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GX: What can you share that could change the opinion of Americans who support the war in Iraq?
FAA: Their media is not telling them the real story of Iraq. We who are living in Iraq know the reality, and there is a big gap between the reality on ground, and what your media is saying. Even the reporters in Iraq are living in the green zone, which means they are far away from the daily life of Iraqis, and far away from the truth. I ask [people who support the war] - Who suffers from this war? Who lost their loved ones? Who lived under bombing of their cities? Who suffered from lack of electricity, clean water, medicine, insecurity, violence, and bloodshed? We should support and listen to the one who suffers, not the one who lives in peace and stability, who cannot teach others lessons about the reality of war.
GX: What is it like to be a mother caught in the middle of the occupation?
FAA: As a mother living under occupation, it means you will spend your day scared, thinking about your kids when they go out to school. Are they safe? Will they be back home? Will anybody arrest them? Will anybody shoot them or kidnap them? It's a horrible life believe me.
GX: How has the occupation affected your family?
FAA: The occupation pushed the country down a bad path. [People] live with daily violence and lack any security. My car had been robbed, my mobile also, then my son was kidnapped, so we paid the ransom, and decided to leave Iraq. We closed the house and left everything.
GX: What is life like in Jordan? What do you miss most about your homeland?
FAA: My husband is Jordanian, and we lived in Jordan before we settled down in Iraq in 1990, but after the war, when we left our house, jobs, friends, and neighbors, we felt another way. It's like we are strangers, we are refugees, there is big gap between people living in a calm area, and people living in a conflict zone like Iraq. We were sad and depressed. We live isolated, our hearts still in Iraq, and are waiting to go back home soon, to help our people to make peace, and rebuild the country.
GX: When did you start blogging?
FAA: We started blogging after the war. I had started writing war diaries in a notebook, then asked [my son] Raed, "Where should I put them?" He said, "I will create a blog for you." He had a blog before the war called "Where Is Raed?"
GX: What kind of responses do you get to your blog posts?
FAA: For me, as a woman, I get emails from mothers supporting and sending apologies. Seldom do I get hateful emails. But my sons, they receive hateful emails from men.
GX: How are Iraqi people resisting the occupation and hanging on to their cultural heritage and identity despite the constant level of violence in their communities?
FAA: Iraqis hang on to their identity by returning back to Islam. There are more women wearing the hijab (veil) and talking about this issue. They feel there is a threat against their identity from this war and occupation. They refuse any new change, like talking about women's rights, or any ideas imported from the west. They see it as a kind of challenge against their culture.
GX: What can Americans who oppose the occupation do to most effectively support the end of the violence in Iraq?
FAA: The American people should tell their government to change their bad policy in Iraq. [The occupation] divided the Iraqi people into sub-identities due to sectarian and ethnic origins. This is wrong. It made a poisoned environment that provokes each group against others. It pushes the whole country toward violence.
Take Action: Host an Iraqi Speaker
Contact Global Exchange's Speaker's Bureau about bringing an Iraqi speaker to your community to talk about the true cost of war. Call 800-497-1994 x253 or email speakers@globalexchange.org.