Constitution
Conversations...
By Baghdad Burning
04 October, 2005
Baghdad Burning
I
went to sit in the garden to peruse two different versions of the draft
constitution. It was 7 pm and the electricity had just gone out for
the sixth time that day. There was no generator because people usually
allow their generators to rest during the evenings- the sun is on its
way to setting so while its still light outside, the heat is bearable.
In the yards of
most Iraqi houses, there is often an old, rusting swing large enough
for three adults (or five children). The swing is usually iron with
white, peeling paint, and its seat is covered with dusty mats or cushions
so that one doesnt rise from it with a grid-like pattern on ones
backside from the crisscross of the thin iron bars.
Our summers and
springs in Iraq revolve around those sofa-like swings or marjuha.
As the summer comes to an end, Iraqis often have their evening tea outside
in the garden, in the waning afternoon light, with plastic chairs gathered
around the swing and a folding table in the center. At night, when the
electricity goes out and the generator cant be turned on, we gather
outside and sit on the swing, careful to keep bare legs and feet high
enough to avoid insects lurking in the grass.
When adults want
to have a confidential conversation far from curious ears- you can find
them out on the swing. During family gatherings, when the cousins want
to hang out and gossip away from the prying eyes of their parents, theyll
be on the swing. Every family member has a photo on the swing- and every
child has at some point fallen off of it.
So four weeks ago,
I went out to the swing carrying two different versions of the draft
constitution. Though the electricity had gone out, it was still too
early to light the kerosene lamps indoors. After beating the dust out
of the striped cushions and making myself comfortable, I began with
the Arabic version of the constitution.
I had been reading
for five minutes when a rustling sound in one of the trees caught my
attention. It was coming from the tooki tree near the wall
separating our garden from our neighbors driveway. The tree is
on our side of the wall, but more than half of its branches extend over
to Abu F.s side.
I dont know
the name for tooki in English, but it can best be described as a berry-like
fruit. Its either deep purple in color- bordering on black- or
red or white. The fruit, when ripe, is both sweet and sour all at once.
Our tooki tree is the red tooki type and while the fruit is lovely,
it also stains everything it touches. Umm F. (Abu F.s wife) constantly
complains of it staining their driveway. Every once in a while, she
revolts against the tree and attacks it, armed with a large pair of
rusting hedge clippers.
This thought occurred
to me as I focused on the rustling leaves and sure enough- a moment
later- I saw the hedge clippers rise ominously from behind the wall
clutched in a pair of hands. Snap, snap, crunch
and a medium sized
branch fell towards their driveway.
Umm F.!!!
I called out exasperated from my seat on the swing, Again??? I
thought we agreed last week youd stop cutting the branches!!!
The clippers paused
in mid-air, like some exotic, mechanical bird with its beak open. They
lowered slowly and a head took their place. Since the wall is about
180 cm high, I could tell Umm F. was standing on the pile of bricks
she stacked adjacent to the wall. We had a similar pile of bricks under
the tree, and we used our respective brick piles when we needed to communicate
with each other over the wall.
My driveway
is a mess! She called back to me, You know we havent
had proper water for a week
how am I supposed to clean it? This
cursed tooki tree
She waved her clippers in the air to emphasize
her frustration.
Well it wasnt
cursed when you made tooki jam last month! I got up and walked
to the wall to face her. In one hand, I had the Arabic version of the
draft constitution (Version 2.0) and in the other I was clutching the
New York Times English version and fanning myself with it furiously.
So Umm F.,
did you have a look at the constitution yet? I asked casually,
trying to change the subject.
Well, Abu
F. read me some of it from one of the newspapers last week or the week
before
Came the disinterested reply. She raised the clippers
and furtively snapped away at a couple of branches.
And what do
you think? I was curious. I had my own ideas about the constitution
back then but I wanted to hear hers.
I dont
care. Theyve written it and theyll ratify it- what does
it matter what I think? Is it my fathers constitution (qabil distoor
bayt abooyeh?)?
I frowned and tried
to hand her the Arabic version. But you should read it. READ IT.
Look- I even highlighted the good parts
the yellow is about Islam
and the pink is about federalism and here in green- thats the
stuff I didnt really understand. She looked at it suspiciously
and then took it from me.
I watched as she
split the pile of 20 papers in two- she began sweeping the top edge
of the wall with one pile, and using the other pile like a dustpan,
she started to gather the wilted, drying tooki scattered on the wall.
I dont have time or patience to read it. Were not
getting water- the electricity has been terrible and Abu F. hasnt
been able to get gasoline for three days
And you want me to read
a constitution?
But what will
you vote? I asked, watching the papers as they became streaked
with the crimson, blood-like tooki stains.
Youll
actually vote? She scoffed. It will be a joke like the elections
They want this constitution and the Americans want it- do you think
it will make a difference if you vote against it? She had finished
clearing the top edge of the wall of the wilting tooki and she dumped
it all on our side. She put the now dusty, took- stained sheets of paper
back together and smiled as she handed them back, In any case,
let no one tell you it wasnt a useful constitution- look how clean
the wall is now! Ill vote for it! And Umm F. and the hedge
clippers disappeared.
It occurred to me
then that not everyone was as fascinated with the constitution as I
was, or as some of my acquaintances both abroad and inside of the country
were. People are so preoccupied trying to stay alive and safe and just
get to work and send their children off to school in the morning, that
the constitution is a minor thing.
The trouble is that
as the referendum gets nearer, interest seems to diminish. We see the
billboards and the commercials on various channels all about the distoor
and we hear the radio programs and the debates on channels like Arabiya
and Jazeera, but there isnt real public involvement.
In August, there
was more enthusiasm about the referendum. It was taken for granted that
the Kurds, and Shia affiliated with SCIRI or Daawa, would vote
in the referendum. It was surprising, however, when the Association
of Muslim Scholars (influential Sunni group) started what could almost
be called a campaign encouraging Sunnis (and Shia) to vote against the
constitution. The reasons they gave were that federalism, at this time
and under the circumstances, would contribute to the division of Iraq,
and also that the constitution encouraged secular and ethnic friction.
For a few weeks,
there was actual interest on the part of Sunnis, especially in rural
areas, to take part in the referendum. There were arguments about whether
the referendum should be boycotted like the elections or whether it
was the duty of Iraqis in general to vote it down.
And then the military
operations on Sunni areas like Tel Afar, Ramadi, Qaim and Samarra began
once again. The feeling has been that Sunni areas are being intentionally
targeted prior to the referendum to keep Sunnis from voting. When your
city is under fire, and youve been displaced with your family
to some Red Crescent tent in the middle of the desert, the last thing
you worry about is a constitution.
Sunnis are being
openly threatened by Badirs Brigade people and the National Guard.
Two days ago, in Ras il Hawash in the area of Aadhamiya
in Baghdad, National Guard raided homes as an act of revenge because
prior to the raid, they were attacked in Aadhamiya. People from
the area complain that every home they raided, windows were broken,
doors kicked in, tables overturned, people abused and money and valuables
looted.
In places like Tel
Afar and Qaim, dozens of civilians have been killed or wounded and conveniently
labeled insurgents so that people in the US and UK can sleep
better at night. Residents of Tel Afar who left the town returned to
their homes to find many of them only rubble and to find family and
friends dead or wounded. I read one report that said all civilians were
evacuated before the military operation. That isnt true. Many
residents didnt have cars or transport to leave the city and were
forced to stay behind. Some werent allowed out of it.
Now, as the US troops
attack a little village on the Syrian border, we hear reports that the
civilians are heading towards Syria. Not Arab fighters, nor insurgents-
ordinary men, women and children who feel that the Iraqi government
cannot shelter them or give them refuge from the onslaught of occupation
forces.
What is more disturbing
is the fact that most of the people who do want to vote, will vote for
or against the constitution based not on personal convictions, but on
the fatwas and urgings of both Sunni and Shia clerics. The Association
of Muslim Scholars is encouraging people to vote against it, and SCIRI
and Daawa are declaring a vote for the constitution every Muslims
duty. Its hardly shocking that Sistani is now approving it and
encouraging his followers to vote for it. (If I were an Iranian cleric
living in south Iraq, Id vote for it too!)
It is utterly frustrating
to talk to someone about the referendum- whether they are Sunni or Shia
or Kurd- and know that even before theyve read the constitution
properly, theyve decided what they are going to vote.
Womens rights
arent a primary concern for anyone, anymore. People actually laugh
when someone brings up the topic. Lets keep Iraq united
first
is often the response when I comment about the prospect
of Iranian-style Sharia.
Rights and freedoms
have become minor concerns compared to the possibility of civil war,
the reality of ethnic displacement and cleansing, and the daily certainty
of bloodshed and death.