Su suggerimento e a cura di @Pilip G. Tripud

In Iraq ci sono più di un milione e mezzo di persone di antica discendenza africana. L’introduzione di schiavi dall’africa, soprattuto per la produzione agricola nell’Iraq meridionale e per scopi militari, risale almeno alla metà del VII secolo.

Un’intervista a Salem Shaaban, leader del movimento Ansar al-Hurriya, parla del difficile lavoro del suo movimento per dare una rappresentanza politica agli afro-iracheni nel difficile contesto politco iracheno:

“During the 2010 provincial elections in Basra, I was nominated to run, along with other members of the Movement of Free Iraqis. I think that because I am a well known athlete in Iraq I was able to win a lot of votes. I was an Iraqi boxing champion in the 1970s. My colleagues also won votes but none of us were able to get an actual seat on the provincial council. Other parties in Basra have a lot more resources and did a lot of campaigning as well as distributing money and aid to voters. We were unable to offer anything except our electoral promises”.

Su e sul sito di notizie curdo-iracheno Rudaw si possono leggere anche altre dichiarazioni favorevoli e contrarie alla politica promossa da Ansar al-Hurriyya:

Political analyst Muhammad Faisal believes that groups like Ansar are inciting greater divisions in Iraq for personal political gain.
“They forget that dark skinned individuals are Iraqis who are integrated into society and people consider them brothers and regard them as equals,” he says.
“Whatever the color and features of citizens, they are all equal in this country and must gain their rights as deserved,” according to Faysal.

Su al-Monitor si può trovare un articolo più approfondito, linkato anche nell’intervista di Niqash a Salem Shaaban.

 

Immagine di The U.S. Army via Flickr, CC BY 2.0