Cultural Glimpse

January 28, 2015

ISIS Blows up Ancient Nineveh Wall

I just received an email from one of my friends, Nahren. She wrote:

“I am in tears again as I write this update. I am devastated to report and confirm that the walls of Nineveh, one of the greatest Assyrian archaeological sites in the world, is being detonated and a large portion of the walls have been leveled with explosives conducted by ISIS terrorists. This day is a grieving day for all people especially the ones who have respect for ancient and priceless history. The landmarks of the Cradle of Civilization are being detonated as the world stands still and the people who created them are being sacrificed.”

Located in northern Iraq near the modern city of Mosul, Nineveh served as the capital of the Assyrian Empire from 705 to 612 BC and was described in the Book of Jonah as an “exceedingly great city.” In 612, after it was attacked and reduced to rubble by a combination of Medes, Babylonians, and Susianians, Nineveh was left lost and buried until its rediscovery by archaeologists in the mid-19th century.

“These are the types of destructions that will occur when the international community is sleeping at the wheel,” continued Nahren in her email. “What are you waiting for? Innocent people are being slaughtered and priceless history is being detonated that have lasted for almost 7,000 years!”

I suppose the international community is busy honoring the death of the Saudi King, the man who funded radical terrorist groups. Here at home, many people are busy hating on Michael Moore and other celebrities who are using their First Amendment rights to express their opinions. Others are caught up with the women who suddenly popped up, over 40 years after the fact, to accuse Bill Cosby of date rape.

One wonders where our priorities are and how much of our power we have given away that we are forced to deal with petty matters which in the long run will have no real significance for us. Yet serious matters like ISIS, which might one day come knocking on our door, we give over to our government and our military in the hopes that they take care of it while we continue to enjoy an easy life. Unfortunately, it does not work that way.

If we don’t become politically fit, the problem is not going to go away.

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January 26, 2015

Iraq’s Good Old Days

My Sisters During the 70’s in Iraq

When my sisters tell me old stories of when they lived in Iraq, and as I flip through black and white family pictures taken in Iraq during the 60s and 70s, I am saddened that Iraqi women have fallen into the stone age. I am even more saddened that people wish to bury this devastating fact.

Throughout much of recent history, Iraq was one of the most progressive countries in the Middle East for women, with Iraqi women historically enjoying more freedoms than the women of neighboring countries. My sisters, for instance, had a membership to a neighborhood Swim Club. They went there regularly with their female friends, most of who were Muslim. They swam in unisex pools wearing modern day bathing suits. After a nice swim, they returned home unscathed.

Prior to 1920, Iraq was ruled under the Ottoman Empire for four centuries. During this time, Iraqi women had little or no rights. Under the British occupation from 1920-1958, the situation for women did not change much. It was not until 1958 that Iraq became a Republic and for the first time ever, women’s rights began to improve. That’s when the government of General Abdul-Kareem Kasim, supported by the Iraqi Communist Party, amended Personal Status Law to grant equal inheritance and divorce rights. This personal Status Law also relegated divorce, inheritance and marriage to civil, instead of religious, courts, and provided for child support.

The Iraqi Provisional Constitution (drafted in 1970the Baath Party) formally guaranteed equal rights to women and other laws specifically ensured their right to vote, attend school, run for political office, and own property. Enrollment of women and girls in rural areas in literacy centers under the illiteracy eradication legislation of 1979 transferred women in Iraq into a new level of education, labor, and employment. With other employment laws, the opportunities in the civil service sector, maternity benefits, and stringent laws against harassment in the work place allowed Iraqi women larger involvement in building their careers. Women attained the right to vote and run for office in 1980. In 1986 Iraq became one of the first countries to ratify the Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Deterioration of women’s rights in Iraq began during the US-UN comprehensive economical sanctions imposed on Iraqis during the 1990s. The financial crippling of families resulted in an increase of female illiteracy as many families could not afford to send their children to school. In 2003, the US led invasion resulted in the most vulgar descent of the rights of women. It led them to the oppression their ancestors experienced when they were ruled by the Ottoman Empire.

Operation Iraqi Freedom has truly enslaved Iraqi women but most people don’t want to own responsibility for having created this story.

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January 17, 2015

Family Constellations

A friend invited me to join her to a lecture series by the Metropolitan Detroit A.R.E. (Association of Research and Enlightenment) Community, a non-profit organization which was founded in 1931 by Edgar Cayce. The subject was Family Constellations and the presenters were Vince Anthony Pitre and Robert Auerbach.

These men described how unconscious limits to success often stem initially from the unresolved and many times unspoken traumas, tragedies and transgressions that weave themselves into the energy, “fabric” and conversations of our family.

“We hold many of our histories in our bodies, in our flesh,” said Auerbach. “Family Constellations is a different way to heal resistant, stubborn patterns that might not be ours, or it might be an issue that goes back into past family generation trauma or transgressions that was never healed or resolved. This energy sticks from generation to generation because it’s an unconscious process.”

So they offer workshops to help detox from family pain and/or drama.

“It’s done without making anyone wrong, or putting blame on anyone,” said Pitre. “It’s about seeing where issues came from so we can find a resolution. You don’t heal by chasing light all day. You have to face the dark side as well.”

Through movement and unspoken words, people in the room get psychologically reconfigured. Not only is the person with the problem being healed but so are their family members, even if they are not in the room.

“In this process, new images come up that counters what the person thought of themselves growing up,” said Pitre. “The person leaves behind their old story. This allows their brain to rewire to this new image which they step into and move on with their life.”

Bert Hellinger founded this therapeutic method, which draws on elements of family systems therapy, existential phenomenology and Zulu attitudes to family. Hellinger was a priest whose travels to Africa led him to gain fascination of how the natives honored their ancestors, and the way in which they helped each other heal.

Although I am familiar with similar teachings, being myself an apprentice of Lynn Andrew’s shamanic school, I loved that this type of healing was evidently growing to where you can find them in local cities. For years, I have believed that holistic health is going to be as popular as yoga classes and I see it happening now. Such workshops, teachings and healings are especially beneficial for those who grew up in very old tribal mentalities that limit them from their full potential.

For more information, contact the Center for Healing Arts and Massage http://www.center4thehealingarts.com/index.html

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January 17, 2015

Wahhabism vs. Islam

This morning I read that Saudi Arabia has postponed Friday’s public flogging of activist and blogger Raif Badawi on medical grounds. Badawi, who set up the “Free Saudi Liberals” website, was arrested in June 2012 for offences which also included cybercrime and disobeying his father – a crime in Saudi Arabia. The prosecution had demanded he be tried for apostasy, which carries the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, but a judge dismissed that charge. He was sentenced last year to 10 years in jail, a fine of 1 million riyals ($267,000) and 1,000 lashes after prosecutors challenged an earlier sentence of seven years and 600 lashes as too lenient.

I remembered a talk I had two days ago with my colleague Dr. Kamal Alsaedi, an Iraqi-American. Dr. Alsaedi and a group of activists started protesting against the Saudi Embassy in Washington DC in 2011. This group has been active through lectures and meetings with political officials in trying to bring awareness on the Wahhabi religion movement’s influence on our country and the rest of the world.

“The Wahhabis, not Islam, are responsible for the terrorism acts happening today,” he said. “Wahhabis consider themselves ‘the chosen people’ and so anyone outside of their religion is a sinner and ought to be killed – that includes me, even though I am Muslim.”

Because he is a Shia Muslim, Dr. Alsaedi is viewed as much a sinner as Christians and Jews. Non-Wahhabi Sunnis are also considered sinners, but they are given an opportunity to convert.

“Wahhabis look at all religions, all people as sinners,” he said.

The Wahhabi religious movement is a fundamentalist Islamic order that advocates a strict interpretation of the teachings in the Quran. It was founded in the 16^th century in what is now Saudi Arabia as a reaction against the influences of Sufism and the Shia interpretation of Islam. The early Wahhabi leaders believed that Islam had become rife with superstition and what they believed to be deviant practices. These practices included invoking the names of prophets or saints for veneration, practicing magic and sorcery, and changing the accepted methods of worship.

“The religion for terrorists is Wahhabism,” he said, noting that between 1970 and today, there have been 250,000 individual Saudis involved in terrorism acts around the world. Before the Iraq war there were 459 nonprofit organizations inside of Saudi Arabia that collected money for terrorists. Right before the September 11^th attack, the United States shut down 250 of them. And the obvious – 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis.

The 9/11 Commission Report ultimately went on to explain why so many Saudis were involved in the hijackings to begin with. According to Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, the mastermind of the September 11 plot, as he toured Al Qaeda’s training camps in Afghanistan in the years leading up to the attacks, he found that the vast majority of the recruits being trained there (by his count 70%) were from Saudi Arabia (p.232). This assessment has been further corroborated by two other prominent Al Qaeda operatives who estimated that a full 80% of Al Qaeda’s members were from Saudi nationals in an interview with the PBS news program Frontline.

“Politics is above humanitarian issues,” he said. “It’s not about consciousness, it’s about money. The Saudis pay ISIS money to take down countries. The other problem is the media. Nothing negative is ever said in the news about Saudis. Never. Why? Because they pay the American news channels $12 billion a year.”

Dr. Alsaedi has started a petition urging that Saudi Arabia be listed as a country that represents, supports and sponsors terrorism. To learn more, visit: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/UN_united_nations_we_want_Saudi_arabia_to_be_listed_as_a_terrorist_country/?copy

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January 16, 2015

The Great American Family

In 2010, a family approached me to write a story about their daughter, Dawn Hanna, who was locked up in a federal prison for breaking the Iraqi embargo. She and her brother were accused of conspiring with Emad, a man of Iraqi origin with U.K. citizenship, to send telecommunication equipment to Iraq. The Hannas always maintained that they thought the equipment was going to Turkey. In the end, while Dawn’s brother was found innocent, Dawn received a 72-month sentence and $1.1 million fine, one of the harshest sentences in history for an export violation.

Emad, the so-called “co-conspirator” turned out to be a CIA operative, and the telecom project was funded by the U.S. government, to help eavesdrop on Saddam and his men. In an attempt to correct this injustice and free Dawn, Emad and another CIA operative blew their own covers. They were astonished when, in response, the court simply said that this new evidence would not have made a difference in the jury’s verdict.

The last thing I wanted to do was take on a political story. But the Dawn Hanna case continued to follow my conscience as I wondered, what happens if we can’t stop our government from breaking the laws? I was a child when my family and I fled Iraq over 30 years ago because of Iraq’s totalitarian government. We came here for America’s freedoms. As an immigrant, I saw through the Dawn Hanna case how we are losing the very things we came here for. I felt it was my responsibility to write this story, because among other things, I did not want my children to have to endure in the United States the same political climate my parents endured in Iraq. So I wrote a book and made a documentary about this case, which is currently in post-production.

The justice system prosecutes over 60,000 people a year. While courts discovered thousands of cases in which prosecutors had engaged in “outrageous” or “flagrant” misconduct, an examination of state bar records in USA Today revealed that few received any discipline, and the disciplines were petty, like being ordered to attend a one-day ethics workshop.

An article by the Huffington Post, The Untouchables: America’s Misbehaving Prosecutors and the System that Protects Them, mentions that critics have long claimed that people are up against a prosecutorial climate that value convictions over all else, one that saw a death sentence as the profession’s brass ring. The New York Times reported in 2003 that prosecutors in Louisiana often threw parties after winning death sentences. Assistant District Attorney James Williams told the Los Angeles Times in 2007, “There was no thrill for me unless there was a chance for the death penalty.”

“Over-incarceration in America destabilizes families and communities,” writes Piper Kerman, in Orange is the New Black. “We have a racially biased justice system that over punishes, fails to rehabilitate and does not make us safer.” Books like Uncompromised, Fair Game, The Spy who Tried to Stop a War, Blowing My Cover, Actual Innocence and The Central Park Five, remind us of the importance of honoring the fact that the power of the government comes from the people, and not the other way around.

For more information, visit http://www.TheGreatAmericanFamilyDocumentary.com

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January 8, 2015

Iraqi Children Receive Christmas Gifts

This morning I received an email from Shlama Foundation telling me what my and others’ contributions were spent on. With a combined $680 donation, the foundation was able to deliver 550 Christmas gifts to displaced children on December 29^th.

On one hand, that brought a smile to my face. On the other hand, I thought, “I should have donated more than a hundred dollars.” My children received a number of unnecessary gifts for Christmas, many of which they used for only a day or two. We should have used that money to give to the Iraqi children. Such an act would have been more rewarding and my children would have learned a valuable lesson about the job of giving.

Shlama Foundation was founded in August 2014, after tens of thousands of Christian Iraqis fled ISIS and were forced to live in refugee camps in the Kurdistan region. One of the founders, Noor Matti, lives in Iraq. He had come to Michigan when he was six years old. As an adult, he applied to pharmacy school and was accepted, but decided instead to return to Iraq.

Shlama means “peace” and the foundation has established a secure system that not only shows where the money went, but creates a relationship between donor and recipient. On their website, a spreadsheet shows the name of the donor, the amount given, and a link to a YouTube video that portrays how and for whom the money was used, with photos of the receipts. In each video, the recipients express their situation, thank the donor by name and address how the money has touched them.

I interviewed the members of this organization last year, during which time Matti told me his feelings about the situation in Iraq. “Better days are ahead,” he said. “As a nation, we hit rock bottom. So, there’s nowhere to go but up.”

Learn more at Shlama.org

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January 8, 2015

Iraqi Americans (Not) Acclimating

Photo by: Suman Bhattachary

Today I attended a school meeting with the educators and parents where we discussed, once again, how to encourage Iraqi American parents to get involved in their students’ work and in the school itself. My community has the largest growing Iraqi immigrants. It has even been nicknamed “Little Baghdad” because on each corner there is an Iraqi produce market, butchery, bakery, restaurants, etc. This is great on one hand. The culture resonates very strongly here. However, when the newcomers stay within these boundaries, adding Satellite TVs in order to watch Arab channels all day long, they don’t give themselves the chance to acclimate.

One of the teachers said that she really embraces this ethnic community, especially given that she resides amongst them. “However,” she added, “it feels like this community is like a volleyball game. This team is on this side, and that team is on that side, and often they split apart. They don’t really come together.”

I remembered something my elderly neighbor once said as we chatted over our back fence. Her parents were first generation immigrants from Italy. She said that all immigrants had difficulty acclimating but that she noticed this was more prominent with Iraqis. They really resisted change.

I thought about that and wondered whether this was due to them having immigrated from a country of a different religion. They also had endured much oppression and persecution and for over 30 years war. Their wounds are so deep, it’s not easy to tap into them. They will take decades, maybe even generations, to heal. But isolation is not the answer. And it’s their children who will suffer for it.

As the principal said, “If people don’t know the truth, don’t worry. They will make it up.”

His point was to spread the good news about the school. My point is let’s spread the good news about our culture, our history, our pains and joys. Let’s share ourselves. Because if people don’t know the truth about us, they will make it up.

January 3, 2015

The Tradition of New Year Resolutions

Ancient Babylonians started the tradition of making New Year Resolutions some 4,000 years ago. They made promises to their gods at the start of each year that they would return borrowed objects and pay their debts. For the Babylonians, the first new moon following the vernal equinox—the day in late March with an equal amount of sunlight and darkness—heralded the start of a new year. They marked the occasion with a massive religious festival called Akitu (derived from the Sumerian word for barley, which was cut in the spring) that involved a different ritual on each of its 11 days.

According to www.adoptionworld.com, late March is actually a logical choice for the beginning of a new year. It is the time of year that spring begins and new crops are planted. January 1st, on the other hand, has no astronomical nor agricultural significance. It is purely arbitrary. The Romans continued to observe the new year on March 25, but their calendar was continually tampered with by various emperors so that the calendar soon became out of synchronization with the sun.

The celebration of the new year is the oldest of all holidays. If there’s one thing to learn from it is that we should stop tampering with nature and ancient wisdom. Perhaps then more people than the current 8 percent will achieve their New Year’s Resolutions.

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December 28, 2014

Winter Wonderland at the Ford House

Playhouse – A gift from her grandmother Clara, it was built in 1930 for Josephine’s seventh birthday. The house contains miniature furnishings in the kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and sitting room.

Last night we went with friends and family on a Winter Wonderland tour and stroll of the Edsel & Eleanor Ford House grounds. It was a lovely night, filled with the magical feeling I always experience when I enter this beautiful 87 acre estate that was built in 1929.

Edsel was the son of Henry Ford and an executive at Henry Ford Company. He was married to Eleanor and they had four children – three sons and one daughter, all of whom are now deceased. His grandchildren are still alive, and every so often they come to visit the estate, during which time it becomes closed to the public.

Edsel Ford died in this house in 1943 and his wife Eleanor lived there until her death in 1976. It was her wish that the property be used for “the benefit of the public.” So today this house is not only open to the public for guided tours, but also has wonderful programs that the whole family could enjoy, such as the Winter Wonderland, where we strolled under a canopy of twinkling lights, listened to carolers and folktale storytelling while sipping hot chocolate around a fire, and visited with Mr. and Mrs. Santa Clause who are still working although Christmas Day has passed.

Inside, we saw how the house got decorated during the holiday season. Original ornaments that the Fords used from the 1930s were hung on trees. One tree had elongated purple ornaments which Eleanor wanted but could not find anywhere, so she had the Ford Company make them for her. We wandered from room to room, listening to the sound of live musicians play soft Christmas music while tour guides filled us in with stories of the family.

One story I particularly enjoyed was the one about the painting hung on the dining room wall.

“Who is this painting of?” I asked the tour guide.

“This was Edsel’s favorite painting, because it reminded him so much of Eleanor,” the woman said. “Sometimes, when the two of them were dining alone, they would sit right here – ” she pointed to two 18^th Century Queen Anne-style chairs. “So he could see that painting every time he looked up.”

My friend and I were in awe, my friend complaining under her breath that they don’t make men like this anymore.

Seeing our expressions, the woman smiled and added, “They had a very good relationship. A very good one.”

This would explain why Eleanor, after Edsel’s death, remained single for the next 33 years, until she joined her husband once again, and why this house today is still full of life.

December 23, 2014

Dealing with Christmas Crazies

I am grateful to have a large loving tribe that consists of 11 siblings, at least 33 nieces and nephews, and at least 10 great nieces and nephews (sorry, I’ve lost count). That’s not counting in-laws, aunts, uncles, and first cousins that all live in our vicinity. Being surrounded by this many family members is great, but it also means dealing with so many difficult people that at times, you feel entitled to an honorary doctorate degree in psychology.

Then during Sunday’s Morning Worship, Pastor Aaron talked about how to handle, in a biblical way, the Christmas Crazies who drive us insane. His sermon helped put things into perspective.

“My father used to always say ‘Hurt people hurt people,’” said Pastor Aaron. “Most people who are difficult are either wounded, fearful, are in physical or emotional pain, self-protecting, worried, or spiritually dying or dead.”

These difficult people usually fall into the following categories:

Dishonest People – they devalue people for their own gain
Demanding People (parents excluded, but please avoid dictatorship style parenting at home)
Deadly People – they love to kill through emotional and spiritual complaints, argument, creating as much conflict as possible, causing pain to others. These are people who love to throw emotional damage to others, even through social media.
Defensive People – They struggle when confronted about themselves. They don’t listen. They just get angry.

So how do you handle people who are either dishonest, demanding, deadly, or defensive? Using biblical verses, Pastor Aaron explained:

1.Realize you can’t get along with everyone.

“You live in a mental prison when you work very hard to please people,” he said. “I realized long ago that I can’t make everyone like me. Once I stopped trying to be everyone’s best friend, I started making better decisions for myself. You are responsible for your life.”

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Romans 12:8

Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe. Proverbs 29:25

2. Refuse to give into payback mentality

Do not repay evil with evil or insult on insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessings, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 1 Peter 3:9

3. Respond with Love and Concern

Even if we decide to never be in contact with someone again, because of how hurtful they once were or can continue to be, we must realize two things: 1) God loves these people; 2) God does not love you more than he loves them. He might not love their behavior, but He loves them.

“God does not intend for us to be a doormat or to be a wimp, but when you focus on something long enough – angry prayers or retaliation, for instance – you become it,” said the Pastor.

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. – 2 Timothy 1:7

“My mother always said, ‘When you live your life in the right way, in the end even your enemies will want to make peace with you,” he said.

When the Lord takes pleasure in anyone’s way, he causes their enemies to make peace with them. Proverbs 16:7

“So let’s live up to the calling God gave us and respond to difficult people the way Jesus would have,” said the Pastor at the end of the sermon, preparing us for a lovely holiday season with our families – we pray.