Jeniva Jalal, God rest her soul, is dead.
So is Marany Awanees.
Their crime?
Let's just call it, "DWI."*
Karrada (Arabic: كرّادة) is a good neighborhood. It boasts some of the most expensive real estate in the city.
It makes up the bulk of a spectaculor penninsula formed by the Tigris River. (Not all of the Penninsula is Karrada or Karradah, part of it is the adjoining neighborhood of Al-Jadriya.)
A birds-eye view, and that from this Jordanian Royal Air Flight shows off it's fantastic geography.
At the very tip sits the University of Baghdad.
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Karrada at night could be Paris.
Could be San Francisco.
Could be Kobe.
Could be Chicago.
But it's not.
It's Baghdad.
Life on the Karrada Penninsula could be normal.
It was once.
But it's not, now..
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Though it happens to be mostly Shia, Karadah boasts of a diverse population, including many Christians.
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Marany Awanees, and Jeniva Jalal were both Christian women from the exclusive Karrada neighborhood of Baghdad.
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I couldn't tell you if they ever saw their home from a Royal Jordanian jet.
I couldn't tell you if they ever walked the banks of the Tigris at night.
I couldn't tell you if Jeniva ever went to University on the peninsula.
I couldn't tell you if Maruni ever secretly wished that one of her daughters would go there (or if they indeed went there)
I can't tell you if they ever took in a sunset while camped out on the beach.
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I can't tell you because, when women like Marany Awanees, and Jeniva Jalal are killed in cold blood this is what we are told:
BAGHDAD -- Guards from a private security company opened fire Tuesday on a car that they said ignored commands to stop, killing two women and unleashing new Iraqi rage over the convoys that protect many foreigners here.
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I can tell you that the people with the power to stop this war occupation need to think alot more about its human cost and if they did, this thing would be ended already.
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*Driving While Iraqi is sometimes a crime in Baghdad. In this case it was punishable - by death.
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UDDATE: Thanks to the terrific folks who do IGTNT and who inspire me.
Crossposted at NION.