For the next 2 days the workshop will open a discussion about laws and regulation in Iraq that concerns freedom of speech and censorship laws. Bloggers will work together to discuss new media applications and technologies and how they can use it to share information and building each other’s blogging networks and capabilities. The conference in held by help of IMS and HR institutes to develop new media in Iraq.

Several Arab and Iraqi bloggers had sent a video message that will be shared during the lectures, and several speakers will discuss media, freedom of speech and blogging.

wameeth@gmail.com

67 years ago, in Japan, “THE LITTLE BOY” didn’t mean innocence; it meant damage, pain and suffering. It wasn’t blue and wasn’t white, it was black and grey with spots of red all over the place. And most importantly it wasn’t a toy, it was the bomb that vanished Hiroshima!

It took only 60 seconds to kill 30% of the total population of Hiroshima, 90% of their doctors and 70% of their buildings were instantly turned into ash. Experts predicted it would take a city wiped off the map decades to ever be the same.

Three to four years after the A-bomb, Hiroshima rose from the ashes!

After all, naming a bomb that killed thousands of children “the little boy” wasn’t that cruel. It gave the Japanese the hope of a new start that a “little boy” can have while riding his bicycle for the first time. Each fall showed him the mistakes, which he should never repeat again. And instead of crying, he smiles and tries again and again until the day comes when he can let the winds wipe away all his painful memories as he ride his bicycle as fast as a bicycle can be ridden.

The people in Hiroshima couldn’t fight death, burns or diseases from the radiation, but they certainly could fight fear, despair and negativity. They knew that with hope and faith, everything is possible. They believed in the power of the human willingness, determination and his ability to recover. When people told them “the glass is half full”, they disagreed and refused to settle for anything less than a “full glass”!

As an Iraqi, my left and right brain sides are always in dispute.

My left side thinks we can never be Hiroshima, Iraq can never be the same, the damage can never be undone, the hurt and pain that each Iraqi carries over their shoulders can never be lifted and that we will have to live with the shame of not recovering forever. My left side thinks peace and happiness have left Iraq long ago, and he insists that they will never come back again. He reminds me every day of our mistakes as Iraqis, as a government and as humans.

And whenever someone asks me “where are you from?” he nags me to deny being an Iraqi, he screams loudly the names of the children who were killed by the Iraqis themselves, he sings the wedding songs of the newly weds who were killed on their wedding nights, and sometimes, he makes me listen to the Iraqi mothers telling their stories which always start with tragedy and end with uncertainty. And when I remind him of Hiroshima, with a voice full of rage and anger, trying to hold on to my last piece of hope, quietly he says “but we are Iraqis, we can never do the same!”

Then…just then, my right side wakes up, with his loud silence, reminding me of the days of Hulagu, when he raped, destroyed and shuttered Baghdad. The days when instead of giving up, Baghdad ran and took the hands of her history, medicine, astronomy and mathematics and hidden them inside of her, under her streets and between her walls, turning her rivers into a blue water which she later generously let us drink.

She was smart enough to know that with sword and hatred, you might be able to kill people, damage houses, or even make a city vanish! But she was sure that they could never erase our history, wipe away our culture. That the smell of smoke cannot replace the delicious smell of our tea, and no matter how bitter our pain is, we can never forget how sweet our date once tasted.

I still believe in Baghdad, in Hiroshima!
I refuse to settle for half-solutions, half governments, and that Iraqis will always live with half happiness, half satisfaction and that sometimes they only get to live half a life!
I still want to believe that I will not settle for half a country, I won’t get to choose between south and north, Sunni or Shia, I will never follow half a religion!
And no matter what my left-brain side says, I try to hold on, as hard as I can, to the belief that my right side will always be RIGHT.

raq has been one of the deadliest countries in the world for journalists since 2003….this did not improve in spite of the new freedom of speech and many international reports documented attacks on media and its people in Iraq .. according to gulf center for human rights many journalists pay heavy price for their words , it said in an articel in in 16th of jan 2012

On 2 January 2012, Al-Sabah, a State-owned daily newspaper based in Baghdad announced that it had dismissed the head of the cultural section, Ahmed Abdulhossain and journalist Ahmed Hossain, who also writes for the cultural section from their employment. Their dismissal comes less than a month after the Editor-in –Chief Abdulsatar Al-Baithany was fired from his position with Al-Sabah.

The dismissals of the three journalists took place without any prior warning to them and no procedure of investigation was followed

The three journalists were dismissed under a direct order of Mohammed Al-Shaboud, director of the Iraqi Information Network supported by Ali Salamn, head of the trustee council for the Iraqi Information Network.GCHR believes that the three journalists Ahmed Abdulhossain, Ahmed Hossain, and Abdulsatr Al-Baithany have been targeted because of their writings in the Al-Sabah newspaper and as a result of the legitimate exercise of their right to freedom of expression. GCHR also believes that the dismissal from their positions is directly linked to such writings and considers the dismissal as a shameful effort by the Iraqi government to curb the rights to freedom expression and the freedom of the press. GCHR calls on the Iraqi government to meet its human rights obligations and stop targeting journalists in Iraq and should ensure that the right to freedom of expression is respected.

links

http://www.gc4hr.org/news/view/57

http://www.alsumarianews.com/ar/iraq-insights/-4-35582.html

by wamith alkassab ..

wameeth@gmail.com

Earlier this week declared Wuterich is guilty of misconduct, and Tuesday he met in court at the military camp Pendleton near San Diego in California to find out the sentence.

He was initially sentenced to 90 days in jail, but do not have to zone as a result of an agreement he made with the military prosecutors. Instead, he was demoted to Private.Prosecutors have emphasized that the 31-year-old lost control after seeing a comrade killed in a bomb explosion in the Iraqi town of Haditha 19 November 2005.

It is a big shock to iraqi people that the ministry of human rights is planning to call for appeal ,,the victims families can not understand how this just happened …many in iraq thought that the legal system in US  is better than iraq ,but to act with such disregard of the death of all those people makes them lose faith in the democratic system that they “brought” to Iraq.

wamith al-kassab

wameeth@gmail.com

When I was a little girl, I used to believe in angels, magic and that everyone is going to heaven!
I used to think that if I’m in danger, angels will save me!
And if I’m having a bad day, it is ok ,
because I’ll end up in heaven.

I’ve never felt sorry about kids with no parents, or my friend, that girl with big glasses at school who everyone used to laugh at.
Because no matter what happens, God will take them to heaven.

When I caught my mum crying after my grandma passed away, I didn’t even try to cheer her up
I though: oh it can’t be that bad, God knows she’s mad,
and he’ll take care of it, isn’t that’s why he invented heaven?
So that kids with no parents can have a shoulder to cry on when they’re sad?
So that my friend, the girl with big glasses at school who everyone used to laugh at, can actually laugh one day? Not out of misery, not out of shame, out of happiness and out of joy
So She can pick up the tiny pieces of her dreams off the floor, the dreams that everyone tried to destroy?
And that one day, instead of remembering her as the girl with big glasses at school who everyone used to laugh at,
she can be remembered as the most beautiful ,smart ,funny girl who knew no matter what happens, god will take us to heaven!

Now I’m not a little girl no more, I know that there’s no magic, there’s no angels…and probably there’s no heaven!
I know that kids with no parents, will have pain, sorrow and tears
And at the end of the night, there will be no one to whisper goodnight in their ears.
And when I think of my friend, I still remember her as the girl with big glasses at school who everyone used to laugh at!

Now, I know that life can be hard…it can be tragic,
and I can guarantee you, there’s no fairy tales and there’s no magic!

And that life can be an awful song, with bad rhymes that you have to listen to every morning!
But you have to sing it anyway, and sing it loud until your ears fall in love with what they’re hearing.

I tasted the bitterness and I’m still striving to taste the sweet.
I gave pieces of my heart away more than once without asking for anything, and I was like: hey, that’s my treat!
When I was close to the edge and about to fall, I reached out to life,
and instead of taking my hand she gave me an earthquake
I looked up and said no no, don’t expect me to fall…not that quick!

Life, tried to shake my faith, as hard as she could, and you know what! some of my faith is lost now
But As a grown up women, I still play hide and seek and merry go rounds
I hide from pain and seek comfort under my mum’s arms.
I run away from the people I don’t like and around the ones I love.

And if you’re having a bad day, I’ll tell you don’t worry, it is ok
Cause no matter what happens, god will take us to heaven!

Today in Baghdad  the Iraqi people celebrated the memory of the great iraqi sculptural  Jawad Salim, the clebration was orgnize by Al-mada   Foundation  of information  culture and the arts in collaboration with the secretariat of Baghdad on Friday night in Tahrir Square under the Monument of Liberty by the late Jawad Salim on the occasion of the passage of half a century of his death where the ceremony was attended by a large number of political figures, cultural and artistic by playing pieces of the music by Iraqi  Symphony and  reading poetic pieces in his honer ,this was a message from the people to the world that in spite of all the violence in Iraq they still believe in hope ,art and better live and future

You can see an Arabic copy of the new regulation below, it consist of 4 paragraphs, each one is restricting wearing certain clothes and shoes to females employed in the ministry and signed by the women affairs coordinator.

I have set up an e-petition urging the British Government to recognize the Genocide inflicted upon the Kurdish population by the former regime of Saddam Hussein.

If we get 100,000 signatures than they will debate this cause in the British Parliament, thus please sign and pass on your petition.

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/25526

I would like to thank you all for the support and for being a friend to Kurdistan.

Laween Atroshi

As a British – Born Kurdish Health professional whereby having graduated in the cutting edge field of Biomedical Informatics I wanted to prove locally, nationally and internationally that this is not an accurate reflection of the Kurdish people.

Indeed, after visiting Kurdistan for the first time in July 2011 & October 2011 it was quite hard not to notice the wealth of talent, determination and skills that stem from the Kurdish professionals.

After visiting different universities and hospitals it was clear professionals and the youth were very dynamic and keen to grow. Moreover, the influx of girls being encouraged to study and work was overwhelming and an area that carries my support. As with any system, there will be flaws but a reform is happening and I always think of the saying ‘Rome was not built in a day’.

My message to my fellow Kurds has always been to study and utilize the knowledge gained effectively and contribute it back to Kurdistan. For Kurdish Anfal recognition I started an e-petition on the British Government website urging them to recognize and remember the Kurdish Anfal. Indeed,www.ekurd.net the weapon of defense for our forefathers was riffles but now it’s the pen and it should be used to protect Kurdistan and show the world the talent this forgotten nation holds.

However, actions speak louder then words so I nominated the Slemani Autism Centre a project initiated by a non-political NGO called Kurdistan Save The Children working collaboratively with the Ministry of Labour & Social Affairs for the most prestigious award of public service from the United Nations. This is the first time in history that Iraq has been nominated for such an award and my rationale for doing so was because it promotes and integrates disability into society. it acts as a platform to encourage community partnership & serves as an educational tool in reforming the stigmatization of disabilities.

We may not win the award but at least we are striving hard to try and compete intellectually at that platform and will be recognized for attempting.

Kurdistan may not be independent at the moment but by working collaboratively as one voice we can claim independence at other channels, nationally and internationally which will gradually lead to Kurdistan’s independence by having people informed on our capabilities and peaceful rich culture.

Thus, as Kurds we must never give up, never be pessimistic and always support each other and aim high, with the hope we may become recognized for our good qualities and talented workforce.

Laween Atroshi
UK Health Informatician & Ambassador For Peace (UPF)
All views & opinions are of my own and do not reflect my employers or any organization whom I have a direct or indirect affiliation with.

Tweet me @laweenatroshi and let me know your opinions, I could be wrong but this is how I feel from my experience. My views do not reflect any individual or institution. www.laweenatroshi.com

The unexplained video went viral, and the US Marine Corps is supposedly launching a thorough investigation into the origins and perpetrators of the video, and released a statement saying “While we have not yet verified the origin or authenticity of this video, the actions portrayed are not consistent with our core values and are not indicative of the character of the Marines in our Corps.”

All this is fine and well from a media standpoint, but is the desecration of both the living and dead bodies of “enemy combatants” really not a core value of the United States Marines? The whole incident is reminiscent of the United State’s 2004 “publicity fiasco” when photos of US army soldiers abusing prisoners in Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison, where detainees were stripped naked, forced into degrading positions, scared by dogs, and a long list of other abuses, all caught on camera by the perpetrators themselves.

10 years ago today, the United States cleared the way for 20 detainees to arrive at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility. Since then, 775 detainees have crossed Guantanamo’s gates, and as of January 2012, a year after President Obama promised he would have GITMO closed, 171 detainees remain behind bars there, denied their fundamental rights and subject to psychological and physical torture. 89 detainees are even cleared for release, but because of bureaucratic debate about where they should be “sent”, they remain in Guantanamo’s grasp.

But US has not limited its illegal detention and torture of detainees to Guantanamo. The US controlled Bagram prison in Afghanistan has been under suspicion since the homicide of two civilian Afghan prisoners. For the last 10 years, there have been regular reports of torture and abuse coming out of Bagram prison. Even now, as Afghan president Hamid Karzai and the US battle for control of the prison, a new investigating commission has revealed not so new continued abuses. Crowdvoice has documented articles and videos related to the past and present torture allegations, linked below.

Thrilled and captivated by the protests that have swept across the Middle East and North Africa, the United States no longer dominates media coverage about the region. And indeed good riddance. However, on this somber anniversary, with yet another piece of evidence of the dehumanizing tactics of the US military, this point must not be forgotten. The effect of US policies continues to wreak havoc on other countries and on their citizens. The human rights abuses of the US military are not exceptions to a set of “core values”; they are a systemic method of marginalizing the bodies and voices of people in the way of US policies, a marginalization that we must fight against. The suffering of Afghanistan and Iraq must not be forgotten; in fact, it must be a key part of our region’s rebirth. When strong proud voices of change from the Middle East are louder than the voices of ignorance and violence both within and outside of the Middle East, then our revolutions will be solidly on their way to success.