In Fire, Snow & Honey freedom fighters, mothers, musicians, doctors, teachers, soldiers and scholars, aged between 23 and 103, re-examine the past and present from a Kurdish perspective. By lifting many veils of secrecy, they reveal the origins of monotheism and of civilisation itself, as well as an ethnic persecution, which has killed about half a million Kurds in four decades. At the front line of global forces, the Kurdish predicament is shown to be intimately interwoven with international events, such as the Iraq-Iran War and the Kuwait War. On the homefront, Kurdish women expose their often confronting experiences, emerging as shining examples of an ancient culture that honours loyalty, bravery and hospitality, music and poetry, but which has been torn apart by massacres, deportations, imprisonments and politics, resulting in a steady stream of refugees to the West.
Gina Lennox's interest in the Middle East dates back to 1980-81 when she rode a motorbike from London to India and back, through Turkey, Iran and Pakistan. Her experiences in Iran caused her to regain a belief in God. Since this journey she has read widely, produced a series of three radio programs on Iraqi Kurds in 1994, revisited the Middle East, and lived in an Egyptian village near Luxor in 1997-98. As well as being a film-maker, radioproducer, teacher and community writing co-ordinator for a number of disadvantaged groups, Gina Lennox has three books published: People of the Cross (1994), Struck By Lightning (1996) and In Search of Heroes (1998).
Table of Contents
Map of Kurdistan and its emirates - front end endpaper Map of Kurdistan and its 20th Century Divisions - back end endpaper 6 Pronounciation Guide 7 Foreword - by Mme Danielle Mitterand 10 Why Care? - Introduction by Gina Lennox
I — Lifting the Veil / 21 22 About Dr Hussein Tahiri - See Life's Legacy: Blood Cannot be Washed with Blood 22 Origins of the Kurds - An essay by Hussein Tahiri 35 About Dr Muhammad Kamal 35 Religion and Faith in Kurdistan - An essay by Dr Muhammad Kamal 46 About Dr Abdulkader Maronesy 47 Ezidi-The First Monotheists? - An essay by Dr Abdulkader Maronesy 64 About Siamand Mi nehzadeh Morowatdost 64 A Musical and Poetic Tradition - A view of music, dance, poetry and song based on interviews with Siamand Minehzadeh Morowatdost 75 About Abdulwahab Talabani 77 An Introduction to Modern Kurdish Literature - An essay by Abdulwahab Talabani 98 About Mosa Dashtani 98 Foods and Cooking of the Bahdinan - based on interviews with Mosa Dashtani 111 About Mihriban Astare, Seher Cinar, Ayten Sengul and Helin Diyar 112 A Dialogue Between Women - with Mihriban Astare, Seher Cinar, Ayten Sengul and Helin Diyar 145 About Dr Azad 146 Iraq: The Politics of Oppression - An essay based on interviews with Dr Azad 170 About Eziz Bawermend 170 A Time for Rose and A Time for Primrose - An essay by Eziz Bawermend
II — From Bahdinan to Baban via Soran / 183 (southern Kurdistan-northern Iraq) 184 About Faiek Jamil Ali 184 A Known Stranger - A short tale by Faiek Jamil Ali 185 Enough - A life story based on interviews with Sami Barwari 206 A Question - A poem by Abbas Boskany 207 About Abbas Boskany 207 Travel Delirium - A poem by Abbas Boskany 209 Only God Knows - A life story based on interviews with Ali Hussein 216 Falling - A poem by Abbas Boskany 217 Air Waves - A life story based on interviews with Rebwar Bibani 247 You Are Still Asleep - A poem by Abbas Boskany 248 Cry of the Partridge - A short fiction by Abdulwahab Talabani 251 Burning Into Paint - An artist's story based on interviews with Ahmed Faiek 257 There is Always a Sun Behind the Clouds - A life story based on interviews with Mahabad Fatah 276 The Last Golden Poplar Trees - A poem by Abbas Boskany 277 In the Land of a Thousand Sighs - A life story based on interviews with Sarbast Fatah 306 Parting - A poem by Abbas Boskany 307 A Fortress of No Tomorrows - A life story based on interviews with Maryam Rowandozi, translated through Aso Walid 325 Colour War - A poem by Abbas Boskany 326 Price of Freedom - A life story based on interviews with Dr Bewar 334 Together - A poem by Abbas Boskany 335 A Way Through the Mountains - Experiences and views based on interviews with Dr Ali Zibari 343 A Fox is Not a Camel, But He Must Think Like One - A life story based on interviews with Wria Rekar 356 The Man and His Donkey - A fable told by Rebwar Tahir (artist of front cover) 357 A Nightingale in a Golden Cage Sang, "Oh My Country" - A life story based on interviews with Waleed Bamirny 372 The Moon Rises After Sunset - A life story based on a struggle for women's rights from articles and ah autobiography by Surma Hamid, translated by Dr Toma Hamid and Dr Muhammad Kamal 382 Leyla Zana - A poem by Abbas Boskany 383 Hey Fighters! Don't Forget Peace How civil war started in the no-fly zone - Based on interviews with Haval Dasko Aziz and Sarbast Fatah
III — From Pazikan to Botanjumi to Hakkari / 397 (northern Kurdistan - Part of Armenia and Georgia; eastern Turkey and northern Syria) 398 Why Kurdish? - A poem by Ahmedi Khani, translated by Eziz Bawermend 401 He Who Does Not Fight Has a Sharp Sword - The story of Sayideh Ibo based on interviews with his wife, Nas'e Ousoeva and son, Aziz Iboyan, with translations by Loretta Jew ' „ 423 The Power of Observation - A fable retold by Eziz Bawermend 426 Sacred Fire - A life story based on interviews with Temur Childargushi 433 Goat Girl - A folk tale told by Seher Cinar 435 They First Speak of the Lioness, Then of the Lion - A life story based on interviews with Sabir Bagdas, translated through Hasan Bagdas 446 The Power of Reason - A fable retold by Eziz Bawermend 447 Grass Does Not Stay Under a Rock - A life story by Riza Colpan, translated by Eziz Bawermend 456 Mourning in Black - A poem by Riza Colpan, translated by Benav 459 You and I - A poem by Riza Colpan, translated by Omar Sheikhmous 462 As the Hungry Dream of Food, the Musician Dreams of Music - A life story based on interviews with Dursun Acar 469 Why the Rich Get Richer and the Poor Stay Poor - A fable retold by Eziz Bawermend 469 A Rose that Cannot Be Plucked, A Song That Cannot Be Banned - A life story based in interviews with Veli Toprak 477 A Foot in Australia, Three Souls in Kurdistan - A history ofPKK contributed by Ayce Atkurk, Hakki Haylir and Ahmed Tigran 493 About Shahin Baker Sorekli 493 Aunty Zeho - A short story by Shahin Baker 495 An Apple Does Not Fall Far From the Tree - A life story based on interviews with Ruken Heval 503 Justice in the Principality of Botan - A fable retold by Eziz Bawermend 504 In the Shadow of Aslan - A life story based on interviews with Saad Barazi 520 Worldly Knowledge - A fable retold by Eziz Bawermend 521 Black Hens Still Lay White Eggs - A life story based on interviews with Bavi Alan 534 The Flags and the Flame - A poem by Shahin Baker 535 Necessity: The First Teacher - A short fiction by Lorin Miri 545 Our Trouble - A poem by Ahmedi Khani, translated by Eziz Bawermend
IV— From Elam to Khoy via Mukrian and Ardalan / 549 (eastern Kurdistan-north-west Iran) 550 The Tale of Sultan Mahood and his Wazir, Hayaseekhas - As told by Siamand Minehzadeh Morowatdost 552 Freedom - A poem by MarifAgha-e, translated by Kamran Avin and Gafoor Muhamad 553 Words Are Your Own, Until They Leave Your Mouth - A life story based on interviews and an essay by Ghader Abdi 574 Wish - A poem by Marif Agha-e, translated by Kamran Avin 574 Prison - A poem by MarifAgha-e, translated by Kamran Avin 575 The Eye Can See But the Hand is Short - A life story based on interviews with Fariba Qazi 588 Buried Alive - A short fiction by Mariam Qazi, translated by Fariba Qazi 591 Flag - A poem by jheela Husseini, translated by Kamran Avin and Gafoor Muhamad 591 From Drops of Rain the River Will Rise - A life story based on interviews with Mary Razaghi 604 Good News - A poem by Jheela Husseini, translated by Kamran Avin and Gafoor Muhamad 605 See the Mother, Know the Girl - A life story based on interviews with Mariam Sultani 616 I Love You Besides Being Angry With You - A poem by MarifAgha-e, translated by Kamran Avin and Gafoor Muhammad 617 About Hamid Rashidi Zarza 617 Gaddar - A poem by Hamid Rashidi Zarza, translated by Kamran Avin 619 Freezoo - A poem by Hamid Rashidi Zarza, translated by Kamran Avin 620 A Tale of Three Brothers - As told by Aza Shirwani 622 Life's Legacy: Blood Cannot Be Washed With Blood - conclusion based on interviews and a PhD from Dr Hussein Tahiri 647 Miracle - A poem by Marif Agha-e, translated by Kamran Avin
648 Textnotes 656 Sources 661 Information on title page photographs 662 Index
FOREWORD
by Madame Danielle Mitterrand
The Kurds and I have a long history. We have memories in common which our relationship and joint histories are founded upon. They have confidence in my initiatives for peace because they know my persistence in convincing people that they have a right to their own place on our earth, in the same way as those who have appropriated it do. Thus, for more than fifteen years, I have taken every opportunity to alert not only French but also European and international public opinion to the injustice done to the Kurdish people. The United Nations Human Rights Commission, the European Parliament, the US Congress, my Nobel Peace Prize friends, heads of state and governments have all heard me speak about the Kurds.
What can we do for the Kurds, divided between four countries, continually in conflict, so that they can live in peace and justice with their compatriots: Turks, Arabs, Iranians and others? I think that our role is to have the legitimacy of Kurdish cultural, civic and political claims recognised in the countries in which they live, ft is no longer acceptable, under the pretext of not interfering in the internal affairs of sovereign states, to close our eyes to the massive violations of the rights of Kurds, while declaring our duty to help people in danger, peoples in danger.
Representatives of civil society and public opinion, we also have a role in denouncing civil wars, massacres, the destruction of villages and massive deportations carried out by sovereign states against their own populations. It is our responsibility as citizens of this planet to demand that our leaders act in such a way as to bring the warring parties around to dialogue and a peaceful solution.
It is regrettable to note that in Turkey, generals continue to lead the danse macabre of a deadly armed conflict and refuse to consider a political and peaceful solution to the Kurdish problem. They are forever brandishing the spectre of war against a population which is only seeking recognition of its existence and its legitimate rights. Under the pretext of fighting "terrorism", they maintain a state of seige in the Kurdish region, destroying villages and obliging the population to flee. They lose no opportunity of stifling any democratic demands. The Kurdish democratically elected representatives are rotting in prison. The decision of the European Court of Human Rights which declared their trials unfair, has not changed in anyway the fact that these representatives continue to remain in prison, while our European governments, members of the European Council, intervene on their behalf. Also, the Turkish army, in spite of international laws, violates Iraqi borders, while pursuing Kurds who have found refuge in that country. In doing so, it breaks the conventions and international agreements it has signed.
In Iraq, where for more than ten years, part of the Kurdish region has been under the control of the UN, the Kurds are no longer subjected to extermination campaigns led by the Iraqi regime of the 1980s. They have rebuilt their villages, but continue to live in terror and fear of the return of their persecutors. Is it necessary to remind people of the Anfal campaigns, of the chemical and biological gassings carried out against the Kurdish population?
In Iraq, weakened by a decade of economic sanctions, which strike at the most disadvantaged and weakest sectors of the population, the desire to rid the country of Kurds, is the political backdrop of Saddam Hussein's regime. In allowing tenor and insecurity to rule, it is encouraging, if not inciting, the people to choose exodus.
In the current context of the globalisation of economies, finance and communication, it is time to install a global justice so that dictators, and all those responsible for crimes against humanity, may be brought before an international criminal court, which would have the means to render justice. Thus, Saddam Hussein, and the like, would suffer a check to their destructive excesses, and the states which support and arm them receive a reminder of their duty to establish peace.
The Kurds of Iran have also suffered political repression since 1979 and the establishment of the Islamic Republic. The Kurdish political parties are outlawed and exiled. Their pacifist leaders have been assassinated in Europe. An acceptable solution to the Kurdish problem in that country, negotiated by Kurdish representatives and Iranian leaders, is possible, on the basis of a real international political and democratic will.
The Kurds in Syria have no cultural rights and cannot fulfil their civic responsibilities if they declare their ethnic origin. Like everywhere in Kurdistan, the Kurdish region in Syria remains underdeveloped. The Kurds in this country demand recognition of their cultural rights and the return of those people expelled from their land during the 1960s.
So what can we do? Close our eyes in the name of economic and financial imperatives to the atrocities committed in the region against a civilian population, living on its own territory, but deprived of its most basic rights? Isn't it time to choose moral firmness in which the advantages are indisputable under any circumstance? Shouldn't we establish the means to achieve a peaceful solution acceptable to everyone?
Shouldn't Europe, which instigated the division of the Kurdish region, take the necessary measures so that in the absence of their own state, the Kurds have the possibility to live in liberty and democracy, with respect for their cultural traditions, in peace with themselves and with the peoples around them?
The Kurdish problem is part of a worldwide movement of solidarity in resistance to commercial forces, which do not hesitate to exploit the possessions they buy with investment dollars, to the detriment of native populations and with the complicity of governments. The weight of market policy and free trade rules allow for every kind of compromise up to the abandonment of the defence of human rights, the basis of democratic European constitutions. Yet the conventional discourse has hardly changed over the years, despite the information and denunciations of NGO humanitarian field workers.
Europe no longer has confidence in itself. It will become mature when it learns to speak with a single voice to declare that its European policy is not subject to imperatives imposed on it by a global imperialism which becomes even more threatening when it feels itself challenged. Consequently, at the signing of trade agreements, Europe contents itself with a democracy clause, alibi for its good conscience, but invokes the right not to interfere before sending the issue back to the warring parties. This attitude has been interpreted by many European citizens as an act of cowardice.
Parliamentarians more in tune with public opinion respond to these injustices, but it is governments that have the final say in deciding the overall policy to follow, and the influence of their most persuasive means to ensure that the peace process is established in countries where the Kurds live, particularly in Turkey.
In 1999, the main Kurdish armed resistance movement in Turkey decided to put an end to the armed struggle, and become a political organisation which will achieve its aims through political and peaceful methods. It is the start of an encouraging evolution which should be taken into consideration. We should help Kurdish political movements to begin a dialogue with the leaders of their countries and to come to a democratic and peaceful solution, even more now that Turkey is an official candidate for entry into the European Union.
Finding a political and peaceful solution to the Kurdish problem now is necessary more than ever. We have a large population, with a very high birth rate, living in an area which has the largest reserves of water in the region. Peace in the whole region will be determined by peace and stability in the territories inhabited by Kurds depend on peace in the whole region.
Optimistic and confident about the future, I believe that the Kurdish problem, outstripping its regional framework, has become a European, indeed a global problem. Therefore it would be best dealt with by the international community. Certainly, a recognition of Kurdish cultural rights by the regimes involved, even more in Turkey than in Iraq, Iran and Syria, is far from being achieved, but the Kurds' peaceful struggle continues and peace is their strength.
Almost everywhere in the world, diverse initiatives are increasingly promoting awareness. Fire, Snow and Honey: Voices from Kurdistan is an example. With the aim of tackling all aspects of Kurdish life, the ambition of this book is to act as a living witness of the Kurdish people in the millennium, of their past, but also of their present so that the future can take note.
Why Care?
Introduction by Gina Lennox
While I was tearfully undergoing crises of belief—both spiritual and human—due to an avalanche of love and war experiences in this book, many non-Kurds around me were asking, "What have the Kurds got to do with you or me?" Or I was told, "People deserve what they get." Such questions and comments inspired this introduction: "Why is the plight of the Kurdish people relevant to you?"
In a general sense, although our sensitivities may be media-blunted, if we stop caring about our fellow human it reflects on ourselves and the world we create. Ignorance can be bliss. It can also pave the path to hell on earth.
But more importantly, I believe the Kurds, who claim to be the largest nation of people without a homeland, are on a front line of struggle that all of us face in a world that is being rapidly transformed by global forces. In their present form, these forces show little regard for human rights, democratic process or the environment. The Kurdish people's aspirations for cultural integrity, religious freedom, economic sustainability and political self-determination are those of all humanity. Thus the reasons for their present circumstances need to be understood for their own sake and also as invaluable insights into the state of the world: "There but for the grace of God go I." As the world shrinks, we must start thinking about solutions.
The momentum of modernism is forcing us all to face new frontiers of a personal, sociopolitical and ecological nature. It can be argued that those who are making the critical decisions are not the leaders of nation states but a faceless group of international financiers, weapons and chemical manufacturers who are neither democratically elected nor accountable to the people. Throughout history there have always been elites subjugating the people for their own benefit, but never before have they had the technological means to make the world their chessboard. This grand imperialism has become known as globalisation. Many peoples, including the Kurdish, became its victims in a carve-up of Africa and the Middle East afterWorld War One and of Asia after World War Two. More recently, many living in more privileged societies have been made aware of its consequences.
Likewise, it was only in the last decade of the twentieth century that the plight of the Kurdish people became more generally known. After Saddam Hussein, president of Iraq, invaded Kuwait in August 1990 and the Americans and their allies chose to defend Kuwait's oil fields, the Allies feared chemical attack above all. It was then that the media mentioned Saddam Hussein's previously ignored chemical attacks on Kurdish civilians in 1987-88, culminating in the chemical bombing of the town of Halabja, where between 5000 and 12,000 civilians were killed. Have you ever seen the pictures of dead babies wrapped in the arms of mothers lying in the streets? After the Allies' victory in forcing Iraq's withdrawal from Kuwait, the world media …
Gina Lennox
Fire, Snow & Honey Voices from Kurdistan
Halstead Press
Halstead Press Fire, Snow and Honey Voices from Kurdistan Essays, life stories, poems, short fiction and fables contributed by people from Kurdistan Edited by Gina Lennox Foreword by Mme Danielle Mitterrand
Sydney MMI Published by Halstead Press 19a Boundary Street, Rushcutters Bay, New South Wales, 2011
Copyright ® 2001, Gina Lennox. Not to be copied whole or in part without authorisation. Typeset by Brevier Design, Kensington, N.S.W. Printed in Melbourne, Victoria, by Brown Prior Anderson.
National Library cataloguing in publication entry: Fire, snow and honey : voices from Kurdistan.
Bibliography. Includes index. ISBN 1 875684 70 0.
1. Kurds - Australia - Literary collections. I. Lennox, Gina. II. Mitterand, Danielle.
