A bright blue games console, identical to ones found in living rooms across Britain, sits on a table in northern Iraq. It looks innocuous – until you get closer. Sink taps, bags of rice and bottles of oil – all are items ISIS transformed into explosives to target innocent civilians or unsuspecting soldiers during their reign of terror in Iraq and Syria. A decade after their rise to power shocked the world, Molly Blackall of the I newspaper travelled to the former IS heartlands of northern Iraq to discover the inside story of their bloody oc…
Growing up in Baghdad, Iraq, Fairoozan Abdullah remembers painting as far back as the age of five. The young artist went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from the College of Fine Arts at the University of Baghdad and teach art in the Iraqi capital for many years. At 30, Fairoozan and her family were forced to leave Iraq, however she continued to paint as a refugee in Georgia, Romania, and Yemen. In 2010, a United Nations refugee program allowed her to go to the US. It was after planting roots in South Carolina that Fairoozan began her paper qu…
Swiss filmmaker Maja Tschumi and eyewitnesses Melak Mahdi and Mohammed Al Khalili explore the hopes and desperation of a young generation in contemporary Iraq. As Murtada Elfadl explained for Variety ; “Revolutions bring hope for a better life and strength in community. “ Immortals ,” a documentary about young Iraqi activists, deals with the aftermath of 2019’s October Protest Movement. What happens when the promise of a better life has been hijacked by insidious political forces? An insightful look into the social and political fabric of mo…
Five days a week, 78-year-old Tzvi (Sabah) David rises at 4:35 a.m. and dons an all-white baker’s outfit before heading out to open up Konditorei David, the last-of-its-kind Iraqi pastry shop in Petah Tikva that was opened by his father David Tsalah. Three days before the Purim holiday, David is getting ready for one of the busiest times of the year as multiple generations of Iraqi customers will soon stop by to purchase sweets that have been synonymous with Purim for Iraqi Jews for centuries, if not millennia. “I love the work. It is a very…
Two books which would make a marvelous addition to Wood Street Mission’s ‘Books Forever Appeal’ are, ’ I Sang You Down From the Stars ’ by Tasha Spillett-Sumner and ’ Osnat and Her Dove ’ by Sigal Samuel. These are ideal for kids aged 4-11 and both books engage young reader’s in Native American heritage and traditional Jewish storytelling. In last year’s ’ Books Forever Appeal ’, both were a much welcomed contribution. Donating to Wood Street Mission’s ‘Books Forever Appeal’ couldn’t be easier! You can drop off a book in person or have it de…