By Lidia Qattan
When on the 17th of January the Gulf War was implemented and the bombarding on Baghdad began hitting strategic military targets, Nader and his companions caught in the middle of the firing were at once apprehensive and excited.
The exhilaration amounted with each successive stage of the war; till their joy intensified when it was announced on the radio that Kuwait was free.
In the excitement and jubilation hearts melted, the men wept with a strong sense of relief and ecstatic joy; but in the aftermath there was uneasiness at the camp, for no one knew what to expect from the Iraqi dictator, who in spite of his crushing defeat was bragging of victory.
Nader and his companions only felt relieved when on the 13th of March officials of the World Red Cross came to them; to each prisoner was given a number.On the 27th of March Naser and his companions were on their way home. At Oror in Saudi Arabia they were given a quick physical check-up, underwent some formalities and finally they were entering Kuwait.
From the frontier they were horrified to see such an appalling devastation of the countryside everywhere; from the media and other accounts they knew what to expect, but seeing the actual inferno through which they were passing made their heart recoil in anger and dismay, wondering how long it would take teams of fire-extinguishing experts to extinguish such a raging inferno of flames and toxic fumes rising from the burning oil-field, they were also wondering what they would find at home.
Lidia Qattan
When at the meeting place Nader saw his wife and children running towards him, all the anguish and distressing thoughts vaporized; in that moment of intense joy nothing mattered, he felt reborn with a new sense of purpose, ready to face the new day leaving the past behind as a memory, an experience his people could learn from, for it tested their solidarity and resiliency in critical times.
At his return home Nader was granted nine months leave for rehabilitation; he took advantage of his free time to paint, preparing for his first exhibition, scheduled for April 1992.
His exhibition “Diary of a prisoner of war”, consisting of drawings and portraits he made during his captivity, was an introspective insight into the life of POWs in Iraq captured in the mood of the men in their struggle to maintain self-orientation and purpose to live.
With creative skill Nader imbued his simple drawing with grave reflections infused with emotion and feelings; among the paintings “Liberation Day”, a beautiful symbolic work reminiscent of the new school,” Circlism” he revealed his deep probing mind.