Skip to main content

Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Black Iraqis claim discrimination

Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Black Iraqis claim discrimination: "Black Iraqis in the southern province of Basra are complaining of discrimination, saying they are not fairly represented in the state.

African Iraqis have lived in the country for centuries and now number more than one million.

Many of them are descendants of African slaves brought to Iraq. Many Iraqis still refer to them by their ancestral name, abeed - meaning slaves.

Salem Shaaban is a member of the Free Movement of Iraqis, advocating more rights for African Iraqis.

He says black people in Iraq feel there is a tradition of discrimination against them in the society.

'For example when two people fight in the street and one is black and the other is white, they say X had a fight with the slave. It really hurts.'"

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Israeli school segregated Ethiopian students » Ethiopian Review

Israeli school segregated Ethiopian students » Ethiopian Review : "The placement of four Ethiopian girls in a separate class from their peers at a Petah Tikva grade school has sparked accusations of segregation on Tuesday morning following a report in Yediot Aharonot. According to ‘Hamerhav’ principal, Rabbi Yeshiyahu Granvich, complete integration of the girls was impossible. The reason being, said municipal workers, was that the students were not observant enough, nor did their families belong to the national-religious movement that the school was founded upon. Among the differences in the daily school life of the girls, a single teacher was responsible to teach them all of their subjects. Worse yet, the four were allotted separate recess hours and were driven to and from school separately. Such action has been labeled by observers as “apartheid.”"

McClatchy Washington Bureau | 01/13/2009 | Poll: American public backs Israel firmly in war with Hamas

McClatchy Washington Bureau | 01/13/2009 | Poll: American public backs Israel firmly in war with Hamas : "WASHINGTON — As Palestinian casualties mount in the Gaza Strip, the American people are squarely behind Israel and overwhelmingly think that using force against Hamas is appropriate, according to a new McClatchy/Ipsos poll. Forty-four percent of Americans support Israel's use of force, while only 18 percent considered Hamas' use of force appropriate. Fifty-seven percent think that Hamas is using excessive force, while only 36 percent said Israel was. Nearly 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the violence — soldiers and civilians — and at least nine Israeli soldiers and four civilians have died. When it comes to who's to blame for the latest Middle East crisis, Americans blame Hamas hands down: Forty-four percent said Hamas, 14 percent said Israel and 29 percent said they weren't sure. Nine percent said both, and 4 percent said neither."