Jean Sasson - Love in a Torn Land: Joanna of Kurdistan: The True Story of a Freedom Fighters Escape from Iraqi Vengeance

Love in a Torn Land

Other books by Jean Sasson

The Rape of Kuwait: The True Story of Iraqi Atrocities
against a Civilian Population
Princess: A True Story of Life behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia
Princess Sultanas Daughters
Princess Sultanas Circle
Esters Child
Mayada, Daughter of Iraq

Copyright 2007 by Global Women Group LLC. All rights reserved

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

Design and composition by Navta Associates, Inc.

All photographs courtesy of Joanna al-Askari Hussain, Raad al-Askari, Saad al-Askari, Alia al-Askari, and Hady Sarraj, from their personal collections.

Map on page xv Red Lion maps c/o Transworld Publishers

Wiley Bicentennial Logo: Richard J. Pacifico

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Sasson, Jean P.

Love in a torn land : Joanna of Kurdistan, the true story of a freedom fighters escape from Iraqi vengeance / Jean Sasson.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-0-470-06729-1 (cloth : alk. paper)

1. Hussain, Joanna Al-Askari. 2. Women, KurdishIraqBiography. 3. KurdsIraqBiography. 4. Anfal Campaign, Iraq, 19861989. 5. Iran-Iraq War, 19801988Personal narratives, Kurdish. 6. IraqEthnic relations. I. Title.

DS79.66.H86S27 2007

956.70441dc22

[B]

2006029950

To Roxanne

Jean Sasson

To my own courageous Peshmerga, Sarbast,
and our two sons, Kosha and Dylan
To Auntie Aisha
To the brave wives of the Peshmerga

Joanna Hussain

When I was a child, I built a wall of hatred around me.

When I was asked,From what did you build this wall?

I replied,From the stones of insults.

PROVERB

PREFACE

On my lifes journey I have traveled to many corners of the world. During my travels, I have been privileged to meet and come to know many fascinating women, some of whom Ive shared with the world through the pages of best-selling books. During the writing of Love in a Torn Land , the true story of a Kurdish woman, once again I found myself in a unique position to explore an exotic culture while coming to know a true-life heroine.

Joanna al-Askari grew up in Baghdad, but her heart belonged to Kurdistan. She steeped herself in the magic of Kurdistan at her mothers knee, absorbing from her a deep devotion to Kurdish traditions and the pull of the Kurdish homeland. Her childhood holidays were spent in her mothers hometown of Sulaimaniya in Kurdistan. Playing there with her Kurdish cousins, Joanna was unaware of the frightful fate awaiting her and many other Kurds. The brutality festering in the heart of a man named Saddam Hussein had not yet been unleashed.

No one was surprised when as a young woman Joanna fell in love with a handsome Kurdish freedom fighter. When the man she loved retreated from the cities of Iraq to live in the mountains of Kurdistan, Joanna joined him. As a young bride in Bergalou, Joanna barely survived the early chemical attacks ordered by Saddam on the Kurds. Forced to flee to seek safety in neighboring Iran, it seemed that Joannas dreams were shatteredbut that was not the case. Joanna and her husband forged a new life even as the dreams of freedom for Kurds were renewed with the ouster of Saddam Hussein.

I consider my journey with Joanna a great gift that I now pass to my readers through the pages of this book.

Please visit my Web site, www.jeansasson.com , for additional information.

Jean Sasson

I have described to the author Jean Sasson the details of my life, including what I saw and felt during the terrifying days and nights my husband and I were fleeing for our lives. We survived extreme physical danger, including chemical attacks and bombings. We made our way through the mountains and villages of Kurdistan to seek safety in neighboring Iran. While everything in this book happened to me, it is important for the reader to remember that during the chaos of war I was occupied with surviving. I was not keeping a diary. In the event that the confusion of war and the fog of time obscured my memory, there may be a possibility that I have erred as to the exact timing of certain events. But the reader can be confident that I lived through every incident described by the author.

Joanna al-Askari Hussain

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Id like to thank Raad, Hady, Ranj, and Eric for their help with so many things during the writing of this book. Ranj, you made enormous efforts to help your aunt Joanna and me.

Id also like to also thank my nephew, Greg, for always being there and listening to me during so many telephone calls during the difficult time of writing. The same goes for my dear friend Danny. And Jack is always there for me.

I would like to thank my aunt Margaret, Alece, and Anita for their enthusiasm for everything I write. Youll never know how much your comments spur me on.

This book really would have been impossible without the valuable input from my literary agent, Liza Dawson.

I was so exhausted by the end of this process that I really could not have carried on to the finish line without my British editor, Marianne Velmans, and my American editor, Hana Lane. You are both greatly appreciated.

I thank you all.

MODERN-DAY IRAQ AND IRAN

Prologue