This picture depicts two Iraqi women holding photographs of loved ones, but the men in these pictures were taken away from them many years ago. To these women, July 31st 1983 is remembered as a day of real tragedy. On this day, Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi soldiers came into various villages and took away all of the men. The villages were told that the men were being taken to work as laborers for the day, but as it turned out, they were never to be heard from again. The women of these villages, like the ones shown in Salgado’s picture, are still hopeful for the return of their brothers, sons, friends, and husbands.
In an article published in the Los Angeles Times, Bahar Suleiman, one of the thousands of women who lost family that day stated that, “We still have not given up hope. We expect our husbands to return” (Daragahi). This is very optimistic, but when does optimism go too far? Suleiman again says, “I still believe that someday my husband will walk through that gate there” (Daragahi). Many of these widows have pushed themselves into somewhat of a state of denial. It is like these Iraqi women have placed their lives on pause and have failed to press play again for over twenty-six years. This same news article tells how Bahar Suleiman’s daughter, Leila, refused to marry for many years, and the article attributes this decision to her missing father. She was afraid of leaving her mother and moving on, so these two women simply continued to wait for the return of their loved one. In 2006, Leila discovered that her father had indeed died and been buried in a mass grave many years ago. At first, this was difficult for her and her mother to deal with, but the pain eventually subsided. Also, Leila fell in love and was married not long after. Reflecting on her experience, Lelia said, “Until now, there was no happiness in my heart. If you are waiting for something, you cannot move on to something else” (Daragahi).
It is not difficult to imagine the effects of a harsh dictator or the pain of a war. Saddam Hussein, and other corrupt leaders like him, caused much damage and tore apart the lives of a countless amount of people. Those with such total disregard for the rest of humanity have also been the cause of so many innocent people becoming refugees. Thankfully there are some, like Leila, who have managed to ultimately find happiness despite the terrible struggle to reach that point. But this isn’t always the case; even today many of these widows continue to sit and wait for the return of those Iraqi men. Will they ever find them? Will they ever find peace?
Works Cited
Daragahi, Borzou. "Lives of Some Kurdish Widows Frozen in Time." New York Times. New York Times, 9 Sep. 2007. Web. 28 Jan. 2010.
Salgado, Sebastiao. Photograph. "Legends Online." Photo District News. 1999. Web. 28 Jan. 2010.
Thank you.
ReplyDelete