Photo: Protesters in Baghdad held a Palestinian flag and a picture of President Bush.
(Photo: Johan Spanner for The New York Times)
"Iraqis Demand a Response to Attacks in Gaza"
by Eric Owles
Monday, December 29, 2008
See full article on the Web at:
BAGHDAD — Pro-Gaza demonstrations in Iraq are giving Shiite and Sunni sects a common target for their anger and adding to the rising fears of instability in the Middle East. It’s a sharp turnaround from the aftermath of the U.S. invasion when Palestinians were the focus of Shiite death squads here.
Palestinians, many of whom are Sunnis, were once protected in Iraq by Saddam Hussein. Going back to 1948, Iraqis have provided shelter for Palestinians fleeing conflicts. Once Shiites came to power the Palestinian enclaves were heavily targeted. Many were killed and many more attempted to flee the country.
About 1,000 Iraqis protested in Baghdad’s Mustansariya Square today. On Sunday, 1,300 protesters gathered in the center of the northern city of Mosul in a protest organized by the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party. A suicide bomber on a bicycle wounded 16 people, the Associated Press reported. Several hundred people also gathered in Falluja, another city with a majority Sunni population.
The protests began in response to Israeli air strikes in Gaza that have killed more than 300 people. Israel said the strikes were a response to continued mortar fire coming from within Gaza.
Throughout the day we’ll be publishing reaction from around Iraq.
In Baghdad
Abdulhadi al-Mihamdawi, a Sadrist leader, said: “”We have gathered here today – Iraq’s Shiites and Sunnis – to show our solidarity with the Palestinian people that are under a barbarian attack in Gaza. We call upon the Palestinian groups to unite. We call upon the Arab League to interfere to stop this massacre.”
The Shiite-controlled Iraqi parliament released on statement on Sunday:
“Brutal violations are increasing the Palestinian people’s suffering. Bleeding them and destroying their their infrastructure. It is a dangerous precedent by Zionist occupation in dealing with the Palestinian issue and a negative indicator of the peaceful way in Middle East.”
In Falluja
Salam Sadri Jumaili, a 50-year-old agricultural engineer, said: “The Arabic people are with the Palestinian people in general and with the people in Gaza in particular. But the Arabic rulers are not with their people. The Arabic, Islamic and international voices have done nothing, only slogans with no actions.”
Haji Talib Mohammed, a 52-year-old shopkeeper, said: “It is shame to Arab leaders, especially the Egyptian president, because the Israeli minister of state threatened and menaced Palestinian people a few days ago from inside Egyptian lands. I pray to God to bless the martyrs. We in Iraq have forgotten our tragedy and keep thinking about our brothers in Palestine. We the people of Falluja have suffered like Palestinians so we know exactly their feelings and suffering.”
In Mosul
Abdullah Thanoon, a 34-year-old teacher, said: “The silence of the Arab countries is shameful. Now they are planning to hold a summit. Then they will release a statement denouncing the Israeli attacks. A statement is useless where the Palestinians people are bleeding without medicine and food. We have not seen any Arabian ruler charge Israel with its crime … because they are frightened of America and Israel.”
Raad Hamid, a 41-year-old day laborer, said: “What is happening in Gaza is happening in Iraq. Both countries are occupied from the same occupier because Israel is America and vice versa. There is not any word for peace in the dictionary of Israel and America because both of them are intending to keep the military tensions in the region to serve the imperialism agenda.”
Shaker Younes, a 52-year-old government employee, said: “What is happening in the region of wars and destruction is a war against Islam from the west. In Iraq and Palestine especially because Jews and Crusaders are frightened from Islam. They want to destroy Muslims.”
In Najaf
The office of the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the influential Shiite cleric, issued a statement on Sunday which read:
“The Palestinian people in Gaza have been exposed to a savage Israeli attack. Continuous aggressions lead to hundred of victims either martyr or wounded. This savage assault came after a siege against those oppressed people which lasts for months. It has created a difficult humanitarian situation due to lack of food, medicine, fuel and every day needs. Condemning what happened to our Palestinian brothers in Gaza and expressing solidarity with them in words is nothing comparing to their tragedy.”
In Kirkuk
In northern Iraq, where Kurds are a majority of the population, most residents had a more favorable view of Israel before the attacks.
Arza Khale, 24, said: “Before seeing the attack in the TV on Gaza, I was not against Israel, but after what I saw, now I despise Israel and am with the Palestinians in any reaction they might do. I used to believe that Israel and Palestinians could live to gather, but after what I saw in the TV, I believe that it is an impossible request.”
Othman Ahmed, a 29-year-old lawyer, said: “As much as I blame Israel for this unrest, I do blame Hamas as well. They should care about people’s lives and Hamas is practically unable to fight against Israel, no balance between the two forces. Before there was the stone revolution, Palestinians achieved good results in comparing with now. They should rethink again to find a new way of resistance.”
Reporting for this article was contributed by Riyadh Mohammed and Abeer Mohammed in Baghdad and by Iraqi employees for The New York Times in Falluja, Kirkuk, Mosul, Najaf and Sulaimaniya.
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