22/2/2006
Wednesday 22/2/2006
To say that my day started as usual wouldn’t be quite accurate, cause shortly after I reached work and sat down to toil , we heard very loud shooting noises.
We all rushed to the windows to see what was going on, of course, we suspected that someone was being killed “as usual” but this time right in front of our building .anyway, that was not the case . From our office window we saw the police trying to get a man to evacuate the spot he had occupied unrightfully, the man sells kebabs on the pavement everyday from a primitive iron cart . The Kebab seller was not obeying the orders and was making a scene:- “where the hell do you want me to go,- he was shouting - this is how I earn my living .
His cart had an iron shed over it , so with the assistance of a shuffle-truck they bashed it , the man was hysterical and started running around , cursing and people gathered from all over the street . The police started shooting in the air to break up the crowd .
- As if everything is excellent in the country, and that poor man is the only problem that is left . Our streets are immaculate and only this wretched kebab seller is disfiguring the beauty of our capitol, said the old man that keeps us full with tea and coffee very angrily.
- Cheer up uncle , you don’t eat from his cart anyway , M .. once had a sandwich there and nearly died after it, he had to go to the hospital for a stomach pump” we told him trying to calm down ,our knees still shaking from the shock of the bangs.
I went back to my work for some time ,when I was phoned from home - what ? I couldn’t make out what was being said exactly… the Holly shrine in Samaraa; has been destroyed , how come, may be it is a rumor I thought .
I told my colleagues, they were jus as puzzled , then the “Boss of all Bosses” confirmed solemnly – I just read it on the internet .
- Oh , my God do you know what that means?, said my friend
I had made a promise to myself a couple of weeks ago never ever to talk politics again, no matter what , so I sat resuming my work trying to remain positive , or rather wishful thinking .
We usually try to break the ice by joking about it , but this time everyone was beyond that stage , my colleagues were just mumbling between their teeth “May God save us all , Allah Yestur” . We all knew that the streets do not need extra tension, it is just waiting for a spark to explode .
Thursday 23 /2/2006
As soon as I opened my eyes , and of course switched on the TV , I saw the news about the Young journalist Atwar Bahjat, who was murdered on her way back after covering the events in Samaraa . It is a tragedy that sheds a little light on what the daily routine is like in Iraq . Her colleagues and family were devastated , and when they showed her younger sister on TV, I reckon there was not a dry eye in the country. She kept asking amidst her tears : Why , Why she is only thirty years old , I don’t have any one else in this world, no other sister or brother , I will cry for her the rest of my life.
And as if that crime was not brutal enough , the funeral was targeted on Saturday. The family members and her colleagues were surrounded and shot at on their way to burry her , as a result three were killed others wounded . AL Arabia Journalist was broadcasting all these events live and calling for authorities to rescue them .
The curfew is going on in hope to alleviate the situation, apparently it is not working all that well. Today; there was a suicide attack on a market in Karbala that caused serious casualties , in Baghdad mosques are being burned and shot at, and every morning the night harvest is obvious for everyone to see on the streets in the form of dead IRAQI bodies .
I would be a liar to say that I really ever prayed for anyone but myself and my family and loved ones when things get tough , but this time I am actually sitting praying my heart out for my country. The country that I know with all it’s filthy streets , lousy services and angry people, whom I don’t even know or care whether they are Shias and Sunnis. No one will loose as much as us in this whole thing , to slip into a civil war is not hard at all , but to get up from such a fall is impossible .
To say that my day started as usual wouldn’t be quite accurate, cause shortly after I reached work and sat down to toil , we heard very loud shooting noises.
We all rushed to the windows to see what was going on, of course, we suspected that someone was being killed “as usual” but this time right in front of our building .anyway, that was not the case . From our office window we saw the police trying to get a man to evacuate the spot he had occupied unrightfully, the man sells kebabs on the pavement everyday from a primitive iron cart . The Kebab seller was not obeying the orders and was making a scene:- “where the hell do you want me to go,- he was shouting - this is how I earn my living .
His cart had an iron shed over it , so with the assistance of a shuffle-truck they bashed it , the man was hysterical and started running around , cursing and people gathered from all over the street . The police started shooting in the air to break up the crowd .
- As if everything is excellent in the country, and that poor man is the only problem that is left . Our streets are immaculate and only this wretched kebab seller is disfiguring the beauty of our capitol, said the old man that keeps us full with tea and coffee very angrily.
- Cheer up uncle , you don’t eat from his cart anyway , M .. once had a sandwich there and nearly died after it, he had to go to the hospital for a stomach pump” we told him trying to calm down ,our knees still shaking from the shock of the bangs.
I went back to my work for some time ,when I was phoned from home - what ? I couldn’t make out what was being said exactly… the Holly shrine in Samaraa; has been destroyed , how come, may be it is a rumor I thought .
I told my colleagues, they were jus as puzzled , then the “Boss of all Bosses” confirmed solemnly – I just read it on the internet .
- Oh , my God do you know what that means?, said my friend
I had made a promise to myself a couple of weeks ago never ever to talk politics again, no matter what , so I sat resuming my work trying to remain positive , or rather wishful thinking .
We usually try to break the ice by joking about it , but this time everyone was beyond that stage , my colleagues were just mumbling between their teeth “May God save us all , Allah Yestur” . We all knew that the streets do not need extra tension, it is just waiting for a spark to explode .
Thursday 23 /2/2006
As soon as I opened my eyes , and of course switched on the TV , I saw the news about the Young journalist Atwar Bahjat, who was murdered on her way back after covering the events in Samaraa . It is a tragedy that sheds a little light on what the daily routine is like in Iraq . Her colleagues and family were devastated , and when they showed her younger sister on TV, I reckon there was not a dry eye in the country. She kept asking amidst her tears : Why , Why she is only thirty years old , I don’t have any one else in this world, no other sister or brother , I will cry for her the rest of my life.
And as if that crime was not brutal enough , the funeral was targeted on Saturday. The family members and her colleagues were surrounded and shot at on their way to burry her , as a result three were killed others wounded . AL Arabia Journalist was broadcasting all these events live and calling for authorities to rescue them .
The curfew is going on in hope to alleviate the situation, apparently it is not working all that well. Today; there was a suicide attack on a market in Karbala that caused serious casualties , in Baghdad mosques are being burned and shot at, and every morning the night harvest is obvious for everyone to see on the streets in the form of dead IRAQI bodies .
I would be a liar to say that I really ever prayed for anyone but myself and my family and loved ones when things get tough , but this time I am actually sitting praying my heart out for my country. The country that I know with all it’s filthy streets , lousy services and angry people, whom I don’t even know or care whether they are Shias and Sunnis. No one will loose as much as us in this whole thing , to slip into a civil war is not hard at all , but to get up from such a fall is impossible .
posted by Iraq sweet Iraq at 12:54 PM
1 Comments:
hela roulette, the tables are turning very fast now, even for an iraqi roulette. i hope you can keep up. take care, try to not lose your hope. every tiny bit of positive developments can maybe be seen as flowers in a desert. there are very few of them, but once you see one, it is most of the time extremely beautiful. ciao!
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