Follow-Up to Nesreen and Bruce's Visit to Writopia Lab

Hi all,

After hearing Nesreen (an Iraqi teacher/peace activist) speak to us about her recent, upsetting experiences in Baghdad, many of you have asked how you can help individual Iraqis or even help end the war. Bruce, Nesreen's NYC-based colleague (also a teacher/activist) just emailed me some suggestions. Thank you Bruce! I have pasted that list below.

Meanwhile some thoughts: My Iraqi penpal, a young doctor living in Baghdad, believes that "The US started this mess, so it should help get Iraq out of this mess." I asked if he has always felt that way; he said no. "Basically, people change their minds often on this issue here. But this is what I believe right now." Bruce, on the other hand, passionately believes that the U.S. should leave Iraq as soon as possible. And, naturally, many Iraqis agree with him.

So what is an aspiring activist to do? Different groups of researchers/activists offer various suggestions. You can begin by checking out the various resources that Bruce brings to our attention, and by doing some research on your own, says Bruce.

BRUCE'S TO-DO LIST

· Call your congress person 1-800-828-0498 (Call 1-888-VOTE-SMART to find out who your congress person is).

· Go to the United For Peace and Justice website (http://www.unitedforpeace.org/ ) and click on END THE WAR ON IRAQ in the left column. They have plenty of things for you to do.

· March in the next Bring The Troops Home Now event.

· Go to the American Friends Service Committee site (www.afsc.org/ ) and click on the Take Action button. There are a few ways you can help with both dollars and signatures. Subscribe to their newsletter and stay informed about what others are doing to help.

· Stay informed. Spend 10 minutes searching the internet for “help iraqis.” Use different words each time…”aid Iraqis”, “life in Baghdad today," etc...


· Read about the UN work in Iraq (and support them with dollars if you can).

· Volunteer with the UFPJ to work to get the troops home now.

· Contact Iraq Veterans Against the War and/or Military Families Speak Out and ask them if they need your help.

· Bring your friends and family to the Eyes Wide Open exhibit on Staten Island Tuesday Aug 6.

· Start a discussion group of your friends to try and figure out the best way for you and your friends to help the Iraqi people. There are actually millions of Iraqis in Jordan and Syria who have no homes, live in tents, and would welcome donations of food and clothing and money.

Read more!

The Dark Curtain

Co-Written by Ixchel Bosworth

Nesreen A. Al Jubouri is an Iraqi teacher and one of the millions of Iraqis struggling throughout the United States' War on Terror. Last week, she graciously came from Baghdad to teach us here at WritopiaLab about what's really going on and to clear up any and all misconceptions surrounding the situation. I felt anxious about the possible discussions we all could have had. I was worried she would feel as though we were prying into her life and that she had a bad image of Americans in general. But, my worries were wonderfully wrong. Nesreen was willing to answer all of the questions asked and with thoughtful and insightful answers. I felt as though a curtain was being drawn back and a new image was vividly exposed.

Nesreen did not sugar coat the tragic events taking placing in Iraq yet she was not graphic. I could feel the pain in every sigh she made as she stood eyes focusing on each of us, telling the terrors that engulf her homeland. I was most surprised by the comment that Saddam Hussein's leadership is a better alternative than the war. I probably shouldn't be, but seeing as how his dictatorship was harsh and stern, I'm sure many can relate to what I'm saying. Nesreen really wanted us all to know that Iraqi culture is severely suffering and that the war is digging Iraq into a larger rut than it was in the previous day. It is all a perpetuation of violence that serves justice to none. It is so heartbreaking to watch a woman fight back tears while explaining how unsafe she is in her own house, sans basic human needs like running water. It is the same at her job and all throughout her life. That is something I will not soon forget. She has been thwarted by hatred, violence, and gloomy consequences to the aforementioned. She is a true survivor.

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Here’s to a different sort of article about Iraq…

Earlier today I typed in “Iraq” on to Google News, the Google function which spans across the world wide web providing access to a great number of news sources. I got 151,287 articles – not bad. Then I searched “Iraqi culture” – 1,386. That’s a little less than 1%, to put figures into perspective. Today, in the graduated stages of the Iraq War, we are attempting to understand ways to reconstruct the country with the help of the populace. It’s a little ironic then, that there are so few articles about what makes an Iraqi an Iraqi – the culture, history, music, which define an Iraqi. Only through greater understanding can we understand better how to fix the broken land.
After searching “Iraqi culture,” I decided to be more specific, though to unsuccessful ends. “Kurdish song and dance” yields exactly one (that’s a percentage of .0065, if we are to be consistent). This is a pretty shabby number, and so, with this first column, I intend to double the results.

The Kurds are an ethnic group primarily found in Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria, though they can be located in several other states in the region. There has never been an official “Kurdistan,” though the Treaty of Sevres, signed at the end of World War I, as the Ottoman Empire dissolved, provided for it. The Kurds were not to enjoy Wilson’s “self-determination” principles – after Kemal Ataturk modernized and militarized Turkey, it never signed the treaty, and eventually “Kurdistan” was delegated to Iraq. This proved deadly to many Kurds when, by the hand of Saddam Hussein, chemical weapons were used on them during the Iraq-Iran war.
Nevertheless, the Kurds find something to celebrate. The “dobke” is one of the most popular dances – it can go on for hours on end (who knew the Kurds were such wild partiers?) A single-file line is formed behind a leader who waves a handkerchief and hisses every time he changes a step. Accompanying the dance is usually a singer or two, singing in falsetto Kurdish, usually about love, war, and hardship. Some classic Kurdish songs are the “Lawk” and the “Hairan.” The crowd many times joins in with claps, snaps, and a “lu-lu-lu-lu” cry of joy.
Snapping and clapping are not so different from what we Americans do at our concerts and dance performances at home. The lyrics of traditional Kurdish tunes only further illustrate the similarities between the two social groups.
Truth be told, these lyrics [“Sing for me just a little more/ Open your heart for just a few days/ I cannot live without you/ Come let me have a kiss/ It is not winter but spring/ But alas! I cannot speak to her, not even a hello/ Because of her mother who watches her day and night”] are not disparately different from these [“All you people can't you see, can't you see/How your love's affecting our reality/Every time we're down/You can make it right/And that makes you larger than (that make you larger than)/That makes you larger/That makes you larger than life”]. The resemblance is striking.
The truth is, in this type of situation, we need to think creatively for solutions. Partition, withdrawal, and a police state are all highly contested, and will likely prove devastating. We need to focus on the cultural aspects of Iraq more. Who knows…Nick Carter may very well be the first step towards rebuilding Arab trust in America.

Ruthie is a New York City high school junior. Read more!