A Kurd’s Journey to Baghdad: Accepting Our Differences

by Mahdi Murad

It was in March 2011 when I visited Baghdad for the first time in my life, even though I grew up only 300 kilometres north of the city. As an Iraqi Kurd, a member of a group that is ethnically and linguistically distinct from Iraqi Arabs, I live in the northern city of Sulaimani, which is part of the semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan Region. Because of the ethnic and religious conflicts that have torn Iraq apart over the past decade, Iraqis from the Kurdish region rarely venture to the South of the country.

Not surprisingly, when I first arrived in Baghdad, I expected to be killed by a car bomb or kidnapped by an unknown group at any moment. I was scared. My Arabic was not good, and I refused to speak English for fear that my chances of being kidnapped would triple. It was easy for people to tell that I was not an Arab because of my hairstyle, clothes, skin colour, and demeanour. That was the first time I realized how different Arabs and Kurds, the two biggest populations in Iraq, are from each other in many respects.

However, my fears began to dissipate as soon as a friend from the city invited me to his family’s home. Ali Faruq and I attended the same university in the Kurdish region, the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS). One night in his home in Baghdad with his family taught me how nice we Iraqis can be toward each other.

Mahdi Murad hands out banners for International Tolerance Day 2013. Photo credit: AUIS Communication Department.

Ali did more than what my own parents would have done in such circumstances. While I knew he would offer some help while I was in Baghdad, I would never have expected such amazing hospitality. That experience encouraged me to do whatever I could to help Iraqis, especially young people, bridge their differences and forget about the stereotypes in the media that have driven the country into a world of conflict.

I revisited the South many times after my first trip to Baghdad, trying to understand what kind of people we Iraqis are and how willing we would be to come together and accept our differences. I was more encouraged each time I visited a place in the South and was delighted to discover how friendly and respectful people were all over Iraq.

My experiences travelling across the country showed me that Iraq has succumbed to religious and ethnic conflict for two main reasons. First, many Iraqi politicians will do whatever it takes to win elections and secure their seats in the government for as long as possible, with little regard for improving the country. They have more interest in the money that could flow into their bank accounts than they do in their constituents.

I promised myself that I would create an environment where all Iraqis could take pride in their differences.

One of my new friends in the South showed me how a politician’s actions can incite conflict. He told me, “One of the parliamentary candidates came to me and asked me to vote for him. I asked why I should, and he replied that he would do whatever he could to kick out as many Sunni and Kurdish Parliament members as possible during his term.” My friend’s story, of course, shocked me but also offered me insight into the negative impact that Iraqi politics can have on the country’s unity.

The second reason for the significant conflict in Iraq, in my opinion, is that there is a lack of trust among the Iraqi people. For example, Iraqis do not feel free to publicly identify themselves as Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds, or anything else for fear of being hated or even killed because of their identity. I realized that Iraqis need a place where they can comfortably and proudly claim their ethnic and religious affiliations. I promised myself that I would create an environment where all Iraqis could take pride in their differences, rather than fearing the repercussions.

SAP-AUIS organizes a walk for International Tolerance Day 2013. Photo Credit: AUIS Communication Department.

In 2013, I founded at AUIS the first Iraqi chapter of the Student Ambassadors for Peace (SAP), an organization whose mission is “to bring peace by involving young people at all levels.” AUIS was an ideal location for the chapter. The university has students from almost all of the Iraqi provinces and is considered the most diverse and accepting community in the country.

At our first event, a celebration of International Tolerance Day, AUIS students and faculty stood together as Kurds, Arabs, Sunnis, Shiites, and other minorities, holding banners that proclaimed, “Peace,” “Love,” “Equality,” “Freedom,” “No to Racism,” “No to Dictatorship,” and “No to Violence and Hatred.” Together, they chanted the slogans, offering a harmonic environment of peace and love.

Many students came up to us, the SAP-AUIS Chapter members, and asked for banners. It was an amazing feeling to see students all over the campus holding those banners and taking pictures with them. Moreover, the positive feedback I received after posting pictures of the event to Facebook encouraged me to expand my vision for SAP and to work to establish SAP chapters in as many universities in Kurdistan and Iraq as possible, a goal which I am currently pursuing.

In a very diverse society like Iraq, initiatives like SAP offer an alternative to violence for securing our rights. It doesn’t matter how our parents and ancestors acted in the past. They might have fought and even killed each other because that was the way to live at that time.

Today, as the youth community, we need to tell those among the older generation who believe that “violence can be solved only through violence” that only peace will solve our problems. It is our responsibility as a young community in Iraq and Kurdistan to join our hands together and correct the mistakes that our politicians are making. We need to join our hands to bring a better life for our country.

We, the people of Kurdistan and all other provinces in Iraq, deserve a much better life than we have now. We need to find ways to deliver our beloved country from issues like poverty, corruption, and insecurity. We can do it, but only if we accept each other with our religious and ethnic differences. So, I invite every peace-lover in Kurdistan and Iraq to join me and help to build a future for our country based on dialogue and acceptance.

Mahdi Murad graduated from the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS) with a degree in Business Administration. He currently works as a sales supervisor at Bahar Group of Companies in Sulaimani, Kurdistan, Iraq and acts as the International Officer of the Student Ambassadors for Peace-Iraq Chapter.

The Student Ambassadors for Peace (SAP)-Iraq Chapter is one of many SAP chapters around the world. SAP is a non-governmental, non­partisan organization created to represent and empower students globally. It provides resources, forums, and other tools through which students can educate themselves about the issues affecting humanity, discuss these issues with their peers from around the world, and translate their views and ideas for addressing these issues into meaningful actions. In addition, SAP serves as a useful forum for the youth to voice their views about a range of national and international issues.

You can learn more about SAP here. To get connected with the SAP-Iraq Chapter, e-mailmahdimurad2014@gmail.com or join the Chapter’s Facebook group.

 Source: Beyond The Bombs www.btbombs.com