open to debate Lecture
open to debate Lecture on Iraq society spurs discussion By Weam Namou Fawzi Dalli and Sayyar Al-Jamil at the event. Dr. Sayyar Al-Jamil sees 1979 as one of the most significant and dangerous years of the 20th century in weakening the structure of the Arab world, not just Iraq. He argued this theory in his book, “The Structure of Generations: A Historical Philosophy of Arab-Muslim Knowledge” (1999), and he argued it at a lecture on October 25 at the Regency Manor in Southfield. “All the standards we were raised on were lessened during this time period,” said Al- Jamil, who has more than 30 years of teaching and research experience at universities in the Arab world, North America and Europe. “We used to be open-minded to culture, to religion, to education. Unfortunately, we were led to where we are now and where we are now is the result of the previous regime.” A resident of Canada, Al-Jamil received his Ph.D. in Modern History of the Middle East from St. Andrews University in the United Kingdom. He has authored more than 25 books and 60 papers in Arabic and English. In 2007, he was elected as a senior counselor of the Iraqi Cultural Council in Jordan and, in 2009, served as an Ambassador of World Peace for the Universal Peace Federation of the United Nations in Toronto. More than 100 attendees listened to his discussion, “A Shift in Iraqi Society in the 20th Century.” Many in the audience questioned Al-Jamil’s analysis on what caused the weakening of Iraq’s structure, especially since he blames much of the current situation on the Iraqi people, not the government. He claims they often react through “discrimination, anger and with a sense of vengeance.” “What messed up the structure of the country is religious sectarianism, not what happened in 1979,” one audience member said. “Crime will naturally rise in any city in the United States or Europe that would experience what cities in Iraq have gone through — the loss of long-term electric power for instance.” “Only after religion is cut off from politics will we have freedom,” said another. “The killing that happened in Iraq is like what happened in Europe between Catholics and Protestants, and it did not stop in Europe until religion was separated from the government.” “I’m not saying that the state is not responsible [for the current conditions] but Iraqis are not angels,” said Al-Jamil. “They get upset very easily and their temper reaches a high peak.” “You considered 1979 as the most dangerous year of the 20th century, but you did not say what happened during that time that made it so,” said writer Nashat Mandwee. “If you are talking about “Democracy does not live in Iraq without freedom. To be able to go into a mosque or a church, to wear what one chooses, that is real freedom.” – Dr. Sayyar Al-Jamil the Iran Revolution, that was outside of Iraq.” “The revolution did not just affect Iran,” responded Al-Jamil. “It also affected Iraq. Other events in 1979 that had an influence on weakening Iraq were Russia’s war against Afghanistan and later its war against Pakistan; Egyptian President Anwar Sadat signing the Egypt-Israel peace treaty; and Saddam rising to power.” Al-Jamil, who said he has not visited Iraq in a long time, said the time period between 2003 and 2009 was a transition between the old and new government. In his opinion, in 2009 the dictatorship in Iraq ended and a new history was established. “Democracy does not live in Iraq without freedom,” he said, “To be able to go into a mosque or a church, to wear what one chooses, that is real freedom.” And yet these were the freedoms available to the Iraqi people prior to the 2003 war. Nidhal Garmo, a pharmacist and president of One World Medical Mission, commented about the lecture. “I don’t see 1979 as the most dangerous year in Iraq,” she said. “The year we’re in right now, 2013, is the worst year. The blood in the streets of Iraq is abnormal. They are wiping Iraq clean. I prefer Saddam, who I hate, over Maliki, who is killing everyone.” Al-Jamil said he tries to remain optimistic and through books, articles and lectures, to encourage the old and new generation of Iraqis to retrieve the country’s previous standards of good morals and mannerisms, which he feels were at their height during the ’50s and ’60s. “I hope Iraqis do not reach execution, a final death where we end up giving up on Iraq and wash our hands of it,” he said. Some of his solutions he cited to help improve Iraq were “Iraqis uniting as one” and “catching terrorists and thugs.” “Listening to his lecture, I thought of a solution, though it may seem too simple,” said poet Dunya Mikhail. “Once I entered a kindergarten classroom and there were rules up on the wall that said, ‘Teacher respects the students and listens to their interests and needs.’ That’s how a leader should be. The Iraqi government should follow the rules of this kindergarten class.” The scenario would resemble the classroom, she said, in that the constitution is the rules placed by the teacher, the government is the teacher and the people are the students. “People in Iraq need to feel respected first before they can transform as a society,” said Mikhail. 28 CHALDEAN NEWS DECEMBER 2013
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