Valentine kisses on a bombing tempo in Iraq

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraq’s Valentine lovers are growing in number year after year as some in Baghdad say it is a good chance to rekindle love in the hearts of couples while others who are care-ridden workaholics perhaps do not have time or, let’s say, luxury, to celebrate it. Sara Abdullah, a student at the college of arts, Baghdad University, said Iraqis are not familiar with the day’s celebrations. “Our parents or siblings have never brought us up on such things. They have never given us any presents so how should we be expected to give them to others?” she told IraqiNews.com news agency. Khudeir Abbas, 49, a local resident of the impoverished eastern Baghdad district of Sadr City, said he has never heard of a day celebrating love in Iraq. “We are going through tough conditions. All I care about is to eke out a living perpetually so as to at least keep the wolf from the door,” said a sullen Abbas. In 270 A.D., marriage had been outlawed by the emperor of Rome, Claudius II. Claudius issued this decree because he thought that married men made bad soldiers since they were reluctant to be torn away from their families in the case of war. Claudius had also outlawed Christianity in this time period because he wished to be praised as the one supreme god, the Emperor of Rome. Valentine was the bishop of Interamna during this period of oppression. Valentine thought that the decrees of Rome were wrong. He believed that people should be free to love God and to marry. Valentine invited the young couples of the area to come to him. When they came, Valentine secretly performed services of matrimony and united the couples. Valentine was eventually caught and was brought before the emperor. The emperor saw that Valentine had conviction and drive that was unsurpassed among his men. Claudius tried and tried to persuade Valentine to leave Christianity, serve the Roman empire and the Roman gods. In exchange, Claudius would pardon him and make him one of his allies. St. Valentine held to his faith and did not renounce Christ. Because of this, the emperor sentenced him to a three-part execution. First, Valentine would be beaten, then stoned, and then finally, decapitated. Valentine died on February 14th, 270 A.D. While in prison, waiting for his sentence to be carried out, Valentine fell in love with the jailer’s daughter, the blind Asterius. During the course of Valentine’s prison stay, a miracle occurred and Asterius regained her sight. Valentine sent her a final farewell note. He signed his last note, “From Your Valentine.” Even today, this message remains as the motto for our Valentine’s Day celebrations. Umm Zahraa, a 35-year-old housewife, however, is always keen to celebrate Valentine’s Day with her family. “I stopped doing so in the past years due to the bad security conditions troubling the Iraqi people. This year, though, I was getting ready for the lovely occasion; I went shopping and bought gifts for my husband and children from a nearby store and I have seen so many people spending good money on gifts. I felt really good,” she said. Twenty-two-year-old Hani Jabbar, a local resident of al-Karada, told IraqiNews.com he would celebrate it each year with his girlfriend by going out to public parks and then go together to one of Baghdad’s “fine, classy” restaurants for dinner. “I have met my beloved Fatima for the first time six years ago on Valentine’s Day. It was love at first sight…I really feel good when I buy her presents,” he said. Marwa Abdulrazeq, a young girl who was shopping from a gift store, said she was happy and euphoric about Valentine’s Day. “I think this should be a very good opportunity to make sweet advances to my boyfriend who has been ignoring me for three days now,” she added. AmR (I)/SR 2