Are you from Iraq?

by Farah Alrubaye (Iraq)

I didn't expect to find Germany

* I expected you are from Turkey * No, I'm from Iraq. * Do you live outside Iraq? * No, I live in Iraq. This short conversation took place between me and a journalist from Sudan. She was a nice woman, and we previously met and sat side by side in the plane on a flight to Hamburg, Germany, and I did not know that she was a journalist and would go to the same press conference that I would go to, and she did not know that I also a journalist and I would go there, until I suddenly met her at the conference and we got to know each other and started talking in our beautiful Arabic. Then I met another person and he was from the US, and when he found out that I was from Iraq, he said "Wow," and do you live in Iraq? I answered, yes Most of the people I got to know were surprised that I am coming from Iraq and I still live in this country. In the autumn of 2019, in the city of Baghdad where I live, I started to bring my travel bag to start a new journey and adventure. I was so excited to see the charming city of Hamburg and to attend the Global Investigative Journalism Conference with a grant I won, where I met many people and from different cultures but I did not expect that they would be surprised that I am from Iraq. I asked someone, why were you surprised that I am from Iraq? He said, "Iraq is going through difficult situations and there are fanatic elements that control Iraq. Therefore, we did not expect that you, as an Iraqi woman, could come alone from Iraq to here and expected that you live outside the country." In one of the malls in the city of Hamburg, I was watching the beautiful short skirts to buy one of them, especially as I like fashion, at that moment was with me a journalist colleague who knew I am from Iraq and asked me, Can you wear such clothes in Iraq? I answered him, yes there are certain places in Iraq where I can wear such clothes, especially in family events, and there are places where it is difficult to wear what I want. After an enjoyable trip I returned to Iraq and I was happy that I gave a beautiful picture of my country there, but the frequently asked question, "Do you live in Iraq?" has become in my mind and makes me sad. One day, Iraq was an open country in everything and the law was above all and Iraqi women, especially in the sixties and early seventies, were free in thought and strong appearance because there was a law that protects them in everywhere. And the issue of wearing short or long clothes or the hejab was a personal matter and every woman was free in her clothes, because society at that time was looking at women on the basis of the culture, ethics and the way of thinking, and not on the basis of how to wear clothes. Today, my country has changed and become late in all fields due to political and sectarian conflicts and fanatic control, and when Iraqi woman walk on the street, there is no real law protect her if she subjected to any abuse. However, there are many ambitious and educated Iraqi women, and even free in the clothes that wear, because it is a personal freedom that still live in Iraq to prove their presence in their country and change the negative image that many sectarian or partisan media about Iraq broadcast to the world. At the same time I gave an excuse to those who were surprised that I am from Iraq due to the conflicts, and the image conveyed by some media to the world is that the Iraqi people are as if they live inside a closed cave. I opened my travel bag to arrange my items, at the same time, I was eager to enter another new adventure to gain more knowledge and to give a beautiful picture of my country, Iraq.