Iraq observer to share his stories at ConU

After spending a month in Iraq as an observer, the Montreal-based poet and computer engineer at McGill University, Ehab Lotayef, will be sharing his experience with the greater public at Concordia. “In Canada, we did not live [through] an occupation or a real war,” said Lotayef.

After spending a month in Iraq as an observer, the Montreal-based poet and computer engineer at McGill University, Ehab Lotayef, will be sharing his experience with the greater public at Concordia.

“In Canada, we did not live [through] an occupation or a real war,” said Lotayef. “To see it first hand, to feel the fear of the [Iraqi] people after dark…You feel the vulnerability of human beings and see the value of stability and the value of human rights.”

Lotayef was born and raised in Egypt but lived in Iraq for a couple of years between 1968 and 1970. He returned to Iraq in December with the Iraq Solidarity Project, a grassroots organization made up of a group of Canadian activists that had initially hoped to prevent the war and now concentrate on how the occupation is affecting the Iraqi people.

While in Iraq, Lotayef was primarily based in Baghdad, but briefly traveled to southern Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan. He interviewed several people and witnessed first hand the reaction on the ground to Saddam Hussein’s capture. He also took pictures along the way and will share them with his audience during his slide-show presentation.

“I went to Iraq to see things as they are on the ground myself, without the influence of media,” said Lotayef. “It’s not a matter of liberating [the Iraqi] people; it’s a matter of controlling [them].”

Lotayef’s presentation is intended to set the stage for the March 20 International Day of Protest against the War and Occupation, called at the World Social Forum (an open space for discussing alternatives to the dominant neo-liberal processes) in Mumbai, India. Locally, the protest is organized locally by chec la guerre Collective.

Mohamed Kamel, one of the organizers and the acting president of Alternative Perspective Media, is expecting participation from major cities throughout the United States and Canada. He said the protest is calling for U.S. troops to leave Afghanistan and Iraq, and for Israeli soldiers to leave Palestine.

They are also calling on the Canadian government “to speak out against the occupation and, most importantly, against the [U.S. missile defence program] which is not bringing peace,” said Kamel. “Canada should be for peace.”

Lotayef believes that a multinational credible force needs to take control of Iraq. “Asking the Americans to leave is nave and dangerous,” he said.

“Do Americans really have an interest in giving Iraqis a comfortable life?” he asked. “If Iraqis feel comfortable, why would they want the Americans to stay?”

Lotayef believes that much of the destruction that persists in Iraq after the war is intentional. For what he say in December, “communications, electricity, water; everything is lacking. And, above all, security is lacking,” he said. “Seven to eight months after existence of coalition forces on the ground…is ample time for a well-intentioned government body to fix the major damages.”

Lotayef believes that only the people can force their governments to support the installment of a multinational body that will look after the interest of the Iraqi people because Americans seem reluctant in relinquish their control.

“From what I’ve seen, the Americans are dragging their heels very strong into the country,” he said. “There are still many stages to come until stability can be established in Iraq.”

Lotayef also spoke on the idea that the Americans have liberated the Iraqi people, “For one, I believe that democracy cannot be given. It’s an experience that the country has to go through.”

Lotayef’s presentation, Uncovering the War’s Hidden Truth, will take place on March 9 at 7:00 p.m. in H-110 of the Hall Building.

His articles from Iraq can be found at: www.montrealmuslimnews.net/ehab.htm.

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