An Arab Woman Blues - Reflections in a sealed bottle...
Who am I ? The eternal Question . Have not figured it out fully yet . All you need to know about me is that I am a Middle Easterner, an Arab Woman - into my 40's and old enough to know better. I have no homeland per se. I live in Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Egypt simultaneously ... All the rest is icing on the cake. /Copyrights reserved, 2006-2007
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Layla Anwar
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Picture :A Sumerian Cuneiform that you have looted and destroyed.
Posted by Layla Anwar at 11:33 PM
54 comments:
someone said...
What about the Persians ? Unlike the Yanks, they do have a history, and a long one, and yet they are as much, if not more, eager to destroy and "swallow" yours.
Maybe you should blame your "ancient deities" for creating your homeland so beautiful that everyone desires her and so few real men in an Arab world of eunuchs willing to defend her honor.
18/9/07 1:42 AM
Amre El-Abyad said...
Ramadan Kareem Ya Layla
"A Sumerian Cuneiform that you have looted and destroyed".
I just wonder why such horrible crime against human heritage hasn't turned U.N, UNESCO upside down, and outraged all those civilsed sophisticated art lovers.
When the Talibans destroyed the Buhdist statues, the entire world was charged against Muslims who were wrecking the common heritage of humanity-but when the Americans wreck, destroy and lute the world's greatest and oldest heritage, the issue is regarded as trivial.
All the peace lovers, NGOs, ****in international community, global citizens, students, animal lovers and bird watch organizations, dont find the crime much worthy their attention.
you said it once in reply, we are the black sheep.....I would rather go for being a black slave in South Carolina in 1854 than being an Arab in 2007
18/9/07 1:43 AM
Linda said...
I cringe to be one of the people you so rightly despise. My shame knows no bounds. I agree with everything you said. I'm so sorry.
18/9/07 6:20 AM
Little Deer said...
Brilliant, Layla!
What these savages, whom you have so aptly described, have done to Iraq is just mind-boggling. In addition to killing, maiming, raping Iraqi people, in addition to destroying the infrastructure, the entire SOVEREIGN land of Iraq, in addition to murdering its LEGITIMATE LEADER, etc., the recent report by Robert Fisk on what has been done to Iraq's ancient monuments, left me thoroughly depressed yesterday. I am convinced that this is DELIBERATE, an attempt to wipe out everything Iraqi - and those Iraqis who assist these savages to destroy what is ancient are guilty of the worst ever crime. At NO POINT in the history of mankind has such destruction been witness, so what does it say about the US? Scum, scum and scum - they are not fit to exist among the rest of humanity.
It's not just you and the rest of Iraqis who can't stand the sight or the sound of these robots - it's a feeling that is spreading world wide.
In solidarity.
18/9/07 7:53 AM
Layth said...
Dear Layla,
The Apache, Blackfoot, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Sioux, Lakota, Pueblo and so many others (all murdered) had discovered long before we ever did what type of satanic people had come to invade their shores.
Iraq has only brought out the true face of the beast, it has always been there, and will always be there until it is destroyed by humanity for the sake of humanity.
18/9/07 10:27 AM
Alurdunialhurr said...
Laila ,,Have you seen this by Naomi KleinIt's must see video.
18/9/07 10:38 AM
LostHere said...
Layla, I will not presume to know what have you gone through, nor will I say anything to excuse or defend the perpetrators. If you hate USAmericans and perhaps some or all of western, so called International comunities, that is your prerogative , and I am sorry that humanity by their actions engender such hate. Not a path for peace and understanding... My comment here is, YES, the USA and their imperialistic ways had broken the gate, so to speak, to permit the flooding waters that obviosly were contained, in Iraqi society. It's my impression now that it's Iraqies and Persians along USAmericans the ones doing all the killing and destroying. There is much blame on Iraqis themselves for what is happening in the ground now.
Since it's your blog, and one where you so eloquently (and in beautiful prose, may I add) inform us of the realities in your life, you may say what ever you want, but I dare ask, at what point should you start "blaming" your fellow Iraqis for the destruction and genocide that is taking place? And I don't mean to leave the USA and international, so called, coalition blameless, but they are not the only ones.
Yes, I realize that without the US intervention there, Iraq had a "gatekeeper" in the vision of Saddam Hussein, but history is that way, where water is contained there is an immense pressure to free itself. The same could be said about ethnic tides...
One of the thoughts that often come to me is "could it be that Iraq was never meant to be?" I mean, taking into consideration all the ancient cultural inhabitants of the Mesopotamian land, the fact is that Iraq itself was a product of the same group of nations that are now trying to break it up... is it not so?
Thank you
18/9/07 4:42 PM
yelow said...
Hate me or not. I would rather have 10 people like you around me, than 1 who doesn't have the balls to speak their mind.
18/9/07 7:47 PM
Contrarian said...
So by your reasoning, you are resonsible for everything Saddam did in your country.
18/9/07 9:47 PM
Layth said...
To Lost,
Yes, I agree with you to an extent, Iraqis ARE to blame. However, they are to blame for different reasons than what you think.
Iraqis are to blame for not fighting the initial push of the occupation in 2003. Iraqis are to blame for abondoning their posts and their leadership, each to save his own skin. Iraqis are to blame for collaborating with the occupation and forming puppet governments and participating in puppet elections. Iraqis are to blame for not resisting the occupation and not fighting to liberate the land now that it has been lost.
Iraqis are to blame... But the only blame they carry is that they did not and do not put a bullet in the scum US & Co troops and their masters.
18/9/07 10:10 PM
Layla Anwar said...
Amre Al Abyad,
Ramadan Mubarak to you - no not Hosny :-)
I agree with you 100%. Was thinking exactly the same thing this morning. The Bamyan Buddhas led to an uproar in the international community.
Imagine for one minute that the Tower of Pisa in Italy, or Florence, or The Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and the Versailles Palace in France , or the Al Hambra in Spain or the Taj Mahal in India or any other place are destroyed the way Iraqi monuments, sites and museums have been...
I bet you anything, UNESCO will order an international peacek keeping force to save the above...
But when it comes to Iraq - the silence drives me crazy.
18/9/07 10:25 PM
Layla Anwar said...
Dear Layth,
Of course I have not forgotten the native americans, but I think we have been forgotten...
I agree with your reply to Lost.
Salam
18/9/07 10:27 PM
Layla Anwar said...
Lost,
You said :
"One of the thoughts that often come to me is "could it be that Iraq was never meant to be?" I mean, taking into consideration all the ancient cultural inhabitants of the Mesopotamian land, the fact is that Iraq itself was a product of the same group of nations that are now trying to break it up... is it not so?"
For your info, IRAQ comes from the Word URUK. Uruk is the ancient sumerian name for Iraq and was the capital of Sumer...
So there is your reply.
18/9/07 10:28 PM
soul in torment said...
Dear Layla, may I ask you a personal question ?
What is that still keeps someone who has become convinced that everything she has loved and believed in "is going down", "is all over", "will never be the same again" etc. from madness, suicide or, worst of all, desertion ?
Where do you draw your strength from ?
I DESPERATELY need to know ..
Thank you from the heart.
Regards.
18/9/07 11:04 PM
curt said...
It's called genocide. The worst possible crime there is.
18/9/07 11:35 PM
LostHere said...
Layla
The name Iraq perhaps comes from Uruk, perhaps not, but there is no question that Uruk was the capital city of Summer, and it's well established that the Sumerian civilization originated in that land of Mesopotamia... but there has been many rains since then, and many other civilizations and "dynasties" have ruled those lands.
Territories throughout history are as shifting as the dessert sands, and we know of those lands under Babylonian, Akkadian, Assyrian, Persian, Hellenic, Turk... civilizations, but it's my understanding that what is Iraq today was formed by dividing the Ottoman empire and it was during the British occupation that the north and south were added to Baghdad to form today's territories... And that is what I was referring to in my original post. I am certainly not going to argue with you the history of your land, you seemed a lot more educated than I will ever be, but can't close your senses to other parts of the history even if they are not well liked. Persians obviously had a good claim to large parts (if not all) of actual Iraq territories, and I could be very wrong here, but it seems to me that today's Iraq have a lot more in comon with the Caliphates culture than with ancient Sumerian.
Of course all this has nothing to do with what you were talking about, there is no doubt that the USA aggressive behavior towards Iraq since 1990, culminating with this illegal and extremely corrupted invasion and occupation is the root of all the calamities affecting Iraq today. Regardless of who are the perpetrators of genocide, it is still genocide.
Layth, I also agree with you on your response... to a degree. The fact is, that some of the Iraqi people (in self exile most of them, I must say) were accomplices from the beginning. Many others, as you said are guilty of not defending their country (for whatever reasons), but what I was commenting about is, as you know, about the Iraqis that are fighting their brother Iraqis for their own purpose. At the end of the day, and when neither one of us remains alive, history will write about the brutal occupation by the US, (Perhaps one that it ended with the US forces being expelled but the Nation of Iraq forever fractured, and by Nation I am not referring to the geography but the people)and about the subsequl
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22/9/07 10:32 PM
curt said...
Quote by the Frenchman Georges Clemenceau:
America is the only nation in history which miraculously has gone directly from barbarism to degeneration without the usual interval of civilization.
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