KURDISH DIVORCE - 20 min documentary

A film by Kae Bahar & Claudio von Planta

Contacts: kae@jokafims.com +  claudio@vonplanta.net

TC

Shot + Captions

Audio SYNC, PTC, VO + IN VISION

Referendums party in the street

Caption:

KIRKUK

25th September 2017

VO: This is a historic day for us Kurds. After more than 100 years of conflicts we are finally celebrating a referendum calling for separation from Iraq.

VO: We  expected hostility from neighbouring countries but shockingly the UN, America and Europe also oppose this democratic process and our call for independence.

Caption:

KAE BAHAR

Kurdish Filmmaker

Kae PTC: How can anyone - especially in the West, in Europe - deny you this right, to say to the Kurds, you should not have a referendum to vote for your freedom.

GVs inside polling stations

VO: Fortunately our Kurdish leaders learnt from past betrayals in international diplomacy.

VO: They respected the will of the people and had the courage to press ahead with the polls.

IV Murad

(brother of an ISIS victim)

Murad SYNC: We will soon feel happier because we will have our own nation state. It’s enough. Bye, bye Iraq

IV Mazeda Omer

(mother of an ISIS victim)

Kae SYNC: Did you believe we will make it to this day?

Mazeda Omer SYNC: Yes, this is a beautiful day I have been waiting for to celebrate our freedom. It’s also for my killed son.

GVs inside polling stations

VO: Like her son, thousands of Kurdish Peshmerga got killed in the war against ISIS.

VO: No wonder we are excited today because we hope to win peace with this referendum.

Kae PTC: The vote for an independent Kurdistan. This is also for my parents who didn’t make it to see this day. This is for our new generation to live in peace and prosperity. This is for a new life.

Kae PTC: This vote is also for a secular state to prevent Sharia law forced on us by the Shia government of Baghdad.

GV of Kae voting

VO: At the age of 19 I had a lucky escape from torture and Saddam’s regime. But living in exile for over 37 years in Europe I never lost hope to win back our homeland.

GV of Kae breaking down in tears

VO: This is a cry for joy but also fear about what lies ahead.

GV of Kae getting hugged

Voter SYNC: Congratulations, congratulations, congratulations!

VO: I believe, the lack of international support for us Kurds is an open invitation for the government in Baghdad to attack us.

VO: This is why I decided to travel South of Kirkuk to find out what happens at the new border with the rest of Iraq.

Peshmerga warning

Peshmerga-1 SYNC: We need to take another route because this one could be dangerous.

Driver SYNC: Ok, sure.

Kae PTC: Our Peshmerga escort decided to turn around because there might be roadside bombs waiting for us.

So they are going to take another route to take us to the frontline with the Hashdi Shabi, Iraq’s Shia militias that are commanded directly by Iran.

GVs of frontline panorama

VO: This is the so called disputed territory. Kurds claim it for historic reasons, not long ago it was held by ISIS but now the government in Baghdad tries to impose their rule.

Kae PTC: This is a really strategic point because I am standing with the Peshmerga of Kurdistan, a triangle. Over there is ISIS and I can see the smoke because the battle is going on and on this side is the Hashdi Shabi.

IV Peshmerga-1

Kae SYNC: How does ISIS compare with Hashdi Shabi?

Peshmerga-2 SYNC: ISIS is much better than Hashdi Shabi.

Kae SYNC: ISIS is better?

Peshmerga-2 SYNC: Yes of course. Personally I have no trust in Hashdi Shabi. They are both terrible but Hashdi Shabi is worse.

Kae SYNC: Ok

Peshmerga-2 SYNC: Hashdi Shabi are our prime enemy.

Kae SYNC: Do you think we can live in peace with the Iraqi Shia?

Peshmerga-2 SYNC: No, never. Sheep and wolf won’t drink from the same pot.

Peshmerga-2 SYNC: We are incompatible. Just like using a wrong part to fix a car, it won’t work. In the same way Hashdi Shabi and us are not compatible.

Kae SYNC:  What are the differences?

Peshmerga-2 SYNC: They are arrogant, feel superior and are commanded by Iran. If they want war we will fight back. We will fight to our last drop of blood to protect our land.

VO: I am really not looking forward to the prospect of yet another war. To better assess this threat I want to talk to the Hashdi Shabi directly.

IV Hashdi-Shabi-1

Kae SYNC: Why are you fighting ISIS? They are Arabs like you?

Hashdi Shabi-1 SYNC: ISIS are not Muslims.

Kae SYNC: I’m confused between ISIS and you Shia militias. They say you are not Muslim. You are saying they are not Muslim. So who is Muslim here?

IV Hashdi-Shabi-2

Hashdi Shabi-2 SYNC: We don't harm people. We don't drag people out of their houses. We don't take their daughters to sell them on the streets or rape them.

Kae SYNC: Do you agree with the referendum in Kurdistan?

Hashdi Shabi-2 SYNC: If Kurdistan becomes a separate country - let them be. The Sunnis want a separate country - ok. The Shia also want to separate, ok. So where is Iraq?

Kae SYNC: If you want to keep Iraq together by force and try to force us to stay as part of Iraq that won't work.

Hashdi Shabi-2 SYNC: I love you and want you in Iraq.

Kae SYNC: My dear, if you truly love me, please let me be. Let me decide for myself how I wish to live.

Hashdi Shabi-2 SYNC: No you can’t. I tell you how Iraq is kept together. Look around you. Iraq is kept together with the blood of these guys and the blood of our martyrs and it will stay as one because we are the children of Ali who will fight for it.

Kae SYNC: So if we separate from Iraq you will fight us?

Hashdi Shabi-2 SYNC: Yes we will fight.

GV of Humvee + Hashdi Shabi flags

VO: This is frightening but I’m even more shocked to discover that these Iraqi militias are armed to their teeth with the latest American weapons.

VO: Soon after the referendum the Iraqi parliament in Baghdad started to threat with military action against the Kurds. But fear is first hitting the already traumatised refugee population.

GVs of UNHCR

Hassansham Camp

Kae PTC: These are all Sunni Arabs internally displaced because of the war with ISIS. They are from Mosul. They seeked safety here in Kurdistan. But soon after the referendum the Hashdi Shabi and Iraq’s government warned them to get out of Kurdistan.

VO: I’m here to meet Dashni Morad, a Kurdish artist and TV star. The war against ISIS turned her into a humanitarian activist.

Dashni Morad SYNC: For 4 years I have been working in the camps. We opened 4 libraries. I have been teaching English myself and now I’m very disturbed and upset by what’s happening. So I hope today, those who go back at least will have some aid.

Kae SYNC: These are people who escaped the war with ISIS

Dashni Morad SYNC: Yes, 5 camps and together 75’000 and here it’s 8’000 people.

Kae SYNC: Most of the governments in the world they are saying, the Kurds by going to a referendum they are destabilizing the region, they are provoking, they are calling for a new war. Is that what we are doing?

Dashni Morad SYNC: No, that’s not what we are doing. We are fighting for our culture. We are fighting for our language. We are fighting for the Kurdish spirit. We just want to be recognised. Our home needs to be recognised.

Dashni Morad SYNC: We are the safe corner in this hell, in the Middle East while it is on fire. We are the safe corner where NGOs, where Embassies, where people around the world feel safe and work and add from here to help the rest of the war torn region. So why would you destabilize this. Why wouldn’t you recognise it as a home.

Dashni Morad SYNC: I’ve been a refugee when I was 5 years old. I ran behind helicopters to catch food and survive and I want to make sure that there are no more refugees. But how can I do that under the rule of Hashd, under the rule of ISIS, under the rule of a very aggressive Iraqi government.

Dashni Morad SYNC: The world can not ignore us. Millions of people have set for Kurdistan, a place where there is a home for Kurds, for Arab, for Turk, for Christians, for Ezidis, for Kakai, for everyone. It’s not just about the Kurds.

Dashni Morad SYNC: But for the world to turn their backs against us they will be inviting indeed a group like Hashd, which is no different than ISIS, to come here and commit another genocide. And it’s on it’s way while we are here distributing and I’m terrified but I can not move back. I can not miss the boat again, as a woman, as an artist.

GV of Wall separating Tuz

VO: To find out more about life under Hashdi Shabi rule I travel to the town of Tuz on the border between Iraq and Kurdistan. I discover a frontline in the heart of the city.

IV Peshmerga-3

Kae SYNC: On the other side are the Hashdi Shabi?

Peshmerga-3 SYNC: Yes, they have snipers shooting at people randomly. They also have a machine gun.

IV Peshmerga-4

Peshmerga-4 SYNC: There are signs of bullets on the wall when we fired back. You see the machinegun on top of the building covered with a black fabric?

Peshmerga-4 SYNC: They killed many people, many got injured. They intimidate people. They burn down cars, they loot. As long as Kurds, Turkmen and Arabs are pointing guns at each other, that’s how it will be. Separation.

GV of town hall + Mayor

VO: To find more facts behind this separation I visit the town mayor who is in the middle of crisis management. As I arrive he introduces me to Ahmad Rashid, a young Kurd who got married a week ago.

IV Ahmad Rashid

Ahmad Rashid SYNC: I went to the registry office to change my status to married. I tried for a month now. They beat me up because they saw the ink. Hashdi Shabi said you are a Kurd and started to beat me up. See here, they gunbutted me here. They bunched me in my mouth. I can hardly walk because they also kicked my leg.

Kae SYNC: On the knee?

Ahmad Rashid SYNC: They kicked here hard.

IV Mahir Rashid

Mahir Rashid SYNC: They burnt down 65 shops. It’s documented here in the Mayor’s office. They burnt them because they were owned by Kurds.

Kae SYNC: Have they killed anyone?

Mahir Rashid SYNC: Yes, Dr. Abdulkhalaq, a Kurd. They beheaded him in the hospital. They killed 2 brothers outside the hospital and yesterday they shot dead someone else.

GV of town

GV setup shots of Arab family

VO: At the mayor’s office I’m told that the Kurds are not the only victims of Hashdi Shabi aggression. Anyone who is not part of them could be a target.

This Sunni Arab family had to escape their village to seek sanctuary in the Kurdish controlled side of the divided town.

IV Halima Hussein

Halima Hussein SYNC: This is my son’s picture. He was in his last year of school and missed his exams. I managed to postpone his exams once but he didn't come back. He was a very clever boy and loved his school. He was 18 years old. He was so much looking forward to finish school and go to university.

Halima Hussein SYNC:  Three and a half month ago we got raided. They jumped over the wall. We were shocked seeing people in balaclava. They kidnapped my husband. My son was in the next room. They also took him away.

Kae SYNC: Who did it?

Halima Hussein SYNC:  It was a sectarian act by the Hashdi Shabi. I went to the court to ask for an investigation. The anti-terrorist police showed me 300 files, all kidnapping cases of Sunni Arabs from the past two years.

Kae SYNC: You used to live on the Arab side. Now you are on the Kurdish side. Why?

Halima Hussein SYNC:  Because it's safe. The Kurdish areas are safe. The Kurds don't hurt you. They are not sectarian like the Shia.

Halima Hussein SYNC:  I want to know the fate of my son. Is he alive or dead? Where is he? We ask about them. They say, we don’t know. They just don’t want to know.  So what happened to them?

Kae PTC: One day it’s ISIS now it’s Hashdi Shabi but the victims are just innocent people. There must be an end to this.

I’m really glad I went and voted for an independent Kurdistan. I have faith in our country and hopefully we will be able to get it right and to contribute to sort out this mess in the region.

And yet, Europe and the United States they dare to say to the Kurds, don’t go for a referendum. They are indirectly supporting this looting and kidnapping and killing - young lads like this. They are standing in the way of creating democracy here in the Middle East.

GVs of horses

VO: Since the invasion of 2003 America lost over 4500 soldiers in Iraq but none here in the Kurdistan region because the Kurds were always their most reliable allies.

IV of horseman

Horseman SYNC: We Kurds are sad and frustrated about America because whilst their soldiers were getting killed by ISIS, Shia, Sunni Arabs and others in Iraq we Kurds embraced them and welcomed them with roses. 

We Kurds believed Americans were our best allies.

But it is incredible how today our people are calling for freedom and they oppose it. That is very painful.

We were hoping America, Great Britain and European countries will be on our side and support us and get the first 'yes' from them.

But that didn't happen. Instead they abandoned us and their betrayal encourages our neighbours to attack us like hungry wolves.

To put the Kurdish sense of betrayal into a wider context I’m meeting Mithal Al-Alusi, a member of the Iraqi parliament from a prominent Sunni Arab family.

Between 1976 and 2003 Al-Alusi lived in exile. He was sentenced to death in absentia during Saddam’s regime.

In 2003 he returned to Baghdad, keen to help rebuilding the post Saddam Iraq with his sons. But Al-Alusi’s liberal views got him into the firing line of religious extremists. They killed 2 of his sons in 2005.

I want to know how Al-Alusi is assessing the idea of preserving Iraq’s unity.

GVs of Mithal Al-Alusi

09:36:19:20

Mithal Al-Alusi SYNC: Unity is an American concept but it doesn't reflect the reality of Iraq on the ground.

09:36:49:11

Mithal Al-Alusi SYNC: At the time of Saddam it was united by force.

09:36:55:02

Mithal Al-Alusi SYNC: Now we have an Islamic regime in power in Baghdad, not a democratic system.

09:37:07:24

Mithal Al-Alusi SYNC: Therefore the Iraqi people don't trust the political system.

09:37:15:16

Mithal Al-Alusi SYNC: Proof to that, we have 3 million internally displaced people within Iraq and we have more than 3 million refugees abroad escaping from this so-called united Iraq.

Mithal Al-Alusi SYNC: America failed to create a wise system in Iraq.

09:37:52:18

Kae Question

Kae SYNC: If we don't have an united Iraq, what is the solution?

09:38:14:01

Alusi

Mithal Al-Alusi SYNC: The solution is to respect the principles of democracy. The solution is to stick to reality and not allow the expansion of Iranian power in Iraq.

09:39:42:07

Mithal Al-Alusi SYNC: and separate ourselves from radical Islamic religion because there is no space for an Islamic state in the Middle East. It would be a state of war and disaster. Nothing else.

Kae Question

Kae SYNC: What do you think about creating an independent state of Kurdistan?

Mithal Al-Alusi SYNC:I believe this will be the alternative country to Iraq that we were dreaming about.

Mithal Al-Alusi SYNC: The Kurdish independence will also accommodate a mass exodus of Arabs seeking safety here because they lost it in the rest of Iraq.

Mithal Al-Alusi SYNC: If America doesn't want to admit the failure of Baghdad they should at least respect the success of the Kurds in governing themselves in their region.

GVs from the town of Tuz

VO: I’m glad to find Iraqi Arabs like Al-Alusi who have the courage to look at reality with untinted glasses.

Recording such unflinching testimonies will hopefully help me with my mission to inform the wider international community about the impossible call to preserve the so-called united Iraq, a call that could only lead to more bloodshed.

GVs at Tuz border post

Caption:

TUZ CHECK POINT

40km South of Kirkuk

IV Commander Barzan

Peshmerga-5 SYNC: Iraq has been in war since it’s creation. None of the ethnic groups ever had peace. Everyone has lost family members.

Peshmerga-5 SYNC: We wanted to build a democratic Iraq. But unfortunately the Iraqi Arabs started to reject our ideas and bit by bit excluded us from sharing power. They want to force their rule on Kurdistan.

GVs of passing truck at border

Kae PTC: this is the border between Kurdistan and Iraq.  On the ground they are two separate countries. After years of conflicts I really hope we will all learn lessons from history and have a peaceful divorce.

END