The Great Wall of Segregation...
...Which is the wall the current Iraqi government is building (with
the support and guidance of the Americans). It's a wall that is
intended to separate and isolate what is now considered the largest
'Sunni' area in Baghdad- let no one say the Americans are not building
anything. According to plans the Iraqi puppets and Americans cooked
up, it will 'protect' A'adhamiya, a residential/mercantile area that
the current Iraqi government and their death squads couldn't empty of
Sunnis.
The wall, of course, will protect no one. I sometimes wonder if this
is how the concentration camps began in Europe. The Nazi government
probably said, "Oh look- we're just going to protect the Jews with
this little wall here- it will be difficult for people to get into
their special area to hurt them!" And yet, it will also be difficult
to get out.
The Wall is the latest effort to further break Iraqi society apart.
Promoting and supporting civil war isn't enough, apparently- Iraqis
have generally proven to be more tenacious and tolerant than their
mullahs, ayatollahs, and Vichy leaders. It's time for America to
physically divide and conquer- like Berlin before the wall came down
or Palestine today. This way, they can continue chasing Sunnis out of
"Shia areas" and Shia out of "Sunni areas".
I always hear the Iraqi pro-war crowd interviewed on television from
foreign capitals (they can only appear on television from the safety
of foreign capitals because I defy anyone to be publicly pro-war in
Iraq). They refuse to believe that their religiously inclined,
sectarian political parties fueled this whole Sunni/Shia conflict.
They refuse to acknowledge that this situation is a direct result of
the war and occupation. They go on and on about Iraq's history and how
Sunnis and Shia were always in conflict and I hate that. I hate that a
handful of expats who haven't been to the country in decades pretend
to know more about it than people actually living there.
I remember Baghdad before the war- one could live anywhere. We didn't
know what our neighbors were- we didn't care. No one asked about
religion or sect. No one bothered with what was considered a trivial
topic: are you Sunni or Shia? You only asked something like that if
you were uncouth and backward. Our lives revolve around it now. Our
existence depends on hiding it or highlighting it- depending on the
group of masked men who stop you or raid your home in the middle of
the night.
On a personal note, we've finally decided to leave. I guess I've known
we would be leaving for a while now. We discussed it as a family
dozens of times. At first, someone would suggest it tentatively
because, it was just a preposterous idea- leaving ones home and
extended family- leaving ones country- and to what? To where?
Since last summer, we had been discussing it more and more. It was
only a matter of time before what began as a suggestion- a last case
scenario- soon took on solidity and developed into a plan. For the
last couple of months, it has only been a matter of logistics. Plane
or car? Jordan or Syria? Will we all leave together as a family? Or
will it be only my brother and I at first?
After Jordan or Syria- where then? Obviously, either of those
countries is going to be a transit to something else. They are both
overflowing with Iraqi refugees, and every single Iraqi living in
either country is complaining of the fact that work is difficult to
come by, and getting a residency is even more difficult. There is also
the little problem of being turned back at the border. Thousands of
Iraqis aren't being let into Syria or Jordan- and there are no
definite criteria for entry, the decision is based on the whim of the
border patrol guard checking your passport.
An airplane isn't necessarily safer, as the trip to Baghdad
International Airport is in itself risky and travelers are just as
likely to be refused permission to enter the country (Syria and
Jordan) if they arrive by airplane. And if you're wondering why Syria
or Jordan, because they are the only two countries that will let
Iraqis in without a visa. Following up visa issues with the few
functioning embassies or consulates in Baghdad is next to impossible.
So we've been busy. Busy trying to decide what part of our lives to
leave behind. Which memories are dispensable? We, like many Iraqis,
are not the classic refugees- the ones with only the clothes on their
backs and no choice. We are choosing to leave because the other option
is simply a continuation of what has been one long nightmare- stay and
wait and try to survive.
On the one hand, I know that leaving the country and starting a new
life somewhere else- as yet unknown- is such a huge thing that it
should dwarf every trivial concern. The funny thing is that it's the
trivial that seems to occupy our lives. We discuss whether to take
photo albums or leave them behind. Can I bring along a stuffed animal
I've had since the age of four? Is there room for E.'s guitar? What
clothes do we take? Summer clothes? The winter clothes too? What about
my books? What about the CDs, the baby pictures?
The problem is that we don't even know if we'll ever see this stuff
again. We don't know if whatever we leave, including the house, will
be available when and if we come back. There are moments when the
injustice of having to leave your country, simply because an imbecile
got it into his head to invade it, is overwhelming. It is unfair that
in order to survive and live normally, we have to leave our home and
No comments:
Post a Comment