STOP THE WAR..

Four years since the invasion of Iraq .. four years since the first lie begun.. providing people with security and peace.. what a big lie !…
Here are some numbers* which shows the reality of what become of a glorious country now torn into pieces…
1) 1,700,000 – Estimated number of Iraqis who are internally displaced. Up to 2,000,000 are refugees in neighbouring countries. (Source: Amnesty International)
2) 25% of Iraqi primary school children kept at home due to threats of violence and general insecurity. (Source: World Bank)
3) Over half the population of Iraq is under the age of 14. (Source: Save the Children)
4) 130/120 – Child mortality rate m/f (per 1,000). (Source: World Health Organization)
5) 134 – British Armed Forces personnel have been killed. (Source: Ministry of Defence)
6) 3,188 – US service personnel who have been killed on active service in Iraq since the start of the military campaign in March 2003. More than 22,000 have been injured. (Source: Iraq Coalition Casualty Count)
7) 1,500,000 – Barrels of oil exported each day. (Source: CIA Factbook)
8) 18 % of Iraqis said they had confidence in US and coalition troops (Source: BBC/ABC News poll)
9) 51 % of Iraqis thought attacks on coalition forces were justified. (Source: BBC/ABC News poll)
10) 0 – Weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq following the 2003 invasion. Most weapons inspectors now believe that the Iraqi WMD program did not proceed after the early 1990s. (Source: Iraq Survey Group final report)
11) 21,500 – The number of extra troops President George W Bush plans to send to Iraq, mostly in an effort to secure Baghdad..!!!!
Stop the war... Save Iraq... SAVE THE CHILDREN …

Um Dania
* Numbers taken from www.msn.co.uk

Travelling Alone??.. Always..!!!

* Floris Jespers1889–1965 BelgianThree Seated Women*

I was raised by free minded parents who always believe in women`s rights and gender equality.. i never felt inferior to any male member in the family.. my parents have always encouraged us to follow our dreams regardless of our genders.... this is was the enviroment i grew in..

My dad is a lawyer.. he would always say that Libya has the best laws regarding gender equality... and that women are privileged to live here because they will always know that they are protected by the means of law....and that they just need some knowledge and information about their rights and duties...

yesterday i read an article in a website saying that Libya will ban women from travelling alone... hello..!! i always travel alone..!!!.. it really shocked me .. it is like returning million years back.. i really hope that this in not true.. women in Libya had achieved alot .. it is just so humilitating to hear this ..

so to go to visit my family i need my husband to take me there...and since his holiday time is differnet from mine.. he will have to return back for his studies ,, then come back again to Libya to take me back.. as if i`m abag...or a piece of furniture..and what about my friend who lives in Germany alone for study purposes (sent by the goverment) is she banned from comming home untill she gets married or ask her father to pay unneccessary tickets to pick up his daughter.. !!!! this is total craziness.. i really hope that this is untrue.. I`m just praying that it is not true...

as usual..Um Dania

Stars!!

Sometimes, I like to look at a certain star in the night sky wondering how many persons are staring at the same star this very momment... a poet who is looking for inspiration.. a women in Iraq hiding her tears and remembering the people she lost .. a baby starving in Africa.. a lover trying to write a letter to his beloved woman.. a sailor in the middle of the sea missing his homeland...

Sometimes I just wonder how many people in this very moment died.. got married.. graduated.. cried.. laughed .. born..

Sometimes I just keep staring at the sky wondering what are people doing in America, Venezuela, China..Lebanon.. we are all under the same roof .. yet we are ways too different...we are friends, enemies.. relatives .. strangers.. white.. black.. women ..men.. kids .. adults..muslims .. jews.. so much differences in such a small world...

These are some of my weird moments that usually resulted in a severe headache..but I can`t but keep imagining this whole world as a one piece and us as some game pieces that are related to each other in a certain way..I don`t know.. I just wonder how could we make it work.. how could we overcome our differences and work together to prevent wars, hanger and poverty...

These are some thoughts to share.. I hope I didn`t bother you..

Um Dania

Welcome Meedo...!!!

Meedo with his mum(my sister)

welcome little sweetheart..it is nice to have you with us in this world ... it is a strange feeling to know that you arrived but not being available to hold you.. to kiss your hands .. to touch your tiny feet..
i didn`t see you yet ... but i`m already missing you.. you became part of my heart... this physical distance don`t stop me from feeling your presence inside my heart .. i just have to close my eyes .. and you`re there between my arms...

meedo .. welcome to our world..

your aunty
Um Dania..