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Iraq’s Identity Crisis in Symbols

In an increasingly divided Iraq, disputes have broken out regarding the use of photography and symbolism that reinforces sectarian, rather than national, affiliations.
Women hold posters of Shi'ite Iranian cleric Ayatollah Khomeini to commemorate the Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day and to show support for the Palestinians, during a rally in Basra, 550 km (340 miles) south of Baghdad, October 20, 2006.    REUTERS/Atef Hassan   (IRAQ) - RTR1IIUAi
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Iraq's ongoing conflicts are often linked to religious identities. Given the religious nature of these conflicts, the importance of icons, symbols and photographs are certain to emerge more prominently than at other times. Each of the conflicting parties tries to preserve its identity by creating a range of signs — particularly photographs — and by attacking the symbols of other parties. In this climate, a photo of a religious leader or political figure will no longer be just a photo. Rather, it will reflect the identity of the entire sect or party. It is within this context that one can understand the sharp conflict between Iraqi members of parliament over raising photographs of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and Ayatollah Khamenei in the streets of Baghdad.

Hermeneutically, these photographs represent the conflict between religious identities in Iraq. When a Shiite group raises such photographs to protest against the country's mounting challenges, in the midst of sectarian conflict, Arab Sunnis see it as a declaration of the fall of Arabism in Iraq and the revocation of the project of an independent Iraq. The verbal and physical altercation that took place in the Iraqi parliament in August 2013 over photographs of Iranian leaders displayed in Baghdad was not a simple political dispute between two blocs that have different political orientations. Instead, it reflects the standing conflict between religious identities in the country.

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