It’s been around eight years since I left Mosul. I never visited again. I lost touch with all my friends, teachers and everything, and it never really occurred to me that I might hear back from anyone ever again. I guess I was wrong. After starting a book drive to help fund the University of Mosul’s Library, it happened that my contact person is related to one of my best friends back then and knows many other acquaintances. We are still talking and discovering we know fulan and fulan person. It’s simply amazing. I’m just wishing for the day where I can actually go back and see everyone again.

This is disgusting.

I hope this group will be shut down.

UPDATE: This is the group website. I am afraid it’s much more than “children” bashing Iraq.

There has been a lot of talking about the violations of human rights at Queen Alia Airport against Iraqis. Jordanian bloggers had mixed feelings of shame and pride. However, I haven’t come across a blog of a non-Jordanian who has expressed his or her views of the matter and therefore decided to write about what I think as an Iraqi who has lived in Jordan for about 6 years.

First, I’d like to tell my fellow bloggers that they shouldn’t be ashamed of what is going on, because, frankly, they had nothing to do with whats going on (at least at the airport), but also, they shouldn’t be clapping with pride.

Second, I’d like to show how its like to be an Iraqi living in Jordan from my experience. I myself have been in many situations where I was treated as a second class citizen. Starting in high school, I never had the same opportunities Jordanian citizens had. You might think it’s fair, but it’s not. Really. I lost a scholarship to do the IB at the UWC, and wasn’t allowed to participate in many competitions just because I wasn’t an Jordanian citizen(I know this isn’t exclusive to Iraqis, but its still some sort of discrimination). Whenever my parents had to renew our residency, we’d be insulted and treated like filth at the various police stations we had to go to. Is this fair?

Now this is nothing compared to what is happening now. Treating any human in this degrading way is unacceptable. Although people would argue that many countries have tightened their securities measures, in fact, Jordan has tightened them the most. There are another million or so in Syria, but Syrians nor the Syrian government are complaining as much as people here do. The thing is many Jordanians think that Iraqis are parasites and are just consumers. Wrong. Many, and I mean, a huge proportion of Iraqis are contributing to the prosperity of this country, whether through teaching, investment or other ways. It’s enough that you have to keep $150,000 in a saving account to get a residency (which is used by the Jordanian government apparently).

Not only are Iraqis being mistreated in the previous means, but they are also being limited to health facilities. All hospitals charge Iraqis and ONLY Iraqis double the cost for almost everything. If someone would want to get an x-ray that costs 4 JD, s/he’ll end up paying more than 8. Is that fair? Do people realize that not every Iraqi can afford it? Is it me, or do a majority of people think Iraqis who come here are 7awasem and have stolen millions when Baghdad fell in 2003?

The whole purpose of this post was to show the Jordanian blogosphere what Iraqis have suffered pre and post the war. It wasn’t easy living and it’s definitely not getting any easier. The Jordanian government is most probably afraid that the whole Iraqi refuge crisis will turn to another Palestinian drama, where more than half of the people living here aren’t of Jordanian origins, although are passport holders, and will therefore, “ruin” the country.