Sadr Videos

Author: Iranium_78 Tags: iran irak palestine israel allah coran sunnite chiite islam mohammad salam sarkozy maroc algerie tunisie football france usa bush obama taliban jihad islamique moqtada sadr hamas hezbollah nasralla Posted: 18 November 2009 Rating: 5.0 Votes: 1

The results of Iraq's 2009 provincial elections are in, and while the statistics are clear, the consequences are more difficult to discern. What can be noted for sure is that political parties who campaigned on a stronger central government and a unified Iraq, such as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Daa'wa party, prospered at the ballot box whereas parties who focused on religious and sectarian identities, such as the Iranian linked Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, known as ISCI, showed much deeper losses. Another party in particular who seemed to suffer at the polls was Muqtada al-Sadr's Movement. In the run up to the elections, rumors circulated of secret deals between the Sadrists and Maliki's Daa'wa party, and some even speculated that Sadr's Mehdi Army would once again resume armed resistance. While no violence has yet occurred nor deals confirmed, the Sadrists have announced a plan to appeal the election results with Iraq's Electoral Commission, citing voting irregularities in several districts. Some of the provinces especially highlighted by the Sadrists are Baghdad, Najaf, Kadhumiya and Qadisiyah, all heavily Shia provinces and all provinces that showed strong results for secular, nationalist parties like the Daa'wa. It is in this light that we bring you an unaired interview from our archives. In December 2007, Alive in Baghdad had a chance to sit down with Sayed Hazim Al-A'araji, the top Sadrist representative in the Kadhumiya district of Baghdad. While some of his words may seem like an anachronism with all that has happened in the last year, much of it is worth a new look and a new consideration.

Even through the darkest days of the invasion and civil war, Iraq's candy and pastry makers have endured it all. Some see the profession as just another trade to provide for their family, but many also see it as a creative outlet. Their traditional Zonood Al-Sit and Baqlava draw Iraqis from miles around just for a taste. Iraqi pastry chefs not only put a lot of care into their creations, but some spend years developing specific specialties. The more unique their dish, the more their fame, and fortune, will grow. Sadr City in Baghdad is known especially for its unique creations, with Iraqis journeying from all corners of the country to sample its Zolabya Sha'rya, Kanafa, and Balorya. These dishes don't always come easy though. With Iraq's unpredictable security situation, often times the price of ingredients will rise sharply and suddenly. This not only causes the price of sweets and pastries to fluctuate wildly, but will sometimes even cause whole items to be removed from the menu. Obviously this can be a devastating blow to a sweet maker who specializes in that item. Fortunately for these sweet makers, security has been much less of an issue lately. With the threat of violence relatively diminished, more Iraqis are able to freely walk the streets at night and thus the bakeries are able to stay open longer, often late into the night. In this week's episode of Alive in Baghdad, we take you inside some of these pastry shops to talk to the chefs themselves about what it takes to be a candy maker on the streets of Iraq today. We only regret that it is only video and you can't taste the dishes yourselves. If you enjoy this episode, please feel free to support Alive in Baghdad, and don't forget to check out the latest from Small World News - Alive in Gaza.

Iraq, Amarah - Deep in the southeast of Iraq along the border with Iran lies the Governorate of Maysan. Approximately 800,000 Iraqis live there, most followers of the Shi'ite Islamic sect. During the war between Iraq and Iran in the 1980s Maysan province was the site of some of the biggest battle fields. Because of the high Shi'ite population and their relation to Iran, the regime of Saddam Hussein viewed the people of Maysan as a threat. Saddam had the Ahwar, or marshlands, a major food source and the crux of many local livelihoods, completely drained. In addition, much of the local population was forcefully relocated to other areas of Iraq. Most of the people in Maysan live in the capital of Amarah. The city's infrastructure is especially poor, receiving negligible care and attention during the reign of Saddam Hussein, who viewed it as vengeance for the Shi'ite uprisings following the first Gulf War in 1991. The conditions in Amarah did not improve after the invasion in 2003 as the citizens suffered a lack of proper water infrastructure. British forces were in control of the city in the early days, and much of the city was besieged with regular bombings, kidnappings and other acts of violence. Though many citizens of Amarah turned out and participated in large public demonstrations, because of the security situation, the city's local council was unable to accomplish any social work or infrastructure repair. By 2005, Maysan's district councils began to accomplish some improvements. Working in tandem with the Sadr Movement and the Iraqi National Guard, the councils distributed plans for various reconstruction projects throughout Maysan. Factional conflict broke out briefly between members of the Mahdi Army and the Iraqi National Guard in early 2006 forcing a temporary suspension of the reconstruction projects, however it was quickly resolved and the community services councils were able to return to work again. Since 2007 the security situation in Maysan has largely improved. With a dramatically reduced threat of violence, the local services organizations and community services councils are able to rebuild much of Ammarah's infrastructure, including large road and bridge reconstruction projects.

VIDEO - Baghdad, Iraq - Al-Qa'eda used Islam as a way of drawing a wide base in Arab and Muslim countries, while in Iraq other militias manipulated local Imams and Muslim clerics. Both saw controlling mosques as a tactic for providing secure gathering points as well as a steady supply of new recruits. Many Imams chose not to go quietly along with Al-Qa'eda's and the other militia's plans, and they often suffered for it. Some were assassinated by Al-Qa'eda, who considered them non-believers or sometimes for being simply uncooperative. Others were killed in US raids on mosques suspected of harboring Al-Qaeda. There was also another kind of conflict occurring, this one between Sunni and Shiite. Many Sunni mosques were located in heavily Shiite territories and vice versa. Many of these Imams were displaced, or worse, tortured and killed. Most were at the hands of religious extremists for the purpose of sectarian control. Some, however, were targeted out of sheer ignorance. For instance, the Shiite have a type of mosque known as a "Husseiniya." A Husseiniya differs from a mosque in that it is made mainly for gatherings for Muharram, the mourning of Hussein ibn Ali, and not necessarily for holding prayers in jumaa'at or regular Friday prayers. This slight difference in attendance was used by many militias as justification for killing those seen as "disobeying" those Friday prayers. Car bombs, on the other hand, did not discriminate between Sunni or Shiite. Many mosques were closed or destroyed and the imams forced to relocate after spectacular, and deadly, car bomb attacks. For example, a car bomb in Khanaqin, a Sunni district, killed 70 people and injured more than 100, while in the Shiite region of Najaf, a similar attack left 95 dead and many hundreds wounded. The mosques are thus left between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, it's often too frightening for Iraqis to go to mosque under threat of car bombs and militia attacks, while on the other hand, Iraqis are used to meeting and gathering at mosques, an integral part of their culture. Because of the constant threat of Al-Qa'eda and militia attacks, Iraqis have sadly become accustomed to the sight of mosques brimming with armored vehicles and heavily armed gunmen there to protect the worshipers. This week Alive in Baghdad brings you inside one of these mosques to hear what Iraqis have to say regarding the sectarian conflict, Al-Qa'eda attacks, and the struggles they go through daily just to worship.

VIDEO - Iraq, Baghdad/Sadr City Ramadan is an important religious event for the Muslim community all over the world. In Iraq it is special too, people in Iraq consider it as a family occasion, and a time for the family to meet. One of the Iraqi traditions is to play a game called "Mahibs" after the Iftar, or breaking of the fast. The game is based on a hidden ring and the basic idea is to find this ring. Due to the security situation it became difficult to find this game due to the difficulty in previous years of travelling and meeting at night. The prize for the winner of this game is a huge amount of sweets. Shopping for Ramadan is important, buying fresh vegetables, bread, and other ingredients in order to cook them before the Iftar time. It is an important tradition within Iraqi society, unfortunately shopping became difficult, due to the lack of security and the very meager incomes of many Iraqi families. Those things are a shared experience between the Sunni and Shia Muslims in Iraq. There are a few differences in traditions and religious details, such as Sunnis begin Iftar exactly when the sunset prayer call starts, while Shi'a begin Iftar when the first stars appear in the skies. In Sadr City, Ramadan became a very difficult time for families living there. In the past constant raids, military operations and seiges forced people to stay in their homes. It became difficult for those families even to travel to nearby markets in order to purchase simple groceries. Their fasting has become greatly increased, including not only food fasting, it became food, electricity, security, and many other things "fasting." However, in 2008, it appears optimism is returning. The streets of Sadr City were full of people this year, as residents travelled to special places for Shi'a such as the Imam Kadhim mosque, or just went to visit long absent family around Baghdad. Alive in Baghdad's Ali Le'abiy spoke with two Sadr City residents about their experience of Ramadan in 2008. 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.

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VIDEO - Iraq, Baghdad/Sadr City After the failure of many security plans proposed by the Iraqi government and US military strategists, a recent plan, hand-in-hand with the so-called "Surge," was designed. It was a desperate attempt by the US and Iraqi military forces to control the Sunni-Shia militia. At the suggestion of military leaders, the Iraqi and US governments decided to build walls to separate neighborhoods and to control militias and insurgents from entering or exiting any neighborhood without passing a checkpoint. The first wall was built in Adhamiya, in April 2007. Despite protests and opposition, United States military and Iraqi National Guard forces began to erect a wall surrounding the neighborhood of Adhamiya. The people living in the neighborhood engaged in several demonstrations against building the wall, and even Prime Minister Maliki, a Shi'a critical of the neighborhood, publicly protested the plan. Despite his intervention and public discontent, the wall was built and finished by late April 2007. These walls tend to be approximately 3 meters in height and made from concrete. In some areas the top of the wall is covered with concertina wire to prevent intruders from climbing over the wall. There are patrols set to guard the wall and they are present around the wall daily, and at all hours, to protract the wall from being attacked or bombed by insurgents. Another wall built at end of April 2007, but this time in Ameriya, this wall is approximately 10 kilometers in length and again 3 meters high. In September 2007 yet another wall was built in the Saidiya neighborhood. The wall surrounding that district was 23 kilometers, and by the end of 2007 there were over 50 different walls built around different neighborhoods across Baghdad. In May 2008 a wall was built in Sadr City after battles between the US military and the Mahdi Army. There are approximately two million citizens living inside the area now known as Sadr City, probably the largest single group impacted by one of Baghdad's walls. Previously they could come and go via nine major entrances. Many shops were force to close because of the wall, the shop owners found they could not complete there work anymore due to the wall sitting just in front of their shops.

NEW YORK, USA, 20 June 2008 -- Forty days of recent intense violence took a toll on close to 1 million children in Baghdad's Sadr City, which is home to 2.5 million Iraqis. During April and May, the streets of the sprawling neighbourhood turned into a battlefield -- trapping children in their homes without access to water, school or play areas. Even more seriously, the violence affected access to health care. With power and water in short supply and many medical professionals unable to get to work, two major hospitals were closed, as were many local health centres, leaving many residents with only sporadic access to health care. During the conflict, UNICEF supplied hospitals with clean water and trauma kits to treat 6,000 injured people. Although there are no confirmed totals of casualties, it is estimated that hundreds were killed and thousands more were wounded. To read the full story, visit: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/iraq_44553.html

AMMAN, Jordan, 23 May 2008 -- The Baghdad Girls Primary in Iraq's Sadr City had only been occupied by students for a few months before violent clashes erupted between military forces and militia groups in the area. When the smoke cleared, the school was virtually destroyed -- damaged by intense mortar and rocket fire. The school's headmistresses, Zainab Kadhum, and her staff had worked to ensure that all the girls got home safely, but they could not save what had only recently been a brand new space for Iraqi girls to receive a quality education amidst the insecurity plaguing their country. To read the full story, visit: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/iraq_44134.html

Iraq, Baghdad/Abu Dsheer - This memorial day, as citizens of the United States, and perhaps elsewhere, are remembering the fallen soldiers of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as previous conflicts, Alive in Baghdad asks you to remember the civilian fallen as well. It's been estimated that 1.3 million women have been widowed in Iraq due to war, ranging from the Iran-Iraq war to the most recent conflict which is still going on today. Although its difficult to be certain if this number is accurate, or to know just how many have been widowed in the most recent conflict, Iraq's acting Minister of Womens' Affairs, Narmeen Othman, suggests that at least 70,000 women have been widowed due to the most recent war. However, these numbers are disputed widely, and while a government committee on women's affairs has claimed there are just 1.3 million widows in Iraq, others have reported drastically different numbers. One source in the Ministry of Women's Affairs told an NBC staffer in 2007 that there were 3 million widows in Iraq due to the various wars of the last two decades. Despite this already shocking number, the United Nations news service, IRIN, reported in 2006 that there are 8 million widows nation-wide, with upwards of 330,000 in Baghdad alone. To put that in perspective, if true, it would mean that as much as 6-7 percent of Baghdad's population may be made up of widows, suggesting that the number of children with only one parent left is likely to be double, or triple this, if not more. The primary cause for women to be widowed today is sectarian violence and terrorism. Areas such as Abu Dsheer, Hawr Rajab, and other tumultuous districts that have seen some of the worst internecine fighting understandably have some of the most prevalent populations of widows and orphans. Abu Dsheer has been considered one of the bloodiest conflict areas in Baghdad, due to the influence militias have held there. Abu Dsheer is located in the south of Baghdad near Al-Saha neighborhood. Since 2004, Abu Dsheer was controlled by Al-Qa'eda on one side and the Sadr Movement on the other side, Many people was assassinated due to their sect whether they were Sunni or Shi'a. The Iraqi government tried many times along with Coalition forces to restore security in Abu Dsheer with no success. In 2006 there were many bombings taking place in Abu Dsheer, in addition to the battles between the Iraqi or Coalition forces and the militias. The civilian casualties were very high in Abu Dsheer, and the families living there faced grave financial difficulties due to the bad security conditions which prevent them from going to work or looking for jobs within Abu Dsheer. There are NGOs trying to help the people living there, by providing them with medical and financial aid according to their abilities. NGOs such as Al-Tathamon Social Organization (Social Solidarity Organization) are trying to fix some of the problems in areas like Abu Dsheer. The Organization was created on the 10th of July 2007 in order to help families or individuals whom having medical or financial problems. They also help the families whom lost there provider, like the father of that family or the mother. The Social Solidarity Organization has offices located in several areas such as Kadhimiya, Sadr City, Al-Husseiniya and Al-Nahrawan, as well as Abu Dsheer. Due to the difficulty these organization have finding funding, many such as the Social Solidarity Organization and Al-Yateem Charity, which help the women interviewed by Alive in Baghdad, receive support from the Sadr Movement. Although they claim to have sought financial support from the Iraqi government, both the organization, and the widows interviewed by Alive in Baghdad say they have not received any support from the government. *** If you appreciate the insightful content provided by Alive in Baghdad, which you won t find anywhere else, please consider making a recurring donation, or one-time donation to Alive in Baghdad. You can also purchase Alive in Baghdad T-shirts or DVDs to spread the word!

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!

Aijaz Ahmad: Wall meant to partition Sadr City's residents is population control ahead of elections

Pepe Escobar : Bill would outlaw political parties with militias; Sadr City being turned into a "gulag"

Baghdad, Iraq - Sadr City - In October 2007 the US Military claims it raided 3 locations in pursuit of a Shi'a masterminding a kidnapping gang. Iraqi civilians in the area claimed differently. The Coalition forces claim 49 criminals were killed and no civilians were injured in the raid. Iraqi Police and hospital officials reported only 15 deaths including three children. Another report from the Iraqi Ministry of Interior claimed there were 13 killed and 69 injured. In other reports, the shadowy "Task Force 88" or "Task Force Black" was cited as being involved in this raid. The report from Long War Journal suggested that they were involved due to the United States' claim that the raid targeted the so-called "Special Groups," off-shoots of the Mahdi Army who have defied Muqtada Sadr's ceasefire order and are being supplied by Iran. In Esquire, Thomas P.M. Barnett writes that Task Force 88 was sent into Somalia seeking Al-Qa'eda operatives, with orders to "Kill anyone still alive and leave no unidentified bodies behind." Iraqi civilians in Sadr City expressed anger, frustration, and confusion regarding the raid. Ali Al-Dabbagh, spokesman for the Iraqi Government, says that Prime Minister Maliki called General Petraeus to lodge a complaint, and attacked the United States for killing civilians and using excessive force. None of the civilians who spoke with Alive in Baghdad could explain the reason for the attacks, they claimed there were no fighters for the Mahdi Army in their area, and implored the international media to come and examine the neighborhood themselves. Alive in Baghdad correspondent Nabeel Kamal witnessed no evidence of militia activity in the area while producing this story. The US and Iraqi governments have agreed to investigate the incident further, but as this goes to publish, Alive in Baghdad could not determine any new details or information uncovered by the investigation. *** Alive in Baghdad is running low on funds. Although we are receiving increasing support from monthly subscribers, we need many more of you to help! We depend on you the viewer for 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!

Baghdad, Iraq - The Al-A'mel neighborhood has been wracked with as much violence and unrest as Baghdad's roughest neighborhoods. The Sadr office in Al-A'mel has been an important source of stability and security for many residents of Al-A'mel. As we've reported previously, the Sadr Movement, which is connected to Muqtada Sadr's Mahdi Army, has made a name for itself by providing aid and support to Iraqis living all over the country. The arrest of Sheikh Jassem lead to large demonstrations in the Al-A'mel neighborhood. These demonstrations targetted their anger not only at the US forces in Iraq, but also Prime Minister Maliki and the Iraqi government. Because the Iraqi prime minister has claimed to have control over where, when, and how the US forces exert pressure on Iraqi dissidents, insurgents, and militias, the residents of Al-A'mel directed their frustration at his apparent apathy regarding Sheikh Jassem's arrest. Witnesses gave different accounts of the arrest. Although all claimed that the Sheikh was injured by being pushed from the roof of the mosque after being detained, some claimed this was done by a soldier from the United States, while others claimed it was a member of the Iraqi National Guard. At the time he was arrested, the US claimed that he was wanted in relation to a spate of kidnapping, murder, and torture in the area. Residents told Alive in Baghdad that they were surprised by the charges, as he is well-liked in the community and has been involved with assisting Sunni as well as Shi'a families around Al-A'mel. Sheikh Jassem Al-Hasnawi has also received letters of thanks from prominent Sunnis, such as Dr. Al-Kubaisi, for his assistance in the construction of school buildings in the primarily Sunni Karkh region of Baghdad. Until now Sheikh Jassem Al-Hasnawi has been held by the US forces, leading many Iraqis to question the truth of Prime Minister Maliki's claims of Iraqi sovereignty. At the time of writing, it was unclear when Sheikh Jassem might be released, whether there was any truth to the claims of his injury, or whether he has been officially charged with any wrongdoing. ... 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!

Sadr City is rarely described in the press, except to discuss its crushing poverty or the violence of its neighborhood militias.Dr. Haseeba is a well known and well regarded doctor who lives in Baghdad. She has been on television many times talking about her work as a doctor and the situation in Baghdad.She has a clinic in Sadr City and has worked as a medical doctor for 40 years in Baghdad. She has seen many things, having lived and practiced medicine through three wars and much political turmoil in Iraq.She discusses the difficulties of travel to her work as well as some of the strange diseases and medical abnormalities that have shown up since the first and second American invasions of Iraq.Please consider making a donation to support our work, we are in the process of looking for ads and trying to secure additional funding sources, but until now our work continues to be entirely viewer-funded. Please consider making a follow-up if you've donated in the past. As we've said before, this project is our full-time work, and it costs 2500 dollars per episode. In order to expand our work and provide more detailed and diverse coverage of daily life in Baghdad, your assistance is needed! For more stories about medicine, healthcare, and the medical impact of war in Iraq, see these stories:Baghdad Children's HospitalFamily Deals with the Legacy of the Gulf WarIllness Takes no Break for War