Eleventh in a beautiful series of paintings by Baghdad Artist

Written by Mixmax on his blog Mix Mode and cross-posted to OB
Sectarian violence have eaten up Iraqi society, which led to hatred feeding people’s hearts in the same neighborhood. This is how it started. It led some blinded minds and hearts men to initiate a campaign of deportation on every alley, neighborhood, village and city [...]

Written by Zappy on his blog Where Date Palms Grow and cross-posted on OB
Here:
People are having a wonderful time under the lovely sun. problems are petty compared to.. Iraq. It has been a wonderful Bank Holiday for me, my sister and her husband visited me and we had a wonderful time in Henley on Tames. [...]

Not too long ago, I was barraged with questions of how it felt to witness the fourth invasion anniversary. I usually greet dates to be marked and fanfare studded anniversaries with indifference - it is the event that counts not when it occurred. I kept racking my brain and fumbling for answers until [...]

Today I received an e-mail from a friend that contained a new song by the Iraqi artist Haithem Yousif that I hadn’t previously heard entitled “Ahlee” (My Family).
Anyone that is familiar with Haithem’s music would be well aware of the fact his voice contains a depth of enchanting sadness that in some ironic way [...]

(Cross Posted from Global Voices Online)
The day I lost my hair
mother had dragged me out to shop
the wait for lulls in incessant crossfire
had not come to a stop
and the children were hungry
for more than just candy
check points where faces
had traces of
trashed deaths
dying answers in stillborn questions
struggling to extract
the last breath of a meaning
for the wait

Life has taught me to waste no time envying others for what they have and appreciate the fact that I am blessed with special things of my own. Life has taught me that places and loved ones maybe blown up, but vivid memories are indelible and timeless. Life has taught me to wish for my [...]

Tenth in a beautiful series of paintings by Baghdad Artist

Having a bedroom of my own is quite a blessing and having it on the top floor of the house is a super kind of a blessing. I am free to make my bed or make it look like a nuclear wasteland, dust the dresser or do it some other time – which could stretch [...]

I have admittedly procrastinated somewhat in inking an entry to this so called ‘Blog’, for many reasons I suppose.
There are really two reasons that contribute to my procrastination, one being the constant declining situation in Iraq and the second more powerful reason being that I for some reason have struggled to gather my thoughts to [...]