BRIEF BIOGRAPHY:

Mohammad Jaza (1949-2010), better known as Hama Jaza, was a much respected singer and songwriter from Suleimaniyah in northern Iraq (Kurdish Regional Government). In the Çayhane Sha’ab [People’s Teahouse] in Suleimaniyah, which is the gathering place for intellectuals, writers, politicians, poets and actors, his portrait is one of the largest and occupies pride of place.

Other photographs show him in the mountains, with an assault rifle at his side. In 1969 Jaza joined Kurdish liberation movement, and he spent many years in the mountains of Kurdistan as a peshmerga, the name given to the guerrilla fighters who fought Saddam Hussein and laid the basis for the present Kurdish regional government of northern Iraq. He became famous in the 1970s for his patriotic songs that supported the Kurdish resistance. He continued his activity as both fighter and artist before then fleeing with his family to Denmark, as refugees. There he continued singing. He performed in several European countries, Canada, and the USA.

In 1991, after the Kurdish Uprising against Saddam Hussein, Hama Jaza returned from Denmark to live in Suleimaniyah. Twenty years later, in 2010, he died (of cancer), at the age of 61. His funeral was a huge affair, with thousands lining the streets of his native city.

His songs, dating back to the 1980s, are patriotic songs for the liberation of Kurdistan. Including one song “Ho kaki peshmerga” which is an anthem for the Kurdish fighting forces, and another, “Matarezi Sharaf “, a political song or anthem recorded with the Shahid Karzan Band in 1980-3.

He is also a major exponent of the Kurdish art of song known as “Maqam”, which only a few singers are capable of performing successfully. He was particularly well-known for his traditional songs called ‘Lawanawa’

One of his daughters, Khandan Hama Jaza, went into exile in Germany in 2010 after having written “An Ocean of Crimes” (2007), an investigation into the lives of scores of women who were abused in the sex industry with the involvement of Kurdish officials in the police and security forces. [1]