• Tensions and distrust between Kurds and Arabs rising in northern Iraq; some Kurds prevent their Arab
    14 replies, posted
[quote]Along the parched, dusty roads in and around the northern Iraqi town of Makhmour, tensions seethe between Arabs and Kurds, who once lived as neighbours here. Nearly a year has passed since Kurdish Peshmerga forces wrestled the town back from fighters with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who claimed Makhmour for a few short days last August. But when residents who had fled the fighting began returning home, it was to a different town. [B]Kurdish officials reportedly refused re-entry to Arab residents, while a number of Arab homes were allegedly torched and looted by Kurdish neighbours who suspected them of supporting ISIL.[/B] Still today, a year after ISIL's lighting advances through Iraq and amid a grinding conflict that threatens to drag on indefinitely, [B]some Kurdish residents maintain that their Arab neighbours are no longer welcome.[/B] "I don't want to see any Arabs. It's better to leave them in Erbil," local business owner Tahir Ahmed told Al Jazeera on one of the crumbling streets in downtown Makhmour. [B]"When they come to this place, the tensions start."[/B] Of the 27,000 people who lived in the town of Makhmour before the ISIL invasion, about 17,000 returned following its liberation last August, Mayor Ibrahim Shekhalla told Al Jazeera. [B]But of the town's approximately 1,000 Arab residents, he does not believe any have returned home to live, although some still come to work in Makhmour, located between ISIL-held Mosul and Peshmerga-controlled Kirkuk.[/B] There is a front line just 12km from Makhmour's city hall. Shekhalla does not accept the premise that Arabs have been effectively pushed out of the town. "It's not exactly like that," he told Al Jazeera from inside his city hall office, which was briefly occupied by ISIL[/quote] [url]http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/06/tension-mounts-iraqi-arabs-kurds-150608062817891.html[/url]
Fucking disgusting. What a bunch of cocksuckers.
[QUOTE=EskillV2;47918096]Fucking disgusting. What a bunch of cocksuckers.[/QUOTE] Not that i'm condoning they're actions because i'm not, but can you honestly blame them after what they've been through?
While the Arabs being evicted out of their homes aren't responsible for their people as a whole, Arabs in general have been pretty ok with Kurds being butchered and oppressed for a while now so it's difficult to fault the Kurds for not trusting people who have routinely stabbed them in the back.
I love how forcibly evicting people into a warzone and other such crimes on the basis of racism is fine now because it's the Kurds doing it.
[QUOTE=ThePinkPanzer;47918256]I love how forcibly evicting people into a warzone and other such crimes on the basis of racism is fine now because it's the Kurds doing it.[/QUOTE] The biggest irony is that Saddam forcibly removed Kurds from many towns, including Mosul, in northern Iraq to the northeast corner of the country over the decades of his rule.
I remember when people here thought the Kurds would be the saviors of the Middle-East, and not yet another extremist group.
[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;47918607]I remember when people here thought the Kurds would be the saviors of the Middle-East, and not yet another extremist group.[/QUOTE] It's not an extremist practice to do this. It's standard operating procedure for the various factions in Iraq and Syria right now.
Hopefully this won't escalate otherwise the Kurds could lose their friendliest neighbor. Also it could start a war the Kurds cannot win. They'd be landlocked with no friendly neighbors.
[quote]Shekhalla does not accept the premise that Arabs have been effectively pushed out of the town. "It's not exactly like that," he told Al Jazeera from inside his city hall office, which was briefly occupied by ISIL during the group's takeover. "We have some areas that we cannot accept any kind of civilians [because] they are front-line areas… We don't have Arabs or Kurds there." Once these areas are stabilised, he added, "all are welcome to come back to their homes". While he acknowledged that some Kurdish residents may view their Arab neighbours as a threat, Shekhalla added: "It's normal in this area to find [such] tensions … and during the war it increases." Indeed, the tensions in Makhmour intensified after ISIL invaded and half of the town's Arab residents chose to stay rather than flee, Ahmed said. This was taken as a sign that they were siding with ISIL over their own neighbours. "[In the past] they showed cooperation and backed us, but when the conflict started, they turned their backs on us," local police officer Abdullah Karim told Al Jazeera, noting some Arab families who supported ISIL attacked Kurdish security forces as they attempted to wrestle back control of Makhmour. "We got attacked by ISIL at the front-lines and by [our Arab neighbours] from the back."[/quote] [quote]Mohammad Soltan, a 28-year-old construction worker who fled Makhmour during the ISIL invasion and now lives in nearby Debaga, points out that it is a mistake to paint all Arabs with the same brush. "I am sad and angry when this happens," Soltan told Al Jazeera, adding that while there may have been some Arab families in Makhmour who supported ISIL, others remained behind after the group's invasion because they had no viable exit strategy, or because they were threatened with death. "We are all worried. We don't feel very safe," he said. "We've always had a perfect relationship with the Kurds. I'm not worried about what people say; I’m worried about attacks from mortars, about ISIL coming back… I really want to go back home, but I’m waiting until it's safe."[/quote] [quote]Mohammed Aziz, a former Iraqi army officer who is also living at the Debaga camp, said Kurdish leaders have promised them they will be able to return home once the areas are deemed safe again. "They have given us their word, [so] I don't care what other people say," Aziz noted.[/quote] reading hard, knee-jerk reaction easy
Its still really amazing how people can still live in what amounts to a warzone between two armies
[QUOTE=orgornot;47918837]Hopefully this won't escalate otherwise the Kurds could lose their friendliest neighbor. Also it could start a war the Kurds cannot win. They'd be landlocked with no friendly neighbors.[/QUOTE] let's see if they get a country before jumping to hypothetical war
[QUOTE=Source;47918129]Not that i'm condoning they're actions because i'm not, but can you honestly blame them after what they've been through?[/QUOTE] Yes?
Positioning themselves for independance no doubt.
Just because they fight ISIS doesn't mean they're angels. They're lesser of two evils. [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurdish_Hezbollah[/url] [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurdistan_Workers%27_Party[/url]
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.