Hundreds of Iraqis marched in the centre of Baghdad on Friday to mark two years since mass anti-government protests calling for reforms erupted in the Iraqi capital and southern provinces.
About 1,000 protesters took part in the event, including a significant number of women, many carrying photos of loved ones who were killed by security forces during the protests.
The commemoration comes a week before Iraq plans holds early elections, which had been a key demand of tens of thousands of protesters who thronged the streets and public squares from October 2019 until early 2020.
Demonstrators, mostly young people, had camped out in the capital’s Tahrir Square for months, decrying endemic corruption, poor services and unemployment.
The movement petered out owing to the government’s heavy-handed response and the coronavirus pandemic. More than 600 people died as security forces used live ammunition and tear gas to disperse crowds.
Now, many in the protest movement are calling for a boycott of the elections, scheduled for October 10, convinced that nothing will change.
They are protesting, in particular, against a string of targeted killings against civil society groups and outspoken activists for which no one has been held accountable. The killings have created a climate of fear and widespread reluctance to take part in the voting, particularly among young Iraqis who constitute the largest group of voters in Iraq.
“I am against participating in these elections because they are meaningless. It’s the same parties in power and nothing will change,” said Walid Al Madani, 39, a civil servant taking part in Friday’s protest.
Hundreds of riot police and federal policemen fanned out in Baghdad before the planned march.
“We don’t want a paradise, we want a nation,” read one of the banners carried by protesters, who gathered on Friday at Fardous Square and marched towards Tahrir Square.
Another banner read: “You will not silence the voice of Tishreen,” Arabic for October, which is how Iraqis refer to the protest movement.
Kathryn Hawkes of House of Hawkes on being a good guest (because we’ve all had bad ones)
- Arrive with a thank you gift, or make sure you have one for your host by the time you leave.
- Offer to buy groceries, cook them a meal or take your hosts out for dinner.
- Help out around the house.
- Entertain yourself so that your hosts don’t feel that they constantly need to.
- Leave no trace of your stay – if you’ve borrowed a book, return it to where you found it.
- Offer to strip the bed before you go.
Results
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Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
