Fieldnotes on Humanity

After much thought, I finally decided to rename this blog, changing its title from "On the Way" to "Fieldnotes on Humanity." The title "on the way" reflected my sense of belonging. As a migrant, I have always seen myself as someone on the way who never arrives anywhere, because there is nowhere to arrive. The home of a displaced person is always on his back, literally and figuratively; he/she carries it with him/her wherever he/she goes.  The title "On the way" had a kind of Sufi-like feeling. When I say Sufi, I mean the classic definition that we read in Persian poetry books. A Sufi has no home; his home is in the hearts of the people. I am not there yet, and it seems like a far-fetched goal in this day and age. I've walked through a lot of paths. I'm still on the way, but there is a difference. I am now on my way deliberately, and that is my way of life, and I take notes, fieldnotes to be more accurate, of whatever I see and experience....

The Taliban are not the only enemies of women who prevent them from education. British government banned  female students from Afghanistan from attending universities in the UK as well. See below what Carrie Patsalis says and sign her petition . The number of these students who can enter UK higher institutions can be counted on the fingers of one hand; there are not many, and yet the UK government shockingly decides to restrict them from the opportunities that they don't have under the Taliban de facto regime. If it is true that annually around 40,000 Pakistani students are given visas to come to the UK and study there, and eventually around 5,000 of them apply for asylum, why can't the UK issue visas for a few Afghanistani female students to come to the UK to study?

Amir, my nephew, is a diehard football fan in every sense of the word. His loyalty to European teams is unshakable, to the point that he proudly displays his allegiance by wearing hats and jerseys from clubs and famous football players.  In this World Cup, he supports Argentina, France, and Spain. He is in middle school and knows most of the players and great details about them, which I greatly admire, since I barely know a few famous players. During my visit here in Calgary, we watched a few games live with the help of a VPN to bypass the paywall; otherwise, we would have had to pay $85 to corporations that monopolize the live broadcast of games, driven by insatiable greed and an endless hunger for more power. The plotocrats who have no shortage of ways to entertain themselves, and yet, with breathtaking audacity, they want to turn the only entertainment accessible to the poor, requiring nothing more than a ball, into yet another opportunity to extract profit. Of course, let's not...

At Union Station, Washington DC’s central transportation hub, I sat outside a cafe, not so much to pass the time as to delay it, when a young woman with a disheveled appearance walked past my table. My eyes instinctively followed her, not with the surprise one might expect, but with a sense of curiosity. There was something about her presence that seemed at odds with the prevailing surroundings. A book, Sakhalin Island , by Chekhov rested in my hands. I paused, lifting my head above its pages to keep her in sight. With two or three brisk steps, she approached a marble-clad wall beneath the station’s soaring vaulted ceiling. This station is one of the outstanding examples of late nineteenth-century Beaux Arts architecture. Designed by the renowned American architect Daniel Burnham, it reflects an academic style inspired by the Arch of Constantine in Rome. The station’s main hall is cylindrical in shape, rising to a height of 29 meters and stretching nearly 60 meters in length. The woman...

Hasan (a pseudonym), a Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, and one of my interlocutors, was subjected to a ritualized bureaucracy. He was required to report to ICE for a routine check-in. Five months ago, as usual, when he showed up for a check-in, thinking it was a normal one, but instead, he was told he was on the "expedited removal" list. "You must come with us," recounted Hasan, his shock upon hearing those words, while he was standing in front of a few ICE officers ready to force him into a van. Four ICE officers forced him into a white van and drove him away. "I didn't know where they were taking me," he told me, throwing up his hands, to explain his state of confusion and shock after the fact. He ends up at a detention center in the southernmost point, near the Mexican border. There, a large prison with different units and sections holds thousands of detainees awaiting deportation. Hasan spent about five months in a legal and social purgatory in a ...

Well, Mr. Khalilzad! It's good to hear that you are against bombs. But during the 20 years of US occupation of Afghanistan, you supported the bombing of the southern regions. US forces, in just 2019, dropped roughly 7,423 bombs on Afghanistanis homes alone. Weren't you one of those who brought American bombers down on your own people? What happened that you suddenly became opposed to bombing? What's the difference between a Pakistani bomb and an American bomb? I haven't heard you criticize Americans for dropping bombs on Afghanistani homes. Which one serves Pashtun interests and which one doesn't? Which one, in your opinion, brings peace, and which one doesn't? And more importantly, which one serves your interests?  Throughout your  memoir , you drone on about subservience and the sycophancy of the Republican leaders and warmonger generals. Once, a retired US official who served in Afghanistan and in the region told me: "Zal sycophantizes so much that I fe...

Yesterday, I was on my way to the university library when I saw, from a distance, two officers in dark navy blue uniforms standing by the side of the road. Both were staring at the ground. Occasionally, they would lift their heads and look up at something deep inside the thick branches of a cedar tree. The female officer was pointing with her finger at something up above to the male officer, who had his legs spread wider than usual. A kind of posture that male officers intentionally do to show how badass they are. He shook his head. Then both of them went back to staring at the ground in front of their feet. When I arrived, I said hello. "Excuse me," I said, "what have you found here?" The female officer, whose commanding tone made it clear she was a newbie, looked at me in a way that meant, "Mind your own business. Keep walking. Who are you to ask what we’re doing here?" She didn’t know that I’m one of those stubborn types of people who aren’t easily scar...

There are reports coming from inside Iran that the ongoing US-Israeli aggression has resulted in dozens of deaths of Afghan refugees. Due to the internet and communication restrictions in Iran, the information usually travels from Iran to Afghanistan and then spreads from there. Family members call their relatives in Afghanistan to let them know about their safety but as the war goes on, the news has become increasingly harrowing. According to the BBC Persian , 31 Afghanistani immigrants have lost their lives in the US-Israeli criminal war of aggression against the people of Iran. On social media, various accounts were published, but most report that the number of casualties exceeds 50. Afghanistani Immigrants, especially Hazaras, constitute a substantial presence in construction, municipality, farming, brick factories, stone factories, and other menial jobs. This father and his two children are among the victims.

Once on Twitter, I came across a tweet by an Iranian woman that said: "On the way to the Imam Khomeini International Airport, I got out of the taxi, picked up a handful of soil from the side of the road, and put it in my suitcase so that when I arrive in the US, I can wake up every morning and spit on it." To this moment, I cannot comprehend the degree of anger and hatred that the Iranian woman harbored towards her homeland. I don't understand why that handful of soil, which is the last remaining connection to her birthplace, is met with such hatred and venom. When I then place this with the words of my Iranian acquaintance who not only has no qualms about the aggression of the US and Israel against his homeland but is actually rejoicing in it, I'm still left baffled. Where does this immense hatred and spite come from? What is the source?  I have never seen any Hazara diaspora who, despite enduring decades of oppression and cruelty at the hands of Pashtuns, has expres...

 What do we know when they talk about "human shields"?  Here is a cartoon by Kamal Sharaf, a Yemeni cartoonist. It says it all. 

There is a troubling convergence of sentiments s among some Iranians and Afghanistanis when it comes to the overthrow of their respective regimes. In recent days, members of the Iranian diasporas have celebrated the US and Israel dropping bombs on innocent people, showing blatant indifference to civilian casualties. Similarly, in Kabul and other provinces, some Afghanistanis have wished for more Pakistani bombs on the Taliban strongholds. Social media platforms are awash with sentimental tweets and posts celebrating the Pakistani attacks on Taliban ammunition depots in Kabul, and what Pakistan alleges are terrorist cells in the south and east of Afghanistan, close to the Pakistani border. In various WhatsApp and Facebook groups that I'm part of, hopes for more Pakistani bombs raining on Taliban bases across the country are not subdued.  Roya, one of the users originally from Mazar-e Sharif currently living in Kabul whose two brothers were killed by the Taliban, wrote in Farsi: ...

In the neighborhood where I live, there is an Iranian grocery store and a bakery inside, which I usually go to. The grocery store's owner is a pro-Shah. The entire store is decorated with mini Lion and Sun flags. Last night at seven o'clock, I went to get bread and saw a long line. I forced myself to wait in line, which I usually don't, unless I am starving. Within moments, I noticed middle-aged women in the line had their phones out of their purses, showing each other photos of men with white and black turbans. I saw one of those photos from a distance; it was of Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i, the former Iranian minister of intelligence. A tall, middle-aged woman with a large bracelet on her right hand said to the woman in front of her, " kasafat ra nabudash kardan" -  they eliminated that filt. She meant Ali Khamenei. One of the women replied, " dasti shon dard nakuna -- thank you so much. "They hit him in a way we didn't expect," she added...

In the past few hours, some emotionally charged Afghanistanis have shown a bit of excitement regarding the Pakistani army's airstrikes on Taliban militants' bases in Kabul, Kandahar, and other places.  " Pakistan zinda bad -  Long live Pakistan"- is a repeated phrase I see shared across social media platforms.    One user even wished that Syed Asim Munir (the Pakistani army chief) would liberate Afghanistan from the grip of the Taliban. One user wrote, "Pakistan's airstrikes have made the groundwork for resistance against the Taliban feasible." Another user warned that "In these circumstances, one must be vigilant that the people must not be deceived in the name of the homeland by the Taliban criminals. A homeland that is under the criminal rule of the Taliban is not a homeland." As the old proverb goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. After reading these comments of those emotionally invested Afghanistanis, obviously with a sense of respon...

These days, some Iranians are dying to see the US attack their country. This morning, I was talking to an Iranian friend, Reza, who told me, "You know, every year around this time, we Iranians used to look forward to Nowruz Eid, this year, we're counting down the days and hours to an American attack." I didn't have the words to express myself, except to acknowledge a subdued sense of sadness. I said that an attack, no matter the form, is bad. He then asked, "Is the attack by the mullahs and their deadly forces, who have killed thousands recently, good?" I said the answer is negative (i.e., of course not). An attack, from any perspective and by any state or actor, is horrible. I mean, people should not reach the point where they wish for a foreign attack on their homeland. Then, my Iranian friend, with an angry retort, countered, "Imagine a prisoner who is tortured daily and whose agony is unending. He or she wishes that one of the torturers would end th...

This is part of the confessions of General Mohammad Nabi Azimi, a high-ranking official in the government of Rabbani and Massoud, as recorded in his book. ( Urdu va Siyasat Dar Seh Daheh Akheer-e Afghanistan [Army and Politics in the Last Three Decades in Afghanistan] Peshawar: Qisa-khani Bazara Peshawar, Saba Kitabkhanah 1998. p. 632-33) "The third war of  Shura-e Nazar [Ahmad Shah Massoud's party] and the Hazaras occurred on February 11, 1993, and as a result, Afshar in Kabul was leveled to the ground. The men, women, and children of the Afshar Hazaras were mercilessly put to the sword and annihilated by Massoud and Sayyaf forces... To completely intimidate the Hazaras, Ahmad Shah Massoud directed all the tanks, mortars, rocket launchers, and aircraft he had at two points of the city, Chindawol and Afshar [both are Hazara neighborhoods]. Afshar was razed to the ground, and Chindawol was destroyed... Ahmad Shah Massoud himself had gone up on the TV Hill, from where he watched...

Today marks the thirty-third anniversary of the Afshar massacre. On February 11, 1993, a state-sponsored attack under the command of Ahmad Shah Massoud targeted Afshar, in the west of Kabul, a predominantly Hazara neighborhood, during which between 1,500 and 2,000 people were massacred. It remains one of the darkest chapters in the history of Afghanistan.  For Hazaras, February 11 marks remembrance day each year, a day that brings back the deep wound inflicted on the body and soul of the Hazara people. Many Hazaras believe that it was part of the ongoing genocidal violence against the Hazaras.  In the early 1990s, a pivotal moment occurred when Hazara, for the first time in history, took up arms to resist their systematic repression.  And yet, the violence did not come from the usual source, such as Pashtuns, but from the Tajik-led Mujahideen government under the leadership of Ahmad Shah Massoud and Burhanuddin Rabbani. What concerns me most today is that we commemor...

"It's a nimrod world,  berar  [brother]," Zahra told me, describing what she has been witnessing: the rise of authoritarianism and a rapid decline in morale in the current situation, not only here in the US, but across the world.  After I ended my phone conversation with Zahra, one of my key interlocutors, I found myself dwelling on her phrase jahan-i nimrod —"nimrod's world." I turned to research to better understand its resonance.  Nimrod is a legendary figure known for his cruelty and tyranny. He is mentioned in the Qur'an as someone who acknowledged no power greater than his own, claimed to be a God, and eventually rebelled even against that divine authority (Surah Al-Baqarah-2:258). His rule was characterized by force, and his realm was perpetually marked by violence and suffering.  Nimrod, the tyrannical ruler, was killed by a mosquito in the end. The mosquito entered through his nostril, made its way into his brain, and brought him down. Today’s r...

Today I was speaking with Asad, a friend and a long-time interlocutor, someone with whom I often have deep conversations. We were discussing how the release of more of Epstein's files, the convicted sex offender, has revealed the extent to which this pedophile was well-connected to some of the most powerful and famous people. Thousands of names are mentioned in the files, but the notables are a network of powerful and wealthy people. Individuals like Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Bill Clinton, Trump, and Prince Andrew, as well as the most prominent university professors at MIT, Harvard, and Yale, were all friends and companions of this predator. Disturbingly, some of these individuals were apparently complicit in his crime, including the sexual abuse of underage girls, but now deny any wrongdoingdoing. The Epstein files expose two failures: first, that the institutions supposed to prevent abuse instead enabled it; and second, that our ethical foundations and social trust have fundamentall...

photo source  nyt The violence happening in this photograph is not in Iraq and Afghanistan, where it was exported and executed for two decades; it's here, in the US, where it was produced, where it belongs, and where it returns. Violence is not a one-way street; if you produce it, you will be responsible for it, if not directly, it will come through other means. It will find its way as it has before. I like to use Aimé Césaire's term, "imperial boomerang:" violence unleashed on others, eventually makes its way home. This is what is happening in the US right now. Doors are being kicked down, and people are dragged out of their homes, beaten, pepper-sprayed, zip-tied, violently dragged to vehicles, and put in custody with broken limbs. Welcome to a world that is ruled by nimrod!