Arofish stencil graffiti :: The Scrawls of War - Graffiti from IRAQ, PALESTINE and LEBANON

The Scrawls of War - Graffiti from IRAQ, PALESTINE and LEBANON

3 sub-albums and no images in this album

I was in Iraq for about 6 weeks, which took in Christmas/ New year 03/04, and the arrest of Saddam. I stayed mainly just in Baghdad, but I took a train down to Basra in the south where a friend was staying and I stayed there for 9 days. It was a beautiful, slow ride down through the Mesopotamian countryside. I'll never forget the sight of what I assumed were oil refineries in the marshlands as we arrived in the night. The flames of the towers looked like candles on water. On the way back though, the train stopped in Hilla in the middle of the night and everything was in darkness and chaos. Some young guys with rifles almost dragged me off the train and tried to put me into a room in the tiny station. It turned out that the tracks had been sabotaged further up the line and they wanted to get me out of sight (for my own protection) as the train was going nowhere for the night and the bandits come out in the early hours. Railway security - teenagers with Kalashnikovs. No way was I staying there. After hours of confusion and frustration I end up making a deal with a guy to drive me to a "garage" where, he says, I can get a car to take me the 100 kilometres to Baghdad. That was my understanding anyway, but it was far from clear (my fault for not learning more Arabic before travelling alone in such places). So we drive off down the road and there are no signs and little light. On the way he starts talking about the war, the Occupation, the Americans, the British. Dropping bombs. Stealing oil. His brother was killed. He is shouting now, yelling, and the car is veering and swerving all over the road. I'm trying to hold myself together but I'm thinking that this is looking more and more like a kidnap scenario - let's just see what this "garage" really is... The "garage" turns out to be a layby with a few guys just hanging around with their cars; smoking, chatting, scratching their nuts, waiting for a bit of work or a miracle like everyone else in the country. It looks genuine enough and the guy who drove me here was probably giving me a hard time just to screw a bit more cash out of me at the end. Well it worked; at that point I was actually glad to only get ripped a couple of dollars. I make sure he stays until I get a vehicle sorted out for the next stretch then I pay him off. The guy in the next vehicle is pretty slippery too, but after a couple of hours and quite a bit of arguing he gets me to a part of the capital city that I recognise and I don't even bother fighting him for my change. I almost had tears in my eyes at this point, so overwhelmingly relieved to be back in the warmth, comfort and safety of Baghdad...

Album: Lebanon

Changed: 09/25/06
Contains: 5 items.

Album: PALESTINE

Changed: 07/10/07
Contains: 4 items.

Album: BAGHDAD

Changed: 07/25/06
Contains: 6 items.

Gallery: Arofish stencil graffiti