September 25, 2013, Baghdad, Iraq
We were received by one of the young Iraqi volunteers, who took us to
the hotel. As soon as we went out on Baghdad’s streets, I felt a sense of
familiarity. We drove to the hotel on the morning’s rush hour. We were
exhausted, but extremely happy to be in Baghdad. We hadn’t slept much, as our
flight was in the middle of the night. Baghdad had the air of any other of the
Arab capitals, Amman, Beirut, and Cairo; except for all the checkpoints and
military cars.
Once we got to the hotel, all our colleagues were already waiting; they
were really happy to see us. It was very emotional, a meeting of old and new
friends, that can’t believe they are reunited despite difficult conditions. We
joined part of the last day training on advocacy for Iraqi activists, some of
our colleagues from Spain had organized the training to strengthen the skills
of activists that are organizing campaigns for human rights in Iraq, teaching
them communication skills, listening, team work, and how to build strategies,
organize resources and identify needs.
The day was slow, with many of the international activists arriving at
different times. I stayed in the training listening to my colleagues from the
Save the Tigris campaign, and how they identified resources and needs, set
goals, and timelines, and then developed strategies to achieve the desired
goal.
Then, I went to take a nap, and then joined the group once more. The
young volunteers were ready and eager to help, if they saw that I was
listening, they will come close to me and started to translate what had being
said in Arabic.
If I try to describe these young Iraqis, they are not different to other
youth around the world. Well, the only difference might be that they have a
different appreciation about life. The sense that they are here today, but they
don’t know if they will be here tomorrow. They are children of the war, the
latest war; some of them were so young, that they might not remember how things
were before the war. Yet, this experience has transformed them into what they
are and what they believe, that Iraq can be a place of freedom and peace. You
only have to sit with them to feel their positive vibrations. Some days ago,
when I opened my Facebook, one of my Iraqi friends post read: Good Morning from
Baghdad of peace- Sabah al khair min
Baghdad al Salaam. I just smiled and I thought: this is why I have to go to
Baghdad.
I’m not saying there are no risks; there are risks in every decision you
make. When I went to Palestine, when I participated in a peaceful demonstration
in Beit Ommar that was teargased by Israeli soldiers, when I went to south
Iraq, Basra, Babel, Nasriya, Najaf, all these times there were risks, but I was
with locals and I felt protected by them. There is no sense of security that a
convoy, a tank, or armed guards can give you; on the contrary, they make you a
target. I felt safer wearing a hijab, or an abayah
(a traditional black women dress) and following the locals’ advice. Three
months ago, I was in Babel, and saw the Babilonian Lion, the Ishtar Gate (the
replica, the original is at a German museum), went to Ur, sat by the Euphrates
and the Tigris River, navigated on the Mesopotamian marshes, and felt
completely safe, trusting my colleagues and knowing they will put me in any
danger.
In the next few days I hope to see another Baghdad, a Baghdad full of
energy and hope, of dreams of peace and unity. That might not be the Baghdad
portrayed in the media, because what they mostly show is blood and killings. I
think the mainstream media will not show news of the Iraqi Social Forum, but I
will try to convey this other Baghdad through my experience, my thoughts and
feelings as I take part in this historic event with the slogan “Another Iraq is
Possible.”
