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Margaret Hassan

To the memory of a brave woman .... to Margaret Hassan ...
I had a chance to communicate with Margaret, through e-mails, she saw a picture of one of my paintings ( The Magical City) . She loved Art. I assume she loved this painting because it represents the colorful peaceful face of Baghdad that we all miss, she gets an extra credit because she loved Baghdad and Iraq unconditionally, she stayed when we all left, she stayed and stayed until the end .... I am changing the title of this painting to

To The Memory of Margaret Hassan

--"NAJWA JASIM"

Who knows who killed her...Robert Fisk suggested Allawi's thugs could
possibly be behind it, but he can be a bit loose-lipped...still, why would
any Islamic group take her and do that? She was a convert and an Iraqi and
loved by all. And, the leaders of many insurgent groups asked for her
release. Other women have been released who were less close to the Iraqi
people than she.This article captures who she was...she will not be forgotten.

In peace and in sorrow for Margaret Hassan,
Ronda Cooperstein

Unassuming yet determined, she hated war and dedicated her life to Iraqis
By Justin Huggler
17 November 2004

Leading article: In cold blood

When Margaret Hassan was kidnapped last month her car was waved down by two men in Iraqi police uniforms. Gunmen surrounded the car and dragged Mrs
Hassan's driver and unarmed guard from their seats. They started to beat the
two men with their guns. Stop beating them, Mrs Hassan told them. I will
come with you.

She lived in Iraq through the eight years of war with Iran. Through the
bombing of Baghdad in the1991Gulf War. Through the 13 years of sanctions
that wrecked the country's economy and brought it to its knees. Through the
US-led invasion last year and the chaos and lawlessness that followed.

She never fled to the West, as her Irish and British passports would easily
have allowed her to do. She stayed in her adopted land to work for the sick,
the weak, the destitute and suffering. She campaigned for them. She built
hospitals. She brought medicine and clean water.

And when they heard that she had been kidnapped, they came on to the streets
of Baghdad in their wheelchairs to demand her release. Children from a
school for the deaf came out holding placards demanding the release of "Mama
Margaret".

"If it wasn't for her, we would probably have died," Ahmed Jubair, a small
boy in a wheelchair, said that day. "She built us a hospital and took care
of us. She made us feel happy again." There can be few greater epitaphs.

She was born Margaret Fitzsimons in Dublin. She was very private about her
personal life and details remain sketchy and unconfirmed. She was around 60
years old, and had four brothers and sisters. One sister lives in Co Kerry.
Another sister lives in London. Her father is believed to have died a few
months ago.

"Our hearts are broken," said a statement from the family last night. "We
have kept hoping for as long as we could, but we now have to accept that
Margaret has probably gone and, at last, her suffering has ended."

When she was still a child, the family moved to London. That is why she had
both British and Irish passports as well as her Iraqi citizenship, and why
there was so much confusion over her nationality. It may have given Fleet
Street a better story to call her British, but it probably did her little
good while being held by the kidnappers. Her colleagues said she considered
herself Iraqi, and there can be no stronger evidence than the fact she
stayed in the country through so much hardship.

She moved there in 1972. She had met an Iraqi man, Tahseen Ali Hassan, while
he was studying in Britain. Again the details are not clear, but according
to one report they married when she was 17 and he was 26. At any rate, they
went to live in Iraq where Ms Hassan at first worked for the British
Council, teaching English.

In 1972, Saddam Hussein had not yet seized power, and the tragic future that
was in store for Iraq had not yet begun to reveal itself. According to her
friends, Mrs Hassan fell in love with the country and its people. She learnt
Arabic. She converted to Islam and took Iraqi citizenship. The men who
killed her did not kill a foreign infidel. They killed an Iraqi Muslim.

Mrs Hassan rose to become assistant director of studies for the British
Council, and then director of the Baghdad office - a senior appointment. But
after Saddam invaded Kuwait in 1990 and the build-up to the 1991 Gulf War
began, the office closed.

Mrs Hassan was out of a job, and facing the worst aerial assault the Middle
East had ever seen. She survived the 1991 war and emerged from it to become
a director of the humanitarian organisation Care International. It was the
beginning of the apotheosis of Margaret Hassan.

Care International is the biggest humanitarian organisation in the world. In
Iraq, it specialises in health, nutrition, water supplies and sanitation.
She began to tackle the aftermath of the devastating 42-day bombing
campaign, and the consequences of the draconian sanctions imposed on Iraq.
Margaret Hassan was born for that hour.

She and her husband never had children, but she took the children of Iraq to
her heart. She began to work tirelessly for the children who suffered the
consequences of the 1991 war, the destruction of water facilities and the
American use of depleted uranium shells, and from the sanctions that
crippled Iraq's medical services and economy.

The quietly spoken English teacher had become a modern heroine. She became
one of the most unrelenting campaigners against the sanctions. She did not
oppose them because of some political theory spun in the comfort of London
or Washington. She opposed them because she lived with their consequences
and walked among the child victims of the sanctions she called Iraq's "lost
generation".

In the build-up to the US-led invasion last year, she travelled to New York
and London to campaign against a new war that would heap more agony on Iraq.
She told the UN security council. "The Iraqi people are already living
through a terrible emergency," she said at a House of Commons briefing.
"They do not have the resources to withstand an additional crisis brought
about by military action."

Margaret Hassan's friend, Felicity Arbuthnot, called her "Iraq's quiet,
unassuming, determined best friend".

Now men who claim to be fighting for Iraq have killed her. There are many
Iraqi children, the crippled and the sick, who may never forgive those men.

THE 29 DAYS OF UNCERTAINTY

19 October: Margaret Hassan was seized by gunmen in western Baghdad at
7.30am. Hours later, video footage of her was shown on al-Jazeera TV. An
unnamed "armed Iraqi group" claimed responsibility. The Foreign Secretary,
Jack Straw, said diplomats in Baghdad were in touch with Care International.

20 October: Her husbandmade an emotional appeal to the kidnappers. Tony
Blair and the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, stressed that every effort was being
made to free her. The Iraqis condemn the act as despicable.

22 October: Al-Jazeera aired a harrowing video of her weeping and she
pleaded with the British people to save her life, saying she did not want to
die like Ken Bigley.

23 October: Care International's head, Denis Caillaux, made a plea on
al-Jazeera.

25 October: Baghdad rally with protesters carrying pictures of her and
banners with "Mama Margaret" on them.

27 October: A new video on al-Jazeera with her pleading for Britain to
withdraw troops and for Care International to stop operations in Iraq.

28 October: Care International complied.

2 November: Al-Jazeera declined to broadcast a video of her kidnappers
threatening to give her to al-Zarqawi if demands were not met in 48 hours.

4 November: The 42-hour deadline ran out but no news heard.

14 November: US forces found the mutilated body of a Western woman with
"blonde hair" in Fallujah.

15 November: Care International said it could not rule out the possibility
that the body was that of Mrs Hassan.

16 November: Video released, apparently showing her murder.

	Women in Black, Baltimore Part of an International Network for Peace. Women in Black, Baltimore joins with other women’s organizations worldwide to advocate for peace, justice, and an end to violence worldwide.
Want to help out? Contact Us Local Events Peace Links Other WIB Sites WIB Around the World	We Are Surrounded by Images of War and Violence. We Present an Image of Peace. Margaret Hassan To the memory of a brave woman .... to Margaret Hassan ... I had a chance to communicate with Margaret, through e-mails, she saw a picture of one of my paintings ( The Magical City) . She loved Art. I assume she loved this painting because it represents the colorful peaceful face of Baghdad that we all miss, she gets an extra credit because she loved Baghdad and Iraq unconditionally, she stayed when we all left, she stayed and stayed until the end .... I am changing the title of this painting to To The Memory of Margaret Hassan --"NAJWA JASIM" Who knows who killed her...Robert Fisk suggested Allawi's thugs could possibly be behind it, but he can be a bit loose-lipped...still, why would any Islamic group take her and do that? She was a convert and an Iraqi and loved by all. And, the leaders of many insurgent groups asked for her release. Other women have been released who were less close to the Iraqi people than she.This article captures who she was...she will not be forgotten. In peace and in sorrow for Margaret Hassan, Ronda Cooperstein Unassuming yet determined, she hated war and dedicated her life to Iraqis By Justin Huggler 17 November 2004 Leading article: In cold blood When Margaret Hassan was kidnapped last month her car was waved down by two men in Iraqi police uniforms. Gunmen surrounded the car and dragged Mrs Hassan's driver and unarmed guard from their seats. They started to beat the two men with their guns. Stop beating them, Mrs Hassan told them. I will come with you. She lived in Iraq through the eight years of war with Iran. Through the bombing of Baghdad in the1991Gulf War. Through the 13 years of sanctions that wrecked the country's economy and brought it to its knees. Through the US-led invasion last year and the chaos and lawlessness that followed. She never fled to the West, as her Irish and British passports would easily have allowed her to do. She stayed in her adopted land to work for the sick, the weak, the destitute and suffering. She campaigned for them. She built hospitals. She brought medicine and clean water. And when they heard that she had been kidnapped, they came on to the streets of Baghdad in their wheelchairs to demand her release. Children from a school for the deaf came out holding placards demanding the release of "Mama Margaret". "If it wasn't for her, we would probably have died," Ahmed Jubair, a small boy in a wheelchair, said that day. "She built us a hospital and took care of us. She made us feel happy again." There can be few greater epitaphs. She was born Margaret Fitzsimons in Dublin. She was very private about her personal life and details remain sketchy and unconfirmed. She was around 60 years old, and had four brothers and sisters. One sister lives in Co Kerry. Another sister lives in London. Her father is believed to have died a few months ago. "Our hearts are broken," said a statement from the family last night. "We have kept hoping for as long as we could, but we now have to accept that Margaret has probably gone and, at last, her suffering has ended." When she was still a child, the family moved to London. That is why she had both British and Irish passports as well as her Iraqi citizenship, and why there was so much confusion over her nationality. It may have given Fleet Street a better story to call her British, but it probably did her little good while being held by the kidnappers. Her colleagues said she considered herself Iraqi, and there can be no stronger evidence than the fact she stayed in the country through so much hardship. She moved there in 1972. She had met an Iraqi man, Tahseen Ali Hassan, while he was studying in Britain. Again the details are not clear, but according to one report they married when she was 17 and he was 26. At any rate, they went to live in Iraq where Ms Hassan at first worked for the British Council, teaching English. In 1972, Saddam Hussein had not yet seized power, and the tragic future that was in store for Iraq had not yet begun to reveal itself. According to her friends, Mrs Hassan fell in love with the country and its people. She learnt Arabic. She converted to Islam and took Iraqi citizenship. The men who killed her did not kill a foreign infidel. They killed an Iraqi Muslim. Mrs Hassan rose to become assistant director of studies for the British Council, and then director of the Baghdad office - a senior appointment. But after Saddam invaded Kuwait in 1990 and the build-up to the 1991 Gulf War began, the office closed. Mrs Hassan was out of a job, and facing the worst aerial assault the Middle East had ever seen. She survived the 1991 war and emerged from it to become a director of the humanitarian organisation Care International. It was the beginning of the apotheosis of Margaret Hassan. Care International is the biggest humanitarian organisation in the world. In Iraq, it specialises in health, nutrition, water supplies and sanitation. She began to tackle the aftermath of the devastating 42-day bombing campaign, and the consequences of the draconian sanctions imposed on Iraq. Margaret Hassan was born for that hour. She and her husband never had children, but she took the children of Iraq to her heart. She began to work tirelessly for the children who suffered the consequences of the 1991 war, the destruction of water facilities and the American use of depleted uranium shells, and from the sanctions that crippled Iraq's medical services and economy. The quietly spoken English teacher had become a modern heroine. She became one of the most unrelenting campaigners against the sanctions. She did not oppose them because of some political theory spun in the comfort of London or Washington. She opposed them because she lived with their consequences and walked among the child victims of the sanctions she called Iraq's "lost generation". In the build-up to the US-led invasion last year, she travelled to New York and London to campaign against a new war that would heap more agony on Iraq. She told the UN security council. "The Iraqi people are already living through a terrible emergency," she said at a House of Commons briefing. "They do not have the resources to withstand an additional crisis brought about by military action." Margaret Hassan's friend, Felicity Arbuthnot, called her "Iraq's quiet, unassuming, determined best friend". Now men who claim to be fighting for Iraq have killed her. There are many Iraqi children, the crippled and the sick, who may never forgive those men. THE 29 DAYS OF UNCERTAINTY 19 October: Margaret Hassan was seized by gunmen in western Baghdad at 7.30am. Hours later, video footage of her was shown on al-Jazeera TV. An unnamed "armed Iraqi group" claimed responsibility. The Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, said diplomats in Baghdad were in touch with Care International. 20 October: Her husbandmade an emotional appeal to the kidnappers. Tony Blair and the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, stressed that every effort was being made to free her. The Iraqis condemn the act as despicable. 22 October: Al-Jazeera aired a harrowing video of her weeping and she pleaded with the British people to save her life, saying she did not want to die like Ken Bigley. 23 October: Care International's head, Denis Caillaux, made a plea on al-Jazeera. 25 October: Baghdad rally with protesters carrying pictures of her and banners with "Mama Margaret" on them. 27 October: A new video on al-Jazeera with her pleading for Britain to withdraw troops and for Care International to stop operations in Iraq. 28 October: Care International complied. 2 November: Al-Jazeera declined to broadcast a video of her kidnappers threatening to give her to al-Zarqawi if demands were not met in 48 hours. 4 November: The 42-hour deadline ran out but no news heard. 14 November: US forces found the mutilated body of a Western woman with "blonde hair" in Fallujah. 15 November: Care International said it could not rule out the possibility that the body was that of Mrs Hassan. 16 November: Video released, apparently showing her murder.
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	May 3, 2004

Women in Black, Baltimore