A Journalistic Journey with Fouad Manna (Abu Gibran) - Part 1 - Iraq
Fouad Manna in the print shop.
By Dr. Adhid Miri
Part I - Iraq
When you listen to journalist Fouad Manna, you hear the past come alive through the voices of colorful characters, contemporaries, clergy, and community members. For half a century, Fouad Manna has been recognized for his superiority in the publication business, in cultural preservation, and in defense of Iraqi memory.
Upon meeting Mr. Manna (Abu Gibran) you quickly discover that he is a fascinating sit-down subject good for any discussion, a profound scholar, and a remarkably social, warm, and loving person. So how did he find balance between journalism and public relations? What is the story of his political-cultural salon “Dewan” as linked to the work of the printing press and newspapers? Who influenced him and left markers in his life?
In part I of this article we will travel back in time with Abu Gibran and have a long, free-ranging conversation about half a century of journalism; we’ll talk about the ancient as well as recent past of Iraq, about the Baghdad he finally escaped, and about the future of his former and present country.
My discussion with Mr. Manna covered a range of topics, including his long love affair with words, the letters, the friends, the triumphs, the disappointments, and the state of Iraq today. He is a sort of ‘Father Time’ from Iraq, a man with fifty years of memory bank. To those who are privileged to know him he is the best of men. Manna reflects, “Humans are social creatures by nature and when you have interests such as reading, writing, poetry and culture, then sitting with others becomes an inevitable matter”.
He believes that anything canÅbe news, but not everything isÅnewsworthy. Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth. A good story does more than inform, it adds value to the topic. In fact, journalism is simply storytelling with a purpose. One must have passion and compassion to write every story as if it is for page one.
The Iraq of his youth in the 1950s and 60s was a “golden age,” as he recalls it, a safe and stable British-built constitutional monarchy under the Hashemite King Faisal II. He feels disappointed by much of what has happened to Iraq since.
Renowned researcher Dr. Faieq Butti included a journalistic biography of Fouad Manna in his book, The Iraqi Press in Exile, published by Dar Al-Mada in 2006. This book is the most accurate publication dealing with the history, events, names, dates, and a disclosure of the Diaspora press, including the American diaspora, providing a unique archive in an academically neutral manner.
Butti praised Manna for the great role he played in spreading awareness about cultural issues and encouraging young and seasoned pens to write and publish. Manna’s contributions included coverage of important events that were taking place in the Detroit area or among the Chaldean Iraqi community, in addition to exposing the dictatorial policies of the defunct Ba’ath regime among the Iraqi community in the American diaspora.
The spark from Iraq
Fouad (Arabic: ) came from a Chaldean Catholic family in the old, religiously mixed and slightly tolerant city of Mosul — opposite the ancient city of Nineveh on the Tigris River. He was born in the village of Baqofa in Nineveh Governorate on July 20, 1936. His father was Garabet Mansour Sha’aya Margila - Manna (1912) and his mother was Cathryn Sha’aya Yousif.
Fouad completed his elementary school studies in the village of Talesqif, and junior high school in the city of Mosul. Manna relocated to Baghdad in September of 1950 to continue his schooling, living then on Asfar Street in the Karadah district. Initially he joined Al-Mashraq private middle-school, to later transfer to the private Dominican College in Mosul. He then returned to Al-Mashraq High school and selected the literature curriculum program because of his fascination with literature, poetry, and language.
Manna left Iraq on December 26, 1968 and arrived in Michigan on January 11, 1969. He became a US Citizen on July 22, 1974.
Village life
Faoud’s grandfather’s house was the largest in the village of Baqofa. 23 people lived there. His grandfather had three sons; Fouad was the oldest of the grandsons in the house. That is where he learned the craft of service, humility, generosity, and responsibility. The house was always buzzing with tribal visitors and the guest area (Dewankhana) was always full of guests, farmers and traders from neighboring villages.
On one occasion, the Iraqi Minister of Finance and Provisions visited his grandparents’ home in Baqofa at the invitation of Abu Gibran’s father, who worked at the ministry office in Baghdad. As was usual in those days, the family slaughtered a sheep for the Minister and his entourage. The minister asked, “How is business in the village?” The grandfather replied, “Thank God we have 150 sheep, 12 cows, 4 horses and are considered the wealthiest in the village.” The minister was amused but not impressed and commented, “Your wealthiest is the poorest in Baghdad.”
Fouad Manna was the Howard Shultz of Starbucks Coffee during his time in Baqofa. As the first grandson, he had to learn the craft of roasting coffee, grinding it by hand, brewing it to perfection on charcoal and serving it in accordance with the tribal customs and protocols. On odd occasions during his training days, if he burned the precious beans, he was punished with a slap on the back of his head from his loving grandfather as a reminder to be more careful. The grandfather used to call him “Boona,” that is “My Son” in Chaldean. Manna turned out to be a great roast master and maker of the most delicious cup of coffee.
A journalistic journey
According to Manna, journalism as a profession is more art than science. Journalists have distinctÅpersonalities. They tend to be artistic individuals, which means they are creative, intuitive, sensitive, articulate, unstructured, original, nonconforming, and innovative.
That is how Fouad Manna, a former journalist, publisher, and editor, describes his half century love of the letter and the love of the word. The stories and design of newspapers sparked his fascination with journalism. As a youngster, he used to read and study every available newspaper issue, sometimes for hours on end.
“Reading represents for me the artery that supplies one with oxygen to sustain life,” says Manna. “It is the wings that make me fly high,” he says, “It has been my prime interest since youth, and I have grown up with it.”
Manna acknowledges, “As time passes, I am attracted more and more to reading that makes me feel the greatness of human thought and creativity. The more I learn and know the meaning of culture and value of reading.” He adds, “I also began to understand why reactionaries fight against free thinkers, intellectuals, and supporters of progress.”
AL-Zaman, Iraqi News Paper
The opportunity
Living in Baghdad and looking for a job, Manna was told a publishing house was hiring new talent. He was eager to write and become part of an editorial staff; however, being very young and without experience, he was offered the job of a typesetter. He took the opportunity and this job led him to a magical new world.
He never thought or expected that his first steps into the building of a publisher for the purpose of applying for a job in 1957 would take him to the unexplored world of journalism. Upon smelling the ink and chemicals, seeing the machines, and hearing the loud crackling noise of the machines, he felt like an astronaut entering a world without limits - a new galaxy.
He never imagined that the profession of printing would lead him to the world of government regulations, arrests, literature, leaders, politicians, and creativity. Nor did he know that this job would eventually take him away from Iraq, where he would take his professional skills to his country of emigration, and that journalism would be his passion and lifelong profession.
The beginning
When we asked Mr. Manna about his beginnings in the world of printing and journalism, he replied: “You are taking me back to another world, a world that is full of nostalgia and memories that were ideal and exemplary. You are asking me to recount magical experiences, return to past aspirations and relive my dreams.”
It was the year 1957 when Manna entered the world of printing, presses and newspapers for the first time, working as a typesetter in Al-Sha’ab newspaper. The Baghdad newspaper publisher was Yahya Qassim.”
“I was there for 4 ½ years and they were the toughest years—but also two of the most foundational—of my career,” recounts Manna. “I made numerous mistakes, ones which may have caused me lasting damage had I made them at a large daily circulation.”
But by being in this environment, he got to know some of the best journalists, writers, and politicians in the business. One distinct highlight was working with the famous Iraqi poet, Badir Shaker Al-Sayyab, who was responsible for the weekly cultural corner in the newspaper.
Manna recalls, “To this day, I feel great sensation as I recall that his fingertips touched my first story (A Cloud of Tears - a true story about Baqofa). Unfortunately, I do not have copy of the novel or the newspaper. I will never forget the list of books he recommended for me to read to improve, supporting my cultural and literary level. My story was endorsed by Al-Sayyab, approved, and was published in the appendix one week before the July 14 revolution in 1958.”
After July 14, 1958, Al-Sha`ab newspaper published only two daily issues, and on the third day a group of Baathists attacked the publishing house, occupied the building, searched and plundered it, stealing everything including the oriental rugs, furniture, celling fans and other valuables. Says Manna, “What they could not steal, they destroyed.”
The newspaper publisher/owner, Yahya Qassim, a wealthy man who drove the only Jaguar automobile in Baghdad at the time and spent most of the year in his summer house in London, was considered pro-royalist and accused of being an English agent, and was imprisoned.
“Terrified by the intimidating attack and curfew, all the working staff stayed on the job and did not leave the building for three days,” remembers Manna. “The Ba’athist attacking group stayed with us for 6 months, until an order was issued by the leader General Qassim to return the printing establishment to its rightful owner, Yahya Qassim.”
The takeover team was made of men that later shaped the destiny of Iraqi politics for decades. Among them was Taqiq Azziz (Iraqi foreign Minister and vice-president) as chief editor, Dr. Sa’adon Hammadi (Prime Minister, Foreign Minister), and Fouad Qazanji. The group changed the name of the newspaper to Al-Thawra - the Revolution.
In conjunction with the confiscation of Al-Shaab newspaper, the Ba’athists did the same with others. Within the first three days of the revolution, they attacked and occupied Al-Akhbar newspaper - The News. Its owner was an Iraqi-Armenian, Gibran Melkoun. Melkoun had brought the latest press machines in Iraq, including the first roll machine.
“Again, the printing press was returned to its Armenian owner after a period,” recalls Manna. “With poor circulation and the economic duress, we worked earning half the normal salary until the newspaper was purchased by the politician Kamel Al-Chaderchi, who published his newspaper Al-Ahali - The People, the voice of the National Democratic Party. The new owner brought in new editors, and I was encouraged to publish some of my literary writings in the literature page.” Says Manna, “I remember one of my favorite articles being about the Lebanese writer and Gibran Khalil Gibran contemporary, May Ziyada.
“With political tension and suspicious militias in many corners, working late and returning home by car had its problems those days,” recalls Manna. “We were frequently stopped by armed men at checkpoints asking for the reason we were together, where we were heading, and if we carried any guns or rifles.” A search in the dark was inevitable. “On one occasion, in Al-Rasheed Street, we were stopped and asked to turn the car lights off. It was pitch dark and there were 6 of us in the small car. The searcher was excited to announce to his group, ‘uh this one is hiding a rifle!’ With guns drawn on us, I shouted ‘Relax, what rifle, you are holding my leg!’”
Mann joined the staff at Farid Al-Ahmar printing press, where most of the weekly newspapers were published, including Al-Hadara - The Civilization, and for a short time Al-Mustaqbal - The Future newspaper, which stopped publishing after February 1963.
“After 1965, I worked in the Kurdish newspaper Al-Ta’akhi - The Brotherhood,” remembers Manna. “Among my obligations was to compile a weekly supplement of 8 pages in the Kurdish language. I did not speak Kurdish so was assigned to accompany me in my work as a translator.” The paper editor-in-chief at that time was Saleh Al-Yousifi, and it remained in circulation until the second Baathist coup in 1968. A few days after the coup, Saleh al-Yousifi was summoned to the Republican Palace, and the newspaper was shut down.
Manna states, “I firmly believe that journalism must serve as watchdog over politicians and those whose power and position most affect citizens. It may also offer a voice to the voiceless. Being an independent monitor of power means watching over the powerful few in society on behalf of the many to guard against governance.
“Journalists have a as a core principle their responsibility to examine unseen corners of society. They must serve as an independent monitor of power,” Manna asserts. “These principles became clearly not applicable or possible in Iraq under the Ba’athist regime. Not long after the 1968 regime change, I decided to leave Iraq for the United States. It was January 1969.”
Issam Bacall, Ghazi Shaffo, Yousif Nadhir, and Fouad Manna
The situation in Iraq
After we circled parts of the world of Fouad Manna and his political interests, we had to pause a little in front of the recent nightmares of Iraq, which seem endless with no hope in sight, so he said:
“I do not hide the joy I had as I witnessed the fall of the Ba’athist regime and collapse of the most notorious dictatorships of the twentieth century,” says Manna. “These were unforgettable moments as the entire world witnessed how the Ba’athists collapsed and took refuge like rats in their holes. At that time, my spirit was lifted, and my soul soared with wishes and hopes for a new free Iraq. I envisioned that finally, the path has opened for Iraq and Iraqis to start a democratic construction and join the advanced nations and become part of the world civilizations. But, uh, my rosy dreams and aspirations were unfortunately closer to imagination than reality.
“Look what happened during the last 18 years of change,” he urges. “The people are fragmented, cities destroyed, massacres and bombings are continuing, the people are divided among themselves, based on ethnic, geographic, and religious sects. The country is led by a group of militias, thieves, and bandits.”
Manna is shocked and disappointed to find the people’s patience and acceptance of this life and their humiliating situation, and their acceptance of the miserable life they live. “There is no justification for this,” he says, “and I would like to add, as a reader of ancient and contemporary history, and being one of the Chaldean Syriac-Assyrian people, it saddens me to discover that the dark genocide days of the Ottoman empire and the massacres we lived through at the hands of the Ottomans, have returned, with greater force, harsher violence and more bloodshed.
“There is no substitute to the establishment of a civil state, the rule of law and constitutional rights that were the drive behind the creative thinking that brought about the great July 14, 1958 revolution,” asserts Manna. “We need to have, freedom, justice, independence, equality and moving away from regional alliances and stop the interference of external players and reactionary regimes. This is not an imagination, but a wish and a hope, because it really expresses the extent of my love for our wonderful people, and to its educated vanguards, the thinkers, the citizens, the working class, including the printing press workers that are part of it!”
Wishes for Iraq
“I hope that Iraq will manage to cross the lines of racism, sectarianism and throw them in the garbage bins of history,” says Manna. “I long for the day that the fate and future of the country will be in the hands of its people and not in the hands of the few non-patriotic agents of neighboring countries. I hope that the good and unfortunate people of Iraq enjoy security and safety.
“And a thousand thanks to everyone who contributes to support freedom of the word and spreads it free around the world!”
Manna has never looked to a day of retirement. He refuses to give up his passion; he decided to buy a smaller printing machine and set it up it in the basement of the house with all his printing supplies.
His determination is etched in the wisdom that “Life is like the game of boxing. The match is not considered finished when the boxer falls to the ground, rather it ends when this boxer refuses to stand up.” He adds, “And as you can see .... I am standing on my feet!”
In part II we will cover Mr. Manna’s journalism journey in the United States.Special acknowledgment for contributions by journalists Kamal Yaldo, Ibrahim Al-Zobaidi, and Dr. Faieq Butti, historic material by Mazin Ayoub, and book by Fouad Manna (Bishop Yacoub Eugene Manna 2016). Thanks to Jacqueline Raxter for additional editing.