describes death of mother, 267–268
describes normal day, 288–292
and driving, 290–291
and family home, 282
and Lina, 199–201
in London, 281–302
in photograph, 129
visits London, 257–279
malnutrition, and sanctions, 125
map of Iraq pendant, 217, 260
marriage, in Iraq, 46
The Marsh Arabs, 40
Mary
describing Ibrahim, 69–70, 72
and the “East,” 69–70
emigrating to Canada, 79–84
father, and Middle East, 72
in London, 77–81, 198
meets Ibrahim, 69
and Middle East, 71–72
and personal freedom, 82
in small town, 84
in Vancouver, 191–194
wedding, 81–83
where to live, 81–83
media ban, US, 129
medicine, and sanctions, 125
Medinat al-Salam, 51
Mesopotamian collection, British Museum, 113
middle class, 60
military funerals, 129
miners’ strike, 1973, 86
Miriam, 50, 104
mobile phones, 233
Mohammed, 210
monarchy, and elections, 47
mosques, 148, 212, 232
Muhammed Ali Abdel Hadi, 220–221, 221
mukharabat (secret police), 38
Muuad Ibnayan Hadi, 224, 224–225
N
Najafi, 182
narrator
as aggressor and victim, 34
born, 85
British family, introduced, 68–69
and connection to Iraq, 72
in Damascus, 180–188
family visits Beirut, 85–86
and Iraq, 20–23, 25, 27, 30
knowledge of Iran–Iraq War, 38
to London with father, 36, 40
in London with Maha and Reeta, 257–279, 281–302
in Middle East, 2005, 165–188
phones Lina, 2004, 193
and Reeta, 295–296
relationship to Iraq, 39–40
searches for family history, 53–54
spelling of name, 131
in Syria, 117
Nasser (college friend), 67, 68
Nasser (grandfather), 41–44
National Library and Archives, 111, 116
National Museum, 111, 118
Nebal, 171–174, 251–252
New Baghdad (Damascus), 253
Nizami, 19
Noor, 199
Nosh, Farah, 203–213
close calls, 204–206
at customs, 215–216
and death of cousin, 149–150
in family home, 128–129
in Iraq, 2002, 126–127
in Iraq, 2003, 28
journal, 2003 invasion, 156–163
at Karim’s house, 229–230
portraits, 215–225
returns to Iraq, 155–156
as sanction-buster, 126
in Vancouver, 2001, 125–126
and wedding gift, 144
Nouri al-Malaki, 255
Nuri al-Said, 47, 57, 58–59
Nusrat, 98, 99, 279
O
oil
and Americans, 133
embargo, 1973, 86
not available, 291
and prosperity, 96
revenues, 57, 135
royalties, 58
smuggling, 126
value, 286
and water, 262
Old Baghdad, 42–43
olive oil, 20–21
orange trees, 29–30
Our Lady of Salvation, 147–148
P
paintings, Ammu Ibrahim, 176–179
Palestine, 57
Palestine Hotel, 156, 294
passports, 36, 95, 99, 140
Pentagon, 29, 36, 127
people as food, 22–24
petroleum engineering, 61, 77, 78
photographs, 91, 103–105, 128
plane hijacked, 1973, 86
police checkpoints as targets, 210–211, 212
police recruits, Iraqi, 141
polling station bombings, 166
pope, 149
prayer, 222
Prince ‘Abd al-Ilah, 45
prisoners released, 246
propaganda, 58, 90, 115
prosthetics, 210, 222
protests, Baghdad, 212–213
Q
Qadissya, 253
Qasim, Abd al-Karim, 58, 59, 60, 75, 98
Qays, 19
Queen Pu’abi’s headdress, 114
quilts, 109
R
Rashid ‘Ali-Kailani, 45
Razak Rashed Abbas, 223, 223
Reeta
and exploding bomb, 296
in London, 281–302
and narrator, 295–296
and necklace, 241
visits London, 257–279
on war, 295–296
rehabilitation doctors, 224
Republican Guards, 158, 159
Rice, Condoleezza, 220
Roberts, Paul William, 36
rocket-propelled grenade, 204–205
“Rocking the Cradle,” 36
Roneos, 47
Rose, 195, 196–197
in London, 259
royal family, 58
Royal Game of Ur, 114
S
Safita, 53–54, 286
Safiya, 103
Said, 54
Saif Yusif Hanoun, 219, 219
Samira, 41–44, 46
sanction-busters, 126
satellite tour of Baghdad, 292–294
scholarships abroad, 34, 60, 61, 79–80, 85
Scott, 165
security guards, 237
Selime, 67
Selma, 166, 170–172, 252
in photo album, 103–104
September 11, 2001, 35, 127, 150
Shama, 220
Sharif, Omar, 69
Sheraton Hotel, 156, 294
Shihab, 156, 158
Shirzad, 64, 65
shock-and-awe bombardment, 36
shopping, 289–290
Siham
and Ammu Ibrahim, 169–170
described, 97
and Lina, 194–195, 196
in London, 93–109
in London with Maha
and Reeta, 257–279, 281–302
silk shop, 187–188
Sima, 156, 158, 208
slide show, 217–225
Stark, Freya, 40
“Statue of Liberty,” 142
Straw, Jack, 220
Suhad, 161, 236–238, 254
Sumerian cylinder seals, 113
Sunni, 139, 232–233, 244
Sunni mosques attacked, 212
Sunni triangle, 273
Suriyan, 42
Suriyani, 42
syllabary, 113
Syria, and Lebanon, 52–53
Syrian churches, 42
T
targeted bombing, 31
Thesiger, Wilfred, 40
Thikra, 159
three graces, 108–109
Transitional Administrative Law, 141
truck bombing, UN headquarters, 131
Turkish bath (hamman), 182, 185–187
Turkish restaurant, 298–300
U
UK
targeted bombing, 31
Umayyad mosque, 181
UN
chief weapons inspector, 130
and Food for Oil, 278
headquarters bombed, 131
and pope, 149
sanctions, 39
and war against Iraq, 277
Uncle Ahmed, 158, 159, 207, 208
unemployment, 138
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, 131
Unknown Soldier monument, 98
UN
Security Council, 39, 121
US army taking Baghdad, 271–273
attacks on civilians, 124–125
demonstrations against, 270
as enemy, 132
as guests of Iraq, 141
and Iraq, after 9/11, 35
as occupiers, 141
siege of Fallujah, 142
soldiers, and Muslim culture, 134
targeted bombing, 31
war, Iraqis uninformed, 269–270
US-led administration recognized, 121
US soldiers
attacked in Iraq, 129
in Baghdad, 132–133
buried in desert, 273
and Saddam’s palaces, 134
V
Victoria
in Beirut with family, 86
and cancer, 77–78
described, 22–23
with Ibrahim, 32
at Ibrahim’s wedding, 81–83
in London, 77–78
named, 41
in photo album, 104, 105
sends costume, 25
in wedding photograph, 45
on where Ibrahim lives, 81–83
Vieira de Mello, Sergio, 131
visas, 95, 247, 288
voting under occupation, 166–167
W
war amputees, 215–225
washing machine, 289–290
water supply, 29, 123, 124, 133, 138, 245, 261–262, 289
weapons of mass destruction, 28, 39, 130, 272
webcam, 292
Western media, 125–126, 130, 139
wheelchairs, 222–223
World Trade Center, 127
Y
yani, 263
Yaseen, 67
Yorkshire, 64–72
Yousif, 54, 88, 103
Z
Ziggurat of Ur, 116
Zionist project, 57
PHOTO: ANICK VIOLETTE
LEILAH NADIR has a master’s degree in English Literature from Edinburgh University. Her memoir The Orange Trees of Baghdad won the 2008 George Ryga Award and has been published in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, Italy, Turkey and France. Her fiction has appeared in Descant and on CBC radio. She has written and broadcast commentaries for the CBC, The Globe and Mail, The Georgia Straight, Brick and the anthology How They See Us: Meditations on America, edited by James Atlas.
www.leilahnadir.com
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