Human being or button!!!

Recently there was much fuss about human rights and the democracy especially after the war on Iraq. I'll show you how the UNHCR have big respect for the human rights especially for the rights of the refugee to be respect as human beings.

Before months I saw that picture or button on UNHCR and other money collectors they used it as button or a link picture for their donation page.

They used it on the page about Iraq here: www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/iraq they tried to give impression about the situation in Iraq after the war (2003). I mean that the UNHCR think that picture represents the current situation in Iraq, and they explained that in these points:

The war in Iraq caused no massive displacement.
Scenes of joy were visible in many parts of the country.
newfound freedom to seek missing relatives.
For the four million Iraqis living abroad, including some one million asylum seekers, refugees and other Iraqis under UNHCR's protection in neighboring countries, the changes bring new opportunities for return.
UNHCR's offices in the region are laying plans for the phased repatriation of more than half a million Iraqis once the situation stabilises.
In the meantime, UNHCR is trying to help refugees from other countries who once enjoyed the support of the Iraqi government but who now face harassment and eviction by their Iraqi hosts. Since early April, several thousand Palestinian and Iranian refugees have fled their homes because of the turmoil, inadequate security and dwindling supplies. Some have tried to leave Iraq altogether.

These are the important points in that page. It's clear that there wasn't massive displacement fro the Iraqis, actually no one Iraqi left Iraq at the time of the war or aftermath. But what they tried to tell us in that picture? It's clear that there is family walking on a road near a fence, maybe it's the border some when in Iraq. From the cloth of the woman I can tell about the woman is a Kurdish and, from the landscape I can tell that picture is in north of Iraq, where there are mountains.

When I saw that picture I wondered about that picture and the family that they showed in the picture. I wondered whether that family headed in or outside Iraq. It was very confused for me, especially I knew that there wasn't displacement in Iraq because of the war. I'm Iraqi, I'm a refugee living in Lebanon in more I'm an active for human rights and my big concern is about refugees rights. Therefore that picture was very strange for me. I kept searching for more information until I found the secret behind that picture.

Here is what I found about that picture: if you go to that page www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/gallery/staffphoto/thumbs.asp you will find the original of that picture.

They wrote that as description for that picture:
"Suleymaniye, Iraq. Right after the Gulf war. This was probably the roughest trip I've ever done. This photo shows Kurdish refugees crossing over the border."

My intuition was correct. with that description we understand these points:

The family was Kurdish Iraqi.
They were headed outside Iraq.
The time of that picture was at the time of the Gulf war at 1991!!!

What amazing truth! They used picture with nearly 13 years old to collect money for a situation that happening now! 13 long years!!! what is the wisdom in using an 13 years old picture now?! I tried hard to find the answer, but unfortunately those people in UNHCR are wiser than me, at any way I'll ask them after maybe they'll answer my questions!!!

Let me tell you more about that picture, if you click on the picture it will open in new page with high-resolution image ** if you look in this picture you will notice that there was some one who tried to hid himself behind the woman and he put his hand on his face. Why he did that? Maybe he felt shame or humiliation to let his family pictured by a stranger! What do you think he felt now if he sees this picture? Or what if one of those children sees their mother in that picture? Don't think that they'll feel humiliation? Aren't they are humans? Did UNHCR took the permission of these family to show them in that situation and to make their mother as button to collect money?!

I felt humiliation to see that picture because I'm human at first and Iraqi secondly and a refugee. I can understand if they used that picture to show us the real situation, but that picture was taken before 13 years when there was massive displacement at that time when Saddam invaded the north of Iraq after the Gulf war at 1991, it was at last century! If they used that picture to speak about that incident, maybe it's will look logical. But not the time is suitable nor the subject!!!

Any one will feel humiliation to see a human being used as button! The strangest in that picture is this point: There 2 picture for that woman, in first one she looked at her baby in her hand.

In the other one she looked in front of her, it looked like she starts moving. The designer who made the button chose one of the 2 picture and ignored the other. He chose the 2d picture. In that picture the woman looked forward, he made her looking to Iraq in the banner and to “click here to donate” in that picture that there aren’t any humanitarian feeling. But in the picture that she looking to her baby in her hand, there are deep and effective motherly feeling, you can feel the pain on her face, even her baby was looking in the cam! And look to the other small child who was looking at the man who was picturing them, but look at the 2d picture, you can’t see the other child because he was hiding behind the girl (maybe she was his sister) which one in your opinion is full of humanitarian feelings, if you’ll answer the picture number 1 so you are not wise like the people of UNHCR, because they thought that if the woman look at “click here to donate” is more humanitarian that if she look at her baby in here hands!!!!!!

If you know that this picture is the core of their campaign to collect money for the Iraqi refugees, so you'll have idea about what they are really caring about! I don't know why always I felt that the people of UNHCR are needed more culturing. I spoke with many people whom working for UNHCR here in Lebanon, I felt that those people don't have good education or proper logic. I challenged them to enter a public debate with me, but they refused. Also I asked them to find some thing not correct in my articles or my messages if they like me to stop my mission and until now they didn't find any thing not correct in my articles. They even refused to use the Internet to contact me, because they told me that they are afraid that I'll show the messages to there people. Actually I used their message in my campaigns as a prove for what I'm speaking about.

But using that picture was not proper for their purposes, and using a human being as button is humiliation for all humans. Maybe you'll speak that on Internet is normal to use clickable picture. I agree on that if they used the picture not as button, the difference between the two things that the picture gives you a message, it's telling some thing. For example, we use clickable picture to read more details about the picture, or to read the story about that picture or to see the picture in higher resolution. I mean the clikable picture is using to give you small idea about what is behind it. But in that case, when you click on the human-button you'll go to a donation form, and your relation with the picture will finish. Maybe it's best if they put some description about the picture or some thing about the woman will help to give you a humanitarian feeling. In this case (human-button) it's some thing like the woman was represented as a bait, they used her to catch the donors!

Where is the problem if they use words instead that picture, for example, they can tell you what is the problem, what they need and how you can help. Where is the problem if they speak that "click here to donate" as text not as picture? Actually I don't understand whom those people at UNHCR are thinking. Do they think that maybe Mr. Bush will see the picture and the tears will fill his eyes and with his sympathy he will click on the human-button to make donations of $10 or $15! Ya, that what they looking for! You can see by your eyes if you click on the human-button.

That what is the human being worth for the people of UNHCR, $15** they converted millions of people and years of suffering and pain just into a button as a link for donation form!!! Thanks for that respect for the humanity of the Iraqis and the refugees. Now I can ask the people to respect the human rights and I can give them good example from the UNHCR with that human-button!!!

Who will wonder after wether the refugees are animals or buttons or just baits?!!!

There is another human-button and a banner that asking for donations on the site of UNHCR and other money collectors **

I don't understand why they don't tell us about those people in these pictures! What are their stories? What are their feelings and problems? Where are they now? And how many years the old of these pictures? The Iraqi human-button was taken before 13 years ago! I wonder how long the other picture had been used as baits!!! I hope one day the UNHCR will show more respect for our humanity as humans-refugees not as humans-buttons.