Dancing in the No-Fly Zone: A Woman's Journey Through Iraq

by Hadani Ditmars

CCL-17

Genres: Nonfiction, War, Middle East, Memoir

260 pages, Paperback

First published November 16, 2001

Reviews

[Lianne]

I enjoyed this memoir very much. Hadani Ditmars provides intimate glimpses into what was going on in Baghdad just after the invasion in September 2003. As a journalist, she had covered the city earlier for many reputable publications including the New York TImes, Vanity Fair, Toronto Globe and Mail, Time and Newsweek. She is exploring the possibility of establishing a humanitarian project called "The Garden of Peace." This idea also gives her a cover story so she can talk to a variety of people. Using her previous local contacts she is able to probe the truth of "facts on the ground" while determining the feasibility of the project. (A project like this now exists in Beirut) As a Canadian, she can be much more honest about the American invasion and also more objective.The reality on the ground was beyond surreal for the locals and most agreed it was easier to live in Iraq with Saddam than with the provisional authority. As a woman of Middle Eastern ancestry who can function in Arabic, and wearing a hijab, Hadani is able to "pass" as a local and speak openly to merchants, artists and musicians as well as overlapping with the military and NGOs at her hotel. She is savvy enough about politics to understand and accept how her former minders quickly adapted to serving the occupying forces. The weirdest highlight of the book is a guided tour of Abu Ghraib prison by General Janis Karpinski who later was removed of her responsibility for the prison after the torture scandals. Hadani loves the Iraqi people. She celebrates their capacity "to dance in the no fly zone" against all odds and to affirm the triumph of their human spirit.

[Hadani · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-ent...

Review by Boyd Tonkin, literary critic for the London Independent

Dancing in the No-Fly Zone, by Hadani Ditmars (ARRIS BOOKS £9.99 (264pp))

Not just another batch of war stories, Ditmars' fine reports from Iraq reveal aspects of the country - both pre- and post-invasion - that the battlefield junkies overlook. From the comic actor who adores Mr Bean and the conductor who brings Berlioz to Baghdad to the artists and cabaret stars, she seeks out Iraq's dogged creative spirits, and touches places in the nation's soul that horror- headlines never reach. BT

[Tariq Mahmood · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is written by a journalist who has been to Iraq before and after the latest American invasion. For me she has managed to capture the difference between a sanction induced Iraq and a colonised era pretty well. The book left me with a dark and depressing mood with not much hope for humanity. The book is also written from a very Canadian perspective, an angle which I enjoyed as well.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprisingly excellent account of the ravages of war in Iraq, this book, though its author's bias is clear, only falls into cliched reporting once or twice. Balancing the human, emotional tolls of war with the political and economic realities is not an easy job, but Ditmars discusses the personal, the socio-economic and the cultural with finesse. A wonderful book that everyone should read.

[Shirley J · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first book I've read about what life in Iraq has been like for the past two decades. Would like to read one or two more books on the subject. Any recommendations?

[Heather Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adore the prose used in this book. Hadani's connection to Iraq is expressed eloquently and intoxicatingly. Beautiful, informative, and tragic.

[Itisme · Rating 3 out of 5]

1

[Debi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very profound read on what happened to Iraq
and its people after the war. This book truly gave me
a new perspective on war and its effects on
innocent civilians just trying to survive.