[Peace-discuss] DI Column referring to Mohammed al-Heeti

[David Green]

The person referred to in this article is, of course,
Mohammed. He was exactly correct to intervene in this
event. There was an article about this radio station
in the N-G a few weeks ago, including an interview
with a U of I journalism professor who supports it. I
thought she was incredibly naive in her views about
the relative importance and signifcance of such a
venture under these circumstances. Under the current
circumstances, it counts for little if anything.
Worse, it helps to rationalize the sort of views
expressed by the DI columnist: "stay the course."

DG

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Rethinking perceptions of the mess in Iraq with radio
Iraqi women's radio provides means for open discussion
on war and the status of women in Iraq

Tyler Friederichs

Posted: 11/8/06

A panel discussion, titled "Breaking Down the Wall of
War: Iraqi Women's Radio," was recently held at the
Levis Faculty Center. The featured panelist, Bushra
Jamil, is the operator of Radio al Mahaba, a
female-run radio station in Baghdad "that struggles to
give voice to Middle Eastern women in the midst of the
Iraqi War." The radio signal reaches approximately
half of the country. 

Jamil's mission is to help rebuild Iraq - to become a
medium through which men, women and children can share
"everything they can think of, their hopes, their
views." The radio station, which received start-up
funding from the U.N., began its first broadcast on
April 1, 2005 and has been in operation ever since.

After providing a brief history of Iraq and the social
status of women, which deteriorated significantly
during Saddam Hussein's regime, the question and
answer session revealed a complete change of tone in
the panel discussion. 

An Iraqi-American man, who has lived in the U.S. for
24 years, was the first to comment. Confident yet
clearly upset, the man began a ten minute tirade.
Although he noted that "Saddam was a brutal
dictatorship and I hate him", he later called for the
impeachment of George W. Bush and the immediate return
of American troops. 

I think we all sympathized with him, as he mentioned
that his brother was recently killed in Iraq. But he
soon lost much respect with the audience after the
following comments: First, he suggested that the
students in the audience were not truly interested in
the panel or the conflict. Second, the man shockingly
and ignorantly insinuated that the radio station was a
lost cause and the focus on women's rights undermined
the plight of men. His comments and Jamil's courageous
response highlight the struggle which now embodies the
psychological war in Iraq and at home; it is a
struggle which will define the ultimate outcome of the
overall conflict.

Jamil, clearly stricken by the man's comments,
defended her radio station. After noting that "most of
the callers are men" who "talk about love" and "hope,"
she reiterated that her radio station functions to
serve everybody, irrespective of gender. 

Her views towards the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq
represented a hallmark of the evening. According to a
recent Pew Research Center poll, Americans are evenly
divided as to whether U.S. troops should withdraw
immediately. Jamil's declaration that "we cannot ask
the troops to leave" because her "staff would be
slaughtered in the middle of the street" had a
profound affect on the audience - it forced many to
reconsider their preconceived notions that those who
are against the war must also be against the continued
presence of U.S. troops in Iraq and that U.S. troop
presence has actually decreased security in the area.

Jamil revealed that "thousands of people" are
"tortured on a daily basis" by factions of the corrupt
Iraqi government via the Interior Ministry. But it is
the American troops who raid the torture cells
regularly. It is the American troops who prevent the
Iraqis from being "slaughtered" by Iranians and
Saudis. 

The debate over whether or not the war is just or
moral is futile. We cannot change what happened in the
past, and as Jamil noted, "we can't look back 
 we
need to learn from what happened" and continue to
fight instead of invoking rebukes which will only
deepen the ever growing rift in public opinion.

One roadblock to stabilization is the lack of American
solidarity at home. While the realization that the
U.S. is caught in a Catch-22 has strengthened, the
perception that staying in Iraq until a sustainable
democracy develops is a viable option has
deteriorated. But it is now up to people like Jamil
and her radio station to provide hope and motivation
for Iraqis to prevail. Jamil's radio station is "only
one tool of many tools in Iraq" to aid the
stabilization process. 

As Jamil remarked, there is nobody "better than Iraqis
themselves to rebuild Iraq" - but contrary to popular
belief, it is the presence of U.S. troops which is
making the rebuilding process possible. 
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© Copyright 2006 The Daily Illini 



 
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