Monday, December 25, 2006
Saturday, December 23rd, 2006
Peace be upon you…
I see that the present year is about to bid us goodbye, to leave...
In a few days, the Christmas holidays of the Christians will be on, and shortly after, Al-Adha Feast will arrive; the big feast of the Muslims.
The Iraqis no longer know the taste of these feasts, and what it tastes like to live in a city basking in peace and calm!
Iraq is burning with the fire of a stupid war, which left no house there unharmed, one way or another…
For the Iraqi families either lost some of its members by death, detention, kidnapping, or assassination, or the family run away leaving its house, neighbors, and memories, or else lost its livelihood method, and its financial conditions deteriorated from bad to worst…
And we are all being patient; each of us is patiently waiting for this fire to die down, for things to be fixed well, and the wheels of life to resume turning in a normal way; security, stability, jobs, schools and universities, students- boys and girls, and mothers and fathers and children living in houses that has water and electricity, who go out to markets, to clean, quiet streets, full of cars, and traffic lights that actually work…. These are the features of cities living normal lives…
But in Iraq, these features vanished little by little….
When will life there go back to its normal image?
Nobody knows…
Not even Bush, the hero, or his comrades who planned and waged the war upon us, not even they know when or how to get out of this impasse…
God only knows….
*********************
In these days, my sorrow grows… I don't know; maybe because I remember how I used to welcome the feast in the past, I mean- before the war upon Iraq, and I'm not alone, for this is perhaps the feeling of all Iraqi mothers like me…
I used to be so eager to buy the feast's cloths for all family members… to arrange a budget for the feast's sweets, chocolate, and juice… to clean the house, polish the furniture, wash the curtains, and clean the window panes… to wash the garage and tend to the garden with the flowers and plants in it… to go to the hairdresser to take care of my hair and nails, before the feast…
But now, I do none of these things…
Even when my sons were children, and we used to live in Amman, when the new year comes along, and the streets would see people carrying bells, dressed as Santa Claus, in red and white, my boys used to go crazy, shouting and begging; mama, papa, we want to get out and buy from that store…
Innocent children, and the storeowners were sly, they would lure fathers and mothers to grant the wishes of their sons and daughters. The equation is balanced, in which each has a certain role…
I used to buy them balloons, and a small x-mass tree with blinking lights, and a big Santa Claus doll to sit in a corner of the living room.
I never thought that these were Christian's rituals and we are Muslims… things were normal and calm, there was no stress or susceptibility from these things, like what is happening now…
Times changed, and so did people…
*************************
These days, the feast are drawing near, but my heart is sad… I am not the same person I was some years ago, my way of thinking changed a lot, and even my heart is not the same…
these days, my heart and mind are busy thinking about helping the Iraqi families which suffer a lot of disasters; there are families who lost their provider, or lost the sons, or lost the whole house and are living in a tent waiting to return home, families who have a wounded or a handicapped person without treatment, for there is no one to pay the costs of treatment. There are families who have nothing to eat, who do not have the bread of their day…
There are Iraqis still in prisons and detention centers; men and women, waiting for someone to take care of them, and help release them…
Yesterday, I looked at people here, in Amman, in one of the shopping malls; they were merry, music and songs played the loudest, the young laughed and had fun, mothers with their children carrying many parcels for the feast shopping… there were big TV screens in the stores playing video clips, of women singing and dancing half naked.
I felt very lonely; there is no common language between me and that atmosphere… I decided to move away quickly, because a headache started hammering in my head….
I thought; if every human felt the suffering of others, none of the injustice of the world would have taken place. If people can live united, each defending the other, they would never have given a chance to criminals and villains to succeed. If each family thought that "what is happening to others is my concern, I should stop the injustice inflicted against the others, and all families should live like us; in their houses with their children, happy, calm, and peaceful minded", then non of this injustice could have filled the world and spread…
People are living with the mentality of: Why should I be concerned?
The mentality of an ant, which sees none but a short distance a head…
They are surrounded by advertisements from all sides, to buy what is new, nice, and cheap; shoes, cloths, watches, perfumes, mobiles, jewels, furniture, electrical equipments, and…and…
The radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, and the Internet are all full of commercials to buy various products, tempting people, blinding their eyes… it keeps them rolling in an empty circle of selfishness and self-love, the love of buying and consuming, to forget something called- the suffering of the poor or the oppressed…
Who would care?
This is how people are raised these days, and people are the children of their time and era…
Or perhaps this happens in every time and era; that there some people who feel, care, and react, and there are others who do not know, or perhaps Do Not Want to know….
But I think that moving on in life and the difficult, harsh experiences might change some people, but others might remain the same.
As for me; I have changed a lot.
I thank God that this war, with all its vices, has taught me a lot, and changed me. It made me more loving to the poor, the oppressed, and those in need, more feeling of their sufferings… more willing to help them…
It made me pity those who haven't changed yet, who are still turning in their small, tight, selfish circle of life, thinking of none but themselves, and their needs, and desires…
I pity them, and ask God to open their eyes and hearts to see what's around them…
But in my daily life, I try to keep away from them, so they wouldn't upset my day with their small minds and selfish, whimsical temper…
I pray to God that the next year would be better than the one that has ended.
I pray to God that the next year would be a year of peace, calm, and settlement for the Iraqi people, and for every other people like them, suffering the calamities of a stupid war ignited by fools, which left the sane people at a loss how to extinguish it….
Many happy returns…
And may peace be upon you…
* * *
Peace be upon you…
I see that the present year is about to bid us goodbye, to leave...
In a few days, the Christmas holidays of the Christians will be on, and shortly after, Al-Adha Feast will arrive; the big feast of the Muslims.
The Iraqis no longer know the taste of these feasts, and what it tastes like to live in a city basking in peace and calm!
Iraq is burning with the fire of a stupid war, which left no house there unharmed, one way or another…
For the Iraqi families either lost some of its members by death, detention, kidnapping, or assassination, or the family run away leaving its house, neighbors, and memories, or else lost its livelihood method, and its financial conditions deteriorated from bad to worst…
And we are all being patient; each of us is patiently waiting for this fire to die down, for things to be fixed well, and the wheels of life to resume turning in a normal way; security, stability, jobs, schools and universities, students- boys and girls, and mothers and fathers and children living in houses that has water and electricity, who go out to markets, to clean, quiet streets, full of cars, and traffic lights that actually work…. These are the features of cities living normal lives…
But in Iraq, these features vanished little by little….
When will life there go back to its normal image?
Nobody knows…
Not even Bush, the hero, or his comrades who planned and waged the war upon us, not even they know when or how to get out of this impasse…
God only knows….
*********************
In these days, my sorrow grows… I don't know; maybe because I remember how I used to welcome the feast in the past, I mean- before the war upon Iraq, and I'm not alone, for this is perhaps the feeling of all Iraqi mothers like me…
I used to be so eager to buy the feast's cloths for all family members… to arrange a budget for the feast's sweets, chocolate, and juice… to clean the house, polish the furniture, wash the curtains, and clean the window panes… to wash the garage and tend to the garden with the flowers and plants in it… to go to the hairdresser to take care of my hair and nails, before the feast…
But now, I do none of these things…
Even when my sons were children, and we used to live in Amman, when the new year comes along, and the streets would see people carrying bells, dressed as Santa Claus, in red and white, my boys used to go crazy, shouting and begging; mama, papa, we want to get out and buy from that store…
Innocent children, and the storeowners were sly, they would lure fathers and mothers to grant the wishes of their sons and daughters. The equation is balanced, in which each has a certain role…
I used to buy them balloons, and a small x-mass tree with blinking lights, and a big Santa Claus doll to sit in a corner of the living room.
I never thought that these were Christian's rituals and we are Muslims… things were normal and calm, there was no stress or susceptibility from these things, like what is happening now…
Times changed, and so did people…
*************************
These days, the feast are drawing near, but my heart is sad… I am not the same person I was some years ago, my way of thinking changed a lot, and even my heart is not the same…
these days, my heart and mind are busy thinking about helping the Iraqi families which suffer a lot of disasters; there are families who lost their provider, or lost the sons, or lost the whole house and are living in a tent waiting to return home, families who have a wounded or a handicapped person without treatment, for there is no one to pay the costs of treatment. There are families who have nothing to eat, who do not have the bread of their day…
There are Iraqis still in prisons and detention centers; men and women, waiting for someone to take care of them, and help release them…
Yesterday, I looked at people here, in Amman, in one of the shopping malls; they were merry, music and songs played the loudest, the young laughed and had fun, mothers with their children carrying many parcels for the feast shopping… there were big TV screens in the stores playing video clips, of women singing and dancing half naked.
I felt very lonely; there is no common language between me and that atmosphere… I decided to move away quickly, because a headache started hammering in my head….
I thought; if every human felt the suffering of others, none of the injustice of the world would have taken place. If people can live united, each defending the other, they would never have given a chance to criminals and villains to succeed. If each family thought that "what is happening to others is my concern, I should stop the injustice inflicted against the others, and all families should live like us; in their houses with their children, happy, calm, and peaceful minded", then non of this injustice could have filled the world and spread…
People are living with the mentality of: Why should I be concerned?
The mentality of an ant, which sees none but a short distance a head…
They are surrounded by advertisements from all sides, to buy what is new, nice, and cheap; shoes, cloths, watches, perfumes, mobiles, jewels, furniture, electrical equipments, and…and…
The radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, and the Internet are all full of commercials to buy various products, tempting people, blinding their eyes… it keeps them rolling in an empty circle of selfishness and self-love, the love of buying and consuming, to forget something called- the suffering of the poor or the oppressed…
Who would care?
This is how people are raised these days, and people are the children of their time and era…
Or perhaps this happens in every time and era; that there some people who feel, care, and react, and there are others who do not know, or perhaps Do Not Want to know….
But I think that moving on in life and the difficult, harsh experiences might change some people, but others might remain the same.
As for me; I have changed a lot.
I thank God that this war, with all its vices, has taught me a lot, and changed me. It made me more loving to the poor, the oppressed, and those in need, more feeling of their sufferings… more willing to help them…
It made me pity those who haven't changed yet, who are still turning in their small, tight, selfish circle of life, thinking of none but themselves, and their needs, and desires…
I pity them, and ask God to open their eyes and hearts to see what's around them…
But in my daily life, I try to keep away from them, so they wouldn't upset my day with their small minds and selfish, whimsical temper…
I pray to God that the next year would be better than the one that has ended.
I pray to God that the next year would be a year of peace, calm, and settlement for the Iraqi people, and for every other people like them, suffering the calamities of a stupid war ignited by fools, which left the sane people at a loss how to extinguish it….
Many happy returns…
And may peace be upon you…
* * *
# posted by Faiza Al-Araji @ 5:13 pm 
