This is a play adapted by Mr. George Packer based on his own article he wrote for The New Yorker. I saw this play on Thirteen/WNET, which is a part of PBS. I just love this channel.
Getting back to the play, this play is based on real stories of Iraqis who risk their lives to work as interpreters for the US Embassy in Bagdad. They don't do that because they love to see their country being occupied by the Americans, but they hope that the Americans would help them to rebuild their country, and help them live free lives in their own country. Just hope. They've learned the English language, and they love to see the Americans around and connect to their sense of freedom and free will. America promises them a new beginning to their torn lives.
But they are still Iraqis, working in the American Embassy; so they are not trusted by the Americans. But they cannot just stop being brothers to other Iraqis, who might hate the Americans. Anyway, so they don't get any extra privilege over other Iraqis, for any of the service they provide. No extra security, no extra treatment. But they still work for the Embassy. As Intisar says in the play, "It’s not because I’m brave. It’s because I am tired." She wants to get to ride a bicycle through the roads of Bagdad; that is her sense of freedom. But she gets killed by her own people because she was brave enough to remove her Hijab, and do a job to support her family when men sat jobless.
The Americans only get to to talk to Iraqis who would like to see them around, and people whom the Americans want to see in power in Iraq; they just don't get to talk to the "right people". So for them, the picture is all too rosy, because they see themselves as the good guys here. They are trying to remove an anarchy, and trying to restructure the social and political fabric. Good, but you got to watch out, because these are very sensitive issues; people involvement is core to transition. That is exactly when things start to go wrong, when human emotions are ignored, and political aspirations are promoted.
Our fellow Iraqis who work for the Americans are looked upon as traitors by their own fellow Iraqi brothers. They get threatened, and killed, for being responsible citizens and for earning their bread through civilized means. They are working for the Americans, whats wrong with that when there is otherwise no way out, and no economy to support them? When there is a lot of stupidity, everyone tries to make the best out of it, even though it might make him look stupid. But who cares when everyone is stupid!
There is no absolute right, and no absolute wrong. Its the circumstance that is wrong. So there is no use blaming anyone for the mess. Its part of nature to mess things up, and increase the entropy, and human nature only adds to it. Someone has to put an effort to get things back into order.
So there are these Iraqis who want their country to be free from all hypocrisy, and they are willing to cooperate with the world outside to bring change to their country. They find themselves betrayed, by their own people; by America; by the world. Laith says, "The Americans didn’t want me, and the Iraqis didn’t want me. Where will I go? Help yourself by yourself, that’s the best way. Find a solution for yourself. But I can’t see any solution. I am, how do you say it, hung out to dry."
This play made me understand a lot about the Iraqi people and what they are going through. Hope that people understand what is at stake, and do something about it. Thanks to Culture Project for an excellent production.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
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