The American University of Iraq-Sulaimani

Let’s Make a Kurdish Rosary
Kaswan-Ablaque is a Kurdish traditional rosary which is the most popular type of rosary among Kurdish seniors. Each rosary has 101 beads. You may have seen the long rosary with the President of Iraq Jalal Talabani. “Jalal Talabani has been doing a great job advertising for rosary sellers.” “qtd. in the weekly newspaper of Kurdish Globe” .This type of rosary is used for hanging on the wall, wearing around the neck, or playing with it in your hands, but the main purpose of using the rosary is for religious reason. Kaswan is very expensive in the markets of Kurdistan; the best one costs about $ 200. Kaswan is a fruit from the tree of Daraben which is grown in the mountains of Kurdistan. Do not think that the process of making Kaswan rosary is easy if you see it. It takes a long time to make only a single rosary, and it involves some difficult steps. Let’s learn the steps:
First of all, at the end of summer, you have to prepare yourself to go to the mountain and find a good and big Daraben tree. Sometimes you may find a tree that has 400, 000 beads, but not all the beads are proper for making a rosary. The big beads are not good and valuable except the tiniest ones which are very valuable and expensive. You’d better be vigorous while you are searching to find a tree because there are many people in the mountains simultaneously competing against each other to find the biggest and best tree. After finding your tree, start picking the best bunches which have the tiniest beads of fruit.
After arriving home, find a big piece of cloth and put the bunches of Kaswan on it. Then carry bunches of the fruit and put them under the sunlight to be dry. You have to let them dry for two days. After two days, start collecting the fruit and cleaning it by separating the thin stems of the fruit from the beads.
The third step is drilling the hard beads and it is the most boring and difficult step of the process. Drilling the beads requires a lot of effort. First, you bring the beads and put them in a bowl. Then you have to rub both sides of the beads and make the sides a little flat to place the needles in them. Find a very sharp instrument like a strong needle. I advise you to use steel nails to drill the hard beads because you should not sharpen them again and again. During drilling, you have to be very careful not to break the beads. The internal parts of the beads are empty. Drilling beads for only one rosary takes 6-7 hours.
Now you finished the difficult step, and then move to the next step which is peeling the beads. The peel of the beads is hard to move, so you should put the beads into boiled water for 2 or 3 hours to make the peel soft and easily peeled. Not every rosary maker knows that plan. Take the beads out of the water. You’ll be surprised when you touch the beads and see you can peel them very easily.
You are at the last step of your work. Bring a 160cm twine, and then take the twine and catch one of its sides with your left hand and start stringing the beads with the other hand. The 101st bead is the last one to string and, without any hesitation, knot both sides of the twine and congratulate yourself. Keep the rosary in a safe place because if seniors see your rosary, they definitely will take it without caring about your effort for creating the rosary. If you want to sell your rosary, take it to the bazaar secretly and receive the money without headache.
In the end, I want to tell you again that Kaswan, the Kurdish traditional rosary is the most common traditional thing in our Kurdish culture. Most Kurds love Kaswan rosary, but seniors like it immeasurably. I think Jalal Talabani, the Iraqi President, would not be able to speak among his audience if he had not the long Kaswan rosary in his hands all of the time! Remember that if you want to make a Kurdish rosary with your own hands, you may offer some little sacrifice in that way. The ways include going mountains to find the tree of Daraben, drying, drilling, peeling the beads, and then stringing them.

Look at these nice pictures

Betwata Pictures

Betwata

You Get Fifteen Democrats in a Room, and You Get Twenty Opinions

There are hundreds of definitions of democracy, but generally democracy is a form of government in which the supreme power is held completely by the people under a free electoral system. In political theory, democracy describes a small number of related forms of government. There are two things that any definition of democracy includes. The first principle is that all members of the society have equal access and rights to power, and the second is that all members enjoy universally recognized freedoms and liberties. Democracy has been called the "last form of government" and has spread considerably across the globe.* Democracy limits the power of government. It is great because it does account for popular opinions. Democracy first appeared in ancient Greece.

I think the reason for having many definitions of democracy is that democracy is a system that represents the freedom of people. People feel free to do most of the things that they want, making rules, expressing their own ideas, freedom of media and voting...etc. Democracy goes with people's steps, and it performs what people want to do and think. In other words, you have the right to have your own beliefs, and to say and write what you think. No one can tell you what you must think, believe, and say or not say. When we say people participating in government, it doesn't mean all people work in it practically. It means people have representatives who are democrats in government to mention their requests. The person who is a representative must be a democrat because if he is not, he cannot govern democratic people who believe in democracy. On the the other hand, non-democratic people can be representatives because it's the same thing that democracy says.

*Recieving some information from Wikipedia for the introduction.

In democracy, people are the highest form of political authority. Not always does the majority win, but the rights of minorities are protected in various ways. People have rights to criticize their elected leaders and representatives on how to conduct the business of government. Office holders cannot use their power to enrich themselves. Representatives cannot extend more power without consulting with people. Political parties have the right to campaign freely, to present their proposals to the voters both directly and through the media. Each individual has the right to decide which party he wants to be a member of. No one can force him to be a member in his party. Also, women have rights to participate in both politics and civil society. People should be educated about their democratic rights and responsibilities, improve their political skills, represent their common interests, and be involved in political life. Besides, no one has the right to break the laws. People must be respectful of the laws and tolerant of the different views of other groups and individuals.

There is freedom of religion. Everyone is free to choose their own religion and practice their religion. Also, about culture, people can enjoy their own culture with other members of their group, even if their group is a minority. I think people can move to another country if they like under a democratic system. No ruler, minister, or political party can tell a judge how to decide a case.

But there are some limits for people because people cannot do everything they want. When you express your opinions, you should also listen to the views of other people, even people you disagree with. Everyone has a right to be heard. When you make demands, you should understand that in a democracy, it is impossible for everyone to achieve everything they want. People must respect the law and reject violence. Nothing ever justifies using violence against your political opponents, just because you disagree with them.

They are Similar, but They are different!!!!!

Those two movies, Rescue Dawn and The Shawshank Redemption, are my favorite movies, and I really like these kinds of movies. We can see some similarities in these two movies. In both of them, their accidents were happening in a prison. When they were in the prison, both heroes had the same purpose. The hero of Rescue Dawn, Dieter Dengler, tries to escape from the prison. Likewise, the hero of the Shawshank Redemption, Tim Robbins, wants to escape. Dieter is in a bad situation and is suffering poor treatment and Tim too. Both heroes meet some friends in the prison. Those friends are good helpers for the heroes’ escaping. At the end of the two movies, Dieter and Tim escape from the prison successfully.

Although there are some similar points in the two movies, the differences are more than similarities. A Rescue Dawn is a war movie because it is about Vietnam War when Degler's plane is shot down over Loas, and he is arrested by Vietnamies. In contrast, The Shawshank Redemption is a social movie because Robbins is accused of murdering his wife. Rescue Dawn is based on a true story in the Vietnam War, whereas the Shawshank Redemption is more like a non-true (fiction) and magic story.

In conclusion, I think both movies have great scenes when we see the heroes try to go out of prison. In this point, we can say the two movies are about freedom. On the other hand, both represent different ideas, and there are some different reasons that causes the accidents in both movies.

The Destroyer of the Culture

Language is the national identity of all countries because nations are recognized by what language they speak. Each nation has its own culture through which people can communicate with each other. But as worldwide languages, we cannot compare all languages to each other. Not all languages are important. English, French, Arabic, and Spanish are the only languages that are used by people across the world.

And among these languages there is a difference because English is more popular than the other three languages. English has spread to every corner of the globe. Today, more than a billion people speak English. It is the language of the Internet, of business, of communication…etc. And it has become the vehicle for hundreds of millions of people of all countries to connect with each other. Indeed, English is much more than a language: “It is a bridge across borders and cultures” (Source: Kurdish Globe).

It may be connected with politics, because there are two main countries in the world that speak English: The United States of America and the United Kingdom. These two countries are the superpowers of the world, so in the past, the UK invaded many countries in the world, especially in the Middle East. It affected those countries in many fields, including language. Iraq is an example of that because when the British Empire came to Iraq, English became a lesson in the programs of education. They taught English combined with Arabic and Kurdish. Before invading Iraq, the Ottoman empire sent people to UK to learn English. Also, India is a very good example. Most of the Indian people know English because it was invaded by the UK. According to Google, “Today 350 million people speak English in India and another 300 million in China.”

Also, the same thing for the United States in the contemporary world, but I do not mean invading. But the important thing to mention is having US army in some countries. Also, I can say American movies affect people because most people like American movies. These movies make people act like the characters who they like in the movies. They imitate their speaking or behavior. My roommate always watches the TV show 24. Some days he sits in front of his laptop for 10 hours just watching this TV show. He always says he would like to be Jack Bauer, the hero of the show. He repeats his speech, “Do you know what the difference between dying for something is and dying for nothing is?” He has used this expression in his essays many times.

The world’s culture has been affected by the English language because there are a lot of words in other languages that are originally English, like the word “OK” while they have this word in their own language. I’ve heard this word in English from people who speak many languages, even from illiterate people. So, definitely, English has damaged other languages because it has made people not use the words in their language. It makes them forget their native language, especially new generations.

Last year, there was a TV program on a Kurdish channel about the effects of other languages, especially English and Arabic. The guests and the audience focused on not using any words in English or Arabic, but when one of the people in the audiences asked a question, he used the word “culture” in English. One of the guests told him, “This program is about how to make people not forget their own language, but you used an English word. It means you have forgotten the Kurdish word.” This example shows us that English has a long and strong root in the farm of other cultures. These strong roots are not easy to pick out.

Also, most non-English people use English words in text messages when they want to communicate with other people, but they use the abbreviation of these words. Many times, I have used the abbreviation of some English words. Sometimes, it was just for fun, or I didn’t have time to write the complete word. Because I study English like so many others across the world. Sometimes when I speak with a friend or with my family, I use some English words. like, "no, good, evidence, don’t worry, be calm…etc." The reason of this is that I’ve been studying English for 13 years. Also, we can say the same about other students in Iraq. Or we have many Iraqi people abroad who cannot speak in Arabic or Kurdish well. Those people have affected their families, especially when they come back to their country.

About using text messages by non-English people, the reason is that those people do not have abbreviations of words in their own language. Another reason why people text is to not spend a lot of money. Sometimes, when I write a message, I try to write it in one page because if the message takes two pages, it costs more money. Texting is a good side for that reasons, but at that time it is ruining culture because as I said, it makes people forget their own language and culture.

When English spread in the world, people became familiar with western culture, and it caused many people to become fans of western culture because they didn’t agree with some rules in their culture. Those people have also affected other people in their country by bringing some rules from western culture to the country. Now using English words in newspapers and magazines is so popular. Newspapers and magazines should be first sources to protect national language because they have a really strong effect on people.

In 18th and 19th centuries, our classic poets were using 1/3 of Arabic and Persian words in their poems. And now our new poets have changed the direction to using English words in their poems. Moreover these poems are the main part of literature. So how can we say English has not damaged cultures while English words have come into literature which is the heart of culture?

In the end, I think language has the ability to spread easily among countries because people pretend that it’s essential in many fields, and it is needed in the contemporary world. And all languages cannot be spread in the world, so the languages that are spread, affect other languages and cultures. English has an important role in many countries, especially the Middle East. On the other hand, the spreading of English has had many bad sides for non-English cultures and their languages because there are many English words that are used instead of the original words in other languages. We can say English is damaging cultures. Every nation has its cultures that they should keep them because these cultures are the identities of the nations. We should learn everything, but not those things that are harmful for us first, and for our community and culture second.