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An Encounter with Massoud Barzani
10.4.2012
By Kani Xulam Washington, DC |
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Kani Xulam, an ethnic Kurd living in America,
founder of the American Kurdish Information Network
(AKIN) Kani is a native of Kurdistan. He has studied
international relations at the University of Toronto
and holds a BA in history from the University of
California, Santa Barbara.
Read more by the Author
Mr. Barzani has become
a peace activist. He doesn’t believe wars can win
the Kurds anything. I wanted to see what my
President was going to say about his meeting with
the President of the United States.
April 10, 2012
WASHINGTON, DC, — The announcement
arrived via Facebook and email. It said: President
of Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), His
Excellency Massoud Barzani, would address a
gathering of Kurds at Marriott Hotel in Tysons
Corner. The meeting was going to take place on
Saturday, and the President had been in the
Washington, DC area since Monday, April 2, 2012. I
marked my calendar accordingly. I wanted to see what
my President was going to say about his meeting with
the President of the United States.
Because the President of Kurdistan uses some Arabic
words in his Kurdish, and because I use some Turkish
ones in mine, I can’t say I understood him fully.
Suffice it to note that when I left the hotel I
thought I had understood him at least 80 percent. I
need to get rid of the Turkish words from my Kurdish
and start watching Kurdistan TV to better understand Berez Barzani. In the meantime, I want to, with
these musings of mine, give you a sense of what
transpired at the Kurdish gathering.
Berez Barzani is much more forceful in Kurdish than
when he talks to foreigners through his able
translator. In Kurdish, you see him raising his
voice when it is needed and lowering it when that is
appropriate. Gracious, compassionate, kind, animated
and direct were some of the descriptions that
crossed my mind when I saw him interacting with the
Kurds. He had a piece of paper in front of him. He
was apparently following some talking points, but
the occasional use of his glasses to see the written
word made me feel sad for the old Peshmerga.
Historians tell us George Washington did the same
when he talked to his soldiers and later colleagues.
The overall news was good from the little Kurdistan,
but not so from the countries surrounding it. In
2003, the income of an average Kurdish family was
275 dollars per year. Today, it is 5,000.00. In the
year of Saddam’s toppling, our illiteracy rate was
at 56 percent. Today, we have reduced it to 16
percent. And right after saying so, President
Barzani raised his voice, and added: our goal is 0
percent illiteracy in Kurdistan. Needless to say, I
was reminded of an encomium to a teacher by Cicero
in his beautiful address, Pro Archia. It was the
most sublime use of a raised voice I had ever
witnessed in my entire life. And I am an old man by
Kurdish standards.
There were other tidbits about little Kurdistan, but
I am going to be picky for the purposes of this
report. In America, he said, he was happy to meet
with the likes of President Obama and conveyed to
him our people’s unswerving commitment to the
constitution of Iraq, which recognizes Kurdistan as
a federal state. But, he added, there were
unmistakable signs of trouble in the city on the
Tigris. The source of that concern was Nouri Maliki.
He was concentrating power in his hands, he was like
five ministers at once, and now, again, Mr. Barzani
raised his voice: “He also wants to be head of the
Central Bank of Iraq.”
I like it when politicians speak from the heart. But
when deceit is the coin of the realm, especially in
the Middle East, I worry and become very protective
of truth. The region is full of politicians who will
sell their mothers for power and dealing with them
is not exactly a game of logic. I guess, what I am
saying is this: Kak Massoud Barzani, you have to
work with the likes of Nouri Maliki. He, after all,
represents 80 percent of Arab Iraq compared to your
20 percent Kurds in little Kurdistan. The one time
seller of worry-beads is not exactly a Kurdish
farmer who, even if he tried, wouldn’t know how to
lie. Had I been asked, I would have cautioned Berez
Barzani to be a bit more circumspect for the sake of
the Kurds and Kurdistan.
The best part of the gathering was the Q&A session.
Kurds were alone with their leader. They talked to
him as a friend. They appealed to him as a leader.
They tickled him with words of reverence. They
questioned him about the unfolding struggle in
Syria,www.ekurd.net
the ongoing war of Turks on Kurds everywhere, and
the ceasefire between PJAK and Iran. Yours truly
joined the questioners as well and asked him about
term limits. Suffice it to note, I was surprised by
his answer. You will have to read a bit more to find
out what he said.
Mr. Barzani has become a peace activist. He doesn’t
believe wars can win the Kurds anything. When I
fought, or my dad did, ours was to assert our very
existence. The existential war is won now. No one,
not even the most implacable Turk, questions the
existence of the Kurds. What we need to do from now
on is to sharpen our pens and our tongues, and make
use of all the tools of forensic science to win the
world to our side. A genuinely fearless and proud
Peshmarga paying homage to peace is beyond me to put
into words. You should have been there to witness
it, or perhaps called on Shakespeare to write it out
for you.
I told you about the Kurds who wanted to tickle Kak
Massoud. One stood next to me where I was sitting
and waited patiently for his turn. I had a chance to
study his demeanor. He was like a Buddha. Peaceful
within and without. “What is he going to ask a
wartime president?” I murmured to myself. His
question was as good as his disposition. He said he
was from a village called Rezan inside Iranian
Kurdistan. He had seen Kak Massoud as a small child.
Upon hearing the news that he was in Washington, he
drove here to see him again and thank him for his
leadership. If you were President Barzani, what
could you possibly say to this fellow? While I was
thinking of that, Kak Massoud said, “Thank you. Next
time you talk to the folks in Rezan, please tell
them I greet them all, warmly, through you.” It was
a presidential response. He knew how to tickle back.
I was impressed.
Then there was another fellow, a bit on the
melancholic side. Very slowly and very politely, he
told Kak Massoud of his late father’s death wish.
The old man had been a Peshmarga. The room went into
total silence. It was that the son should kiss Kak
Massoud on the eye, as we say in Kurdish, when fate
brought them together. I was witnessing live drama
at a political event. Again, Kak Massoud handled the
situation well. First, you could tell, his facial
expressions said that he knew of the old fighter and
ached after the remembrance of his memory. He then
told the son, your dad was a great man. The room
went electric. It was, again, an unforgettable
moment.
Then I caused a bit of a stir as well, even though
that was the last thing on my mind. I introduced
myself like other Kurds and added: I was asking my
question as a Kurdish intellectual. I said
Americans, those who pass as our friends, often
complain about one thing about the Middle Eastern
leaders and I wanted to express it today. George
Washington, I went on, was the first president of
the United States. He served eight years. He
strengthened the national institutions of his
country and relinquished power voluntarily. Boris
Yeltsin of Russia did the same. “Kurdistan,” I said,
“I know, is not exactly free. Dark clouds still
hover over its skies, but if it were and its
institutions strong, would you, Berez Barzani, be
willing to tell this Kurdish audience that you too
would consider relinquishing power voluntarily, just
like they did?”
“You have to put up with me for a year and a half
more,” he said. At least 500 hundred Kurds were in
the room. I am hoping he will not renege on his
word.
But my question apparently did not sit well with
everybody in the room. A Kurd from Iranian Kurdistan
used his time to criticize me and another Kurd --
instead of asking his question -- for voicing
impertinent concerns. He wanted to know if I would
dare to ask other, some useless, Kurdish leaders the
same question? To his credit, Kak Massoud said the
questions should be voiced.
After the gathering, I got a few more Barzani
loyalists telling me I had overstepped the
boundaries of what was proper. This time, I wanted
to act like a Buddha myself and patiently listened
to the elaboration of their views. But many other
Kurds approached me as well and thought I had asked
a fair question, some called it a right one, but
added, the practice in the Middle East was that
those who hold onto power often go through the
motions of wanting to grow cabbages like Cincinnatus,
but use every ounce of their energy to stay in the
presidential palace, just like Bashar Assad.
I will end these musings with an email that I
received from a friend who was also at the meeting.
Although I don’t like to blow my own horn, this
email speaks of a longing for transparency, for
accountability, and for fairness. It also sums up
the sentiments of those who thanked me for my
question. Author’s permission granted, I am
submitting to your perusal as a sample of what our
youth are thinking about term limits.
“Sir, today, you did something few people have the
guts to even think about doing. Those who oppose
President Barzani go on the streets and use signs
and demand what they want, but they would never have
the guts to speak to him face to face... Not that I
think you oppose him; I'm sure you're a supporter of
the KRG. But I just want to commend your courage in
standing up in front of a political figure and icon
and respectfully asking him how much longer he plans
on staying in the office. Like I said before, there
was a lot of opposition to what you said at the hall
and that, as you know, is because there were a lot
of brown-nosers, Barzani worshipers and KDP
loyalists. But don't be daunted, the other speaker's
response, to your comment and question, was out of
place and completely disrespectful, and as you saw
even President Barzani didn't agree with his
comments… Keep your head up and remember that today
you did something that most are too afraid to even
imagine doing.”
I thanked the fellow Kurd for his kind words.
Competing in bravery with a battle-tested Peshmerga
was not my motivation; inviting him to measure
himself next to the other great leaders of the world
was. 235 years later, George Washington is honored
in America voluntarily. In three hundred years, will
Kurds equate Kak Massoud to Boris Yeltsin or Hosni
Mubarak? I want to be proud of my leader(s). I want
my American friends to feel good about associating
with the Kurds and Kurdistan. Please, Kak Barzani,
drink from a cup called humility; it will add luster
to your family name and elevate us, as a people, for
introducing a new concept, term limits, at the
highest levels of the government, in the Middle
East.
* Kani Xulam is a political activist based in
Washington D.C. He is the founder of the American
Kurdish Information Network (AKIN) kurdistan.org.
Kani is a native of Kurdistan. He has studied
international relations at the University of Toronto
and holds a BA in history from the University of
California, Santa Barbara. He was recently awarded
an MA by the International Service Program at
American University. At the University of Toronto,
he represented Kurdistan at the Model United
Nations. In 1993, at the urging of Kurdish community
leaders in America, he left his family business in
California to establish the American Kurdish
Information Network in the nation’s capital. He is
the founder of the American Kurdish Information
Network (AKIN)
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