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Iraq and the Middle Eastby Dr. Abdulrahman Al-khalidy, Ph.D.
This is the recap of a talk given at the July 13, 2003 CDHS monthly meeting.
Our July speaker, Abdulrahman Al-khalidy, PhD., is a Lebanese-American who earned his graduate Engineering degrees in America, and is now working on advanced medical X-ray technology development. He shared with us a personal and historic perspective of "Iraq and the Middle East." He discussed many aspects of Iraq including its history, Hussein's rise to power and his manipulation of the Baath party. Sunni and Shi'i Islam and the ethnic backgrounds of the population were also discussed. Dr. Al-khalidy shared some of his own life experiences to provide examples for the points he made. He explained how cultural and Arab language ties are in some ways more dominant than religious ones. For example, Sudan, Somalia, Egypt, etc. are not historically Arabic, but as the areas were conquered, the populations began speaking Arabic and now are considered Arabs (including Jewish Arabs). Also discussed were the five pillars of Islam, the sacred places, and the major beliefs. The speaker discussed the diversity to be found in Islamic society, not only in different sects, but also ethnically. For example, at the Islamic center in Albany one will meet people of about 40 different nationalities. There was an in-depth question and answer period, including the following topics, with Dr. Al-khalidy's responses: Islamic sects –"12ers" and "7ers"? Shi’i sects - there are sects that believe in the 12 Imams (many of which were underground movements in which the leaders - Imams - were murdered). Some sects believe in up to the first 7 Imams as valid while others believe in all 12. Some of these sects have very different views, such as believing in reincarnation or not believing in the prophet Mohammed. Literacy rate in Iraq? 58% literacy rate is for the overall population. There are poor tribes in the south with lower literacy rates, but there are much higher rates in other areas. For rural and nomadic groups, education is not the highest priority. Among the elite groups, the literacy rate is up to 95%. Who is shooting at the U.S. and British troops? Because of the location of the shootings it isn't likely that the followers of Hussein are responsible. If they were, it would be happening in areas like Tikrit, where the pro-Saddam holdouts are. The speaker feels the shootings are due to the actions of U.S. soldiers which amount to violations of honor. For example, strip searching women at checkpoints. The British troops, since they had ruled that area in the past, have been more able to deal with situations like this, whereas the U.S. has responded to shootings by conducting house searches. If the U.S. wants to show that it is concerned with Iraqi interests, then it needs to sensitize its troops to the values of the local population and avoid actions like placing pro-Israeli officials in positions of power in Iraq. America didn't plan well for relations with the Iraqi population. What do the Shi'is in Iraq identify themselves more closely with - their nationalistic Arabic origins or their Iranian religious connection? They identify more strongly with being Arabs than the shared religious background with Iran (but not too much more). This is because during the whole rulership of Iraq, Arab nationalism was stressed more than religious sectarianism. A lot of tribes have both Shi'is and Sunnis and families have members in both sects. What is happening with Iran? Unless U.S. engages positively and stops the arrogance toward Iran, things will get bad very soon. Iran is in secret as well as known dialogues with the U.S. The "axis of evil" concept did a lot of damage and there is a lot of suspicion in Iran of the religious right's influence on the current U.S. administration. They are very aware of figures like Falwell, etc. and how the religious right is shaping policy. Constant threats from the U.S. is not helpful. Could ignite a lot of trouble for the U.S. in Iran. Does the Arab world want a democracy? Yes, democracy has to happen in the Arab world. Currently, they are oppressed by dictators ruling with an iron fist. However, there are many different ideas of democracy and the type of democracy has to be compatible with the particular culture and value system involved and has to emerge from the population itself, rather than invasion. Women in Islamic world? The Taliban has created a lot of stereotypes. This is not to imply there are no problems for women, but in many Islamic countries there are women in very high political positions and many women who are professionals, elected to parliament, etc. Rules oppressing women have more to do with culture than religion. For example, honor killing can be found in different religions and is tied more to the local culture than the religion. U.S. and democracy? In its dealings with the world, the U.S. has never supported democracy, but rather pursues its own interests and makes ties with brutal dictators. If it really wanted to support democracy it could have enabled the Iraqi people to make it happen on their own. U.S. companies with contracts in Iraq: The money they receive will eventually come back to influence future presidential campaigns.
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