Activists and analysts say year-long campaign has had huge social – if little political – impact on Iraq

By Alex MacDonald

In the year since Iraqis took to the streets en masse to protest against unemployment, corruption, foreign interference and a creaking political system, the country has seen major upheavals and societal change – but not necessarily of the sort that the anti-government protesters were calling for.

The period since the beginning of the demonstrations on 1 October 2019 has seen the ousting of prime ministers and prime ministerial candidates, an international proxy conflict spilling over into assassinations, and the outbreak of a deadly pandemic which has pushed Iraq’s healthcare system to the limit.

In all the chaos, there has been little attention paid to the demands put forward by Iraq’s activists, who continue to demonstrate where they can despite being hobbled by the coronavirus and despite the deaths of more 600 of their number since the start of their campaign.

‘Now every Iraqi home and every young woman and young man rejects and knows what the mistakes are and criticises the work of government’
– Ali Khrypt, activist

Ali Khrypt, a Baghdad-based activist who had already been involved in anti-government protests prior to October 2019, said there had been very little in the way of real political change in the last year.

“In my opinion, it did not achieve anything in terms of political reality,” he told Middle East Eye.

“As for the street and the Iraqi youth, it had a great impact. In the past, a small group was rallying to the regime and the devastation that befell the country after the fall of [Saddam Hussein’s] regime – but now every Iraqi home and every young woman and young man rejects and knows what the mistakes are and criticises the work of government.”

On Wednesday evening – as protesters again began to gather in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square to prepare for renewed demonstrations – Iraqi rock band UTN1 released a music video performing the national anthem Mawtini, dedicated to the “memory of the martyrs of the October Revolution”.

Images and photos in the video depicted Safaa al-Saray, Tahseen Osama, Ahmed Mehenna, Riham Yacoub, Hisham al-Hashimi, along with other activists and figures, who are among the hundreds killed and disappeared since the protests began.

Their pictures have adorned the walls of buildings and tents, clothing and banners since October, with anger only mounting against the security services and militiamen whom the protesters hold responsible for the killings.

Read more from the source: Middle East Eye