Mick Hartley

From MEMRI:

For most people, the images of Iraq are of a country mired in sectarian violence or civil war – a country suffering car bombs, random killing, kidnapping, ethnic cleansing – a country in collective despair. There is validity to these images.

However, alongside these tragic daily occurrences Iraq has its other face, a face of life and a degree of normalcy. This other face of Iraq is reflected in a series of pictures published by Halim Salman in his two monthly magazines published in London. The first is al-Tab’a al-Jadida [The New Publication] which, in terms of layout, is close to Life magazine or to the French “Paris Match.” The other monthly, titled al-Hilwa [The Beautiful Woman], is a pictorial magazine for women. Halim has a news website al-Rafidayn (www.alrafidayn.com) which disseminates up-to-date news from Iraq in Arabic seven days a week.

Well worth a look.

Update: especially after yet another act of mass murder from fanatics aiming to put an end to any hope of such happy scenes in the future.