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Baghdad/Adhamiya, Iraq - It became common in Baghdad that if a Sunni family lived in a Shia neighborhood they may be forced to leave and vice versa. Many families were forced by militias to leave their homes if they lived in a neighborhood that was predominantly made up of the other sect. Some of them lost a family member by the hands of militias which pushed them to leave their neighborhood or fled to a nearby country such as Syria or Jordan. The Iraqi government has been working on assisting some of these displaced families to return to their houses either by providing them an amount of money, or utilizing the growing Iraqi military and police to provide security in the neighborhoods they used to live in. So far the efforts of the Iraqi government have yielded only small results. It remains to be seen whether the current security situation will remain stable. Due to ongoing worries about their security, thousands of families are still living far from their neighborhood and many continue to reside outside of Iraq. One of the many areas hit hard by internal displacement is Adhamiya. More than 1000 families have been displaced from this neighborhood under the threat of death. Most of them were Shia but some of them were Sunni. The Shia families there were given the choice to become Sunni or die. For some Sunni families the reasons were different. Perhaps one of their family members worked with the Iraqi government or the United States, in some cases simply working with any foreign NGO may cause displacement. Organizations such as the Muslim Scholar's Association and the Sahwa or "Awakening" councils are endeavoring to find their own solutions to the problem in Adhamiya. The Sahwa Councils are attempting to provide security and eliminate the control of other militias or insurgents within Adhamiya, in order to provide a safe place for displaced or threatened families and encourage them to return home. The current situation in Baghdad appears to be better than it has been between 2006 and 2007, but continues to be haunted by the worries of its residents. After years of violence and uncertainty, it seems that many people simply don t have much faith that their government or other groups, whether the United States, Sahwa Forces, or others will be able to keep the peace. *** If you appreciate the insightful content provided by Alive in Baghdad, which you won t find anywhere else, please consider becoming a paying subscriber, or making a donation to Alive in Baghdad. You can also purchase Alive in Baghdad T-shirts and DVDs to spread the word!

Baghdad/Adhamiya, Iraq - After Al-Qa'eda controlled several places in Iraq such as Fallujah, Ramadi, and several neighborhoods in the west of Baghdad, there were many atrocities committed by Al-Qa'eda. This caused the people living in those areas to vehemently reject them. Some of the actions done by Al-Qa'eda were to ask the young men not to wear short trousers or colored T-shirts, or any other shirt with English writing. As for women in these regions, they demanded that they wear a headscarf, or a veil, and never go out of their houses without covering their head, and those who didn't obey the strict instructions were facing the threat of being beheaded, killed, or otherwise assassinated by the several militias that were controlled by Al-Qa'eda. The Sahwa Councils were first created in Anbar after some Iraqi tribes agreed to work together with the US forces against the actions of Al-Qa'eda, and in order to wipe out all the elements of Al-Qa'eda in their areas. The first Sahwa council was created under the leadership of Abu Risha. He claimed to organize the first Sahwa council in Anbar against Al-Qa'eda. After Abu Risha's example, other Iraqi tribes were inspired by his work and created Sahwa councils in their areas in order to eliminate Al-Qa'eda cells in their neighborhoods. Some of the areas where Sahwa councils were formed are Mosul, Kirkuk, Diyala, Tikrit, Hawr Rajab, and several neighborhoods in Baghdad, such as Ameriya, Adhamiya, Al-Khadra'a, and Ghazaliya. And what made those councils more dedicated to fighting Al-Qa'eda was the assassination of Abu Risha because they started to consider him a symbol of the fight Al-Qa'eda. The Sahwa Council in Adhamiya After assassinating a huge number of men in Adhamiya due to the things they wear or who they belong, few people agreed on creating a Sahwa council in Adhamiya in late 2007, the Sahwa council was lead by Reyad Al-Samarra'ie at the beginning, whom was assassinated by two suicide bombers in the north of Baghdad which killed 14 Sahwa members along with Reyad Al-Samarra'ie. After the murder of Al-Samarra'ie Abu Al-Abed was took the place of A-Samarra'ie as the leader of the Sahwa Council in Adhamiya, some families claimthat the situation calmed down in Adhamiya after the creation of the Sahwa council.

As attacks across Baghdad continue, there's growing concern about where to bury the dead. Areas which were once parks and playgrounds, are now replaced by graveyards. Al Jazeera's Mike Hanna reports from Adhamiya, one of the neighbourhoods too overcrowded to bury the dead. Author: AlJazeeraEnglish Keywords: Adhamiya iraq baghdad mike hanna aljazeera al jazeera Added: March 4, 2008

In this episode we go visit a family who's house was hit by a Katyusha rocket; the same ones used by Hezbollah and the Mahdi Army. Visit www.aliveinbaghdad.org each Monday for new videos about life in Iraq and make a donation to support our work. Ranked 2.95 / 5 | 130 views | 0 Click here to watch the video Submitted By: AliveinBaghdad Tags: Forces Military Katyusha Attack Adhamiya Coalition Baghdad Insurgent Iraq War Aliveinbaghdad

In Adhamiya there is a famous place known as the Royal Cemetery. Each of the kings of Iraq s short-lived monarchy, Faisal, Ghazi, and Faisal the 2nd are buried here. Under the Ottoman Empire, this place was selected to be the location for an Islamic College in Baghdad. With the upheaval of World War I and the eventual collapse of the Ottoman Empire, construction was never completed.King Faisal I, the first king of Iraq, completed its construction years later, but after his death, it was chosen to be his burial place. From this point on, it was chosen as the burial place for the Iraqi Hashemites. Faisal I s wife, Huzaima Bint Nasir, as well as his son Ghazi, and his grandson Faisal II are each buried here.With the overthrow of the monarchy in 1958, the cemetery languished in disrepair and was all but forgotten. In 1987, Saddam Hussein, in an effort to renew interest in Iraq s monarchy, remodeled the Cemetery, improving its stark appearance. His efforts brought the Royal Cemetery to the beautiful monument that stands today.After the fall of Saddam s government, in 2003, Shari Ali, the heir-apparent to Iraq s monarchy, made his first appearance in Iraq at the cemetery, beginning an effort to re-assert the importance of the monarchy. This effort was short-lived.United States Military, and Coalition troops entered the Royal Cemetery shortly after the fall of Baghdad, and the marble stone covering Faisal I s tomb was damaged while they were searching for weapons stockpiled by insurgents in the area. Although the monarchy seems to have finally been cast aside in favor of Modernity, it remains to be seen whether this symbol of Iraq s past will hold any lasting influence upon its future.***If you appreciate our work, please consider making a donation, or becoming a paying subscriber, to support the work of Iraqi journalists. Although we are dedicated to continuing to offer this work for free, it is primarily with the support of our viewers that we can continue our work. Please feel free to contact us if you have any comments, suggestions for stories, or other feedback!

BAGHDAD, ADHAMIYA - Home destructions have been a tool of war almost as long as war has been around. According to Wikipedia, It has been employed as a scorched earth tactic to deprive an advancing enemy of food and shelter, or to wreck an enemy s economy and infrastructure. It has also been used for purposes of counter-insurgency and ethnic cleansing. Systematic house demolition has been a notable factor in a number of recent or ongoing conflicts including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Darfur conflict in Sudan, the Iraq War, the Vietnam War, the Yugoslav wars and the Caucasian conflicts of the 1990s. House demolitions in Adhamiya have been one of many tactics employed by the United States Military in its attempts to quell violence and insurgents in the troubled neighborhood. The tactic of house demolition has been a familiar one to the United States, used as early as 2003 to destroy the homes of suspected insurgents. This tactic was taken from the experience of Israeli Defense Force behavior in the West Bank and Gaza.It s easy to believe the American forces were acting on what they believed to be noble intentions. In 2003 Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt told the USA Today, If I saw that house go away, I d feel more secure, in reference to the destroying the home of a terrorist across the street .Unfortunately Brigadier General Kimmitt was not considering the impact of home destruction in dense urban areas such as Raghiba Khatoon in Adhamiya. In this neighborhood one empty house was demolished, according to neighbors, they were told by US soldiers that the house had bombs inside. Rather than searching the home and clearing the suspected ordnance, Iraqis in the area told Alive in Baghdad the soldiers detonated the home, severely damaging several others in the area.Adhamiya has been a difficult neighborhood for most of the war. Many important Baathists are from the area, and it is the neighborhood where Saddam last appeared as President of Iraq. However, despite the depiction in much of the media that Adhamiya is a haven of terrorists and insurgents, it is a huge neighborhood, and houses many Iraqis who are tired of the fighting and violence. The impact of the construction of a wall separating Adhamiya from the rest of Baghdad, the violent home searches, and now the apparently accidental destruction of buildings housing dozens of residents, are doing little to develop goodwill.*** Although we make Alive in Baghdad available every week for free, the show is expensive to produce, and we are asking that viewers consider making a subscription payment each month of 5, 10, or 25 dollars to support our ongoing work. Please make a contribution to continue our work, if you value the kind of on-the-ground news we bring you from Iraq.

When they began erecting a wall in Adhamiya the public response was varied, in Iraq, in the US, indeed around the world. Some responded with shock, others with outrage, others wondered why it hadn t been tried before. Most importantly, there was a reaction, it was widespread, and strong. The press covered the issue of the wall repeatedly, with many papers writing multiple stories on the subject, extending over a period of months, some more. Unfortunately the images of the wall are few and far between. A Google image search reveals only 1,020 results for adhamiya wall, many of which are repeat images and many more are irrelevant to the search. Why has such an important event of the war and most recently the Surge, received so little visual coverage?After the initial excitement faded, there was little coverage of the impact of the wall, or of the other walls to follow. The economic impact of the wall received this weak commentary on September 20th, in a longer AP article about the Sunnis of Adhamiya turning to US soldiers for support.This week, after much delay, Abdul Alaa brings us inside the new Adhamiya, speaking with community leaders, demonstrators, and the average citizens of Adhamiya. As a new wall emerges west of the Tigris, insight into the impact of the wall over the last months is even more important. The wall, allegedly there to protect Shi a and Sunni from each other, has succeeded in walling a small Shi a community inside Ghazaliyah, an area known to harbor Sunni militants. Iraqis are already demonstrating in Ghazaliyah and Shula, although its unlikely to make much difference.When the wall in Adhamiya began, the Prime Minister himself demanded that it be removed, only to be corrected by the spokesman for Iraq s military and later recant his statement, there was even talk of modifying the wall although that idea appears to have been still-born.Today its unclear what the future of the surge in walls will be. It is uncertain how much success and stability they are providing. It is sure that they have been a rallying point for Iraqi nationalists and hard-liners alike. It is also sure that, if nothing else, they are putting dinars in the pockets of at least a few Iraqis. Alive in Baghdad is running low on funds. We depend on you the viewer for most of our support. Please, if you value this type of in-depth visual coverage that you can find nowhere else, become a paying subscriber today. Make a donation, or purchase a DVD!

At the end of July Oxfam released a report detailing the humanitarian crisis in Iraq. It was only the international community that needed this report, Iraqis know well how their country is falling apart around them. Neighborhoods such as Adhamiya lack even the most basic social services.Social services, such as water, electricity, and sanitation have been on the decline since the fall of Baghdad saw widespread looting and a general collapse of Baghdad s infrastructure. In areas that have seen ongoing fighting and a general lack of security, services have never fully recovered. Even in those areas that might have shown moderate repair previously, the flight of professionals and random destruction is removing any achievements.Now its been announced that Baghdad is again running out of water, but more desperately this time than ever before. Just days before this article, CBS reported on a drop of good news from American Steve Frost, who is helping to repair water pumps in one area of Baghdad but, by his own admission, once finished these pumps will only, be able to supply water to approximately 20 percent of the local area full time. In the baking summer heat, Iraqis take to sleeping on their roofs, electricity is too scarce to run air conditioners.Further highlighting the difficulties of life for men working on the garbage and sewage problems in Iraq, in July MSNBC described how, Nearly 500 garbage collectors have been killed since the Iraq war began. Many are young. Some are just teenagers. If that isn t hard enough to stomach, according to this commentary in the Daily Star, Dr. Abdul-Rahman Adil Ali of the Baghdad Health Directorate has warned about the serious consequences of a defective sewage system. In some of Baghdad s poor neighborhoods, he said, people drink water which is mixed with sewage. Alive in Baghdad will continue to work for you, providing insight into all manner of living in Baghdad. But we can only continue if you give us your support. We must maintain an array of staff in Iraq and the region in order to bring you a wide variety of in-depth stories about the Iraq crisis. Please make a donation and help us to continue.

At the end of July Oxfam released a report detailing the humanitarian crisis in Iraq. It was only the international community that needed this report, Iraqis know well how their country is falling apart around them. Neighborhoods such as Adhamiya lack even the most basic social services.Social services, such as water, electricity, and sanitation have been on the decline since the fall of Baghdad saw widespread looting and a general collapse of Baghdads infrastructure. In areas that have seen ongoing fighting and a general lack of security, services have never fully recovered. Even in those areas that might have shown moderate repair previously, the flight of professionals and random destruction is removing any achievements.Now its been announced that Baghdad is again running out of water, but more desperately this time than ever before. Just days before this article, CBS reported on a drop of good news from American Steve Frost, who is helping to repair water pumps in one area of Baghdad but, by his own admission, once finished these pumps will only, be able to supply water to approximately 20 percent of the local area full time. In the baking summer heat, Iraqis take to sleeping on their roofs, electricity is too scarce to run air conditioners.Further highlighting the difficulties of life for men working on the garbage and sewage problems in Iraq, in July MSNBC described how, Nearly 500 garbage collectors have been killed since the Iraq war began. Many are young. Some are just teenagers.If that isnt hard enough to stomach, according to this commentary in the Daily Star, Dr. Abdul-Rahman Adil Ali of the Baghdad Health Directorate has warned about the serious consequences of a defective sewage system. In some of Baghdads poor neighborhoods, he said, people drink water which is mixed with sewage.Alive in Baghdad will continue to work for you, providing insight into all manner of living in Baghdad. But we can only continue if you give us your support. We must maintain an array of staff in Iraq and the region in order to bring you a wide variety of in-depth stories about the Iraq crisis. Please make a donation and help us to continue.

As the threat of death squads continues, Iraqi civilians have taken security into their own hands. This week Isam Rasheed takes Alive in Baghdad viewers to Adhamiya, in the middle of the night, where three men guard a civilian checkpoint in the neighborhood.They'll tell you about their work, their hopes, and fears for their families.The US and Iraqi governments might call them terrorists, they consider themselves to be doing whats necessary to keep their homes safe.Please consider making a donation to continue this work. For information about donating email us at aliveinbaghdad@gmail.com or see the donation section of our website.

August 31st is the anniversary of one of the major single-event tragedies of the war in Iraq. On this day in 2005, during a pilgrimage of Shiites to a holy site in Kadhmiya, a rumor circulated of suicide bombers coming to target the bridge between Kadhmiya and Adhamiya.In the ensuing panic, many people were trampled and others drowned after leaping from the bridge into the Tigris River. Estimates for the number killed range from 900 to more than 1100.This day was both one of the greatest tragedies for Iraq in recent history, but also evidenced some of the greatest hope. During the chaos, residents of the Sunni neighborhood Adhamiya came to the rescue of their Shi'a neighbors. People opened their homes to offer dry clothing and tea, and the Abu Hanifa Mosque was used as a gathering place for separated families to find each other.There are countless stories of bravery and self-sacrifice from that day. In this episode, Sami Rasouli will relate one of the most famous stories, about an Iraqi Olympic swimmer who is Sunni, but whose father is Shi'a, and who saved many Iraqi pilgrims that day.You will note the interview was shot by candlelight due to a power outage at the time of production. This piece was filmed by Brian Conley and Omar Abdullah last fall, and was edited by Michael Verdi.

The Coalition forces have recently named the Adhamiya district as one of four major hotspots in Baghdad, which they will be attempting to calm with an injection of forces. Unfortunately Adhamiya is not just a source of violence in Baghdad, but exists within the complex nature of the conflict in Baghdad, and must be viewed in this fashion. In our tenth "episode" Isam Rasheed takes us to the home of a family who's house was struck by a Katyusha rocket last month-the video was shot shortly after the attack. Katyushas are the same rockets that have gained infamy in the hands of Hezbollah, and are a known piece of the Mahdi Army's arsenal. Given this fact, it is difficult to understand why Shi'a militias appear to be such a low priority in the newest operation to "retake Baghdad." Please remember that these videos are only possible with your support and consider donating generously to continue our work. We are also looking for some equipment to send to our correspondents in Baghdad, which you can read more about at www.aliveinbaghdad.org

In this episode, Omar Abdullah takes you to an art gallery showing in Baghdad's Wazariyah neighborhood, which is located near the more well-known Adhamiya neighborhood, home of the Abu Hanifa Mosque.Mayada Ali discusses the impetus behind her work and sends a message to the American people. Some of the video is a bit jumpy, and perhaps the shots of art aren't as steady as you might desire.Omar is just learning, so please forgive his mistakes as you would any first-time video blogger!Alive in Baghdad has been totally funded by donations from our viewers. Now that we have correspondents working in Baghdad we must maintain a budget of about 3000.00 US per month, so if you appreciate the work our correspondents are doing, please consider making a donation to support them!visit http://aliveinbaghdad.org for more information about making a donation and to learn more about the project and the ongoing situation in Baghdad.

Here is a selection of artwork from a recent gallery opening in Baghdad.Despite the war, the arts continue.Please take a look at this selection of artwork from artist Mayada Ali.There will be more artwork soon, as well as an edited segment of the entire gallery opening, including an interview with artist Mayada Ali.This video was shot by Omar Abdullah, one of our Iraqi correspondents. Please consider supporting this work, which is entirely funded by donations.We have recently begun taking advertisements through blip's beta program. If you can't make a donation, consider supporting by clicking the ad at the end of the program.visit http://aliveinbaghdad.org to find out more about the situation in Iraq and make a donation to the project.