Pink and Red Clouds...
I honestly don’t know why I entitled this post “Pink and Red Clouds..."
For starters, Pink is not one of my favorite colors. I am not anti-Pink, it’s just that Pink reminds me of Barbie dolls, praline candies “à la rose bonbon", girlie-girl romance novels...You know which ones I mean, don’t you?
The knight rescued her and swept her off her feet novels...and they always forget to add that 9 times out of 10, she lands flat on her face.
Or maybe it reminds me of Nancy Pelosi. I remember once seeing her dressed in a pink suit. Incidentally, I heard that she was hospitalized in California following an overdose of Botox Injections.
What wouldn’t women do to stay attractive to the opposite sex. I just wish the opposite or opposing sex (depending where you live), invests as much energy to remain pleasing to the female eyes, andropause and all...
Maybe pink reminds me of Code Pink, another anti-war female group. They promoted at one point, the selling of female pink peace panties and pink peace nail polish...to oppose the war effort. War effort? You mean illegal occupation, right?
Or maybe it is a reminder of other liberals and lefties on the pink-orange-red political spectrum...or maybe the pink clouds of denial,where a lot of you are safely tucked away in a rosy la la land...
In any case, I will soon find out myself why the pink and...the red.
One of the nice things about not being a journalist, is that you really never know where the writing takes you...This is one of the pay-offs of not having a private agenda, like most journalists do. And consequently not having to cower to any editor’s political and ideological authority...I guess you can call it Freedom of Thought.
Freedom of thought. I love that sentence. It must be a wonderful feeling to think without censorship. Like floating on a pink cloud...
It must feel great to be allowed to be free in your person, make decisions, assume responsibilities for them, grow into some form of true self-hood, unhampered and untainted by dictates from others...
I am not taking about personal anarchy here...Anarchy, I know it all too well...
This is not the kind of space am referring to. I am not talking about destructive chaos...I am talking about personal freedom. A measured, wise, centered, grounded... personal freedom. Away from “Authority” and sometimes in the face of “Authority."
Take for example Iraq.
What used to be the opposite sex has become the opposing sex. The Authority per se, the Editor, the Censurer, The Controller, the Janitor, the Oppressor, the Killer... of Women.
From being one of the most progressive countries in the Middle East in gender matters, Iraq has been turned in the space of 4 years into one of the most oppressive countries for women.
From being a secular state that allowed and encouraged women in all walks of life, it has become a sectarian prison state that targets and murders women...
From being a country that respected its women and their contributions to society in arts, politics, literature, poetry, music, science...it has become a country that tortures, imprisons, rapes, mutilates its women and send them to the gallows.
From what used to be a civil society, emerged the monsters of Freedom and Democracy, destroying our families, our parents, our children, our lovers, our husbands, our friends...and us.
Look at the current ideological atmosphere that reigns over Iraq. It is a disaster of monumental proportions.
All the laws pertaining to gender equality have been changed. Everything that Iraqi women struggled for since the 1920’s, everything that the previous governments tried to establish in matters of gender equality, has been ripped apart.
Now there is talk of the Sharia’a becoming the legal corpus of the State.
And what kind of Shari’a! The most repressive interpretation of it.
What do we need the Sharia’a for? Weren’t we Muslims before ? Weren’t we religious enough before ? Or maybe you think you have monopoly over the Truth, or maybe you think you have monopoly over God himself ?
And why should a non-Muslim be forced to live under a Sharia’a imported from Iran?
They tell me, don’t rock the boat. Why should I not rock the boat?
By God if I had the power, I would overturn that cursed boat and let all those on board sink right into the bottomless pits of the ocean.
Why should I and other Iraqi women be forced to live under mullah rule? Has anyone asked for our permission? And who are these mullahs anyways?
Don’t think you can fool us with your robes, turbans, and silver rings from Qum.
We know who you are and what your backgrounds were. We know how you all rushed to buy that robe and buy that turban. We know how you were eager to grow that beard and we know at what price you were given the Masonic ring from Qum.
And we also know about your militias and your men. We know how much they pocket, and what they do after evening prayers. We know their secret vices, their whiskeys and their heroin, preferably in capsule forms...and their muta’a girls...Yes we know.
Now you come and impose on us your brand of religiosity ? You pimps for Teheran.
In the numerous cities over which you have full control, women are massacred daily in broad day light.
What crime have they committed ? You statue devotees, you idol worshippers of dead Ayatollahs and senile corrupt ones.
To hell with you and your Ayatollahs. To hell with you and your Sistani.
To hell, to the raging pits of hell.
Every month, an average of 15 dead female corpses are found littering the streets of Basra like some discarded refuse, like some garbage...murdered.
One because she did not wear the veil, the other because she had pink lipstick, the third because she did not look like a walking tent...
Every day in Baghdad, there are stories of women being kidnapped, raped, mutilated in their genitals by your militias. Every single day...
Every day there are stories of women being burned by acid for not covering up properly. Every single day...These are the practices you brought from Iran you bastards.
So what are you afraid of? Are you afraid that a bit of hair or a bit of pink lipstick will deviate you from the path of the so-called God you worship?
Are you afraid that a bit of hair or a bit of lipstick will detour you from your piety and bring back your sexual depravity and perversity to the forefront...
What a depraved, perfidious, perverse bunch you are. What a hideous criminal bunch you are.
As for the women, so called members of Parliament. You are a disgrace to your gender. You are disgrace to Iraq. And you are disgrace to Islam.
First, you have accepted working for this government. Secondly, you have silenced your voices in favor of your so-called sects. Thirdly, you have pocketed unlawful money. Fourthly you are part and parcel of this prison edifice brought with the occupation and which you call a government. And you dare talk about Islam ?
Why are you afraid to challenge article 41? You know it will mean taking us back to the medieval ages. But you fear that if you talk against article 41, you are indirectly praising the old regime.
Yes the old regime, which had the most progressive laws for women in the Middle East.
Well, I am not afraid to praise the old regime. I say bring back Saddam Hussein’s family law.
I wish I can bring back Saddam Hussein himself and be done with you and with your rotten laws drafted under the supervision of your masters the Americans and the Iranians. To hell, to the raging pits of Hell.
And what about your prisons where thousands of Iraqi women have been lingering for years with no charges. Some of them as young as 13 years old.
What about those fucking prisons? You tell me, "God fearing, pious ones."
What about their bodies covered with scabs, in filthy conditions, with no medical care, giving birth on floors covered with urine and excrements, with infections and diseases killing them before you kill them by hanging.
I will not even mention those women who are displaced, exiled, pauperized, abandoned, begging, sleeping on pavements, forced into prostitution and some of them as young as 13, to feed their families. All in the name of Democracy.
And you ask me why I am so angry? If my anger could turn into a blazing fire that will consume all of you, I will not hesitate one moment to spit that fire right on your faces.
And what about you Salafists Jihadists? Another bunch of hypocritical Takferees. Who are you to judge and by which authority, who is a Muslim and who is not ?
Who are you to decree who should follow your invented rules and laws?
Who are you to push women around, force them to cover up, beat them, humiliate them, insult them ? Who are you?
I will tell you who you are . You are nothing but another bunch of perverted misogynists, only able to flex your muscles on us instead of the occupier. Covering your political impotence with brute force. You are cowards, you are the idol worshippers of your little selves, of your male egos...
And to both of you murderers, since when in Iraq, does a Muslim ever kill a non-Muslim ? Since when does a Muslim ever displace a Christian, or any one else because of their sect or religion?
You are not from us. You are a strange body, a tumor, that needs to be surgically removed. All of you and your followers. To hell, to the raging pits of Hell.
And in the North, more cases are emerging of stoning to death in both the Yazidi community and the Kurdish clans. In this latter, there are also some reported cases of female excision.
Since when do we lapidate our women? Since when do we stone them to death? Since when do we have honor killings? Since when do we practice excision on our girls ? Since when ? Have you got no conscience ? Have you got no morals ? Another bunch of criminals. To hell, to the raging pits of Hell.
Is it not enough that we are occupied and plundered by the most barbaric nation on earth.
Is it not enough that we lost our children, our families, our loved ones, our homes, our belongings, our lives through this occupation.
Is it not enough that Iraqi women are imprisoned, raped, tortured, burnt, slaughtered by the Americans.
Only today, was the funeral of two Armenian Christian women. One of them was driving her car, using it as a taxi to raise income to feed her family, risking her life as a taxi driver through checkpoints, militias, barricades, to feed her family.
She was randomly shot at. Just like that.
A Mother gone, just like that. And so many other mothers, sisters, daughters, grandmothers...
Is that not enough for you? Is that not enough?
This is no Religion. This is no Islam. This is the Jahiliya. The age of Ignorance. The age of Darkness...
The period when girls were buried alive as a sacrifice, as an offering to the tribal Gods of the Pagans.
You are these Pagans today. You are the Kuffars today, You are the Unbelievers today. You are the Hypocrites that the Koran warns us about. You are the ones in whose heart there is a disease...Yes, you are the sick ones. The ones that will err forever and ever and will not see the Light. To hell, to the raging pits of Hell.
And these dead female bodies will face you on the day of Reckoning.
Each single one of them and will ask you for what sin they were murdered and your faces will turn red with shame.
Red as the fog of thick clouds in which you will grope, red as the roaring flames you will find yourselves in...In hell, in the raging pits of Hell.
Painting : Iraqi artist, Thamer Al-Nasry.
Comments
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaLfDnShEn0
As an individual, for myself, religion is a lie, a "ministry of morals", a structure that organises the thoughts of the people and feeds the fat preachers at the top.
Saddam was many things, but he was a breath of fresh air in the struggle for female freedoms, he was never a religious person.
Compared to the Saudi princes, he was a thousand times more liberative.
Interesting how the Saudi rulers, (Sunnis?) in the name of Islam, forbid women to drive cars , or show their faces, whilst the princes are busy showing their nakedness in the whorehouses of Europe. (Courtesy of all those petro-dollars.)
The Chinese and the Cubans, the Russians, even most of Europe have all ridden themselves of religion.
With small exceptions, they place their own needs before those of the people.
Religion, unfortunately, will never liberate the women of Iraq, it will only opress them even more.
The so-called honour killings, are these opposed or sanctioned by the mullahs?
The ethnic cleansing and deliberate sectarian murders, are these condemned or supported by the mullahs?
After the Iraquis have driven out the americans, perhaps they should arrest and imprison all those "troublesome priests."
Peace.
Don’t you find it amazing that the Americans are the ones carrying the Khomeini legacy into handing iraq to the Mullahs, or is it the American legacy and the Khomeini tried and failed so the Americans had to come to iraq and do it themselves. I think it is the latter, all this happening before our eyes and they say iran and the US are enemies. I don’t think the Americans can find better than these backward, ignorant, opportunistic, mullahs to take the whole region back to the dark ages.
-PSK
To dancewater above: yes, they (Code Pink) could have just stayed at home and read a good book, but considering what's happening in Iraq is done in their collective names, it's the least they can do - how they choose to do whatever they do is the next thought, particularly since it's not made too much of an impact - to observers from the outside, it just seems, more often than not, a publicity seeking stunt; the magnitude of the crime (genocide of Iraqis) warrants a lot more than just singing and holding hands and hugging, not to mention the sale of pink panties and nail-varnish.
Yes, Code Pink has the luxury of reading a good book, which they surely must do after their short stints for public consumption (after all, their 'extremely wise' leader has decided to deal with the 'threat' outside on shores millions of miles away rather than inside, yes?) - Iraqis, who are being displaced by the second with their lives totally destroyed, their land in ruins, their history robbed, their leader murdered, their women raped and children traumatised, their country occupied by multiple occupiers, etc., etc., thanks to the chimpanzee's desire to keep USans safe - do not.
So, if Code Pink women have been arrested, imprisoned, etc., it's a very small price to pay - after all, this is being done to them by their own elected leaders and their own system. In the case of Iraqis, it's not THEIR elected leader(s) who have brought on this darkness on them but those who were 'democratically elected' very, very far away.
Layla, difficult for their faces to turn red with shame: first, they don't know the meaning of shame, and, second, hopefully and deservedly, they'll all be burnt to cinders in the raging fires of Hell long before the moment for red shame-filled faces.
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no such thing as hell....heaven/hell r just fairytales adults tell kids to keep them on the straight n narrow....truth is we all just die and rot away.
Salam,
As an individual, for myself, religion is a lie, a "ministry of morals", a structure that organises the thoughts of the people and feeds the fat preachers at the top.
Saddam was many things, but he was a breath of fresh air in the struggle for female freedoms, he was never a religious person.
Compared to the Saudi princes, he was a thousand times more liberative.
Interesting how the Saudi rulers, (Sunnis?) in the name of Islam, forbid women to drive cars , or show their faces, whilst the princes are busy showing their nakedness in the whorehouses of Europe. (Courtesy of all those petro-dollars.)
The Chinese and the Cubans, the Russians, even most of Europe have all ridden themselves of religion.
With small exceptions, they place their own needs before those of the people.
Religion, unfortunately, will never liberate the women of Iraq, it will only opress them even more.
The so-called honour killings, are these opposed or sanctioned by the mullahs?
The ethnic cleansing and deliberate sectarian murders, are these condemned or supported by the mullahs?
After the Iraquis have driven out the americans, perhaps they should arrest and imprison all those "troublesome priests."
Peace.
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religion is past its sell by date
Is there any common sense in the U.S or GB though ?
For you :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7P5jWu9JLo&mode=related&search=
Thank you dear. Bless you.
Am not sure where you are , but I assume you are in the US.
Do you think american women have anything to do with it? Honestly it is an innocent question - sort of.
You are in my du'as. I admire your strength greatly, masha Allah.
very good observation. I think the Zionist Americans see in Islam a force that can unite the whole of the Middle East. It is a force to be reckoned with if united. Most nationalist and anti imperialist movements in the M.E had a strong Islamic tint to it. Let alone the fight against the crusades back much earlier on...
The zionists long term plan is to ensure that Muslims give up this aspect of their Islam. What is the best you to achieve it other than concocting and propping obscurantist movements within Islam itself.
Just take a brief look at the recent history of the fundamentalist movements, be it sunni or shia, and see how they have emerged and who funded them.
Even Hamas was funded by the Mossad at its inception.
The talibans by the CIA ditto for Al Qaeda. The muslim brotherhood in Egypt by the Americans...so on and so forth...
Re. Hell and Heaven, are you trying to tell me that I will not be seeing you anywhere later on ?
Damn, what a pity...I will miss your style.
Many thanks for your kind words.
Eid Mubarak to you.
JR, I must admit, I am taken aback by your smartness...
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thats ok layla...most people are too. btw what day is eid in iraq??
Are you telling me that you will not be posting comments on my blog in the hereafter, anymore? sniff sniff...
Eid is saturday. Why can't the muslims agree on one day for all ?
When is Eid in where you are at ?
i think eid is on saturday here too....except for the bengalis who r doing it on friday...first time wahbis and sunni mosque agreed on a date.......mashallah
I somehow agree, religion (specifically Islam) can be an important motivation to unit. However, when it is built on sectarianism it will be the exact tool to destroy. Tolerance is the title of Islam, simple proof is that, how come all kind of religions lived in the ME for so long under Islam rule. Sadly, with Saudi Arabia and Iran pulling the strings between Wahabism and Shiaism islam is torn apart and so is the whole region.
-PSK
Salam.
I may have to disagree with you, I think Russia is still very attached to Religion - Chechnya has a religious dimension to the conflict.
As for the honor killings - Just read today, that there has been around 250 cases mainly in the Kurdish areas. I do not have the figures for the rest of Iraq.
I have a feeling though that it is on the rise.
And as far as I know, they are not backed by any religious authority. Sunni or Shia for that matter.
The war against women in Iraq is a result of the US occupation backed by Iran. Most of these new mullahs are also members of the sectarian parties who form the govts. The militias are the armed wing of these parties thus the armed wing of the govt plus the army and the police. So my answer to you is yes.
Once the occupier is driven out and driven out he will be, those mullahs will be gone with them too unless they manage to subvert a great number of the people, then you can count on another clean up to happen. Looks bloody endless to me....
Eid Mubarak to you too.
I agree with you. Very good points.
I was reading something about Arabo Islamic rule in al Andalus the other day, and the interesting thing and I am sure you can draw parallels here -
Arab-Islamic rule lasted roughly 600 years in al Andalus until 1492.
The reasons for the downfall were many . First there was the spanish inquisition, secondly, the political power from within was disintegrating, corruption, etc...
but another interesting factor was the arrival and infiltration of civil society and political apparatus by what was called muslims from the desert - something akin to bedouins, with a very stringent interpretation of Islam. The combination of all three factors brought about the downfall of al-Andalus.
Extrapolate to the present day, and you will see it is happening all over again.
Sorry for being long, but it seems your blog is the voice for the voiceless
-PSK
I appreciate your remarks and I fully agree with them.
I do not know if you will believe this or not, but until the age of about 21, I did not know what sect I belonged to. I had to go and ask my mother since someone posed the question. Her reply was " It does not matter...."
And not only me, I know of several other people who were totally oblivious to this matter.
The proof is that Iraqis intermarried sunnis, shias, kurds, for centuries....And I mean centuries. A prospective husband or wife were NEVER refused on the basis of their sect.
I believe that Iraq was probably the only country in the middle east with different sects that intermarried.
Take for example Lebanon which you mentioned. Even before the civil war, sects would stick to their own. It was rare to find intermarriages between sunnis and shias for instance.
That was not the case in Iraq.
My own extended family has sunnis, shias, kurds, turkomen, armenians, and chaldeans... And this is ONE family. I am sure there are many other families that are the same.
I only started feeling this sunni shia thing, after the Iran Iraq war, when the Dawa party through its subvertive activities started.
And even then, most Iraqis did not give it much attention in their personal lives...
These Iranian backed Dawa groups were quite powerful inside and outside Iraq, and they PREPARED the groundwork for what is currently happening today. It is like you baking bread. They mixed the dough and the Americans created the oven for them.
Getting back to my earlier comment, when I mentioned al Andalus experience, I was trying to make a general point.
I was trying to explain how a Muslim empire that produced great contributions to civilizations and under which the 3 major religions co existed in peace and not only co-existed worked together for the greater good, can crumble. I tried to give the inner and outer signposts of its defeat.
When I mentioned people from the desert, with a stringent interpretation of Islam. I was actually repeating the same words that eye witnesses gave in the annals of History. This is how they were viewed. I was not referring to them in a litteral, absolute sense.
Thank you for your time for reading this.
I totally believe in what you said, i am sorry it seems i was dragged away to what my subconscious is hovering around days and nights, :) . Anyway, My reply was a bit general.
thanks again and keep up the good work,
-PSK
However, Saddam during his period of reign, completely unleashed horror over the shias in iraq.what about basra? he and his men totally destroyed the lives of many many shiite families.
Thank you for empathizing, but for God's sake, don't you people tire of that same rehashed verbiage that you parrot like morons ?
Don't you ever tire?
S.Hussein did NOT oppress the shias. During the so called intifida, armed groups from Iran penetrated the south and provoked an uprising. A few sectarians cried chemical weapons. Since, inspectors from your respectable UN said no such thing. No chemicals were used.
One of the guys who cried chemicals are used, his name is Layth Kubba, today he is in the green Zone with the Americans, working for al Jaafari, another Iranian.
Don't you people read? Don't you people reflect? Or are you just good at mimicking like monkeys?
2 Million IRAQIS ARE DEAD SINCE THE INVASION AND YOU STILL COME AND SAY SADDAM HUSSEIN ?
But we will grieve and mourn together while the murderers play their Congressional war games. There is no distance between us because the children aren't really playing anymore. The Christians talk about a heaven, but seem immune from practicing Jesus' wishes. If there were a "supreme being" who took care of us, why would such misery exist?
No, I'd rather believe we are responsible for our lives and deeds. My responsibility to you, dear Layla, is the same as my responsibility to my daughter. Rage on, woman, until we have a world where every person can be exactly who they are, no exceptions.
Then we can all Dance Away Blues!
Dance away the blues ? Am all game.
The question is when ?
When the pink has turned to red then to black...or when there is no one left to dance away with ?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18552.htm
I try to take solace in the fact that there's a special place in hell for Bush and his kind.
Peace.