IRAQ: "Al-Karouk", or "The Cradle", a new fortnightly satirical newspaper that has been circulating in Baghdad recently, carries sharp observations on the situation in Iraq

"Al-Karouk", or "The Cradle", a new fortnightly satirical newspaper that has been circulating in Baghdad recently, carries sharp observations on the situation in Iraq. An Iraqi man stands with his hands up in surrender surrounded by a U.S. soldier, Iraqi security forces, a militiaman, an al Qaeda fighter and a faceless thug. "Hands up! Legs up! Head down!" they all bark at him simultaneously. The cartoon takes a satirical swipe at how poorly ordinary Iraqis are treated by those who are meant to protect them, as well as by insurgents and common criminals. The cartoon featured on the front page of a recent edition of "al-Karouk", or "The Cradle", a new fortnightly satirical newspaper circulating in Baghdad. Such a publication, with its sharp observations on life in Iraq and biting political cartoons, would have been unthinkable for much of the past three decades. Kadhim al-Muqdadi, al-Karouk's editor-in-chief and publisher, sees his newspaper as filling a void in Iraqi intellectual life. It has a tiny print run of 1,500 copies and has published three editions to date. He chose the name because of its association with childhood and innocence, and because cradles are rocked, he says, just like Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government appears to be as it stumbles from one crisis to another. "Al-Karouk means rocking, cradling and feeding. It also represents purity. The idea in fact is that in every issue I want to place in the cradle, a politician, an artist, an actor, a famous writer, a poet, etc. Instead of putting them in the dock, I take them back to their childhood, back to their purity, and say to them: 'you were such and such, so regain your purity'. This is the real meaning of the idea," Sorbonne-educated Muqdadi tells Reuters. Muqdadi says his paper reflects the way Iraqis deal with the unrelenting violence and hardship that haunts their daily lives. "Satirical journalism reflects facts as they truly are if it is serious, free and independent. The same goes for political journalism. But as you know, political journalism these days is a journalism of parties, sects, tribes and personalities. I want to abolish this trend. I want there to be journalism that is independent in the real sense of the word," he says. The last similar newspaper was shut down in 1971 after it ran a cartoon criticising Saddam's Baath party for Iraq's lack of services. Telling a joke at another's expense can still be risky, but Muqdadi says he's willing to take the risk. "We do have fears, yes, but we are cautious and it is a big challenge that in a time of killing, pain, sadness and blackness -- and as you know Iraq was called the black land but it has changed to a land that wears black -- and in this atmosphere you publish a humourous newspaper that spreads the culture of joy. It is an equation which I know is very difficult and very dangerous," he adds. Journalists have paid a heavy price for their work since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. According to the media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, the number of journalists and media workers killed in Iraq since March 2003 has reached 205. Al-Karouk's Editor-in-Chief Hammoudi Athab stresses the significance of criticism for a healthy democracy. "Some people are wary of caricatures because they consider that they are solely concerned with ridicule, ridiculing officials. But I believe that caricatures are an artform with political, economic and social dimensions. It is also an educational artform. It seeks to do no more than rectify errors. We don't guide anyone, we simply demonstrate the situation. We tell people and politicians that a certain situation exists and that it needs to be rectified," Athab told Reuters. Muqdadi writes all the news stories and commentary in al-Karouk and employs two cartoonists, using his salary as a university professor to fund the eight-page paper. His first three editions all sold out at a cost of 250 Iraqi dinars, or about 20 U.S. cents, a copy. He says his production costs were about 250,000 Iraqi dinars (200 USD) an edition. Muqdadi says he does not accept outside funding for fear of losing editorial control of his newspaper; although he admits he has accepted donations from President Jalal Talabani because Talabani has a good sense of humour.

ITN Source | October 17, 2007

Tags:. .observations. .democracy. .saddams. .haunts. .ordinary