I told you about Halabja last time. Now I would like to tell you more about what Kurdistan and kurdish nation experienced in their history. I could say - I am doing that to make those who hates Kurds for no reason, who talk about Kurds so bad way (although often they dont know even one person from Kurdistan) - to make those poeple to change their attitude toward Kurds. But from my experience I know that irrational hate is laying so deep in people's heart, that it seems to be impossible to win over it and to get rid of it. So I dont think that people, who hate will change their mind and attitude. But if at least one person after reading that article will get to know more about Kurds and will look different way at "next door brothers" - I will know that my effort wasnt in vain. If not - well, at least I know I tried...
Kurds are not well known nation and some opinions about them are made through stereotypes and prejudice. Considering the location of Kurdistan - Middle East - people often thinks that Kurds are Arabs and the only one thing that others may know about Kurds are: they are muslims (in negative meaning, connected with terrorism). But Kurds have nothing to do with Arabs - they are not Arabs. Its true that most of Kurds are muslims, but still Kurds are completly different from Arabs, even if they have the same religion. People dont know Kurds and something which is unknown and unfamiliar always causes fear and lack of trust. Thats why I encourage you to get more about these people, lets get to know them - like humans, like one of us - not through scientific books. Follow me and get to know them personally from my stories. I want to share my little knowledge about them and I want to share my feelings. I want to show you people who have names, who have faces and who have their own individual life stroies. Come and get to know their stories, sad stories - but I promise that next time I will show you also the happy face of Kurdistan.
Look at this picture:
Its not some ancient times, somewhere far far away. Its the end of XX century - the century of space flights and fast developing global network. Its 80-ies and 90-ies - not far away, but at the Europe doorstep, on the euro - asian border.
People on this pic are Kurds from South Kurdistan, today called Kurdish Autonomy, but still within Iraq borders. They are running off from their houses. They were kicked out from their homes by iraqi soldiers of Saddam, they have to run away from death. Its very possible that these poeple are from Hewler, that was attacked by arab's soldiers. Its very possible that one of this kids are 9 years old boy, name Kamil. His brothers and sisters are with him and one of his parents are carrying his few months old brother Abdulla. His older sister is with little kids. One of them died on the way. I wasnt strong enough to ask why this baby died. Because of coldness? Because of hunger? Because of tiredness?
How many of these people stayed on this road forever? Probably I will never know. I am not even sure if I would like to know. I will never know how many of these kids will never work with me in Magna factory, how many of them will never say "Chony" to me - coz they lost their life on that road and on many other roads like that.
Kamil's older sister is safe now, she is living in Canada and has great family. Little Abdulla also survived. 17 years after it happened, his older brother Kamil told me: "We covered him with all clothes and blankets that we had, coz we didnt want him to freez to death." They were sucessful. Abdulla is 20 years old now, he loves football and plays football himself. Kamil is living in England, he is 28 now.
When he was telling me that story his voice was calm and without any emotions. But how he can have any emotions if he saw all that things, if he had to defend his little sisters and brothers, hide them in a safe place when Turks was shooting to their house with cannon, if they had to leave the house and when they came back at night to take personal stuff they had to do that in completly darkness, coz any little light might be seen by soldiers, who will strat to shoot again.
One day I watched a program in kurdish tv - I cant remember exactly, but I think it was about Halabja - I was shocked, but he said only: "Look what Saddam did to us. What he did to kurdish poeple."
Seevan is 29 now. He is sociologist and he was the teacher at Wolverhampton University. He was doing postgraduate study, writting articles to british and kurdish newspapers. He is my dear friend, my brother and for a short time he used to be my sorani language teacher as well. He used to talk about his life the way as all Kurds do - with no emotions. He told me, that when he was living in Kurdistan, many times at night one member of his family had to stay awake to watch whats going on, otherwise someone might come and kill them. His brother was freedom fighter, that in Kurdistan is called "peshmarga" ("those who face the death, who come forward to face the death"). Iraqi caught some of peshmargas, one of them was Seevan brother. They put them in a prison first and killed after that.
That only few stories out of hundreds, thousands. But I think one story like that is enough to not be able to sleep at night.
This article was first published on 17 march 2007.
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