The New World – Saman Dawoud
A forum titled (The State and Society in Iraq 1921-2021) was organized
under the cooperation of The European Community of Religions, The
French Institution in Iraq and Masarat in Paris as a part of the activities
of the cultural week in Paris.
The forum includes many sectors, the most notable being: how
connected the country is to diversity, diversity challenges and
management, violence, ethnic cleansing, and the possible ways to help
the country out of the current political deadlock.
The forum started with an opening statement from The European
Community of Religions, which was read by Mujtaba Al-hillo and
introduced the Iraqi delegation members of diplomats, academics and
men of religion who participated in this event. The head of Masarat
institution Saad Salloum talked about the experience of diversity
management in modern Iraq through a hundred years and developing
a new experience that is based on acknowledging Iraq as a country of
diverse religions, sects, and nationalities after 2003. While the head of
iReMMO Jean-Paul Chagnollaud compared the development of France
after the end of the 2nd world war and Iraq after the American
occupation. On another side, the dean of the Faculty of Political
Science at Mustansiriyah University Khalid Abdullah made a statement
about the history of Iraq going through both American and British
occupations. He also assured that the attempt of rebuilding the
the country faced many challenges of terrorism and as well as the
the intervention of neighboring countries that hampered Iraq to be set in
the region as an example of a developed country.
Next, the manager of The Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies
in Paris, Salam Al-kawakabi talked about the challenge of recreating
democratic connections between Iraq and Syria. Lastly, the
Ambassador and the diplomat at the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Hisham Alalawi addressed the obstacles Iraq had to face to rebuild
democracy. Moreover, he said that democracy-building and good
governance was promoted in Europe and France taking centuries to
be settled, and it is not completely fair to make a comparison with the
Iraqi experience due to the situation of war, occupation terrorism and
violence the country had to deal with in a very short period of time.
Then, Alalawi stated that the Iraqi experience can be a great example
for the region.
Later, the former manager of the French Cultural Center in Baghdad
mentioned his experience of being in Baghdad for decades since he
finished his studies at Mosul University in 1955 up to later when he
was given the position of manager of the French Cultural Center in
Baghdad in 1968 all up to his late visit to Baghdad a few years ago.
Next, the poet and Islamic scholar Mohanad Jamal Alddine read a
poem and next, he made a speech addressing Iraq’s cultural role and
its message of humanity and spirituality describes Iraq as the starting
place of divine religions. Before ending the forum, the head of The
Cystic Fibrosis Research Institution in Iraq (CFRI) assured the
importance of getting the elite of both Iraqi and French participants to
discuss the future of Iraq and the regional countries and develop the
support in the field of academic searching to get a better
understanding of the communities in the Middle East and particularly
in Iraq.
