trapped cars, exploding bombs, and mortar shells, all targeting the civilians…
Who brought these terrorists into Iraq?
Isn't Al-Qaida'a supposed to be Bush's enemy? So why are they killing the Iraqi civilians?
Is this the Iraq Bush promised us with?
Is this the new, free, beautiful, democratic Iraq?
It is an ugly Iraq, one we do not know, one who does not know us, one we do not even acknowledge….
Millions of Iraqis fled its hell…
This isn't our Iraq, the one we know, and love….
This is Bush's Iraq, and its gangs, spreading corruption, ruin, plundering, and killing, in Iraq against its people…
And until the withdrawal of the occupation armies from Iraq is decided, these will remain to be our daily vocabulary; explosions, killings, plundering, theft, sectarian militias, displacing, and dividing….
Thus our days will continue to spin, until the occupation ravens will go out of Iraq….
And we have none but patience….
* * *