Dutiful Daughters...

Layla Anwar, An Arab Woman Blues - Reflections in a sealed bottle...
...For those of you out there, who are "bothered" by my "constant" reference to Saddam Hussein, not only as an inspiration, not only as a symbol but as the personification of the UNITY of Iraq, a country soon to be divided into pieces, and as an emblem of a true anti- imperialist, patriotic, secular, lover of this land, this is my final reply to you : As a dutiful daughter of this Land. As my Father’s and Mother’s daughter. As a daughter of Iraq, I openly and publicly declare the following : If Raghad Saddam Hussein, the woman, the mother, the sister, the wife, the daughter, is left to be lynched like her father... If any of you allow it to happen again and any of you can mean - Iraqis, Arabs, Americans, Europeans, Asians, Indians, Africans, South Americans... You, the U.N and its agencies. You the NGO’s and governmental institutions. You, "anti-war", rightist, leftist, centrist. You, academics, students... You, layperson, citizen, whatever your religion, race or gender... If you let that happen, any of you, I will publicly renounce my Iraqi origins. I will burn my birth certificate, my passport and my identity card. I will change the color of my hair, will change the color of my skin, will change my name... I will declare myself a persona non grata, an outcast, with no identity, no name, no land, no origins and no roots. I will dutifully bear the void of nothingness and the feeling of erring, rather than bear witness to one more Iraqi being hanged and then sit and listen to the deafening silence that will follow... And I will tell you, take it , have it, it will no longer be a loss for me. I can no longer be associated with this sinking ship called not only Iraq, but the "human race". Yours....
An Arab Woman Blues - Reflections in a sealed bottle...