born 1976, political Scientist and freelance journalist
[23/02/2010]
The concrete wall surrounding Al Khadamiye is a few meters thick. Like in many other areas in Baghdad, it was built to avoid the entry of external militias. If you cross the street and the railroad track (about 15 meters), you will find another wall, surrounding the neighboring area of Al Hurriya, built with the opposite intention: to avoid the militiamen moving out. The militias from Al Hurriya have proven to be the most vicious in Baghdad. In this area, the Mahdi Army expelled practically all of the Sunnites. With cruelty. Various of the Hummers of the Iraqi federal police who control the limits between these areas feature Imam Hussein flags. There can be no doubt of where we are and of who controls the situation. With uniforms. In the same place where a year and a half ago they were hooded and clad in black, from head to toes. Zaid and Ali repeatedly look around them and every time anyone passes nearby, they keep quiet, cautiously. "The vase that was broken during the sectarian war is still broken and only kept together by sellotape. Even though it now seems to be whole, the slightest movement could bring an end to the situation of relative security we now live in". Zaid insists that we should not be over-confident and that is better to act discretely.
Zaid is here my host. Professor of Engineering in the Al Mustansiriya University. With more than one job. He also works with his wife in a family chain of clothes shops. They are called Al Kuj, with seven shops in various districts of the city, without taking into consideration their sectarian ascription. And the merchandise has to be delivered to all these destinations. As witnessed in European communities, trade is one of the best ways of rebuilding urban structures. Zaid speaks perfect English, and so does all his family. His father lives with them, displaced. He knows he will never be able to go back to his house in Al Ghazaia. Young people started to disappear in the streets. Week after week. It was a message. They were all Shiite. He did not wait nor did he confront anyone. He simply left. It was May 2007. All his library stayed behind (a loss he insists upon). It hurts him. He is an Economy professor in the same university where his son teaches. He has written 8 books on Iraqi oil. He does not want to talk. Not long ago, his former neighbors rang to ask him (or to inform him, really) that a Sunnite family, displaced from another district, was living in his house. He does not want to charge them rent, as long as they take care of the house. They also do not dare to go back themselves to check on the state of the house. One of the stories of Baghdad.
Along with Ali and Zaid, a two hour wait until the officer in charge of one of the four checkpoints giving access to Khadamiye confirms that a foreigner is authorized to enter into the neighborhood Once again, a word in English was enough to give us away and to arouse the curiosity of the policemen. The scene also illustrates that the police and army operative has two categories that have not been standardized: foreigners and journalists. But we are lucky: he finally lets us go through. No cars or bicycles are allowed out of the district. Zaid, a member of a respected family, decides against using his contacts in order to speed up the paperwork, in favor of discretion. Not even the route towards the checkpoint is done in a straight line; we go around the blocks to make sure that nobody is following us.
The security operative in Baghdad has decided not to allow cameras inside the premises where the final ceremonies of the Ashura will take place. They are totally surrounded by fences and protected by the security forces. The security in the Khamadiye district is provided by an initial ring of checkpoints, and once inside a second checkpoint, this time with metal fencing, secures the streets next to the mosque in which the celebrations will take place. It is still obvious that the policemen do not know how to deal with foreigners or what are the limits of the chain of command assuming the decisions.
The waiting time is sufficient to start chatting with the policemen, as curious as they are bored. The sonar with which they try to detect arms and explosives beeps randomly, making many people curious. They doubt about its efficiency. They have bought large quantities of these devices. It makes the operator walk in front of the investigated suspects (i.e.: everybody) and of what they are carrying. There are increasing voices of protest about its use and effectiveness, even among the civilian population. Abroad, many reports have been written proving its absolute uselessness and the enormous gains that it has reported to those selling it. But it does not really matter if this sonar does not react in front of my camera or my batteries, when the powerful white jeeps do not stop in the checkpoints while the regular citizens are harshly frisked. Security is very relative. It depends exclusively on who decides, once again, to blow it to smithereens. Specially when some of those moving in those jeeps that no one stops are precisely some of the people who unchained and fought the sectarian war that ravaged Baghdad in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Inside Khadamiye it is nearly impossible to take the camera out. Not one of its streets is free from police controls. Not one of its corners. In the avenue facing the river, from which you see the opposite riverside, Adhamiye, less than a kilometer long, there are three stalls, each with its jeep. This is the ratio you have to bear in mind. A fixed number of policemen, half a dozen, every three hundred meters, and numerous patrols walking among the district's inhabitants. Zaid explains that Khadamiye is one of the most secure districts in the capital. The democratic security of the new Iraq.