Nice piece in the Times (or the IHT, I can't tell the difference) by Sigridur Vidis Jonsdottir on an Baghdad refugees in tents in the Iraqi desert near the Syrian border. They're unwelcome in Baghdad because they're Palestinian:
Lina was born in Baghdad, raised in Baghdad and loved Baghdad. But
after the Americans invaded, Palestinians were no longer welcome in
Iraq. They are seen as Saddam’s people — he gave them free housing and
utilities, although he never granted them citizenship.
after the Americans invaded, Palestinians were no longer welcome in
Iraq. They are seen as Saddam’s people — he gave them free housing and
utilities, although he never granted them citizenship.
Sort of undercuts an extended dithyramb from David Hare's otherwise-fabulous piece in the New York Review of Books. He's visiting Nablus:
On the wall, in this decaying spot, the only new thing: a bright gleaming poster of Saddam Hussein.
It's one of those moments. I know as soon as I look I'm never going
to forget. How do you react to that? If you were going to choose a
hero, could you choose a worse? If you were going to choose a future,
could you so completely misconceive it? If you were going to choose a
leader to take you precisely nowhere, could you do better than Saddam
Hussein?
to forget. How do you react to that? If you were going to choose a
hero, could you choose a worse? If you were going to choose a future,
could you so completely misconceive it? If you were going to choose a
leader to take you precisely nowhere, could you do better than Saddam
Hussein?
