[ Omar ] Places like this even give me goose bumps
I mean, we're walking on the land, sand… of probably the oldest civilisation in the world
[ Omar ] All civilisation stems from here
[ Omar ] I'm going to Baghdad to see what's happened to my second homeland,
how it's changed
[ Omar ] A lot of my relatives remain there… and many problems
[ Omar ] I didn't risk such a trip before because of the war
[ Soldiers ] We'll give our blood and soul to you, Saddam!
[ Omar ] My story isn't about those who are guilty of starting wars…
and it's not about how death and destruction make no one happy
[ Omar ] In the desert, storms are common, they're natural,
but man-made storms turn cities into deserts
[ Omar ] How to move on after bombings and attacks?
[ Omar ] Life must go on, after all
[ Omar ] People are relearning the arts of peaceful coexistence, trust, and mutual understanding
[ Omar ] That's not easy
[ Omar ] That's what my story's about
[ Omar ] My father was an Iraqi Communist who fled the country
[ Omar ] In his youth, he did time in an Iraqi prison for his convictions
[ Omar ] Then he emigrated to Europe
[ Omar ] First, he lived in Hungary, then he moved to the Soviet Union
[ Omar ] Nearly all of my father's family is scattered now
[ Omar ] Some of his brothers live in Sweden
[ Omar ] Some members live in Holland, others moved to America…
and some have remained in Baghdad
[ Omar ] My name is Omar
[ Omar ] I was born in Moscow
[ Omar ] Dad told me a lot about his tight-knit family
[ Omar ] Dad's already gone, but his brothers and sisters are still alive
[ Omar ] There were 11 brothers and sisters in my dad's family
[ Omar ] It was a very big family
[ Omar ] If you include relatives from my grandparents' families, our clan has around 400 members
[ Omar ] Big families are common in the Middle East
[ Omar ] Relatives stay in touch, visit each other, talk on the phone often
[ Omar ] That was before the war, but not anymore
[ Omar ] The Koran says: 'If families live in peace and happiness,
the whole people will be strong'
[ Omar ] I decided to fly to Iraq right after I met with my cousin
[ Omar ] Ali came to Moscow and told me our big family was already gone
[ Omar ] The last ties had been severed
[ Omar ] I was in Iraq when I was a small child
[ Omar ] That was more than 40 years ago
[ Omar ] Baghdad seemed even more sophisticated than Moscow to me back then
[ Omar ] There were expensive luxury cars, the city was always lit up
[ Omar ] When we left snowbound Moscow in the 1970s,
[ Omar ] we found ourselves in a warm, beautiful, and sunny metropolis
[ Omar, salesman, Ali ] Khallas [ Omar, salesman, Ali ] Khallas!
[ Omar, salesman, Ali ] If you shake it, it means 'khallas' [ Omar, salesman, Ali ] 'Enough'
[ Omar, salesman, Ali ] And if you don't shake it?
[ Omar, salesman, Ali ] More [ Omar, salesman, Ali ] More
[ Omar ] I didn't speak Arabic until 1995,
and then, by chance, I found myself in Holland
[ Omar ] At some meeting, they asked: 'Are there any Russians?'
[ Omar ] There were no ethnic ones, so I said: 'I'm Russian!'
[ Omar ] 'Any Arabs?' [ Omar ] Again, silence
[ Omar ] So I said: 'I'm Arab' because the rest were of other ethnicities
[ Omar ] That made everyone laugh: 'Oh, we have a pure Russian-Arab sitting here!'
[ Ali ] How are you?
[ Ali ] I love…
[ Ali ] My Russian's good, eh?
[ Omar ] This is my cousin. Ali, what should I order? [ Ali ] Tabbouleh
[ Omar ] Tabbouleh salad
[ Omar ] My Arabic is bad
[ Omar ] He's better at Arabic,
but he doesn't speak Russian...
so we're trying to communicate in this broken language
[ Omar ] Can you say that in Arabic?
[ Omar ] Babylon is mentioned in the holy books,
the Bible and Koran
[ Omar ] The biblical account says everyone once spoke one common language
[ Omar ] It was decided to build a city between the Tigris and Euphrates with a tower up to heaven
in order to reach God
[ Omar ] The people's willfulness, pride, and vanity angered the Almighty
[ Omar ] As punishment, he took their language, and they no longer understood each other
[ Omar ] The legend says people built the Tower of Babel up to the sky around here
[ Omar ] This is where people lost the ability to understand each other
[ Omar ] Of my father's 11 brothers and sisters, only four remain in Baghdad now,
but I couldn't get them together
[ Omar ] The war rattled and split up even close families
[ Omar ] They don't get together and hardly ever talk
[ Amna Omar’s aunt ] My dear Omar came when he was four, right?
[ Omar ] Yes [ Omar ] When he came
[ Amna Omar’s aunt ] And how old is he now? -[ Omar ] Fifty-one
[ Amna ] Fifty-one
[ Amna ] So, you see how good that is
[ Amna ] Please, try the fish
[ Amna ] You can use your hands
[ Omar ] Break it, there's no other way
[ Omar ] You can see the fish market has fish again
[ Omar ] I'll never forget coming to this place when I was small
[ Omar ] I remember being afraid of the fish
[ Omar ] They splashed around. [ Omar ] Once, one landed near me and I screamed
[ Omar ] You see these pools full of fish...
you pick a fish, and they'll specially clean and grill it for you
[ Omar ] This dish is called 'masgouf'
[ Adnan Omar’s uncle ] Our main food is rice,
and your main food is potatoes
[ Omar ] Back in Moscow, I dreamt of big family dinners…
with lots of guests coming over
[ Omar ] For example, on birthdays, you would normally buy a huge cake
[ Omar ] Now, these celebrations are more modest, as money is tighter
[ Omar ] There isn't enough for a lavish table
[ Omar ] But the main problem is antagonism between relatives,
though the awesome memories remain
[ Amna ] We'll get you married in Russia
[ Navar ] No one would take him, no one
[ Omar ] I saw a celebration where a boy… [ Omar ] What do you call it?
[ Amna ] Gets circumcised [ Omar ] Right! And they video it and give him money
[ Omar ] It's a really big celebration
[ Omar ] I have an uncle who studied in Moscow
[ Omar ] Once, he asked two girls he was dating out to a restaurant,
and he invited my mum too
[ Omar ] Since he loved both girls,
he wanted them to decide which one would stay with him
[ Omar ] He said something like: 'You know I love you both
[ Omar ] Could you decide between yourselves…
who will choose me'
[ Omar ] Of course, a fight started between the girls, and my mum had to break it up
[ Adnan ] There are certain conditions to be met
if you want to get married
[ Adnan ] For example, if a man marries and his wife has no children, can't bear children,
he has the right to take a second wife,
so that he can have a son
[ Adnan ] That's his right
[ Adnan ] A judge… [ Adnan ] A judge would ask him:
'Is your first wife happy?'
[ Amna ] In agreement {Adnan ] In agreement
-{Adnan ] If she isn't,
it won't happen
[ Omar ] It's possible, of course
[ Omar ] You can have a second and a third… up to four, right?
[ Omar ] But just try providing for 4 wives! [ Omar ] Four houses, four of this, four of that…
[ Omar ] You have to buy the same for everyone
[ Omar ] You have to be rich, and some women wouldn't stand for it, just between us
[ Omar ] And some women here are combative. [ Omar ] She could say: 'I won't consent!'
[ Adnan ] Not only do I love her, I fear her!
[ Adnan ] No, really, I love her
[ Adnan ] I don't see anyone more beautiful anywhere [ Amna ] Thank you
[ Amna ] That's my older son
[ Amna ] I have Ali, and a daughter who lives in Turkey
[ Amna ] There are now lots of families like this in Iraq – many have left
[ Amna ] My daughter lives in Turkey now and I worry a lot, of course,
because she's my only daughter and she was really spoiled here at home
[ Amna ] And now she has a child
Of course, I'm not happy that she left, but that's fate
[ Amna ] In general, there are no families now with all members in one place
[ Amna ] Every family's missing one or two members
[ Ali ] Everyone's seeking a place elsewhere now,
whether they want to or not
[ Ali ] Some emigrated, some died, some started families somewhere else
[ Omar ] It's the same Tower of Babel, only with families
[ Omar ] They built and built… [ Omar ] Everyone wanted everything to be perfect
[ Omar ] And then, BANG!
[ Omar ] And not because they were bad or…
[ Omar ] It was just BANG, and it collapsed!
[ Omar ] And now the people have scattered and speak different languages
[ Omar ] A high wall separates Baghdad's centre from the rest of the city
[ Omar ] This is the so-called Green Zone
[ Omar ] Most government offices are located here, as well as the US military administration
and foreign embassies
[ Omar ] Foreign journalists also live here
[ Omar ] It's nearly impossible for a common Iraqi to enter the Green Zone,
so people can't get visas to visit relatives in other countries
[ Karim ] Omar was ten years old, just little
[ Omar ] No, I left when I got into college [ Karim ] For your first year of college!
[ Karim ] Right! You were almost 15?
[ Omar ] 17… 16 or 17 years old [ Karim ] 17 years old
-[ Karim ] And you got fat!
[ Omar ] Yes!
[ Omar ] This is Uncle Karim, my father's brother, and Aunt Maida, his sister
[ Omar ] This is Uncle Karim's wife, daughter, and youngest son
[ Omar ] This meeting is important: I came to Iraq mainly for this
[ Omar ] One son's lived in Belgium for 7 years
[ Omar ] They talk on the phone, but she can't see him
[ Karim ] She misses him [ Omar ] A lot!
[ Omar ] She wants to go see him, but can't because… she's afraid they won't give her a visa
[ Omar ] Seven years ago, thugs from warring factions were forcing young men to join them
[ Omar ] Those who refused, they just killed in front of their parents,
so the family decided to hide the son abroad
[ Omar ] They were very afraid for him because he was at a young age where they could just take him,
so they collected all their money and arranged to send him to Belgium
[ Karim’s wife Mariam ] I want to find a way to go and see my son
[ Karim ] She's wondering what he eats,
or if he eats at all,
because he's short of money
[ Omar ] The family's been unable to obtain a Schengen visa for years
[ Omar ] They're told there are enough refugees already
[ Omar ] The son can't visit because he won't be allowed back into Belgium
[ Omar ] He could return to Iraq, but there's no work here, and he gets social benefits there
[ Mariam ] We've asked the Belgian embassy to give us a visa
so that my mum and I could go to Europe, at least for a week
[ Mariam ] I'm dying to see my son
[ Mariam ] My son's name is Mohammed Abdel Karim Al Jaburi
[ Ali and Omar ] He says it's not that busy now because Baghdad only comes to life after 9pm,
but tomorrow, on Thursday, there'll be a lot of people here, because Friday is an off day
[ Omar ] What do people want?
[ Omar ] Peace, stability, and happiness
[ Omar ] And their lives go on, though with a frontline tinge
[ Omar ] How do their banks work? Something like this:
[ Omar ] The bank was closed when we arrived, but they said:
'He's over in the coffee shop playing cards'
[ Omar ] We went over, he finished his game, and said: 'Let's go'
[ Omar ] We crossed the street and entered the bank
[ Omar ] He had a Kalashnikov with a scope there, so he couldn't miss while shooting point blank
[ Omar ] So, he exchanged our money
[ Omar ] Then, he closed the bank again and went back to his cards and coffee
[ Omar ] Iraq used to be much more secular
[ Omar ] People didn't really care which branch of Islam you professed
[ Ali speaks arab ] There was no discord before
[ Ali ] Sunni and Shi'a had no problem marrying [ Omar ] It's the same in our family
[ Omar ] There are Shi'as, Sunnis, and even Christians like me
[ Omar ] I don't think the contradictions are as big as they're made out to be
[ Omar ] That's all just politics
[ Omar ] He says it's not people, it's politics
[ Omar ] The schism is mainly over who should head the Muslim community
[ Omar ] The Sunnis think anyone can, while Shi'as believe the Messiah is coming
[ Omar ] The dispute's become a protracted conflict. [ Omar ] Along with the bombs,
religious fanatics fell upon the people
[ Adnan ] There are people who don't know what they are
[ Adnan ] Believe me,
when I got married to my wife, I didn't know if she was a Shi'a or Sunni
[ Amna ] There are still some ignorant people
[ Amna ] They don't understand that we're one family, that this is my friend, this is my sister
[ Omar ] It seems like someone's intentionally trying to destroy
Iraq's religious, political, and national unity...
and, sadly, with great success
[ Adnan ] Life is hard [ Amna ] Life is hard
[ Amna ] It's every man for himself now
[ Omar ] Baghdad is wearing some kind of armour now
[ Omar ] When you drive around, you see practically the whole city is closed
[ Omar ] Machine gun towers and barbed wire are everywhere
[ Omar ] Everything's divided into sectors and monitored
[ Omar ] You often hear: 'Who is ISIS?' [ Omar ] And they answer: 'Mafia, they're all gangsters'
[ Omar ] Yesterday, I even heard a guy joke: 'They're hooligans'
[ Soldier ] Are you filming live?
[ Omar ] This is the only soldier we filmed
[ Omar ] It's illegal to film members of the military, at risk of arrest
[ Omar ] But take my word, there are a lot of them, and lots of weapons too
[ Omar ] There's a police jeep with a machine gun on nearly every corner,
and a lot of military and police,
but having some security is probably good
[ Omar ] People often talk about the former president, Saddam Hussein, not about the president himself,
but they say: 'In his days, we had order'
[ Omar ] Not because they liked him or loved him, or anything like that
[ Omar ] People just want order
[ Omar ] Nearly all father's brothers studied in the USSR,
so they can speak some Russian
[ Omar ] Most of them chose a career in the military and fought in Iraq's last three wars
[ Omar ] I was an ordinary officer
[ Omar ] Here, that's me
[ Omar ] That's in Odessa, on the Black Sea
[ Omar ] I'm a captain in this one
[ Omar ] He was sent to study by the Iraqi state
[ Omar ] He graduated from the Odessa Air Defence Academy
[ Omar ] My aunt also studied in the USSR, at the History and Archives Institute,
and he just came to see her in Moscow and they got married there
[ Man ] What did you do in Saddam's times? [ Adnan ] Political…
[ Amna ] No politics!
[ Amna ] If we were to talk about politics,
it would take a long time,
and then you'll leave,
and we'll still be here
[ Omar ] In fact, my uncle rose to the rank of lieutenant general,
and, in Saddam's times, he was Baghdad's air defence commander
[ Omar ] He almost paid with his life
[ Omar ] After the war, when the Americans were here, until 2011, it was still dangerous in a way
[ Omar ] When the Americans came, some Kuwaiti soldiers came with them
[ Omar ] If they saw a photograph on the wall, for example,
and there was someone in it wearing a military uniform,
they'd say: 'A criminal's family lives here! Arrest them!'
[ Omar ] So, the family had to flee to Syria
[ Omar ] After the Arab coalition had left, they returned to a trashed and ransacked house
[ Omar ] While it's being repaired, they all live in this rented flat
[ Amna ] I told Omar to have you leave in the morning and arrive early
[ Amna ] I'd worry if you were out after dark
[ Amna ] You don't know who's your enemy now
[ Omar ] Yes, they're scared, even now, some fear remains
[ Omar ] They're afraid of coming home late or something because there's still banditry in the streets
[ Omar ] It's not a religious war, but organised crime that's still going on
[ Omar ] Miss Baghdad 2015 was shot last night
Tara Fares
[ Omar ] Moreover, she was killed in the city centre near a checkpoint
[ Adnan ] Tara Fares, right?
[ Omar ] She was a model, an Instagram model,
and she did photo shoots in lingerie
[ Omar ] It's unacceptable for young women to adopt a European lifestyle in Iraq today
[ Omar ] Tara Fares and like-minded women have received multiple death threats
[ Omar ] Another girl, Shimaa Qasim, fled to Jordan due to threats
[ Omar ] When the radicals came to power,
young people thought ISIS was a progressive movement
[ Omar ] They hoped they'd oust the Americans and bring lasting peace,
but people soon realised they were just terrorists and thieves
[ Omar ] The Tower of Babel story is apt here
I think the country went through a kind of civil war that's sharply divided its people
[ Omar ] There are too many groups pushing their own rules and values on others
[ Omar ] Now, it's hard for Iraqis to understand each other,
and even harder to trust each other
[ Man ] Do you plan to have children?
[ Navar ] Of course, I'd like to have a child, and she really wants to become a mum,
but we're afraid, in the current situation, our child would grow up in a broken society
[ Navar ] If you look at today's children,
the things being put into their heads
are far from enlightened values
[ Omar ] Leaving Baghdad,
I tried to sort out my feelings,
and the main emotion I had
was sadness
[ Omar ] It's sad my big family is disintegrating, and brothers don't want to live in their homeland
[ Omar ] But, who's to judge?
[ Omar ] War is commonplace here
[ Omar ] Fear is deeply ingrained, and even relatives no longer understand each other
[ Omar ] Babylon… 00:26:24:00 Written by Andrey Rumyantsev Yulia Kiryukhina Directed by Oleg Soldatenkov Cameraman Andrey Kuznetsov Photos Aleksandr Zhukov Editor Andrey Vyazigin Music by Oleg Troyanovsky Sound editor Andrey Zhuchkov Administrator Nataliya Luken Producer Aleksandr Zhukov