Monday, February 27, 2006
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Good morning….
With a heart loaded with sorrow at what is happening in Iraq, I met my friend, the Kurdish woman, who came in a short visit to Amman. She works in an organization concerned with cases of human rights in Iraq. I truly respect these organizations, for I see them more respectable than some thief organizations, who trick people, talking by the names of widows and orphans, to steal the donations money. My heart grew tired of them, and I no longer trust most of them. Now I send my personal donations, or whatever I receive from others, to poor families, or widows and orphans I know personally in Baghdad, outside Baghdad, or through one or two organizations, whom I trust the women in them, and see them respectable, and dedicated…
We decided to meet the next day to have lunch together, and talk about subjects concerning the Civil Society Organizations in Iraq…
On the next day she said, before lunch: let us go and see some ladies from various Iraqi cities, here in this hotel, who are in Amman to attend a forum about the Family Law, and the Personal Affairs Law…
And when I asked her about the responsible authority, or the sponsor of this activity, I knew among them the same Iraqi names that sponsored the Dead Sea Conference about the Iraqi Women leaderships…
So, I am to meet the same faces…
I told her: look, I do not like attending such activities, I do not want to meet anyone, for I have been to conferences like these, and heard a lot of empty words, I do not want to…
She said: so what, let us meet them and listen to what they say…
I hesitated, I didn't want to disturb my mood by seeing these people, for they were a group who chose a path different from mine. I do not pretend to be a hero, or a national leader, and they are scum, no. but I am tired of the empty talk, of wasting the money of the Iraqi or the American people, spent on hosting such conferences or meetings…
I always ask: what will it add?
There are hundreds of thousands of poor and hungry people in Iraq who need care, who deserve to have productive projects made available for their families, to provide for them a good life, and a restful future. As for spending the money on 5-star hotels, dinners, lunches, and plane tickets for Civil Society Organizations who live on the margins of the Iraqi's life, well; it is a disaster….
I discovered, when I went to Vermont to join the Peace Institute, that this is a problem from which most post-war societies suffer; as a budget ranging of about tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars annually is dedicated to sponsor conferences or meetings for members of Civil Society Organizations, which are, in fact, just talk about freedom, democracy, the political process, the elections, and lab…, lab…, lab…. and huge expenses on hotels, plane tickets, dinner and lunch meals, and endless absurdity…
While on the ground of reality, a post-war society needs real activities, on the ground, to treat the wounds of war, and its disasters, and to help thousands of bereaved families…
There is a lot of money, but there is a difference of opinion about how to spend this money…
This is the point of disagreement between me, and these people….
********************************
We went into the hotel; my friend said they were in the restaurant. I looked at the clock, it was about 2 pm. I didn't know it was so, and I was embarrassed, for we entered the restaurant while the ladies were having lunch…
One of them came forward to greet us, I found out she was my friend and neighbor in Baghdad. We greeted and kissed each other, I told her: I want to ask you about what you are doing here, so, did you finish your meal?
She said: yes, come along, let us go and sit on a separate table…
After we exchanged questions about our families and news, I asked her about the meeting.
She said: it is about the Family Law, and the Personal Affairs Law…
: Well then, any new matters?
She said: A doctor of law came from Morocco, her name is Fareeda Banany. She gave us lectures about the Moroccan experience, about the struggle of women there to get their rights, and she also talked about Islam and Al- Sharee'a (the Islamic doctrine), and Al-Fikih (Jurisprudence)…
And what is the point connecting all these? I asked…
This is the main topic of discussions, she said…
Hummm, I said to my self…
So, there is a main line, which is Islam? Who sponsors the meeting?
She said: the Woodrow Wilson Institute.
Well, well, I smiled, and told myself; I will go home, open up the Internet, and find out who is this institute…
And what is the main point, in brief, of this meeting? I asked…
She said: well, we should try to change some of the laws that restrict the women's freedom, and we should reduce the guardianship of the man…
Hummm, like what?
She said: like the right of custodianship of man over woman, and asking for equality for women, according to the Sedaw International Agreement…
I said: so you are required to market the Sedaw Agreement in Iraq, and replace the Islamic Sharee'a with it?
She said: No, not exactly, but we told them we do stick to our religion and principals, and cannot support such ideas…
Very well, when will you finish? I want to see you after the session… I said.
We have a lunch recess, and will go in in a little while, and shall not be long. This is the ending session…
****************************
My Kurdish friend came, and told me: I took permission from the director of the meeting, and will go into the Hall as watchers only, come on…
We sat in a corner of the hall, watching…
There was a directorate in the front, of women from various nationalities, but they were in agreement on one line, I mean; on a viewpoint they came to market to the minds and hearts of the participants. This is how I saw the case, when the boring, and embarrassing question came at the end of the conference, and every other conference of that type, a question asked to every participant, as if humbling her: come on, present your loyalty to us, we have brought you here, and served you lunches, and dinners…
Ha,ha,ha, by GOD, the picture does look like that. I participated in the Dead Sea Conferences, and have been subjected to this discomfiture. At that time, it was required from the head of each Society to recite the boring loyalty sentences: I promise that when I go back to Iraq, I will tell them that you are the best of people, will let the Iraqi people love you, and will gather a million signatures of solidarity with you, ha, ha, ha, and such empty talk, of the type conference organizers like to hear, and write in their reports to their bosses…
Of course, I wasn't the head of the Society, and my colleague said these words, and she meant them, because she believed this was her only means of keeping her organization alive, and perhaps gaining a few dollars to freshen up, personally, I mean; they are meant for the organization, but she will snatch them up, to improve the personal conditions of her life, as usual …
At the beginning, these types made me angry and sad, but by the passage of time, they made me laugh, feeling pity and sorry for them, the types of losers, opportunist humans, living on the margins of their societies, without a real influence on people's lives, because they lack truthfulness, and are filled with greed, so, how can they be representatives of their societies?
These types are eager for, and lie face down for the occupier, because he gives them importance, and put bets on them, to be his means of sneaking to people's minds and hearts…..
This is how I view my experience of working with the Iraqi Civil Society Organizations after the war…
Now, there is more than 5500 Civil Society Organizations, and this is a funny thing. Half of them, for example, are for widows and orphans, some are for talking about freedom and democracy, others for business men and women, for youth, the handicapped, looking after the families of martyrs, for defending human rights, and so…
These Societies and Organizations should be united under a big classification, and join as an alliance, so that their efforts can be united, and feel the seriousness of working among people, reaping evident fruits. Not like how things are moving now; each organization consists of 10 people, or more, or less, circling the labyrinths of financing, and seeking a way to survive, that will make them take illegitimate ways to earn money. Perhaps a big portion of the founders or members of these organizations aim at personal profits, not serving people, and that is because of the high unemployment rates in the post-war Iraq. All these negative issues land in the work of Civil Society Organizations, diverting a lot of them from their noble, natural course…..
*************************************
The name of the lady who administered the meeting was Halla, she was an old woman, with a face full of wrinkles, small eyes that indicate her owner is bossy, thin, unruly hair, and an accent that says she isn't American by origin. I thought she was Italian, because she destroyed the accent. I asked my friend, the Kurd: where is this lady from?
Iranian…
Oh, an Iranian? Then she is supposed to be from an Islamic country, coming to these meetings to address Muslim women, who, of course, would have turned away from a purely American spokeswoman…
The one beside her I knew, as she spoke, that she was Lebanese, her name was Fatima…, and the one beside her was an Iraqi woman I knew, (she wore an orange-colored veil in the Dead Sea, and now she was wearing a green veil); Zaynab Sewaegi, from Basra, a struggler opposing the Saddam regime, that is how the Americans from the Bush group introduce her. She lives currently in America, married to an American, supports the war on Iraq, for she sees it as a great war of liberation, which was worth all the casualties that befell Iraq and the Iraqis…
Of course, it is a matter of opinion….
Absent from the session was the Moroccan doctor, Fareeda Banany, who was angry about Islam and Al- Sharee'a. She traveled back in the morning, and from what I understood from the participants, that they quarreled with her a lot (had a conflict) about her ideas on Al- Sharee'a and Al-Fikih, and her constant criticism of these items. She wanted to convey a message to the women here that laws and rules dealing with women in the Islamic world should be changed, by opening the door to Ijtihad (interpretative judgment), because most of these laws was derived from Al-Fikih, and not from Al- Sharee'a (the Holy Quran). And Al-Fikih was put by men (like Al-Malikee, Al-Hanbalee, Al-Jaffa'ri,…), and as such, these men might be subject to mistakes in their Ijtihad, and it is time that we, women, should move to put pressure on the clergy in our countries to change these rules, and create new Ijtihads, more fair to woman.
***************************************
The Iranian lady, Halla, the administrator of the meeting, asked the participants to speak up their true opinions about what they saw and learned in the forum, without wasting time in giving their thanks…
But the participants fell to laughing, evading, wasting time in giving thanks and gratitude about the forum. I looked at them, one by one, and put myself in the position of the Iranian lady, Halla, as they presented their evaluation…
If I was in her shoes, I would have been angry, and frustrated, and by GOD, I do think this is what she felt, for she didn't receive a clear, decisive answer but from a few…
The majority was laughing, and evaded giving any clear opinion. I, as an Iraqi, understood perfectly they were flattering, and didn't voice their true opinions. Even my neighbor, whom I met before the ending session, said that the main idea of the forum didn't appeal to her, and she wasn't convinced with it, but in the Hall, as it was her turn to say her opinion, she said: Thank you for the efforts, we benefited a great deal…
I laughed and told my Kurdish friend: but this isn't her real opinion… either she was dissembling, or hiding what was in her heart, lest she would collide with the supervisors of the meeting, so she wouldn't be called- ungrateful, or for fear of being excluded from attending future forums and conferences…
This is the reality of the matter…
Do the women, the Iraqis or non-Iraqis, do they comprehend what is going on in the participant's minds?
Or are they just performing their duties, and that should be enough? Then they would represent their reports to their supervisors, about the success of the forum, how the Iraqi women accepted the revolutionary ideas against Al-Fikih, and Al- Sharee'a, and how will they go back to Iraq to perform an innovative social revolution….
Ha,ha,ha.
I do not know who is the naïve one in the equation, who is the one fooling the other, and using him? These broke American organizations, which come to market their ideas in our societies, or those Iraqi organizations who accept the invitation?
**************************************
There was an Iraqi journalist, who presented a polite, quiet interjection, she said- thank you for the forum, we did learn new things, but we do not want to give up our religion, nor our heritage…
And in a last interposition, an engineer from an Iraqi Islamic party, presented a clear, strong opinion. She said: In spite of the clashes with Dr. Fareeda Banany in the last four days, we did benefit from the forum, learned new issues, but we will not abandon our religion…
The Iranian Lady asked the women participants to give her a title of a topic for a coming forum, but in vain. They shattered her nerves with long, boring, meaningless sentences. More than one woman suggested a forum under the title: the Difference between Al-Fikih and Al- Sharee'a in Islam…
I fell into laughter; why would American women come from the Woodrow Wilson Institute to present explanations about the Islamic Sharee'a…
These points show the silliness and shallowness of this type of Muslim women, well then, you fool, the libraries of Baghdad are full of books, go and read; this is your religion, your people, and this is your future…
What can I say?
If I were one of the participants in this forum, I would have enjoyed embittering the lives of Halla, Zaynab, Fatima, and Fareeda, but unfortunately, I missed the chance, and it was evident they used the ignorance of the participants in a sensitive issue like this… some of them knew me, from the Dead Sea Conference days, and my writings about it, so, they wouldn't dare to invite me to join in such conferences or forums. They usually choose an easy game, when the participant has little knowledge and information, so they could pass on to her their great preaching ideas…
********************************
After we went out of the Hall, I stood by to be introduced to the journalist, and the engineer from the Islamic party, and we laughed a lot…
I knew other participants from the south, other than these two, but they evaded, and wouldn't declare their opinions frankly…
I said to them: why did you come to participate? Did you know about the subject?
They said: yes. We were hesitant, but some people advised us to go, so the field wouldn't be all clear for fools, or the flattering hypocrites. There should be a presence of Iraqi women who are mindful to defend and debate. They should know we are not parrots that can be taught, then go back to Iraq and repeat what they heard…
I laughed a lot, and felt a sense of victory. I told them: I do not fear for the Iraqi women, for most of them are smart, and can't be fooled…
We exchanged our addresses with each other, so we could form a continuous contact net between us… I told them: See how many benefits you gained by coming here? First of all, you heard the stale ideas they want to market for the Iraqi women: to implant the rebellion spirit against our husbands, fathers, and brothers, and against our religion and culture, the spirit of contempt against our Fikih and Sharee'a. But all this make us cling, with more determination, to our identity, make us stronger, and firmer, gaining the reward from GOD, The Lord of all Creatures, because we defended our religion. And we gained the acquaintance of new friends, with whom we can cooperate to help the Iraqis, and build Iraq the way we think will please our GOD, and our people…
We will keep in touch… we said our goodbyes with kisses, laughter, and sweet words…
I felt that Iraq was still O.K, in spite of the calamities…
As long as there were honest men… and honest women in Iraq, Iraq shall not be defeated…
****************************************
I saw an astonishing type, I want to talk about…
When I entered the hotel, and while I was talking to my former neighbor, one of the participants came forward, a woman wearing the traditional Iraqi Aba (long, black garment). Oh, how much I love this Aba, it reminds me of my mother, may GOD bless her soul…
She came, and I introduced myself to her. She said with a smile: I heard your name before…
I said: and who am I addressing?
She said: Dr. …….
Are you a Doctor in medicine? I asked.
No, she said. I am a Pharmacist…
Welcome, I said. Please be seated…
She said: no, I want to have lunch, then we can sit and talk…
I waited till the end of the session, then I met her outside the Hall, when everyone was having tea.
I asked her: What do you think of this forum? Do you think it is appropriate that an American organization should come along, interfere into our lives, and suggest to us how to think, and formulate our lives? Why don't we tell them that these are our private affairs, for us to change naturally when we wish, and without conflicting with our religion…
She said: not everything they said was wrong…
I asked: what do you mean?
She evaded, not wanting to tell her true viewpoint…
This is a type of Iraqi people who emerged after the war, a type I like to nudge, and provoke, to find out what is inside their minds…
I said: I mean; we have a heritage of 1400 years, which we can't easily omit…
She looked angrily to me: 1400 years of failure…
I looked at her, and fell to laughter, I said: why failure, my dear? The Arabs did not become a nation with power, effectiveness, and civilization until they embraced Islam, until they had the Faith….
She backed up, saying: oh, yes. In this, you are right. Then she slipped away from me…
I went to the women standing nearby, and asked: who was this woman?
They said: don't you know her? She was a member of the former National Assembly, a candidate in the list of Ahmed Al-Chalabi in this election, but she lost…
I said: do you mean this woman was in the former Iraqi Parliament? And she joined in formulating the Iraqi Constitution? This woman is an enemy to herself, an enemy to her people and culture, who put her there? Those in the Parliament are supposed to represent the spirit and intellect of their people, whom is she representing??
They laughed and said: these are the types of the new Iraq… Ha,ha,ha…
I felt astonished… why do you wear the Iraqi beautiful costume, and inside you despise Iraq, and what's in it?
This is just what made me angry… as for her opinions, she is free…
This is the time of imported freedom and democracy….
************************************
Then I saw another type…
A Women categorizing herself as one of the cultured women of Iraq, fashionable, sweet, and stylish. But someone threatened her, and she fled from Iraq…
She said they were the ancestralialists… and I found a campaign in the western newspapers that the cultured Iraqi women are targeted by the forces of the darkness, and the ancestralialists…
Then I opened the website of her women's organization … and I found they put their photos with the American Governor, Premer. They were very happy, one of them was almost going to lie on his chest…Ha,ha,ha. By GOD I am not making this up against them, the website is there in the Internet. I do not want to expose them, but they seem to be fools who didn't understand how to express the image of the new Iraqi women, so they thought that taking a memorial photo with Premer is an expression of happiness for liberating Iraq…
And that is why she received the threat from the ancestralialists…
She should thank GOD they didn't kill her. This is a sign of their being democratic, Ha,ha,ha.
And there are a number of Iraqi women like this one, who were killed for inconsiderateness, and the lack of assessment for the conditions, so they went victims of their foolishness…
They collaborated with the occupation forces in a clear and public manner… then, the western newspapers would write about them; oh, these were patriotic women who became victims of extremists…
The story isn't like this…these were reckless women who didn't comprehend how to behave during the dangerous and restless political and security conditions in Iraq after the war… and they paid the price with their lives…..
These are another type of Iraqi women….
******************************
I took with me some of the forum's pamphlets, about the sponsoring authority of this meeting…
I found it was the Woodrow Wilson Institute, with the RAND Institute…
I went back home, went on the Internet, and looked for the RAND Institute, and the answer was: one of the opinion and thought institutes that cooperate with the American intelligence and defense agencies, and they aid the military institute in handling the new challenges in the fields of terrorism and national security…
Meaning- on the ground of reality, the American army is occupying Iraq, tearing it apart, and destroying it, and institutes like RAND and others get in, to brain-wash the minds of Iraqi man and women, by passing through their policies by training members working in the Iraqi government, or non-governmental organizations…
Meaning- fastening the collar from every side….
This is the democracy-building strategy in the Middle East…
I saw the leaflet of the Woodrow Wilson Institute: they have a special program named: the Middle East program, it talks about Islam, Al- Sharee'a, and their relevance to the women-concerning laws, how to pass the Sedaw Agreement to become the referential of the Muslim women, instead of Al- Sharee'a and Al-Fikih, so that the Arabic and Islamic countries should put on the guise of democracy, and the modern age…
In the leaflet I found the names and pictures of the ladies who resided in the meeting today: Halla Asfandiyari, the Iranian, Fatima Kasem, the Lebanese, and Fareeda Banany, the Moroccan… I saw that all came from countries in the Arabic and Islamic worlds, they work in these institutes, letting themselves become tools into the hands of these institutes, to transfer thoughts from them, to the women of the Arabic-Islamic world…
I looked into the Internet to find more about Fareeda Banany. I found that she wrote a lot of analysis about the Verses of the Holy Quran, and the sayings of the Prophet, which respect the woman, her freedom, and dignity. Her speech should have been addressed to Men: this Islam is a great religion, it didn't unjustly treat the woman in any way, so, go back and hang on to it…
But her speech was the opposite: give up Islam, and hang on to the Sedaw Agreement for women's rights…
May GOD forgive her…
In the meeting, and the forum, I saw about 25 women; mostly from Iraq, one from Kuwait, one from Bahrain, and one from Yemen… they came to listen, and transfer the thoughts of Banany to the women of their homelands….
*******************************
Now I smile, and wonder: this American Administration is pathetic; they spend the American's money, or that of the Iraqi oil, to invade our countries, by waging military and political wars, then, they try to enter into our heads to dig up what's inside, then try to remove the "contents" of our minds, and exchange them with other thoughts suitable to them…
Ha,ha,ha…
Do they take us for fools?
Who is the one who deserves pity?
By GOD, I see Islam growing, triumphing, and prevailing, especially after the war on Iraq…
And these fools circle in endless labyrinths…
May GOD aid his believing subjects everywhere, and particularly in Iraq, giving them strength, and granting them victory….
And, may peace be upon you….
===========================
Translated by May/Baghdad.
Good morning….
With a heart loaded with sorrow at what is happening in Iraq, I met my friend, the Kurdish woman, who came in a short visit to Amman. She works in an organization concerned with cases of human rights in Iraq. I truly respect these organizations, for I see them more respectable than some thief organizations, who trick people, talking by the names of widows and orphans, to steal the donations money. My heart grew tired of them, and I no longer trust most of them. Now I send my personal donations, or whatever I receive from others, to poor families, or widows and orphans I know personally in Baghdad, outside Baghdad, or through one or two organizations, whom I trust the women in them, and see them respectable, and dedicated…
We decided to meet the next day to have lunch together, and talk about subjects concerning the Civil Society Organizations in Iraq…
On the next day she said, before lunch: let us go and see some ladies from various Iraqi cities, here in this hotel, who are in Amman to attend a forum about the Family Law, and the Personal Affairs Law…
And when I asked her about the responsible authority, or the sponsor of this activity, I knew among them the same Iraqi names that sponsored the Dead Sea Conference about the Iraqi Women leaderships…
So, I am to meet the same faces…
I told her: look, I do not like attending such activities, I do not want to meet anyone, for I have been to conferences like these, and heard a lot of empty words, I do not want to…
She said: so what, let us meet them and listen to what they say…
I hesitated, I didn't want to disturb my mood by seeing these people, for they were a group who chose a path different from mine. I do not pretend to be a hero, or a national leader, and they are scum, no. but I am tired of the empty talk, of wasting the money of the Iraqi or the American people, spent on hosting such conferences or meetings…
I always ask: what will it add?
There are hundreds of thousands of poor and hungry people in Iraq who need care, who deserve to have productive projects made available for their families, to provide for them a good life, and a restful future. As for spending the money on 5-star hotels, dinners, lunches, and plane tickets for Civil Society Organizations who live on the margins of the Iraqi's life, well; it is a disaster….
I discovered, when I went to Vermont to join the Peace Institute, that this is a problem from which most post-war societies suffer; as a budget ranging of about tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars annually is dedicated to sponsor conferences or meetings for members of Civil Society Organizations, which are, in fact, just talk about freedom, democracy, the political process, the elections, and lab…, lab…, lab…. and huge expenses on hotels, plane tickets, dinner and lunch meals, and endless absurdity…
While on the ground of reality, a post-war society needs real activities, on the ground, to treat the wounds of war, and its disasters, and to help thousands of bereaved families…
There is a lot of money, but there is a difference of opinion about how to spend this money…
This is the point of disagreement between me, and these people….
********************************
We went into the hotel; my friend said they were in the restaurant. I looked at the clock, it was about 2 pm. I didn't know it was so, and I was embarrassed, for we entered the restaurant while the ladies were having lunch…
One of them came forward to greet us, I found out she was my friend and neighbor in Baghdad. We greeted and kissed each other, I told her: I want to ask you about what you are doing here, so, did you finish your meal?
She said: yes, come along, let us go and sit on a separate table…
After we exchanged questions about our families and news, I asked her about the meeting.
She said: it is about the Family Law, and the Personal Affairs Law…
: Well then, any new matters?
She said: A doctor of law came from Morocco, her name is Fareeda Banany. She gave us lectures about the Moroccan experience, about the struggle of women there to get their rights, and she also talked about Islam and Al- Sharee'a (the Islamic doctrine), and Al-Fikih (Jurisprudence)…
And what is the point connecting all these? I asked…
This is the main topic of discussions, she said…
Hummm, I said to my self…
So, there is a main line, which is Islam? Who sponsors the meeting?
She said: the Woodrow Wilson Institute.
Well, well, I smiled, and told myself; I will go home, open up the Internet, and find out who is this institute…
And what is the main point, in brief, of this meeting? I asked…
She said: well, we should try to change some of the laws that restrict the women's freedom, and we should reduce the guardianship of the man…
Hummm, like what?
She said: like the right of custodianship of man over woman, and asking for equality for women, according to the Sedaw International Agreement…
I said: so you are required to market the Sedaw Agreement in Iraq, and replace the Islamic Sharee'a with it?
She said: No, not exactly, but we told them we do stick to our religion and principals, and cannot support such ideas…
Very well, when will you finish? I want to see you after the session… I said.
We have a lunch recess, and will go in in a little while, and shall not be long. This is the ending session…
****************************
My Kurdish friend came, and told me: I took permission from the director of the meeting, and will go into the Hall as watchers only, come on…
We sat in a corner of the hall, watching…
There was a directorate in the front, of women from various nationalities, but they were in agreement on one line, I mean; on a viewpoint they came to market to the minds and hearts of the participants. This is how I saw the case, when the boring, and embarrassing question came at the end of the conference, and every other conference of that type, a question asked to every participant, as if humbling her: come on, present your loyalty to us, we have brought you here, and served you lunches, and dinners…
Ha,ha,ha, by GOD, the picture does look like that. I participated in the Dead Sea Conferences, and have been subjected to this discomfiture. At that time, it was required from the head of each Society to recite the boring loyalty sentences: I promise that when I go back to Iraq, I will tell them that you are the best of people, will let the Iraqi people love you, and will gather a million signatures of solidarity with you, ha, ha, ha, and such empty talk, of the type conference organizers like to hear, and write in their reports to their bosses…
Of course, I wasn't the head of the Society, and my colleague said these words, and she meant them, because she believed this was her only means of keeping her organization alive, and perhaps gaining a few dollars to freshen up, personally, I mean; they are meant for the organization, but she will snatch them up, to improve the personal conditions of her life, as usual …
At the beginning, these types made me angry and sad, but by the passage of time, they made me laugh, feeling pity and sorry for them, the types of losers, opportunist humans, living on the margins of their societies, without a real influence on people's lives, because they lack truthfulness, and are filled with greed, so, how can they be representatives of their societies?
These types are eager for, and lie face down for the occupier, because he gives them importance, and put bets on them, to be his means of sneaking to people's minds and hearts…..
This is how I view my experience of working with the Iraqi Civil Society Organizations after the war…
Now, there is more than 5500 Civil Society Organizations, and this is a funny thing. Half of them, for example, are for widows and orphans, some are for talking about freedom and democracy, others for business men and women, for youth, the handicapped, looking after the families of martyrs, for defending human rights, and so…
These Societies and Organizations should be united under a big classification, and join as an alliance, so that their efforts can be united, and feel the seriousness of working among people, reaping evident fruits. Not like how things are moving now; each organization consists of 10 people, or more, or less, circling the labyrinths of financing, and seeking a way to survive, that will make them take illegitimate ways to earn money. Perhaps a big portion of the founders or members of these organizations aim at personal profits, not serving people, and that is because of the high unemployment rates in the post-war Iraq. All these negative issues land in the work of Civil Society Organizations, diverting a lot of them from their noble, natural course…..
*************************************
The name of the lady who administered the meeting was Halla, she was an old woman, with a face full of wrinkles, small eyes that indicate her owner is bossy, thin, unruly hair, and an accent that says she isn't American by origin. I thought she was Italian, because she destroyed the accent. I asked my friend, the Kurd: where is this lady from?
Iranian…
Oh, an Iranian? Then she is supposed to be from an Islamic country, coming to these meetings to address Muslim women, who, of course, would have turned away from a purely American spokeswoman…
The one beside her I knew, as she spoke, that she was Lebanese, her name was Fatima…, and the one beside her was an Iraqi woman I knew, (she wore an orange-colored veil in the Dead Sea, and now she was wearing a green veil); Zaynab Sewaegi, from Basra, a struggler opposing the Saddam regime, that is how the Americans from the Bush group introduce her. She lives currently in America, married to an American, supports the war on Iraq, for she sees it as a great war of liberation, which was worth all the casualties that befell Iraq and the Iraqis…
Of course, it is a matter of opinion….
Absent from the session was the Moroccan doctor, Fareeda Banany, who was angry about Islam and Al- Sharee'a. She traveled back in the morning, and from what I understood from the participants, that they quarreled with her a lot (had a conflict) about her ideas on Al- Sharee'a and Al-Fikih, and her constant criticism of these items. She wanted to convey a message to the women here that laws and rules dealing with women in the Islamic world should be changed, by opening the door to Ijtihad (interpretative judgment), because most of these laws was derived from Al-Fikih, and not from Al- Sharee'a (the Holy Quran). And Al-Fikih was put by men (like Al-Malikee, Al-Hanbalee, Al-Jaffa'ri,…), and as such, these men might be subject to mistakes in their Ijtihad, and it is time that we, women, should move to put pressure on the clergy in our countries to change these rules, and create new Ijtihads, more fair to woman.
***************************************
The Iranian lady, Halla, the administrator of the meeting, asked the participants to speak up their true opinions about what they saw and learned in the forum, without wasting time in giving their thanks…
But the participants fell to laughing, evading, wasting time in giving thanks and gratitude about the forum. I looked at them, one by one, and put myself in the position of the Iranian lady, Halla, as they presented their evaluation…
If I was in her shoes, I would have been angry, and frustrated, and by GOD, I do think this is what she felt, for she didn't receive a clear, decisive answer but from a few…
The majority was laughing, and evaded giving any clear opinion. I, as an Iraqi, understood perfectly they were flattering, and didn't voice their true opinions. Even my neighbor, whom I met before the ending session, said that the main idea of the forum didn't appeal to her, and she wasn't convinced with it, but in the Hall, as it was her turn to say her opinion, she said: Thank you for the efforts, we benefited a great deal…
I laughed and told my Kurdish friend: but this isn't her real opinion… either she was dissembling, or hiding what was in her heart, lest she would collide with the supervisors of the meeting, so she wouldn't be called- ungrateful, or for fear of being excluded from attending future forums and conferences…
This is the reality of the matter…
Do the women, the Iraqis or non-Iraqis, do they comprehend what is going on in the participant's minds?
Or are they just performing their duties, and that should be enough? Then they would represent their reports to their supervisors, about the success of the forum, how the Iraqi women accepted the revolutionary ideas against Al-Fikih, and Al- Sharee'a, and how will they go back to Iraq to perform an innovative social revolution….
Ha,ha,ha.
I do not know who is the naïve one in the equation, who is the one fooling the other, and using him? These broke American organizations, which come to market their ideas in our societies, or those Iraqi organizations who accept the invitation?
**************************************
There was an Iraqi journalist, who presented a polite, quiet interjection, she said- thank you for the forum, we did learn new things, but we do not want to give up our religion, nor our heritage…
And in a last interposition, an engineer from an Iraqi Islamic party, presented a clear, strong opinion. She said: In spite of the clashes with Dr. Fareeda Banany in the last four days, we did benefit from the forum, learned new issues, but we will not abandon our religion…
The Iranian Lady asked the women participants to give her a title of a topic for a coming forum, but in vain. They shattered her nerves with long, boring, meaningless sentences. More than one woman suggested a forum under the title: the Difference between Al-Fikih and Al- Sharee'a in Islam…
I fell into laughter; why would American women come from the Woodrow Wilson Institute to present explanations about the Islamic Sharee'a…
These points show the silliness and shallowness of this type of Muslim women, well then, you fool, the libraries of Baghdad are full of books, go and read; this is your religion, your people, and this is your future…
What can I say?
If I were one of the participants in this forum, I would have enjoyed embittering the lives of Halla, Zaynab, Fatima, and Fareeda, but unfortunately, I missed the chance, and it was evident they used the ignorance of the participants in a sensitive issue like this… some of them knew me, from the Dead Sea Conference days, and my writings about it, so, they wouldn't dare to invite me to join in such conferences or forums. They usually choose an easy game, when the participant has little knowledge and information, so they could pass on to her their great preaching ideas…
********************************
After we went out of the Hall, I stood by to be introduced to the journalist, and the engineer from the Islamic party, and we laughed a lot…
I knew other participants from the south, other than these two, but they evaded, and wouldn't declare their opinions frankly…
I said to them: why did you come to participate? Did you know about the subject?
They said: yes. We were hesitant, but some people advised us to go, so the field wouldn't be all clear for fools, or the flattering hypocrites. There should be a presence of Iraqi women who are mindful to defend and debate. They should know we are not parrots that can be taught, then go back to Iraq and repeat what they heard…
I laughed a lot, and felt a sense of victory. I told them: I do not fear for the Iraqi women, for most of them are smart, and can't be fooled…
We exchanged our addresses with each other, so we could form a continuous contact net between us… I told them: See how many benefits you gained by coming here? First of all, you heard the stale ideas they want to market for the Iraqi women: to implant the rebellion spirit against our husbands, fathers, and brothers, and against our religion and culture, the spirit of contempt against our Fikih and Sharee'a. But all this make us cling, with more determination, to our identity, make us stronger, and firmer, gaining the reward from GOD, The Lord of all Creatures, because we defended our religion. And we gained the acquaintance of new friends, with whom we can cooperate to help the Iraqis, and build Iraq the way we think will please our GOD, and our people…
We will keep in touch… we said our goodbyes with kisses, laughter, and sweet words…
I felt that Iraq was still O.K, in spite of the calamities…
As long as there were honest men… and honest women in Iraq, Iraq shall not be defeated…
****************************************
I saw an astonishing type, I want to talk about…
When I entered the hotel, and while I was talking to my former neighbor, one of the participants came forward, a woman wearing the traditional Iraqi Aba (long, black garment). Oh, how much I love this Aba, it reminds me of my mother, may GOD bless her soul…
She came, and I introduced myself to her. She said with a smile: I heard your name before…
I said: and who am I addressing?
She said: Dr. …….
Are you a Doctor in medicine? I asked.
No, she said. I am a Pharmacist…
Welcome, I said. Please be seated…
She said: no, I want to have lunch, then we can sit and talk…
I waited till the end of the session, then I met her outside the Hall, when everyone was having tea.
I asked her: What do you think of this forum? Do you think it is appropriate that an American organization should come along, interfere into our lives, and suggest to us how to think, and formulate our lives? Why don't we tell them that these are our private affairs, for us to change naturally when we wish, and without conflicting with our religion…
She said: not everything they said was wrong…
I asked: what do you mean?
She evaded, not wanting to tell her true viewpoint…
This is a type of Iraqi people who emerged after the war, a type I like to nudge, and provoke, to find out what is inside their minds…
I said: I mean; we have a heritage of 1400 years, which we can't easily omit…
She looked angrily to me: 1400 years of failure…
I looked at her, and fell to laughter, I said: why failure, my dear? The Arabs did not become a nation with power, effectiveness, and civilization until they embraced Islam, until they had the Faith….
She backed up, saying: oh, yes. In this, you are right. Then she slipped away from me…
I went to the women standing nearby, and asked: who was this woman?
They said: don't you know her? She was a member of the former National Assembly, a candidate in the list of Ahmed Al-Chalabi in this election, but she lost…
I said: do you mean this woman was in the former Iraqi Parliament? And she joined in formulating the Iraqi Constitution? This woman is an enemy to herself, an enemy to her people and culture, who put her there? Those in the Parliament are supposed to represent the spirit and intellect of their people, whom is she representing??
They laughed and said: these are the types of the new Iraq… Ha,ha,ha…
I felt astonished… why do you wear the Iraqi beautiful costume, and inside you despise Iraq, and what's in it?
This is just what made me angry… as for her opinions, she is free…
This is the time of imported freedom and democracy….
************************************
Then I saw another type…
A Women categorizing herself as one of the cultured women of Iraq, fashionable, sweet, and stylish. But someone threatened her, and she fled from Iraq…
She said they were the ancestralialists… and I found a campaign in the western newspapers that the cultured Iraqi women are targeted by the forces of the darkness, and the ancestralialists…
Then I opened the website of her women's organization … and I found they put their photos with the American Governor, Premer. They were very happy, one of them was almost going to lie on his chest…Ha,ha,ha. By GOD I am not making this up against them, the website is there in the Internet. I do not want to expose them, but they seem to be fools who didn't understand how to express the image of the new Iraqi women, so they thought that taking a memorial photo with Premer is an expression of happiness for liberating Iraq…
And that is why she received the threat from the ancestralialists…
She should thank GOD they didn't kill her. This is a sign of their being democratic, Ha,ha,ha.
And there are a number of Iraqi women like this one, who were killed for inconsiderateness, and the lack of assessment for the conditions, so they went victims of their foolishness…
They collaborated with the occupation forces in a clear and public manner… then, the western newspapers would write about them; oh, these were patriotic women who became victims of extremists…
The story isn't like this…these were reckless women who didn't comprehend how to behave during the dangerous and restless political and security conditions in Iraq after the war… and they paid the price with their lives…..
These are another type of Iraqi women….
******************************
I took with me some of the forum's pamphlets, about the sponsoring authority of this meeting…
I found it was the Woodrow Wilson Institute, with the RAND Institute…
I went back home, went on the Internet, and looked for the RAND Institute, and the answer was: one of the opinion and thought institutes that cooperate with the American intelligence and defense agencies, and they aid the military institute in handling the new challenges in the fields of terrorism and national security…
Meaning- on the ground of reality, the American army is occupying Iraq, tearing it apart, and destroying it, and institutes like RAND and others get in, to brain-wash the minds of Iraqi man and women, by passing through their policies by training members working in the Iraqi government, or non-governmental organizations…
Meaning- fastening the collar from every side….
This is the democracy-building strategy in the Middle East…
I saw the leaflet of the Woodrow Wilson Institute: they have a special program named: the Middle East program, it talks about Islam, Al- Sharee'a, and their relevance to the women-concerning laws, how to pass the Sedaw Agreement to become the referential of the Muslim women, instead of Al- Sharee'a and Al-Fikih, so that the Arabic and Islamic countries should put on the guise of democracy, and the modern age…
In the leaflet I found the names and pictures of the ladies who resided in the meeting today: Halla Asfandiyari, the Iranian, Fatima Kasem, the Lebanese, and Fareeda Banany, the Moroccan… I saw that all came from countries in the Arabic and Islamic worlds, they work in these institutes, letting themselves become tools into the hands of these institutes, to transfer thoughts from them, to the women of the Arabic-Islamic world…
I looked into the Internet to find more about Fareeda Banany. I found that she wrote a lot of analysis about the Verses of the Holy Quran, and the sayings of the Prophet, which respect the woman, her freedom, and dignity. Her speech should have been addressed to Men: this Islam is a great religion, it didn't unjustly treat the woman in any way, so, go back and hang on to it…
But her speech was the opposite: give up Islam, and hang on to the Sedaw Agreement for women's rights…
May GOD forgive her…
In the meeting, and the forum, I saw about 25 women; mostly from Iraq, one from Kuwait, one from Bahrain, and one from Yemen… they came to listen, and transfer the thoughts of Banany to the women of their homelands….
*******************************
Now I smile, and wonder: this American Administration is pathetic; they spend the American's money, or that of the Iraqi oil, to invade our countries, by waging military and political wars, then, they try to enter into our heads to dig up what's inside, then try to remove the "contents" of our minds, and exchange them with other thoughts suitable to them…
Ha,ha,ha…
Do they take us for fools?
Who is the one who deserves pity?
By GOD, I see Islam growing, triumphing, and prevailing, especially after the war on Iraq…
And these fools circle in endless labyrinths…
May GOD aid his believing subjects everywhere, and particularly in Iraq, giving them strength, and granting them victory….
And, may peace be upon you….
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Translated by May/Baghdad.
# posted by Faiza Al-Araji @ 4:16 pm 
