Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

The Shia Community: First Victim of Social Implosion in Iraq

2007; La Découverte; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

1776-2987

Pierre-Jean Luizard,

Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts

Since the 2003 American invasion, Iraq has seen an ongoing social implosion. Along sectarian lines first, this process became general and led to local feuds where crime vies with political or sectarian interests. The evolution of the Shia community is a microcosm of what is widely spreading in the whole Iraqi society. Iraqi Shia share with other Shia in the Muslim world–“with the notable exception of Iran–“the history of a community politically and socially dominated by Sunni rule. They were the first to embark on a process of emancipation which was brutally suppressed by Saddam Hussein's regime–“then allied with the great powers, particularly those of the West facing the Islamic revolution in Iran. But, in 2003, this movement met with the requirements of the American occupation. Iraqi Shia embarked on a sectarian process, which was achieved with the rallying of the Sadrists at the end of 2005 to the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), a Shia coalition built with Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani's blessing. This unification was carried out in the name of the respect of the right of the majority. But being the majority in Iraq is in fact just the reason why Iraqi Shiites faced a process of endless divisions on regional, neighborhood, and tribal bases. The lack of real sovereignty, along with a Lebanese style reconstruction, has condemned all political and religious actors to confront each other on the grounds of sectarian as well as private interests.