Iraq and Its Tahrir Square

[This article is a slightly updated and edited translation of the original Arabic version that was posted on Jadaliyya and can be found here.]

Iraq’s absence from the “Egypt Today, Tomorrow the World” map, published a week after the massive demonstration in Egypt on January 25^th and which included the dates of planned demonstrations in different Arab capitals, was striking. The absence was not limited to the dates listed. Iraq as a country was not included. It is as if the absence of protests indicated the absence of the country itself. As if Iraq was not affected by the recent events in Tunisia and Egypt. This conspicuous absence is due to the nature of the present political regime in Iraq, which adopted and institutionalized a sectarian discourse after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Iraq is reminiscent of Lebanon: the sectarian quota system has paralyzed political life. How is it possible to create a united popular initiative when markers like Kurd, Shia, Sunni, and Christian are in circulation and when the word Iraqi does not count?

One of the comments on Facebook about the abovementioned map was: “Why isn’t Iraq on that map???” The reply to this comment read: “A sad question with so many answers.” What makes this question especially sad is Iraq’s secular political history up until Saddam Hussein’s rise to power in 1979. Saddam Hussein banned all open political activity and as a result many groups (e.g., the Dawa Party and the Kurdish parties) were driven underground or flourished in exile (i.e., the U.K., Iran, and Syria). The return of opposition members from exile with the American troops after 2003 has had a devastating impact on Iraqi political life. These figures’ sectarian discourse and their thirst for government positions have led to the marginalization of independent and alternative voices. Given the nature of the political game in Lebanon, a reader may ask “When is such a revolution going to happen in Lebanon?” But not “Where is Lebanon?” However, the story of Iraq is different and its absence from the map cannot be overlooked. For instance, how can a reader not feel sad when she remembers the protest history of Iraq, including the 1920 Revolt, the demonstration that brought down the Portsmouth Treaty and the government in 1948, and the uprisings in the north and the south in 1991?

Iraq is now seen as beyond the pale of the Egyptian Revolution. Demonstrations have happened in Bahrain, Jordan, Libya, Syria, and Yemen. The Yemeni President, Ali Abdullah Saleh announced that he would not seek another term. The Jordanian King Abdullah bin Hussein II sacked the Jordanian prime minister and his cabinet. However, Iraq remained distant from these events until February 5^th when Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced he would not seek a third term after his mandate expires in 2014. He also promised “to donate half of his salary to the treasury in a gesture of solidarity with the poor of Iraq.” Al-Maliki stated that his decisions stem from his commitment to democracy. However, it is not hard to read the effects of the Egyptian Revolution in al-Maliki’s sudden recollection of democracy. The day following al-Maliki’s announcement, demonstrations were held in different cities across Iraq. The people protested against unemployment, high prices, and corruption. It seems like word of al-Maliki’s generous donation did not resonate much with Iraqis. However, these demonstrations remained limited to a few hundred people at most. They were followed by a demonstration in the city of Diwaniyya on February 3^rd, during which the police opened fire on the demonstrators and killed three of them. These events received little attention even in the Iraqi press.

On February 7^th, announcements that “Tahrir Square in Baghdad is getting ready for huge demonstrations” were circulated on many Iraqi websites and Facebook pages. The announcement invited Iraqis to join demonstrations on February 25^th in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square. Some of the slogans included in the announcement were:

Haven’t we had enough silence??

Haven’t we had enough of patience??

Don’t you know we’re like a mule who carries gold but eats thorns?? . . .

Death to a democracy that turns things from bad to worse!! . . .

Death to the democracy of death and beheading!! . . .

Death to a democracy that assassinates the rival pen and the true word!!

Death to the democracy of cancerous walls that have torn apart the body of my beloved Baghdad.”

The announcement ends by addressing the army and the police: We address this call to the military and police. We ask them to protect the homeland and the people … We ask them to be like their brethren in Tunisia and Egypt. We are no longer living in a time of demagogy and fatal weapons but in a time of the pen and the true word that defends the poor. Tell everyone about the day of ‘The Revolution of Iraqi Wrath’ for the sake of change, freedom and true democracy. Change … Change … Change.

This announcement reflects the bankruptcy of the discourse of democracy amid corruption, nepotism, sectarianism, assassinations, murder, separation walls, and dictatorship. Clearly, the political developments in Tunisia and Egypt were an incentive to write this announcement and to call for protests. Addressing the army and the police reflects an awareness of what happened in Tunisia and Egypt. Moreover, the choice of Tahrir Square (sahat al-tahrir) in Baghdad indicates the writers’ identification with Egypt. Midan al-Tahrir in Cairo has become a symbol of the struggle and unity of the people, beyond any political, gender, class, and religious divisions.

However, the significance of Tahrir Square in Baghdad is more than simply the identification with Egypt as it draws on Iraqi history as well. Baghdad’s Tahrir Square includes The Monument of Freedom designed by the prominent Iraqi sculptor, Jawad Salim. The first Iraqi President, Abdul-Karim Qasim, commissioned Salim to build the monument after the July 14^th 1958 Revolution, which ended the monarchy and British rule in Iraq. The monument consists of fourteen bronze pieces. Each piece represents a story in the history of Iraq. These stories are organized into three distinct periods: one before the July 14^th Revolution, the second the day of the Revolution, and third after the Revolution. The first set of pieces portrays the suffering of the poor oppressed people in Iraq and hope amid darkness. The second set includes a political prisoner who is trying to break the bars of a prison, as well as the famous depiction of a solider bursting out chains. This part of the monument refers to the July 14^th Revolution. Finally, the third set of stories revolves around prosperity, freedom, and coexistence in Iraq. Hence, the monument has clear symbolic significance since it conveys the suffering of the Iraqis throughout history. However, this suffering is brought to an end by the prevailing will and unity of the Iraqi people. By including Sumerian and Babylonian symbols, the Tigris and Euphrates, a date palm tree, Arabs and Kurds, Salim stresses the unity of Iraqis and their common history. The selection of Tahrir Square thus has implications beyond the similarity of the name with Midan al-Tahrir in Cairo. The Monument of Freedom emphasizes all Iraqis’ belonging to Iraq regardless of their religious, ethnic, and political differences.

The story of the monument (i.e., the prevalence of the people’s will and the downfall of the monarchy along with the end of the British rule) has direct implications for the current situation in Iraq. Today, Iraq has been under U.S. occupation for over eight years (irrespective of the nominal withdrawal of the U.S. “combat forces”), and the current government takes its orders from Washington. Political sectarianism has rendered any independent political activity nearly impossible. The paradox of demonstrating under the Monument of Freedom will not be lost on Iraqi demonstrators. While the monument was erected in commemoration of the independence of Iraq and the end of colonial rule in the 1950s, the upcoming demonstration in the square on will take place in a divided and occupied Iraq. Still, this call shows a desire to create an inclusive Iraqi political space, dedicated to Iraq and its people, akin to what is being formed in Tunisia and Egypt today.

Over the past several days, however, Iraq has begun to appear on the landscape of demonstrations, particularly in the aftermath of the Egyptian rage over Husni Mubarak’s refusal to step down on February 10^th. Students, professors, and intellectuals held a demonstration in Bagdad’s al-Mutanabi Street (the historical street of bookstores) against corruption and the deterioration of public services. The anger of the people seems to have been sensed by the Iraqi government, which closed down one of the bridges that lead to Tahrir Square in an attempt to prevent the protesters from reaching it from the eastern part of the Tigris. Demonstrators from the western part of the Tigris, demanding the release of detained people and calling for the respect of human rights, managed to reach the square.

Most recently, the news of Husni Mubarak’s resignation has re-kindled hope among Iraqis. Calls for huge demonstrations in Iraq this Friday (February 18^th), instead of February 25^th, are increasing.

Let’s wait and see what Iraq’s Tahrir Square holds for the coming days!

Postscript: Developments are unfolding rapidly as of the translation of this article. Anti-government protests have taken place in Sulaimaniyah, Nassiriyya and Kut. Some people were killed and wounded during clashes with security. See here and here.

For websites that document the demonstrations and protests, see:

http://www.alsumarianews.com/ar/home.html

http://www.ninanews.com/English/index.asp

Iraq Blog Count (experimental)

Iraqi Blog Count

Aswaat al-Iraq (Voices of Iraq)

Niqash