Chasing kites in Kabul
Yedioth Ahronoth reporter visits war torn Kabul where the traumas of the past are still fresh
The murky Kabul sky seems to smother the Afghan capital, which is devoid of compassion or mercy. This is a city in which even the street cats wander about in terror, and panhandlers present their deformed legs and bleeding children in the hope of getting some change from passersby.
There is no earth in Kabul, only dust, and the only flowers are the cheap plastic ones offered by the local street vendors. Kabul’s trees are also dead, like the souls of its residents, who have been living in the shadow of cruel wars for some 30 years now.
The Americans invaded the city four years ago, not before bombarding it in the name of the war on terror. The oppressive Taliban regime preceded the Americans, and prior to that came the tyrannical Mujahidin, which set out to defeat the Soviet forces who had violently invaded the country.
In Kabul I went looking for the “enchanted, colorful city, full of exotic smells and vibrant bazaars,” as it was described in Khaled Hosseini’s international best-selling novel “The Kite Runner.”
But I found myself walking among men with amputated legs crawling along the road, as I try not to smell the sewage mixed with the meat from the food stands.
'A lost place'
Hosseini writes: “I gaze at the starlit night through the shattered window and think to myself that perhaps what people say about Afghanistan is true; perhaps it really is a lost place.
Once a week Kabul’s men are able to beat the sky: Every Friday before sundown they gather on a hill overlooking the city’s rubble to fly kites, painting the sky with pink, orange and yellow patches.
I joined the men just hours after landing in Kabul; I was the only woman there.
An armored U.S. Military jeep patrolled the area to maintain order, but its presence did not hamper the celebration, as the men jumped and clapped at the site of their soaring kites, each hoping his would be the last to fall to the ground.
A few hours prior to the kite-flying tournament I decided to visit Jada Maiwand Street, where Hassan and Amir, the heroes of Hosseini’s book, purchase their kites.
The street is filled with colorful kite stores, and it is here that I heard the laugh of local children for the first time. The children were wearing American t-shirts, and called out “how are you” in unison as I approached, as though they were trying to show off the English skills they had acquired during the four years of U.S. presence in their city.
The lucky ones got jobs working for the kite builders; these apprentices are well-respected in Kabul.
A woman's place
The men at the kite tournament did not appreciate my presence. Despite the values of freedom and emancipation that were brought to these parts by President Bush, a woman’s place remains well-hidden behind the burka which covers her entire face and body.
When the Afghani men and children hold their kite-flying tournaments, the women wash cloths by the river, which over the years has been reduced to a few puddles of sewage water.
Bush says the U.S. has liberated the Afghan people, mainly the women. He even sent his wife Laura to the country, and the First Lady praised the feminist revolution in Afghanistan. But upon my arrival in Kabul I understood that the reality was very different.
On Saturday I visited the infamous Ghazi National Stadium, where Taliban forces stoned to death women who were suspected of adultery, chopped the hands off of petty thieves and whipped to death people who were suspected of anti-Islamic acts.
These executions took place during the intermission between games, and the crowd would cheer as the bodies were dragged out of the arena.
The game had already begun when I arrived at the stadium, and it seemed that with every kick of the ball I could hear the cries of the woman whose execution is depicted in Hosseini’s book.
Fours years have passed since the collapse of the Taliban regime, but the memories of those days of terror are still fresh in the minds of the Afghan people.
“They forced us to grow beards,” Ahmed Jawad, a young businessman, says.
“One day I trimmed it a little and their Guards apprehended me on the street and put me in jail for two weeks until the beard grew back.
Unimaginable cruelty
“If they caught someone with a cigarette they would take him to the stadium, place his mouth on the exhaust pipe of a running car and say to him, ‘inhale this smoke.’ That is how they would kill people. But it was not only the Taliban regime that was cruel to us. The Mujahidin, and the Soviets were also cruel – each regime with its own methods.”
Jawad added, “Now the Americans are here - the Afghans like them, but if they leave, hell will return.” Despite some encouraging signs – last month parliamentary elections were held for the first time in 30 years and women were elected – anarchy is rampant.
President Hamid Karzai maintains control over Kabul and its suburbs only, while most of the country is ruled by guerilla fighters and warlords from all over the world. The Taliban leaders have not completely disappeared either; some fled to Pakistan, while others shaved their beards and moved away, far from the capital.
The recent surge in attacks carried out by Taliban terrorists against U.S. forces proves they are gaining strength.
“If the world will abandon us again, we will fall into the hands of the Taliban disguised as another group,” Jawad warned.
“We know they are hiding in the mountains and have joined forces with Chechen, Uzbeki and Arab fighters. Pakistan wants to send them back to Afghanistan under the guise of a different organization. We do not have a police force or an army. If the coalition forces leave and if NATO does not increase its presence here, we are lost.”
