Hawr Videos
newest 100 hawr videos / hawr widgets / media rss:

Baghdad/Abu Dsheer, Iraq - There are many Sunni Families living in Hawr Rajab, and a great number were attacked by people wearing black uniforms similar to the uniform that the Mehdi Army is known to wear, which is also considered similar to the uniform worn by members of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. The Sahwa forces are gathered in Hawr Rajab trying to protect those families from being attacked during the night or the early hours of the morning. Several attacks happened to families living in Hawr Rajab occurring like raids. When men in black uniforms attack a family they often kidnap the father or the brother or sometimes the whole family, and it is normal to find the family member dead after several days. These actions pushed some families to flee Hawr Rajab and move to a nearby area called Abu Dsheer which seems to be demonstrating ongoing solidarity within Iraq society, as the families who spoke with Alive in Baghdad are Sunni families that fled from Hawr Rajab to Abu Dsheer, which is known to be a majority Shi'a neighborhood. Since the Sahwa force was established in Hawr Rajab there have been a number of massacres, demonstrating the ongoing instability that discourages many displaced families from returning home. Hawr Rajab was controlled by Al-Qaeda and used to be known as a major area under Al-Qaeda's control. In the beginning they targeted anyone who worked with the United States military, and after awhile, Al-Qaeda started to establish rules to be followed by the people living therem like men are not allowed to wear shorts have a short beard, and for all women they must wear a veil on their head when they go out of their homes. The people lof Hawr Rajab liked the idea of the Sahwa Forces and many people joined that force in order to get Al-Qaeda out of their area. Al-Qaeda decided to retaliate against this behavior of people living there and to show them that Al-Qaeda is still strong and still controlling the area. Members Al-Qaeda began to assassinate heads of the tribes that joined Al-Sahwa, and the young people that joined, in order to push them away from the Sahwa. One of the methods of assassinations was to behead the kidnapped person and put the victim's head on their chest, and leave the body in front of their family's ho,e By early 2008 Al-Qaeda had burned and destroyed some houses for random people and killed people only for belonging to a certain tribe that agreed with the Sahwa method and that reason pushed people to flee to anywhere and made many go to a Shi'a neighborhood just to stay alive. *** 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 to spread the word!

Hawr Rajab, Iraq - If you've ever wondered what its like to live in a village under the sway of insurgents, criminals, or Al-Qa'eda, today you'll hear about it from the survivors themselves. The criminal and terrorist gangs controlling Hawr Rajab imposed tight curfews and "justice" based on their regressive interpretation of Islam. Civilians told horror stories of being afraid to leave their homes for fear of retribution. According to one member of the Sahwa, those who smoked regularly could have their fingers amputated or their tongue burned. Many other residents, Sunni and Shi'a alike, fled the neighborhood to other nearby areas, such as Abu Dsheer and Mahmoudiya. Shekih Al-Ma'eini told Nabeel Kamal that the residents of Abu Dsheer and other areas deserved great thanks for their willingness to support the residents of Hawr Rajab with shelter and food. Once the situation had calmed, Sheikh Malik, the district representative of Hawr Rajab worked with Sheikh Al-Ma'eini and others to begin implementing a reconstruction plan for the area. Young men who formally fought against the United States or terrorized their neighbors are finding work clearing wreckage and paving main roads in the village. Many of the men working for the Sahwa Councils, or "Concerned Local Citizens" as the United States military often calls them, openly admit they once fought the United States and Coalition Forces. One of the most interesting things happening in Hawr Rajab is that animosity against the United States appears to have been subsumed by a desire to attain real reconciliation within their communities. Recently much of the media has focused either on the question of how long the "honeymoon" between Sunni fighters and the Coalition might last, or has provided a simplistic look at "brave Iraqis fighting the terrorists." Nabeel Kamal provides another report taking a closer look at the hopes and struggles of the Iraqis themselves. To hear about how residents of Hawr Rajab and Iraqi Army soldiers worked together to secure the neighborhood, please check out last week's episode. *** 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. We ll soon be offering t-shirts for sale to help spread the word, and you can already purchase DVDs from our site!