(2021) Second Place: Tishreen Revolution: Fighting for Iraq’s Future
(2021) Second Place: Tishreen Revolution: Fighting for Iraq’s Future
By Anastasia English
The screen of my phone is filled with the darkest black I have ever seen–endless engulfing ink–unusual given the time of night; the streetlights should be on. Something is wrong. My chest tightens and anxiety grips me. The slightest movement, maybe the turn of a corner, reveals an inferno. A brilliant contrast of orange, yellow and red flames burst into the night sky, fingers of flame grasping for purchase in the abyss. I imagine the smell of burning fabric. I feel the heat, almost hear the crackling of the flames. Relatively quiet up until now, suddenly yelling explodes from the phone speaker. I hear a phrase most Americans are familiar with, although probably discriminatorily. A man’s voice choked with emotion yells “Allahu Akbar!” This popular phrase that is commonly associated with terrorists, in this context, is like an American saying, “Oh my God!” On January 26th, 2020, when people were flooding social media with the news that Kobe Bryant had been killed in a helicopter crash, I was sitting on my couch frantically trying to contact my family in Iraq as I watched the tents, they had been staying in at the protest site be completely consumed by fire. There is a revolution happening in Iraq right now. To understand what led up to the events in Nasiriyah, where my in-laws in Iraq live, one must go back to October 2019, in truth, even further, to 1991, but more about that later.
Sixty percent of Iraq’s population are twenty-four years old or younger (indexmundi.com). Undoubtedly, the youth of the protest has infused the uprising with its momentum. Young Iraqis who have lived the entirety of their lives under the banners of war, bloodshed, and misery demand change from their government, and their passion for the cause keeps the wheels turning. It is not just the men who are protesting. Women are also taking to the streets, demanding that their voices be an integral part of this movement too. This is a relatively new thing for Iraq. My brother-in-law Ammar sends me pictures of his two little girls at the protests with him, the flag of Iraq painted on their faces. Students also joined the demonstrators. Medical school students transform the roads into a river of white doctors’ coats. My nephew Ali is a pharmacy student. He was drawn to the protests by his professor. These young people are mixing in a way that has not been seen in Iraq for a long time. Men and women marching together. Shia, Sunni, and Christian–a sign that young Iraqis are ready to shed the divisions of the past and move forward as a collective people sharing a country. A Christmas tree ornamented with pictures of the martyrs was put up in Tahrir Square and still stands today, a touching tribute from the Christians of Iraq and a clear symbol of solidarity.
The first leg of this journey was short, lasting only a week. Every year in Iraq there is a pilgrimage, one of the biggest in the world, wh