Mayada Chazi does not think of herself as particularly religious. She's more interested in talking about boys, reading English novels, or dreaming of visiting New York. But she has taken to wearing the head scarf of a devout Muslim woman.
Many women who bared their heads and dressed in Western-style clothes in Saddam Hussein's secular Iraq have started covering up -- some out of Islamic devotion, others in a desperate bid to shield themselves from the torrent of violence that has swept the country since the dictator's fall.
Wrapped in scarfs and cloaks, the ghostlike figures shrink into the background, barely noticed as they drift past the bomb craters, sandbagged checkpoints and blast walls along Baghdad's chaotic streets.
mixed feelings
Chazi's Muslim family grew up in a predominantly Christian neighborhood of Baghdad. Their mother was a stylish dresser who eschewed head scarves for herself and her three daughters. But when Chazi returned to her university English course after the US invasion, her father insisted she cover her hair to avoid drawing attention -- particularly from the gangs that have turned kidnapping into a lucrative profession.
Chazi did so under protest, pairing a sparkly blue scarf with a long jeans skirt, tight red shirt and blue nail polish on her fingers and toes.
"Do I look like a religious girl to you?" she said with a grudging laugh.
Many in Baghdad initially celebrated the US-led invasion for bringing an end to decades of oppression. But the promise of new freedom swiftly gave way to an onslaught of car bombs, mortar and rocket fire, gunfights and crime that have terrorized the country.
A scarf may seem like slim protection, but Chazi says it helps her melt into the background and she has made her peace with it. Besides, if she stops wearing one now, she says, everyone will think she is chasing men.
"People here judge by your appearance," she said. "No matter what your personality, if you are a veiled woman, they will judge you better."
Fear is not the motivation for all. For some women the hijab is an expression of religious freedom after decades of enforced secularism.
Salama al-Khafaji, one of only three women on Iraq's interim National Council, takes pride in wearing an all-enveloping black cloak, known as an abaya, which leaves only her face showing.
Al-Khafaji, who as a member of the former US-appointed Governing Council survived an assassination attempt May 27 that killed her teenage son, grew up in a deeply religious household. But it was years before she dared wear the abaya. Unlike Chazi, the 45-year-old dentist does not find covering up oppressive.
"An abaya doesn't cover your education or your mind," al-Khafaji said in her study.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in