Iraq in Fragments (2006) Movie Script
1
It was beautiful
The bridges
The river
There were fish
Now there's nothing
It was so beautiful
During the war it was so scary
Our house trembled and shook
The war was overhead
I was afraid in the night
We found some people saying
"Baghdad has fallen!"
"The Americans have taken it"
The Americans pass by
The tanks pass by
The helicopters pass overhead
The world is so scary
The world is so scary now
It's all for the oil
no more, no less
Why don't they take the oil
and leave us alone?
We don't care about the oil
We've never benefitted from it
Saddam took everything
for thirty-five years
and now the Americans
will be even worse
I read in the
newspaper today
that the Americans
deny taking Iraqi oil
Why are they guarding
Basra and Kirkuk?
Because they have
the oil resources
This humanitarian aid
they talk of, where is it?
Did you get any?
Did you get some?
Or you?
Why didn't they burn
the Oil Ministry?
They settled in
The situation is getting
worse every day
Every day it gets darker
Today is better than tomorrow
There is no security
No security, no police
And you see the streets now
Bush wants us to
receive him with flowers
How can he expect that?
If it's like this in the beginning,
what will it be in the end?
When you first come, you see
Abdul Khader Gaelani Mosque
Go right,
there's nothing on either side
No, you go straight
The streets are here and here
Go into the street,
take a right, like that
- you see a cafe -
we live opposite the cafe
You'll find me there
knock on the door, ask for
Mohammed, and I'll come out
My boss told me
"lI am like your father"
He raised me up from a child
he and my grandmother
He loves me, loves me
He's nice to me
He doesn't swear at me
or beat me
You don't clean the shop
You're always playing marbles
Are we working here,
or playing marbles?
Why are you doing this?
You pimp!
I told you many times
not to play marbles
I tell you to sort the tools -
the socket wrench is missing
where are the things?
Open your mind, open it!
Open your mind, you scum!
Look at me! Look at me!
You tell me you cleaned
the shop this morning?
You're lying to me? Eh?
I'm talking to you!
Look at me!
Aren't I talking to you
Get up!
Look at me!
He loves me
He loves me, he's nice to me
He loves me like his son
He considers me as
one of his sons
He doesn't hate me
And he won't fire me
One must form a new
outlook on the world
In these times we must forget
divisions and denominations!
This will not serve us or Islam
This will not serve Muslims
Enough of this
"He said this and they said that"
History must move us forward,
Not hold us back!
If History becomes a barrier,
we will suffer
We must use it as a lesson
and reap the benefits
Our history has been written
for thousands of years
He who tells history
must tell it for all,
not only for himself
I never liked this thing
from the start
Nobody got hurt except
for us, the poor
Only the working class got hurt
If there will be work
and reconstruction,
we won't be the
ones who benefit
Only the rich will benefit
The others will stay the same:
The workers will stay workers
Everyone has their own opinion
Look at the differences
between the Sunni and Shia:
You can see the divisions now
If you're applying for a job
they'll tell you:
"Go to the Dawa Party,"
"and get their blessings"
Where has the Dawa Party
been for the last 35 years?
Where have they been?
Why didn't they
rid us of Saddam back then?
They've come back and now
it's on a silver platter for them?
If you're a Shia
they'll give you their blessings
If you're Sunni they won't
I tell you, I wish that
Saddam were still around
I wish he were still here to see
everything that's happening
So what if he oppressed us
and was hard on us
He would never leave
us in this situation
He would never allow it!
He told me he'd pay me later
He's lying, he's a beggar
I used to dream about work:
What is work?
How do people work?
How's it done?
I knew nothing back then
I used to dream about it
I worked and dreamed
Now I kept working
and stopped dreaming
I started working to support
my mother and grandmother
I dropped out
and went to work
I'll keep on working
until I'm grown
My boss said,
"You must go back to school"
"School will teach you
to read and write"
He said, "I'll force you to go"
"If you don't go back,
I'll beat you"
This year is not like the others
First, there will be no cheating!
Don't try to bribe the teachers
or the headmaster to pass
There will be none of that!
Now they've got us in rows
And they're speaking
about school
I want you to be the vanguard
We want you to do us proud,
to be the pride of the New Iraq!
Because we have finished
with oppression and tyranny
Under Saddam they made us
sing a lot, and we became tired
a new president will come
We must sing a different song,
if another president comes
We must sing differently
When you succeed
you take a step forward
This step will help push out
the Imperialism controling Iraq
With your efforts and progress
through your studies
and cooperation
The first time around
I failed the first grade
And then I failed again
the next year
I'm four years older than them
But I don't care, the important
thing is to read and write
Who is God?
Where is God?
Yes, in the sky!
How must we say our prayer,
that we must know by heart?
The chapter,
the Opening Chapter
Say it: The Opening Chapter
This is something every Muslim
must know by heart
And you can know it, too
if God is willing
In the name of God, The
Merciful, The Compassionate
All praise be to God,
Lord of the Worlds
The Merciful, Compassionate
Master of the Day of Judgment
You alone do we worship,
You alone do we turn to
Guide us to the Righteous Way
The way of those on whom
you have endowed Your Grace
not the way of those who earn
Your wrath, or goastray
I have an idea about
those who pray:
The Drunks and the Sinners
If you treat them well, they
return more than they receive
But one who prays and calls
himself a God-fearing man
In matters of work or money
he will always screw you
What did they tell you
in school today?
They didn't give me anything
Did they give you homework?
I did it all in school
I don't do it at home
How is the Reading book now?
Is it still the simple stuff?
Yes, it's still the same
They're bringing new books
The books we have are torn
Do you know how to
write your name now?
slow down, Boss!
Can you write your name,
"Mohammed"?
Like this,
like this, and like this
Good! You can write
"Mohammed"
And your father's name?
"Haithem"
That's the only thing
I still don't know
I can write it, it's easy
"Haithem" HAI-THEM
You haven't written it before?
You brother of a whore!
Four years! And you still can't
write your father's name?
When will you learn
your father's name?
What is it with you?
It's the fifth year
I never expect to see
my father again
My father is dead to me
I will never see my father,
or anything
My father was a lieutenant
He was a policeman
Then he started
talking about Saddam
They put him in prison
They showed him on TV
I saw what they
were doing in his mouth
They were searching his mouth
They were searching
his teeth and beard
and his hair
And they showed
how he was before
How he was holding a sword
In the past
That shooting we
heard this morning?
When we were sitting here
Do you know what it was?
A brother and sister!
The Americans called to them:
"Stop, where are you going?"
They were afraid
and started running
They killed them both
They were just buried
The shots were for the funeral
A brother and sister!
The other day they passed by
with cars, not tanks
They were driving
very slowly in their car
They were chewing gum
They drove forward
One of them was in back
He was watching the kids
in case they pulled a pistol
That's how he watched them
They may stay for a long time
How would I know?
It's for the oil
It's for the oil, isn't it?
They're going to
install a new president
It's not safe here
It's scary
there's no security
I want to go abroad
When you are abroad,
nothing will happen to you
But here you can't go out
It's not safe
My teacher told me
I could be a pilot
'What would you like to be?
An Engineer, a Pilot?'
'A Doctor?' I told her 'A Pilot
I want to fly the plane,
to see a place
that's beautiful and nice
Not Iraq, but a beautiful place
I imagine ... I imagine ...
I'm high in the sky
I can see the doves, the sky
I can see the birds
I am in the plane
and seeing countries
Beautiful and nice
I fly down to those countries
I'll go to that country
The beautiful one
D-A-R spells what?
"dar"
D-U-R spells what?
"dur"
What does it spell?
"dur"
What's the meaning of "dur?"
Many houses!
"dur" - What do we say?
"Dur"
How do we we write "Dur?"
D-U-R
And one house?
We write D-A-R
DAR
DUR
DAR
DUR
When we say "dar" it means:
"one house"
One house
Who lives in one house?
People
You, Mohammed,
Who lives in your house?
My uncles, me, my mother
and my grandmother
All of you live in what?
A "dar" - one house
Where do you live?
In a house
And the house next door?
Our neighbors
Mohammed's house,
plus his neighbors' ...
How many does that make?
Daran! Two houses!
How many?
No, I'm telling you, is it clear?
Don't come to work
starting Tuesday morning
What's the point in letting
you work here an hour a day?
I'll find another kid
to take your place
I'll find some little kid
and let him work
Ah?
What do you say?
Which is better?
School or work?
Work
Why?
Doesn't the school teach you?
No, it doesn't teach me
It doesn't teach you?
What will you learn today?
To work
You're going to
learn to work today?
Do you know how
to write your name?
Write your name here
Okay
And your father's?
Is there anyone who can't
write their father's name?
I only know my first name
How many months has
your father's name taken?
Show me how to write it here
The first letter in the name,
what do you call it?
Eh? You don't know it?
So why are you in school?
Why are you going to school
and don't know the letter 'M'?
Are you pleased with yourself?
Stand up and go away
Haven't you been in
school for two months?
You spent five years just to
write your name, "Mohammed"
When will you learn "Haithem?"
Next year?
He's been in school four years
and he only knows his name!
Aren't I talking to you?
Why will you say I fired you?
Because you can't
write your father's name
Come here! I'm talking to youl!
Come here!
Why are you crying?
Did I hit you?
Did I beat you? Come here!
Did I hit you?
Can you write
your father's name?
Why not?
I'm talking to you! Look at me!
What's this? A handkerchief?
Better to clean your
face with your sandals!
You dog!
Today when you go
- look here! -
Bring a pencil tomorrow
to write your father's name
If you don't know how to
write it I'll roast you alive!
Understand? You write
your father's name tomorrow
Go, you pimp! You mule!
What's his father's name?
"Haithem!"
He can't read or write!
After five years in school!
You dog, son of a bitch!
Five years in the first grade!
Why are you going to school?
Why do they spend
the money for you to go?
He's goes to school, drops out,
goes to school and drops out
And he doesn't know anything
It's better for him not to go
It's better not to go, I tell you!
Better not to go!
Go tell your grandmother
that you're dropping out!
11 years old and
you can't write?
In the morning
I went with my uncle
When he left in the morning
he said, "Come with me"
I went with him to the big shop
I started working with them
It's much better for me
At my old work, they beat me
and swore at me
I don't like anyone to beat me
In my uncle's shop,
nobody beats me
Nobody swears at me,
and I feel relaxed
I will never go back
I have forgotten him,
even my boss' name
I left him, once and for all
If anyone tells me to return,
I will say:
"I would rather
kill myself than go back"
Beware our people!
We will rise up
like a great earthquake!
The people were
forced into silence,
and only in death could
they break their chains!
The crescent moon
of our celebration nears
The celebration for which
we have shed our tears
Be gone, Oppression
and torture of Saddam!
We are the generation of Sadr
Grant us victory
over the blasphemers!
We are the generation of Sadr!
Ali, grant us victory!
As one of those
children born in the 70s
I always heard about
Saddam's oppression
of the Shia
Saddam knows
- as do oppressors like him -
and it's clear to all,
that the Shia are the most
revolutionary of all Muslims
I loved religion and
I was very religious
I entered the Hawza,
I became a disciple, a student
of the Hawza
I saw Mohammed Al Sadr
almost every day
He created in me
a kind of courage
And this courage
grew ever stronger
until I resolved to
challenge the regime myself,
to challenge the Baathists
They ordered my arrest
They threw me in a cell
for an entire year
Nobody passed by,
nobody asked after me
There's no fight between Shia
and Sunni, especially in Iraq
The only differences were
created by Saddam
and Saddam's regime
He made the disagreement
between Shia and Sunna
After the Islamic
Revolution in Iran
Saddam sounded the alarm
that the Iraqi Shia might
make another revolution
like the revolution in Iran
He began to punish the Shia
for their Islamic
customs and traditions
He forbade flagellation
They take up black colors
and weeping as a symbol
And flagellation,
this is also a symbol
of great tragedy they tasted
losing Imam Ali Bin Abi-Talib
They came to teach us
of Western Democracy
Killing, displacement,
and torture,
arrests without charge
- in the land of Iraq -
This is the Democracy
they have brought!
But Islam is
the true Democracy,
the opposite of the
false, empty Democracy
they are boasting of
We are not terrorists
- never! -
as enemies of God and
The Prophet try to depict us
They would suck away
our wealth,
and control our minds
After all that they accuse us
of being terrorists!
Where is the money
they are squandering?
Where are the food supplies?
They blame security problems!
But by God!
You see all these trucks,
coming from everywhere
all carrying supplies
for the Americans,
carrying supplies for
the security forces,
the instruments of repression!
They are not
carrying food supplies
What a shame
that some still believe
the occupying power has
Iraqi interests at heart!
What kind of fool
could believe such a thing?
Either we will hold legal
elections to liberate Iraq,
or we remain in the strangle-
hold of the Americans
Maybe it will bring conflict,
but we are prepared for that
Maybe the occupation forces
will oppose us in the streets
We will lead civil disobedience
and sit down before the tanks
To prove we are in charge,
that we can take our freedom
The important thing is to
dissolve the imposed council
and replace it
with an elected one
We won't abide those imposed
by the Occupation Forces
Let them not
imagine that in Iraq
though we faced 35 years
of Baathist oppression
that we don't know the
meaning of democracy
We know what democracy is
If elections succeed
in Naseriyah,
they'll throw out the Americans
with a slap on the face
It will be like this: "The Islamic
movements propose holding
direct general elections
by secret ballot,
to elect a council to represent
all the people of our province"
Everyone should feel they have
a voice on the committee
- Yes, yes -
So we're saying four Islamic
and three Democracy ...
- That's seven -
And three ... We aren't
including a Sunni position?
No, that will create factionalism
It's factional? Okay, skip it
This is the reality,
I want to explain ...
These elections won't bring
clear victory to any one group
This is the reality
The Religious Scholars are the
last word on the elections
and we will follow
the Religious Scholars
Holding local elections proves
national elections are possible
And if God is willing,
it will be a signal
for the occupiers and the UN
that elections will succeed
We will support elections
Elections that are
democratic, popular and Shia
And it's your right to vote
for whomever you like
We are moving on this path
and we will hold a conference
of political parties in Naseriyah
First, we must
organize ourselves
If we can do that with dignity,
then our path will be true
The Advisory Council,
employed by the CPA,
was appointed, not elected
So we fought against it
using non-violent resistance
We decided the solution is to
replace the council by elections
We are under occupation
Let's be realistic
The occupier won't allow us
to do something before July
without forcing
their own conditions
I know from experience
there's a decision like that
They are shaking our hand
and stabbing us in the back
It's a game!
After July they will allow us
a small portion of our freedom
A portion
Not the whole thing!
We must beware the factional
provocation being sown in Iraq
They had this plan in 1917,
when the English occupied Iraq
in the 1st World War, when
General Maude took Baghdad
They tried it then, but the Shia
and Sunni declared unity
and so their plan failed
So I suggest we not to raise
this subject in the elections,
as all groups - Sunni, Shia,
Sabians - are true patriots
Even these parties
are not legal parties
A party must have a program,
some issues they represent
There are no laws
governing political parties
Excuse us - let's hear what
Sheik Aws has to say
Brothers, we have no time
to argue and quarrel
As our brothers have noted,
the situation is critical,
and our province is forgotten
This meeting between Islamic
and Democracy movements
may be impossible in the future
Perhaps some foreign
hand will intervene,
or the Devil may walk
between our rows
I don't believe this opportunity
will ever be repeated
Our mission and our duty,
commanded by God,
is to show the correct path
to those who go astray
They are bringing the sins
of alcohol to Naseriyah
and people pass by them
without protest!
Now we will consider it our
duty to ask the faithful
if they pass the flea market
and see alcohol sellers ...
We are warning them
against staying there
in the market, selling alcohol
We are an Islamic city!
The Mehdi Army will lead
groups to cleanse this
area after three days
following this warning!
The Devil's plan is weak!
And God is on our side!
Praise be to
Moqtada, our leader!
We are with you, not Bush!
Nor with any oppressor!
The alcohol sellers will escape!
We weren't doing anything,
only passing by!
Just keep quiet
By Abbas Bin Ali Bin Ali Talib!
If we were guilty,
we would have run!
... and I used to complain
about Saddam!
God bless your parents
You!
What's the matter with you?
There's nothing
wrong with me
After a bit you'll be released
But you asked what's wrong?
- Yes, what's the matter?
It's blasphemy! Those wine
sellers in the month of Ashura,
and you arrested us!
I won't go
Just let me talk with him
I told you: I will release him
If he's innocent I'll release him
Sometimes a man might have
troubles, even with his family
We were saved from tyranny!
And you brought another?
How can it be, brother?
When Saddam fell I rejoiced,
but now again I'm blindfolded!
We've returned to
Saddam's time once again!
You arrested him
in the market?
Yes
He was selling alcohol
By God,
he was selling auto scrap!
Saddam uprooted my family
How is it I'm bound up again?
How can it be?
- Stop your noise -
Even God cannot accept it!
You're slandering people
In this holy month of Ashura!
What can we do? Today
we didn't even eat breakfast
And now you're
framing people
We are living through
challenging times in this city
We will either live or die
We will close every door of
depravity opened by America
And we know that America
is preparing our punishment
and will try to destroy us
by any means
They fear the Mehdi Army
will drive them from Iraq
We are asking in a civil way,
and if we are disappointed
in this path
then we must chooseanother
path granted us by God
We turned out in a
peaceful demonstration
to call for the release
of Mustapha Yacoubi
A lot of people came
The Spanish were on this side,
and the people on the other
The Spanish had taken
up battle positions
The police were pushed back
and began shooting in the air
It seems some of the
demonstrators had weapons
A firefight started,
many people were shot
On TV we saw the Mehdi Army
training in Baghdad
Moqtada's speech made the
Americans very nervous
They trampled our holy places,
they beat our Imams
The south will not be silent,
and no American will feel safe
Where is the Democracy?
Is this the Democracy?
Is this the Freedom?
They routed Saddam and now
100 Saddams to replaced him!
America promised a life of
comfort, freedom, democracy,
but we knew it was all lies!
The American military
claims they have stopped
using some methods of
interrogation in Iraq
after revelations of
torture of Iraqi detainees
in Abu Graib prison,
near Baghdad
As to how what
happened in that prison
will reflect on America
and the American people ...
... those disgraceful acts
do not reflect our character
As we have broadcast
all over the world,
we will conduct a
thorough investigation
that the whole world will see
In order to find out the truth
of how these
things happened,
whether there were any
decisions made,
or orders given,
and how they were delivered
And our investigations will be
completely different
from what was done
under Saddam Hussein
when no investigations
were carried out
Has America saved us
from the Baathists?
They've changed the faces
They removed Saddam,
and here are the Baathists:
They brought Alawi his kind
Who can trust America? Who
can trust the biggest tyrant?
America is supporting
Israel on one side,
and we Muslims trust that
America came to help us?
Verily,
glory goes to the revolutionary
Glory goes to the resistance
And shame, disgrace and
defeat go the occupier!
When will we begin the fight?
You saw what
became of the spies
who informed on holy warriors
in Sadr City, in Baghdad:
They were hanged
from the electricity poles!
So shall it be with all spies
Peace be upon Mohammed
and his followers!
Curse his enemies and
make victorious his son,
Moqtada! Moqtada! Moqtada!
If Vietham was able
to defeat America,
then we of courage and faith
can defeat the enemy,
and expel them, God willing
We can do it
If America leaves, these people
will be like a return of Saddam
Saddam in a new form,
a new image
The city is empty,
a ghost town,
and Mogtada's men control it
America promised one
thing and did another
They came as liberators
and became occupiers
They came to help the people
but then turned against us
Against the Iraqi people,
against Iraq
That's America
Their problem is they only
know how to use force
You have to study the
Iraqis to know them
They should learn our
customs, our habits ...
It's impossible to change us
with the barrel of a tank
It's impossible
If they bring tanks here then
they are against the people
We are in the center of the city
It has become a battleground
there are people living
here, going to cafes ...
... and that's how it is
America wants the bombings!
They are killing
civilians in the street
it's deadly serious
They say: "We came to save
you from Saddam Hussein"
Who put Saddam in power
if not them?
They supported Saddam
for 35 years
They want to build
a military base here
to steal our wealth and our oil
They want to take everything!
There is only one God!
America is the enemy of God!
Lighten their load, oh God
and bring their spirits
to you, oh God
You are all-forgiving, oh God
You are the Mercy and
the Blessing, oh God
Look favorably upon
their virtues, oh God
If they have done wrong,
forgive their trespasses
All of you have come for
the sake of your dead
All the dead of the King
of Believers, the Shia
I remember all the days
they play before my eyes
In autumn they
work the brick ovens
sometimes I go to watch
sometimes I go to the
ovens and watch the fire
In the summer it's very hot
Without shade you won't last
You have to sit in the shadows
I will bury you
You'll bury yourself
When you take back moves
I lose my desire to play
That's what you always say
You know me too well
You're taking back your moves!
You only say that
when you lose
You have won very beautifully
But victory doesn't come easily
That's all
When I was born,
my father named me
Mahmoud, after an Imam
My father
He said,
"I will let this one study"
And he put me in school
before he died
When my father went to God,
- we had sheep, we lived
in the countryside -
They said "Mind the sheep
You don't know how to study"
"You won't amount to anything"
I don't want my
children to be like me
Let them be different
Sulei!
Come, little white sheep
Sulei,
I got my hair cut at a barber
What style did you ask for?
The Arnold
Suleiman is a friend of mine
Sulei! Not like that!
You have destroyed my head!
As we get older,
we won't forget each other
We won't say
"Now we're older
No need to visit each other"
As we grow older, our
friendship must grow stronger
I will be a teacher; Suleiman
says he wants to be a doctor
He jokes with me:
"If you become sick, I'll
give you the wrong injection!"
"Not the one
that makes you better"
Go for five minutes!
And if I last that long?
- I'll give you whatever you like
We have loved each
other since childhood
Like brothers
When we first moved here
Bizhar and I
became best friends
And it's the same at school
Me and Bizhar,
we always stuck together
We still walk to school together
If anyone fights with us,
we defend each other
Teacher! Teacher! Teacher!
Stand up Suleiman, please,
and stand up, Salar
I'm asking, Salar, "Who's that?"
- "That is Suleiman"
Clap for him
However much you
study, it's not enough
However much you
study, it's too little
There are those who only
study, and they'll be doctors
And those who haven't studied
They must take any
job they can find
I pray my grades are
good enough just to pass
The principal and I
are on uneven terms
He's always saying "You'll fail"
But who knows?
He just says that
so you'll study more
Bring them back, Rosho!
Always with the sheep,
summer and winter
Why?
I don't want to leave school
I want to go to college
and be something
We pray to God to end
violence and suffering
to give the Kurdish people rest
I tried hard to put Suleiman
in religious school
to become an Imam
I will die soon
In my remaining days I
will attend the mosque
and spend my time
praying to God
I said to myself,
"I have six sons"
"Let one of them be for God,"
"and let the others
be for this life"
It is written in the Qur'an,
"If we stay alive, we will see"
"Any place touched by sunlight
will be governed by Islam
Now they say the
Kurds are blasphemers,
that Kurds brought
America to Iraq
They say,
"We will behead all the Kurds"
People think the
Kurds are blasphemers
But suicide bombers?
Can you imagine?
They think it's Jihad,
that you'll be a martyr
But if there is religion left
it is among the Kurds
In the past, we moved from
our village because of poverty
Saddam Hussein
destroyed the villages
He turned the area
into a wasteland
He changed it
into an Arab area
Because bones were broken
and blood spilled between us
Our unity and brotherhood
will never return
God brought America
to the Kurds
He brought her to us,
and they liberated Iraq
They toppled the regime
We came out of the
darkness into the light
There's been enough
war in Iraq
How long can it continue?
Let's lay our weapons down
and practice politics
If you compare Jewish people
with the Kurds:
They are much fewer
They have their own flag,
their own government
They are free and independent
Why can't the Kurds
be independent?
Why can't they have their flag?
Even if I don't live to see it,
my children will benefit
The Prophet said,
"I desire nothing"
He said, "Life is nothing,
it is empty, like a house"
"with two doors: you enter on
one side and exit on the other"
I want nothing from this life
All my children,
from youngest to oldest,
have followed in my footsteps
They are walking in my path
We ask God in His glory
to hear our prayer
on this Friday sabbath
Dear brothers
We have all been
requested to go
to cast our vote for our future,
our country, our nation
To draw it with our hands!
You must sacrifice one day
to save a persecuted people
To uncover how an entire
nation was buried alive
in the Anfal Campaign!
It's just a paper that you
put in the ballot box
The ballot box, my brothers
Many years we fought
in the mountains
Many years we struggled
against the oppressor
All that was nothing compared
with the vote you will cast
The vote that you will cast
is better than 100 bombs
and 200 boxes of bullets!
If the Kurds unite they will be
something this time around
This is your only paper?
Yes
Then goin
Let them come, brother,
let them come!
Check our bodies well!
Until now we have been
unknown to the world
Kurdistan! Kurdistan!
Now they will know
who we are
You can't stand here,
the line is over there
Brothers! Be patient!
I'll let all of you in!
Nobody without a
form can come in!
Brother, I checked with
all the polling stations
Anyone with an ID,
just ask for his ration card
so we don't lose any votes for
the Iraqi National Assembly
You must mark list 130,
it's the Kurdish one
These are for other parties
Put your right index
finger in the ink
Yes, this one
Where shall I put this?
I'm illiterate
I have my husband with me
Mark 130, it's the Kurdish one
A man who eat these votes
and forget me tomorrow,
who will only play with me,
I will not vote for this man,
who only wants to
fill his pockets
You must support those
who support the poor
Now the Kurdish
leadership has grown fat
While the poor people
are moaning from hunger
This is the truth
If it cannot be, it cannot be
Now it will be hard for Kurds,
Sunna and Shia to live together
The future of Iraq
will be in three pieces
Iraq is not something
that you can cut into pieces
Iraq is a country
And how can you
cut a country into pieces?
With a saw?
Kurdistan is like Heaven
on Earth for the Kurds
We must protect Kurdistan
like our own eyes,
and not let the enemy
invade Kurdistan
Those who rely God's grace,
God willing, they will succeed
If God is willing,
he will give us strength
By God, the spring is very nice,
the grass grows ...
I have forgotten many things
Things don't stay in my mind
When they tell me
I was dreaming,
I say,
"How can it be a dream?"
"I've never seen such a dream"
and yet I had dreamed it
His father said,
"You must herd the sheep
He had no choice,
so he left school
His future will burn
I have no business
going to school
I'm the only one left
They won't take anyone
who's not a good brick cutter
All these young
guys come searching
with their mustaches
and their big muscles
From morning until night
nobody gives them work
If they can't do even that work,
they just go home and lie down
Always lying around ...
But you must build your life
Isn't it so?
Now I work the brick ovens
Then I tend the sheep
My father is getting old,
he can't work
If we all went to school,
he'd do the work
But we won't let him work
He raised us all
Shouldn't we care for him now?
I'm tired
I eat quickly so I can lie down
and fall asleep
Now the war is over
Today, everything in Iraq
is controlled by America
Nobody can escape
America's reach
Two men are wrestling
Someone asks,
"Whose side is God on?"
They answer, "God is always
on the side of the winner"
Whoever wins,
God is on his side
I'm going
God be with you
It was beautiful
The bridges
The river
There were fish
Now there's nothing
It was so beautiful
During the war it was so scary
Our house trembled and shook
The war was overhead
I was afraid in the night
We found some people saying
"Baghdad has fallen!"
"The Americans have taken it"
The Americans pass by
The tanks pass by
The helicopters pass overhead
The world is so scary
The world is so scary now
It's all for the oil
no more, no less
Why don't they take the oil
and leave us alone?
We don't care about the oil
We've never benefitted from it
Saddam took everything
for thirty-five years
and now the Americans
will be even worse
I read in the
newspaper today
that the Americans
deny taking Iraqi oil
Why are they guarding
Basra and Kirkuk?
Because they have
the oil resources
This humanitarian aid
they talk of, where is it?
Did you get any?
Did you get some?
Or you?
Why didn't they burn
the Oil Ministry?
They settled in
The situation is getting
worse every day
Every day it gets darker
Today is better than tomorrow
There is no security
No security, no police
And you see the streets now
Bush wants us to
receive him with flowers
How can he expect that?
If it's like this in the beginning,
what will it be in the end?
When you first come, you see
Abdul Khader Gaelani Mosque
Go right,
there's nothing on either side
No, you go straight
The streets are here and here
Go into the street,
take a right, like that
- you see a cafe -
we live opposite the cafe
You'll find me there
knock on the door, ask for
Mohammed, and I'll come out
My boss told me
"lI am like your father"
He raised me up from a child
he and my grandmother
He loves me, loves me
He's nice to me
He doesn't swear at me
or beat me
You don't clean the shop
You're always playing marbles
Are we working here,
or playing marbles?
Why are you doing this?
You pimp!
I told you many times
not to play marbles
I tell you to sort the tools -
the socket wrench is missing
where are the things?
Open your mind, open it!
Open your mind, you scum!
Look at me! Look at me!
You tell me you cleaned
the shop this morning?
You're lying to me? Eh?
I'm talking to you!
Look at me!
Aren't I talking to you
Get up!
Look at me!
He loves me
He loves me, he's nice to me
He loves me like his son
He considers me as
one of his sons
He doesn't hate me
And he won't fire me
One must form a new
outlook on the world
In these times we must forget
divisions and denominations!
This will not serve us or Islam
This will not serve Muslims
Enough of this
"He said this and they said that"
History must move us forward,
Not hold us back!
If History becomes a barrier,
we will suffer
We must use it as a lesson
and reap the benefits
Our history has been written
for thousands of years
He who tells history
must tell it for all,
not only for himself
I never liked this thing
from the start
Nobody got hurt except
for us, the poor
Only the working class got hurt
If there will be work
and reconstruction,
we won't be the
ones who benefit
Only the rich will benefit
The others will stay the same:
The workers will stay workers
Everyone has their own opinion
Look at the differences
between the Sunni and Shia:
You can see the divisions now
If you're applying for a job
they'll tell you:
"Go to the Dawa Party,"
"and get their blessings"
Where has the Dawa Party
been for the last 35 years?
Where have they been?
Why didn't they
rid us of Saddam back then?
They've come back and now
it's on a silver platter for them?
If you're a Shia
they'll give you their blessings
If you're Sunni they won't
I tell you, I wish that
Saddam were still around
I wish he were still here to see
everything that's happening
So what if he oppressed us
and was hard on us
He would never leave
us in this situation
He would never allow it!
He told me he'd pay me later
He's lying, he's a beggar
I used to dream about work:
What is work?
How do people work?
How's it done?
I knew nothing back then
I used to dream about it
I worked and dreamed
Now I kept working
and stopped dreaming
I started working to support
my mother and grandmother
I dropped out
and went to work
I'll keep on working
until I'm grown
My boss said,
"You must go back to school"
"School will teach you
to read and write"
He said, "I'll force you to go"
"If you don't go back,
I'll beat you"
This year is not like the others
First, there will be no cheating!
Don't try to bribe the teachers
or the headmaster to pass
There will be none of that!
Now they've got us in rows
And they're speaking
about school
I want you to be the vanguard
We want you to do us proud,
to be the pride of the New Iraq!
Because we have finished
with oppression and tyranny
Under Saddam they made us
sing a lot, and we became tired
a new president will come
We must sing a different song,
if another president comes
We must sing differently
When you succeed
you take a step forward
This step will help push out
the Imperialism controling Iraq
With your efforts and progress
through your studies
and cooperation
The first time around
I failed the first grade
And then I failed again
the next year
I'm four years older than them
But I don't care, the important
thing is to read and write
Who is God?
Where is God?
Yes, in the sky!
How must we say our prayer,
that we must know by heart?
The chapter,
the Opening Chapter
Say it: The Opening Chapter
This is something every Muslim
must know by heart
And you can know it, too
if God is willing
In the name of God, The
Merciful, The Compassionate
All praise be to God,
Lord of the Worlds
The Merciful, Compassionate
Master of the Day of Judgment
You alone do we worship,
You alone do we turn to
Guide us to the Righteous Way
The way of those on whom
you have endowed Your Grace
not the way of those who earn
Your wrath, or goastray
I have an idea about
those who pray:
The Drunks and the Sinners
If you treat them well, they
return more than they receive
But one who prays and calls
himself a God-fearing man
In matters of work or money
he will always screw you
What did they tell you
in school today?
They didn't give me anything
Did they give you homework?
I did it all in school
I don't do it at home
How is the Reading book now?
Is it still the simple stuff?
Yes, it's still the same
They're bringing new books
The books we have are torn
Do you know how to
write your name now?
slow down, Boss!
Can you write your name,
"Mohammed"?
Like this,
like this, and like this
Good! You can write
"Mohammed"
And your father's name?
"Haithem"
That's the only thing
I still don't know
I can write it, it's easy
"Haithem" HAI-THEM
You haven't written it before?
You brother of a whore!
Four years! And you still can't
write your father's name?
When will you learn
your father's name?
What is it with you?
It's the fifth year
I never expect to see
my father again
My father is dead to me
I will never see my father,
or anything
My father was a lieutenant
He was a policeman
Then he started
talking about Saddam
They put him in prison
They showed him on TV
I saw what they
were doing in his mouth
They were searching his mouth
They were searching
his teeth and beard
and his hair
And they showed
how he was before
How he was holding a sword
In the past
That shooting we
heard this morning?
When we were sitting here
Do you know what it was?
A brother and sister!
The Americans called to them:
"Stop, where are you going?"
They were afraid
and started running
They killed them both
They were just buried
The shots were for the funeral
A brother and sister!
The other day they passed by
with cars, not tanks
They were driving
very slowly in their car
They were chewing gum
They drove forward
One of them was in back
He was watching the kids
in case they pulled a pistol
That's how he watched them
They may stay for a long time
How would I know?
It's for the oil
It's for the oil, isn't it?
They're going to
install a new president
It's not safe here
It's scary
there's no security
I want to go abroad
When you are abroad,
nothing will happen to you
But here you can't go out
It's not safe
My teacher told me
I could be a pilot
'What would you like to be?
An Engineer, a Pilot?'
'A Doctor?' I told her 'A Pilot
I want to fly the plane,
to see a place
that's beautiful and nice
Not Iraq, but a beautiful place
I imagine ... I imagine ...
I'm high in the sky
I can see the doves, the sky
I can see the birds
I am in the plane
and seeing countries
Beautiful and nice
I fly down to those countries
I'll go to that country
The beautiful one
D-A-R spells what?
"dar"
D-U-R spells what?
"dur"
What does it spell?
"dur"
What's the meaning of "dur?"
Many houses!
"dur" - What do we say?
"Dur"
How do we we write "Dur?"
D-U-R
And one house?
We write D-A-R
DAR
DUR
DAR
DUR
When we say "dar" it means:
"one house"
One house
Who lives in one house?
People
You, Mohammed,
Who lives in your house?
My uncles, me, my mother
and my grandmother
All of you live in what?
A "dar" - one house
Where do you live?
In a house
And the house next door?
Our neighbors
Mohammed's house,
plus his neighbors' ...
How many does that make?
Daran! Two houses!
How many?
No, I'm telling you, is it clear?
Don't come to work
starting Tuesday morning
What's the point in letting
you work here an hour a day?
I'll find another kid
to take your place
I'll find some little kid
and let him work
Ah?
What do you say?
Which is better?
School or work?
Work
Why?
Doesn't the school teach you?
No, it doesn't teach me
It doesn't teach you?
What will you learn today?
To work
You're going to
learn to work today?
Do you know how
to write your name?
Write your name here
Okay
And your father's?
Is there anyone who can't
write their father's name?
I only know my first name
How many months has
your father's name taken?
Show me how to write it here
The first letter in the name,
what do you call it?
Eh? You don't know it?
So why are you in school?
Why are you going to school
and don't know the letter 'M'?
Are you pleased with yourself?
Stand up and go away
Haven't you been in
school for two months?
You spent five years just to
write your name, "Mohammed"
When will you learn "Haithem?"
Next year?
He's been in school four years
and he only knows his name!
Aren't I talking to you?
Why will you say I fired you?
Because you can't
write your father's name
Come here! I'm talking to youl!
Come here!
Why are you crying?
Did I hit you?
Did I beat you? Come here!
Did I hit you?
Can you write
your father's name?
Why not?
I'm talking to you! Look at me!
What's this? A handkerchief?
Better to clean your
face with your sandals!
You dog!
Today when you go
- look here! -
Bring a pencil tomorrow
to write your father's name
If you don't know how to
write it I'll roast you alive!
Understand? You write
your father's name tomorrow
Go, you pimp! You mule!
What's his father's name?
"Haithem!"
He can't read or write!
After five years in school!
You dog, son of a bitch!
Five years in the first grade!
Why are you going to school?
Why do they spend
the money for you to go?
He's goes to school, drops out,
goes to school and drops out
And he doesn't know anything
It's better for him not to go
It's better not to go, I tell you!
Better not to go!
Go tell your grandmother
that you're dropping out!
11 years old and
you can't write?
In the morning
I went with my uncle
When he left in the morning
he said, "Come with me"
I went with him to the big shop
I started working with them
It's much better for me
At my old work, they beat me
and swore at me
I don't like anyone to beat me
In my uncle's shop,
nobody beats me
Nobody swears at me,
and I feel relaxed
I will never go back
I have forgotten him,
even my boss' name
I left him, once and for all
If anyone tells me to return,
I will say:
"I would rather
kill myself than go back"
Beware our people!
We will rise up
like a great earthquake!
The people were
forced into silence,
and only in death could
they break their chains!
The crescent moon
of our celebration nears
The celebration for which
we have shed our tears
Be gone, Oppression
and torture of Saddam!
We are the generation of Sadr
Grant us victory
over the blasphemers!
We are the generation of Sadr!
Ali, grant us victory!
As one of those
children born in the 70s
I always heard about
Saddam's oppression
of the Shia
Saddam knows
- as do oppressors like him -
and it's clear to all,
that the Shia are the most
revolutionary of all Muslims
I loved religion and
I was very religious
I entered the Hawza,
I became a disciple, a student
of the Hawza
I saw Mohammed Al Sadr
almost every day
He created in me
a kind of courage
And this courage
grew ever stronger
until I resolved to
challenge the regime myself,
to challenge the Baathists
They ordered my arrest
They threw me in a cell
for an entire year
Nobody passed by,
nobody asked after me
There's no fight between Shia
and Sunni, especially in Iraq
The only differences were
created by Saddam
and Saddam's regime
He made the disagreement
between Shia and Sunna
After the Islamic
Revolution in Iran
Saddam sounded the alarm
that the Iraqi Shia might
make another revolution
like the revolution in Iran
He began to punish the Shia
for their Islamic
customs and traditions
He forbade flagellation
They take up black colors
and weeping as a symbol
And flagellation,
this is also a symbol
of great tragedy they tasted
losing Imam Ali Bin Abi-Talib
They came to teach us
of Western Democracy
Killing, displacement,
and torture,
arrests without charge
- in the land of Iraq -
This is the Democracy
they have brought!
But Islam is
the true Democracy,
the opposite of the
false, empty Democracy
they are boasting of
We are not terrorists
- never! -
as enemies of God and
The Prophet try to depict us
They would suck away
our wealth,
and control our minds
After all that they accuse us
of being terrorists!
Where is the money
they are squandering?
Where are the food supplies?
They blame security problems!
But by God!
You see all these trucks,
coming from everywhere
all carrying supplies
for the Americans,
carrying supplies for
the security forces,
the instruments of repression!
They are not
carrying food supplies
What a shame
that some still believe
the occupying power has
Iraqi interests at heart!
What kind of fool
could believe such a thing?
Either we will hold legal
elections to liberate Iraq,
or we remain in the strangle-
hold of the Americans
Maybe it will bring conflict,
but we are prepared for that
Maybe the occupation forces
will oppose us in the streets
We will lead civil disobedience
and sit down before the tanks
To prove we are in charge,
that we can take our freedom
The important thing is to
dissolve the imposed council
and replace it
with an elected one
We won't abide those imposed
by the Occupation Forces
Let them not
imagine that in Iraq
though we faced 35 years
of Baathist oppression
that we don't know the
meaning of democracy
We know what democracy is
If elections succeed
in Naseriyah,
they'll throw out the Americans
with a slap on the face
It will be like this: "The Islamic
movements propose holding
direct general elections
by secret ballot,
to elect a council to represent
all the people of our province"
Everyone should feel they have
a voice on the committee
- Yes, yes -
So we're saying four Islamic
and three Democracy ...
- That's seven -
And three ... We aren't
including a Sunni position?
No, that will create factionalism
It's factional? Okay, skip it
This is the reality,
I want to explain ...
These elections won't bring
clear victory to any one group
This is the reality
The Religious Scholars are the
last word on the elections
and we will follow
the Religious Scholars
Holding local elections proves
national elections are possible
And if God is willing,
it will be a signal
for the occupiers and the UN
that elections will succeed
We will support elections
Elections that are
democratic, popular and Shia
And it's your right to vote
for whomever you like
We are moving on this path
and we will hold a conference
of political parties in Naseriyah
First, we must
organize ourselves
If we can do that with dignity,
then our path will be true
The Advisory Council,
employed by the CPA,
was appointed, not elected
So we fought against it
using non-violent resistance
We decided the solution is to
replace the council by elections
We are under occupation
Let's be realistic
The occupier won't allow us
to do something before July
without forcing
their own conditions
I know from experience
there's a decision like that
They are shaking our hand
and stabbing us in the back
It's a game!
After July they will allow us
a small portion of our freedom
A portion
Not the whole thing!
We must beware the factional
provocation being sown in Iraq
They had this plan in 1917,
when the English occupied Iraq
in the 1st World War, when
General Maude took Baghdad
They tried it then, but the Shia
and Sunni declared unity
and so their plan failed
So I suggest we not to raise
this subject in the elections,
as all groups - Sunni, Shia,
Sabians - are true patriots
Even these parties
are not legal parties
A party must have a program,
some issues they represent
There are no laws
governing political parties
Excuse us - let's hear what
Sheik Aws has to say
Brothers, we have no time
to argue and quarrel
As our brothers have noted,
the situation is critical,
and our province is forgotten
This meeting between Islamic
and Democracy movements
may be impossible in the future
Perhaps some foreign
hand will intervene,
or the Devil may walk
between our rows
I don't believe this opportunity
will ever be repeated
Our mission and our duty,
commanded by God,
is to show the correct path
to those who go astray
They are bringing the sins
of alcohol to Naseriyah
and people pass by them
without protest!
Now we will consider it our
duty to ask the faithful
if they pass the flea market
and see alcohol sellers ...
We are warning them
against staying there
in the market, selling alcohol
We are an Islamic city!
The Mehdi Army will lead
groups to cleanse this
area after three days
following this warning!
The Devil's plan is weak!
And God is on our side!
Praise be to
Moqtada, our leader!
We are with you, not Bush!
Nor with any oppressor!
The alcohol sellers will escape!
We weren't doing anything,
only passing by!
Just keep quiet
By Abbas Bin Ali Bin Ali Talib!
If we were guilty,
we would have run!
... and I used to complain
about Saddam!
God bless your parents
You!
What's the matter with you?
There's nothing
wrong with me
After a bit you'll be released
But you asked what's wrong?
- Yes, what's the matter?
It's blasphemy! Those wine
sellers in the month of Ashura,
and you arrested us!
I won't go
Just let me talk with him
I told you: I will release him
If he's innocent I'll release him
Sometimes a man might have
troubles, even with his family
We were saved from tyranny!
And you brought another?
How can it be, brother?
When Saddam fell I rejoiced,
but now again I'm blindfolded!
We've returned to
Saddam's time once again!
You arrested him
in the market?
Yes
He was selling alcohol
By God,
he was selling auto scrap!
Saddam uprooted my family
How is it I'm bound up again?
How can it be?
- Stop your noise -
Even God cannot accept it!
You're slandering people
In this holy month of Ashura!
What can we do? Today
we didn't even eat breakfast
And now you're
framing people
We are living through
challenging times in this city
We will either live or die
We will close every door of
depravity opened by America
And we know that America
is preparing our punishment
and will try to destroy us
by any means
They fear the Mehdi Army
will drive them from Iraq
We are asking in a civil way,
and if we are disappointed
in this path
then we must chooseanother
path granted us by God
We turned out in a
peaceful demonstration
to call for the release
of Mustapha Yacoubi
A lot of people came
The Spanish were on this side,
and the people on the other
The Spanish had taken
up battle positions
The police were pushed back
and began shooting in the air
It seems some of the
demonstrators had weapons
A firefight started,
many people were shot
On TV we saw the Mehdi Army
training in Baghdad
Moqtada's speech made the
Americans very nervous
They trampled our holy places,
they beat our Imams
The south will not be silent,
and no American will feel safe
Where is the Democracy?
Is this the Democracy?
Is this the Freedom?
They routed Saddam and now
100 Saddams to replaced him!
America promised a life of
comfort, freedom, democracy,
but we knew it was all lies!
The American military
claims they have stopped
using some methods of
interrogation in Iraq
after revelations of
torture of Iraqi detainees
in Abu Graib prison,
near Baghdad
As to how what
happened in that prison
will reflect on America
and the American people ...
... those disgraceful acts
do not reflect our character
As we have broadcast
all over the world,
we will conduct a
thorough investigation
that the whole world will see
In order to find out the truth
of how these
things happened,
whether there were any
decisions made,
or orders given,
and how they were delivered
And our investigations will be
completely different
from what was done
under Saddam Hussein
when no investigations
were carried out
Has America saved us
from the Baathists?
They've changed the faces
They removed Saddam,
and here are the Baathists:
They brought Alawi his kind
Who can trust America? Who
can trust the biggest tyrant?
America is supporting
Israel on one side,
and we Muslims trust that
America came to help us?
Verily,
glory goes to the revolutionary
Glory goes to the resistance
And shame, disgrace and
defeat go the occupier!
When will we begin the fight?
You saw what
became of the spies
who informed on holy warriors
in Sadr City, in Baghdad:
They were hanged
from the electricity poles!
So shall it be with all spies
Peace be upon Mohammed
and his followers!
Curse his enemies and
make victorious his son,
Moqtada! Moqtada! Moqtada!
If Vietham was able
to defeat America,
then we of courage and faith
can defeat the enemy,
and expel them, God willing
We can do it
If America leaves, these people
will be like a return of Saddam
Saddam in a new form,
a new image
The city is empty,
a ghost town,
and Mogtada's men control it
America promised one
thing and did another
They came as liberators
and became occupiers
They came to help the people
but then turned against us
Against the Iraqi people,
against Iraq
That's America
Their problem is they only
know how to use force
You have to study the
Iraqis to know them
They should learn our
customs, our habits ...
It's impossible to change us
with the barrel of a tank
It's impossible
If they bring tanks here then
they are against the people
We are in the center of the city
It has become a battleground
there are people living
here, going to cafes ...
... and that's how it is
America wants the bombings!
They are killing
civilians in the street
it's deadly serious
They say: "We came to save
you from Saddam Hussein"
Who put Saddam in power
if not them?
They supported Saddam
for 35 years
They want to build
a military base here
to steal our wealth and our oil
They want to take everything!
There is only one God!
America is the enemy of God!
Lighten their load, oh God
and bring their spirits
to you, oh God
You are all-forgiving, oh God
You are the Mercy and
the Blessing, oh God
Look favorably upon
their virtues, oh God
If they have done wrong,
forgive their trespasses
All of you have come for
the sake of your dead
All the dead of the King
of Believers, the Shia
I remember all the days
they play before my eyes
In autumn they
work the brick ovens
sometimes I go to watch
sometimes I go to the
ovens and watch the fire
In the summer it's very hot
Without shade you won't last
You have to sit in the shadows
I will bury you
You'll bury yourself
When you take back moves
I lose my desire to play
That's what you always say
You know me too well
You're taking back your moves!
You only say that
when you lose
You have won very beautifully
But victory doesn't come easily
That's all
When I was born,
my father named me
Mahmoud, after an Imam
My father
He said,
"I will let this one study"
And he put me in school
before he died
When my father went to God,
- we had sheep, we lived
in the countryside -
They said "Mind the sheep
You don't know how to study"
"You won't amount to anything"
I don't want my
children to be like me
Let them be different
Sulei!
Come, little white sheep
Sulei,
I got my hair cut at a barber
What style did you ask for?
The Arnold
Suleiman is a friend of mine
Sulei! Not like that!
You have destroyed my head!
As we get older,
we won't forget each other
We won't say
"Now we're older
No need to visit each other"
As we grow older, our
friendship must grow stronger
I will be a teacher; Suleiman
says he wants to be a doctor
He jokes with me:
"If you become sick, I'll
give you the wrong injection!"
"Not the one
that makes you better"
Go for five minutes!
And if I last that long?
- I'll give you whatever you like
We have loved each
other since childhood
Like brothers
When we first moved here
Bizhar and I
became best friends
And it's the same at school
Me and Bizhar,
we always stuck together
We still walk to school together
If anyone fights with us,
we defend each other
Teacher! Teacher! Teacher!
Stand up Suleiman, please,
and stand up, Salar
I'm asking, Salar, "Who's that?"
- "That is Suleiman"
Clap for him
However much you
study, it's not enough
However much you
study, it's too little
There are those who only
study, and they'll be doctors
And those who haven't studied
They must take any
job they can find
I pray my grades are
good enough just to pass
The principal and I
are on uneven terms
He's always saying "You'll fail"
But who knows?
He just says that
so you'll study more
Bring them back, Rosho!
Always with the sheep,
summer and winter
Why?
I don't want to leave school
I want to go to college
and be something
We pray to God to end
violence and suffering
to give the Kurdish people rest
I tried hard to put Suleiman
in religious school
to become an Imam
I will die soon
In my remaining days I
will attend the mosque
and spend my time
praying to God
I said to myself,
"I have six sons"
"Let one of them be for God,"
"and let the others
be for this life"
It is written in the Qur'an,
"If we stay alive, we will see"
"Any place touched by sunlight
will be governed by Islam
Now they say the
Kurds are blasphemers,
that Kurds brought
America to Iraq
They say,
"We will behead all the Kurds"
People think the
Kurds are blasphemers
But suicide bombers?
Can you imagine?
They think it's Jihad,
that you'll be a martyr
But if there is religion left
it is among the Kurds
In the past, we moved from
our village because of poverty
Saddam Hussein
destroyed the villages
He turned the area
into a wasteland
He changed it
into an Arab area
Because bones were broken
and blood spilled between us
Our unity and brotherhood
will never return
God brought America
to the Kurds
He brought her to us,
and they liberated Iraq
They toppled the regime
We came out of the
darkness into the light
There's been enough
war in Iraq
How long can it continue?
Let's lay our weapons down
and practice politics
If you compare Jewish people
with the Kurds:
They are much fewer
They have their own flag,
their own government
They are free and independent
Why can't the Kurds
be independent?
Why can't they have their flag?
Even if I don't live to see it,
my children will benefit
The Prophet said,
"I desire nothing"
He said, "Life is nothing,
it is empty, like a house"
"with two doors: you enter on
one side and exit on the other"
I want nothing from this life
All my children,
from youngest to oldest,
have followed in my footsteps
They are walking in my path
We ask God in His glory
to hear our prayer
on this Friday sabbath
Dear brothers
We have all been
requested to go
to cast our vote for our future,
our country, our nation
To draw it with our hands!
You must sacrifice one day
to save a persecuted people
To uncover how an entire
nation was buried alive
in the Anfal Campaign!
It's just a paper that you
put in the ballot box
The ballot box, my brothers
Many years we fought
in the mountains
Many years we struggled
against the oppressor
All that was nothing compared
with the vote you will cast
The vote that you will cast
is better than 100 bombs
and 200 boxes of bullets!
If the Kurds unite they will be
something this time around
This is your only paper?
Yes
Then goin
Let them come, brother,
let them come!
Check our bodies well!
Until now we have been
unknown to the world
Kurdistan! Kurdistan!
Now they will know
who we are
You can't stand here,
the line is over there
Brothers! Be patient!
I'll let all of you in!
Nobody without a
form can come in!
Brother, I checked with
all the polling stations
Anyone with an ID,
just ask for his ration card
so we don't lose any votes for
the Iraqi National Assembly
You must mark list 130,
it's the Kurdish one
These are for other parties
Put your right index
finger in the ink
Yes, this one
Where shall I put this?
I'm illiterate
I have my husband with me
Mark 130, it's the Kurdish one
A man who eat these votes
and forget me tomorrow,
who will only play with me,
I will not vote for this man,
who only wants to
fill his pockets
You must support those
who support the poor
Now the Kurdish
leadership has grown fat
While the poor people
are moaning from hunger
This is the truth
If it cannot be, it cannot be
Now it will be hard for Kurds,
Sunna and Shia to live together
The future of Iraq
will be in three pieces
Iraq is not something
that you can cut into pieces
Iraq is a country
And how can you
cut a country into pieces?
With a saw?
Kurdistan is like Heaven
on Earth for the Kurds
We must protect Kurdistan
like our own eyes,
and not let the enemy
invade Kurdistan
Those who rely God's grace,
God willing, they will succeed
If God is willing,
he will give us strength
By God, the spring is very nice,
the grass grows ...
I have forgotten many things
Things don't stay in my mind
When they tell me
I was dreaming,
I say,
"How can it be a dream?"
"I've never seen such a dream"
and yet I had dreamed it
His father said,
"You must herd the sheep
He had no choice,
so he left school
His future will burn
I have no business
going to school
I'm the only one left
They won't take anyone
who's not a good brick cutter
All these young
guys come searching
with their mustaches
and their big muscles
From morning until night
nobody gives them work
If they can't do even that work,
they just go home and lie down
Always lying around ...
But you must build your life
Isn't it so?
Now I work the brick ovens
Then I tend the sheep
My father is getting old,
he can't work
If we all went to school,
he'd do the work
But we won't let him work
He raised us all
Shouldn't we care for him now?
I'm tired
I eat quickly so I can lie down
and fall asleep
Now the war is over
Today, everything in Iraq
is controlled by America
Nobody can escape
America's reach
Two men are wrestling
Someone asks,
"Whose side is God on?"
They answer, "God is always
on the side of the winner"
Whoever wins,
God is on his side
I'm going
God be with you