Christians and other non-Sunni Muslims from Mosul, northern Iraq,
waiting to return after their city’s liberation from Islamic State is
completed, may have many years to wait, and their chances of doing so
depend on the actions of the Iraqi Government, a leading researcher has
warned.
Charlie Winter, senior research fellow at the International Centre
for Radicalisation Studies at King’s College, London, said that Islamic
State in its propaganda had “audaciously” likened Mosul to the Saudi
city of Medina in the days of Muhammad. (In 622 AD, Muhammad left Mecca
for Medina after hearing of a plot to assassinate him.)
Speaking in London on 25 Jan., Winter said “there is no such thing as
a post-IS world” and added that ideological measures will be needed
after military victory is achieved, to address ongoing levels of
sympathy for the group and its supremacist aims.
Asked what measures would be necessary for the city’s diverse
non-Muslim communities to return to Mosul, he replied that it’s vital
that the Shia-led Iraqi Government shows they care about the population
who lived under the group’s occupation, and rebuild what was lost.
The rise of IS came amidst disaffection among Iraqi Sunnis, which
increased during the premiership of Nouri al-Maliki, who centralised
power around himself.
“The best way to inoculate territories the Islamic State has held for
a long time is trying to return to normal – not ignoring what has
happened, but trying to re-establish services’ provision, repopulate
areas, get people talking to each other again, get trade going again,
take back to these territories everything that was lost over the last
few years,” Winter said.
He added that the city’s civilian population is now “less supportive” than it used to be.
However, Mr. Winter warned that if the Iraqi Government continues to
fail to look beyond sectarian divisions and provide for its citizens
equally, stability will be “many, many years” away. He said he believes
IS will be defeated in western Mosul in the next few months, but that it
will focus on insurgency tactics to undermine Baghdad and “salvage some
sort of momentum” for the group.
He was also sharply critical of US President Donald Trump’s
pre-election pledge to “bomb the hell out of ISIS”. He suggested that
believing the problem requires only a military response is “damaging”
and will be exacerbated by a “foolish and naïve and superficial”
understanding of the issue.
The Middle East Advocacy Coordinator for global charity Open Doors,
which supports Christians under pressure for their faith around the
world, said: “Open Doors believes that equal citizenship, dignity in
different aspects of life and enhanced and inclusive peace and
reconciliation efforts – which give faith-based organisations a leading
role – are the key three elements for achieving sustainable peace in
Mosul and Nineveh.”
‘Iraq needs Christians’
Open Doors, with others, produced a detailed report
on the vital contribution that Christians make in Iraq (and Syria). The
report’s coordinator, who did not wish to be named, said: “We need
recognition for the vital role of the Church in rebuilding and
reconciliation… Maintaining the presence of Christians is not only about
them; it is for the good of society as a whole. In the reports and
research we’ve conducted, we have mapped, in a way, all the
contributions Christians have given to Iraq.”
The report begins: “When Christianity spread across what we now call
the Middle East and we see that since then until now Christians have
contributed to societies in literacy, in health, in translating and
contributing to the Arabic language. Some of the best early centres of
learning in the world were founded by Christians. Christians were among
the first to introduce charitable works and NGOs. We see them involved
in politics, and in the development of the Iraqi state. Christians are
among the most well-known business people. And in the future Christians,
alongside other numerical minorities, are vitally important for the
stability of [Iraq]. Policy-makers and researchers agree that we need to
maintain diversity in order to counter extremism and radicalisation. We
need diversity to ensure sustainable peace and lasting stability in the
Middle East.”