"Yes, But Sometimes No!"

The title line above is taken from an Arab movie, Morgan Ahmed Morgan, starring the famous Egyptian actor Adel Imam.

The reason i am using this title today is that it really expresses my idea about what takes place in Iraqi Kurdistan and other parts of Iraq every once in a while.

The reason behind today's topic is how a news item is used in different ways to serve different agendas that had nothing to do with the original news item. For example; two of my friends who are from the Iraqi Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya, took part in an International Legal competition some months ago, representing Iraq in this competition which was held in the USA.

They managed to get two good wins against an American and a New Zealander University, and they also won a special prize for representing the true Spirit of that Competition.

Again, we need to remember here that they were representing Iraq (as a whole), and they were both ladies from Sulaimaniya. They have gone through lots of difficulties to get the recently adopted starless Iraqi flag, and they managed to get it, and i highly commend them for that, yet it is not strange, because they know and believe that they represent Iraq, all of Iraq; or at least that's what i believe.

The team was supposed to consist of more participants from Basra as well, but due to logistic difficulties on both the Iraqi and US sides, it consisted only of those two young women.

Now, what happened is that the Arabic-speaking Iraqi media, which is always very busy with the violence that has been going on for the last years in Iraq, and also very busy with praising the sect or political group that media channel is connected to; what happened is that the Arabic-speaking media did not mention the Legal team's achievement whatsoever. So, the Kurdish-speaking media, and especially what is based in Sulaimaniya carried several reports about this, but in its own way.

The Kurdish media reports and articles that i read, agreed on one point: Not to mention that the two women have travelled those thousands of miles NOT to represent Kurdistan, BUT to represent Iraq from Zakho to Fao!

You see some reports, and they praise the "great Kurdish victory", while other reports used the occasion to criticize the Kurdish Regional Government for not taking better care of such talents.

Well, "yes", the two ladies are Kurds. They are proud of that, and we (even though we are not Kurds) also strongly encourage them to be proud of that, because there is no good in one who is not proud of his/her origin; but the "no" here is only to remind, point out, and emphasize that they represented all of Iraq, and all of its people, whether they were Kurds, Arabs, Turkomen, Sunnis, Shiites, Chrsitians, etc... Those newspapers and websites forgot, or perhaps never knew how they went to the US, and why; and that if there was no Iraq (as the newspapers and websites are implying) then there would have been no team, no win, and no prize to begin with!

I mean, come on... Imagine if those two women were Shiites... Wouldn't it be sort of silly to see the Shiite websites or channels cheer to them as "the two great representatives of Ahl-ul-Bayt's Shiites", who went to the end of the Earth and got the Muwalees this glory, which didn't come except under the shining light of the Ayatollahs!

Or, if they were Sunnis, then the Sunni websites and channels would have sung in praise of them as "the two blossoms of the blessed Sunna tree", and the grand-daughters of the Caliphs Omar and Othman who brought us the grand grandeur and won against the Americans and Kiwis with high foreheads!

Do you even find any flavour in that?!
Yes, the flavour of isolating one's self in a fully connected World. Anyone must never forget that they are part of a bigger picture, without which the smaller picture is not clear; and at the same time, the bigger picture is never complete without all parts of the mosaic.

But, if we come and say:
Here are those two Iraqi young women, who represented Iraq and honored its name amongst other countries, on the other side of the Planet; then think how nice it sounds, and how honoring it is, not only for them, but for everything they stand for, beginning from their being women and not ending at their being Kurds.

Seriously though; each of us must choose the right thing, not in a case like this, but in everything that is related to Iraq. Either we become big babies and deprive our partners in homeland the chance to rejoice our victories; or we become mature people who would take a step back and see the big picture in a full scale view.

It is needless to say that every Iraqi is dear to Iraq, whether this Iraqi was an old Kurdish man sitting under a tree in the Northernmost tip of Kurdistan, or a little girl playing under a datepalm tree south of Basra. They are Iraq's wealth, pride and honor.

So, "yes!". I am proud of any Iraqi achievement, for each Iraqi needs to be proud of what their countrymen and countrywomen achieve on any aspect; but "no!" when someone tries to show what a nation of many colors (a garden of many flowers) could be proud of as an ethnic or provincial achievement whereas it definitely isn't.

Think the Swiss way, and don't think the Yugoslav way!

Sevcan Orhan (Nazli Yar)

Soccer Disappointment

This week was a sad week on the world of Soccer. Iraq had lost a decisive match against Qatar (0-1); and Turkey (a favorite team of mine) lost 2-3 against Germany at the Euro2008 Semi-Finals.

Of course, there is no comparison between the way the Turks played (which was sort of miracoulus) and the way the Iraqis played.

It is a rule in Iraqi soccer that whenever our team needed getting out of the match with a draw, that we'd lose the match; and that is what happened on our match against Qatar on 22 Jun.

Going Up North

So, i will finally be going to Sulaimaniya tomorrow to meet all my friends there.
I am happy to go there and meet them all.
I miss the city, its people and residents.

It's nice to be back there again to visit Sulaimaniya, and just in time for the soccer match between Iraq & Qatar!

Iraq 2-1 China

We win again...

I Miss You All...

Nali, the famous Kurdish poet (1798-1855), was exiled away from his homeland, Kurdistan, when he wrote a poem as a letter to his friend, another famous Kurdish poet, Salim (1800-1866), in which he expressed his longing to be back to Kurdistan.

"

Explaining the pain of exile, this burning fire of separation inside
Melts my heart, slowly dripping like tears

Tell me has the day for my return now come,
or must I remain in this place forever?
"

This is a tribute to all my dear friends in Sulaimaniya, Kurds and Arabs; with a prayer that i may be able to see you again soon, as long and as often as you and i would please...

Until then, Khwa Hafeez / Massalama...

Iraq 1-0 Australia

We finally got a win!
Bravo Iraq!!!

BBC News Article: Flood threat to Iraq Shia shrines

Officials in the Iraqi city of Karbala say the mausoleum of Shia Islam's most revered leader is threatened with structural damage from flooding.

Engineers say water from leaking pipes has already reached the mausoleums of Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas.

The shrines lie about two and a half metres below the surrounding streets.

Research in 2000 revealed damage to the drinking water and sewerage systems inflicted in 1991 when Karbala was bombed during a Shia uprising.

Iraqi government engineers initially tried injecting 1,000 tonnes of cement around the two shrines to protect them from the water, says BBC religious affairs reporter Frances Harrison.

However, cavities in the soil meant the cement flowed in the wrong direction.

In 2003 a project was proposed to replace the old water and sewerage system near the shrines and build a huge underground wall around the shrines.

Officials from the Shia endowment department, which runs the shrines, refused government funds to finance the project saying they would pay for it themselves.

Asked why the work has not gone ahead yet the Director of Finance for the Imam Hussein shrine said he was still waiting for a complete design for the project.