As Baghdad recovers from years of conflict, so too does its love of literature

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Last year, avid readers flocked to the third annual Iraq International Book Fair. It was the largest and most global version of the event to date, featuring about 800,000 books from 350 Iraqi and international publishers representing 20 countries. (Ziyad Matti)
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Updated 14 March 2023
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As Baghdad recovers from years of conflict, so too does its love of literature

  • Books have long been a crucial part of Iraq’s intellectual life that endures to this day, despite ongoing crises
  • The recently restored Al-Mutanabbi Street is renowned for its booksellers, coffee shops and intellectual scene

BAGHDAD: An old adage about Arabic books claims that “Cairo writes, Beirut prints and Baghdad reads.” While this might not entirely be the case today, the last part of the famous phrase still holds true — Iraqis love to read.

Buying, reading and discussing books have long been a crucial part of Iraqi intellectual life that endures to this day, notwithstanding the country’s political ups and downs.

“Books allow us to escape,” Fatimah Jihad, foreign rights manager for Al-Mada Group for Media, Culture and Art, told Arab News. “No matter what happens in the country, there is a great desire to keep the culture of books and literature alive.”




A group of Iraqi children get an early initiation on reading during a book fair in Baghdad. (Supplied)

That is not to say that there have not been great challenges, however.

“Because of the wars, armed militias and the fighting inside Iraq, literature and education have taken a back seat, with people not as keen to educate themselves and to gain knowledge as they used to be,” Aqeel Al-Khrayfawee, an Iraqi archaeological researcher and academic, told Arab News.

“Due to lack of support from the government, the selling, buying and even writing of books has decreased.”




Literature and education have taken a back seat in Iraq as a result of the wars that have visited the country in the past two decades. (Supplied)

However, a number of mostly privately organized initiatives over the past decade across Iraq have been trying to revive this crucial part of Iraqi heritage at a time when traditional bookstores all around the world are increasingly under threat.

At the end of last year, Al-Saqi Books, which was London’s first Arabic bookstore, closed its doors after 44 years of operation.

“It’s been incredible but we have just had to face the facts and realities of the situation: There were just a few too many challenges,” Lynn Gaspard, the daughter of one of Al-Saqi’s two founders, told Arab News in December.




Lynn Gaspard: There were just a few too many challenges. (Supplied)

That same month, thousands of Iraqis and foreigners flocked to the famed Al-Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad. Named after the Abbassid-era poet Abu Al-Tayeb Al-Mutanabbi, the street has long been renowned for its booksellers, coffee shops and intellectual scene.

The street, which still bears the scars of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, and a car bomb attack in 2007 that killed 30 people and wounded 60, reopened in December 2021 after it was renovated by the Iraqi Private Banks League.

A year later, avid book readers flocked there for the third annual Iraq International Book Fair. It was the largest and most global edition of the event to date, featuring about 800,000 books from 350 Iraqi and international publishers representing 20 countries.




Last year, avid readers flocked to the third annual Iraq International Book Fair.  (Ziyad Matti)

The fair was organized by Al-Mada Group, and sponsored by the Association of Iraqi Private Banks and the Iraqi Central Bank. Al-Mada is a media and cultural foundation that was founded in Damascus, Syria, with branches in Beirut and Cairo. In 2003 it moved its headquarters to Baghdad and began publishing Al-Mada newspaper.

The fair was dedicated to the Iraqi philosopher, historian, intellectual and linguist Hadi Al-Alawi (1932-1998), renowned for his studies of Islamic and Arab culture, science, and Chinese and Islamic civilizations. It featured poetry readings, book signings, art exhibitions, and seminars on Iraqi culture and society, and Al-Alawi’s creative journey.

The Iraqis who frequent Al-Mutanabbi Street say that books can safely remain out on display there at night because “the reader does not steal, and the thief does not read.” Despite Iraq’s numerous woes, literature continues to be a mainstay of the nation’s intellectual and cultural life — and one that Iraqis continue to champion through events such as the book fair.

FASTFACTS

Located near the old quarter of Baghdad, Al-Mutanabbi Street was the first book traders’ market in the Iraqi capital.

It is named after 10th-century poet Abu Al-Tayeb Al-Mutanabbi, who was born under the Abbasid dynasty.

It has been a refuge for writers of all faiths and a historic heart and soul of the Baghdad literary and intellectual community.

Still, the uncertain political situation continues to weigh on not just the book-publishing industry but the small and medium enterprises sector in general.




A view of the Baghdad Culture Center being reconstructed. (Supplied)

Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Sudani, who took office in October last year, has struggled to deliver on his promises concerning the economy, security, human rights and corruption.

At the end of January, the wife of the former head of Iraq’s tax authority and two other people were arrested on corruption-related charges. Poverty, unemployment, a lack of local industry, and climate inaction continue to affect the country.

Compounding these problems, bureaucratic red tape and inefficiency at the central level have contributed to a shortage of even basic necessities such as clean water and electricity in many parts of Iraq.

“Because of the security situation over the years, we haven’t had access to bookstores and publishers from outside of Iraq,” Ali Tariq, executive director of the Iraqi Private Banks League, told Arab News.




Al-Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad, long renowned for its booksellers, coffee shops and intellectual scene, was restored and reopened in December 2021. (Photo by Ziyad Matti)

“Iraqis attend (the book fair) from all over Iraq because it allows them to access international books and books from other Arab countries that are not readily available in Iraq.

“A fair like this offers a big opportunity for Iraqis to interact with international publishers, especially (those) from the Arab region.”

Over the past decade, and particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic began, a number of initiatives have been launched across the country encouraging Iraqis, especially the nation’s youth, to develop a love of reading.

In early November, the ninth edition of the “I Am Iraqi, I Read” festival was held on the grassy lawns of Abu Nawas Park in Baghdad. About 35,000 books were distributed free of charge, a massive increase from the 3,000 handed out during the first edition in 2012. The festival is staged each year in different provinces throughout the country.




Books have always been a crucial part of Iraqi heritage. (Photo by Ziyad Matti)

In 2014, a few months after the liberation of the northern city of Mosul from Daesh, the residents there staged their first reading festival. During the occupation of Iraq’s third-largest city, its famous library at Mosul University was bombed and burned down the extremists, an event dubbed “The Book Massacre of Mosul.”

The library, which was established in 1967, was once one of the biggest libraries in Iraq, containing hundreds of thousands of books and manuscripts.

In September 2017, Mosul residents staged a literary festival called “From the Ashes, the Book Was Born.” Attendees were asked to bring one book and donate it to the university’s library. According to the UN, the event collected more than 6,000 books in one day, helping to restock and rebuild the destroyed library.




Despite awareness campaigns, funding to help Iraqi writers get their work in print remains scarce. (Supplied)

Book fairs also take place in other parts of the country, including the southern city of Basra, through the Al-Mada Foundation. In 2021, more than 250 international and Arab publishers took part in the Basra fair, which included a range of cultural activities.

“A love for literature is part of our roots; Iraqis visit Al-Mutanabbi Street on a regular basis now,” said Tariq. “There is a movement now within the population to increase general awareness and emphasize the importance of reading, particularly for the younger population.”

Despite awareness campaigns, however, funding to help Iraqi writers get their work in print remains scarce.

“There are many Iraqi writers but there is no budget to publish their books,” said Al-Khrayfawee, who is also the vice president of the Story Club for the Writers Union of Najaf.

“Iraqis love literature, history and learning about the culture of other people. It’s part of our ancient heritage, like our classical literature and love for poetry.”




Despite awareness campaigns, funding to help Iraqi writers get their work in print remains scarce. (Supplied)

Notwithstanding the many challenges, book fairs and festivals create more opportunities for Iraqi booksellers, writers and publishers, Al-Mada Group’s Jihad said, as well as hope of investment from the private sector in the region and beyond.

“It’s a win-win situation,” she said. “More and more people attend the fairs each year. We have this culture of reading in Iraq, of buying and selling books.

“The Iraqi writers, publishers and book sellers meet vendors from around the region and the world. These exchanges create new business. Our hard work is paying off because each year, more Iraqis and international visitors are attending.”

 


Syrian forces enter Druze city after deadly clashes

Updated 9 sec ago
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Syrian forces enter Druze city after deadly clashes

  • A curfew was to be imposed on the southern city of Sweida in a bid to halt the violence
  • Syrian troops had begun moving toward the city on Monday, taking control of at least one Druze village

DAMASCUS: Syrian government forces entered the majority Druze city of Sweida on Tuesday, the interior ministry said, aiming to end clashes with Bedouin tribes that have killed nearly 100 people.

The southern city had been under the control of armed factions from the Druze minority, whose religious leaders said they had approved the deployment of Damascus’s troops and called on fighters to hand over their weapons.

A curfew was to be imposed on the southern city in a bid to halt the violence, which erupted at the weekend and has since spread across Sweida governorate.

Government forces said they intervened to separate the two sides but ended up taking control of several Druze areas around Sweida, an AFP correspondent reported.

Military columns were seen advancing toward Sweida on Tuesday morning, with heavy artillery deployed nearby.

The defense ministry said later that they had entered the city, and urged people to “stay home and report any movements of outlaw groups.”

An AFP correspondent heard explosions and gunshots as soldiers moved into Sweida.

Troops had begun heading toward the city on Monday, taking control of at least one Druze village, with one Druze faction saying talks were underway with the Damascus government.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor reported 99 people killed since the fighting erupted on Sunday — 60 Druze, including four civilians, 18 Bedouin fighters, 14 security personnel and seven unidentified people in military uniforms.

The defense ministry reported 18 deaths among the ranks of the armed forces.

While Druze religious authorities had called on Monday evening for a ceasefire and said they didn’t oppose the central government, Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri, one of the three Druze spiritual leaders in Sweida, opposed the arrival of the security forces and called for “international protection.”

Israel, which has attempted to portray itself as a protector of the Druze in Syria and sees them as potential allies, bombed several Syrian tanks on Monday.

The strikes were “a clear warning to the Syrian regime – we will not allow harm to be done to the Druze in Syria,” said Defense Minister Israel Katz, whose country has its own Druze population.

The fighting underscores the challenges facing interim leader Ahmad Al-Sharaa, whose Islamist forces ousted president Bashar Assad in December after nearly 14 years of civil war.

Syria’s pre-war Druze population was estimated at around 700,000, many of them concentrated in Sweida province.

The Druze, followers of an esoteric religion that split from Shiite Islam, are mainly found in Syria, Lebanon and Israel.

Following deadly clashes with government forces in April and May, local and religious leaders reached an agreement with Damascus under which Druze fighters had been providing security in the province.

“We lived in a state of extreme terror – the shells were falling randomly,” said Abu Taym, a 51-year-old father.

Amal, a 46-year-old woman, said: “We fear a repeat of the coastal scenario,” referring to massacres in March of more than 1,700 mostly Alawite civilians in northwest Syria, where groups affiliated with the government were blamed for most of the killings.

“We are not against the state, but we are against surrendering our weapons without a state that treats everyone the same,” she added.

In a post on X, Syrian Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra urged his troops to “protect your fellow citizens” from “outlaw gangs,” and to “restore stability to Sweida.”

The violence began on Sunday when Bedouin gunmen abducted a Druze vegetable vendor on the highway to Damascus, prompting retaliatory kidnappings.

The Observatory said members of Bedouin tribes, who are Sunni Muslims, had sided with security forces during earlier confrontations with the Druze.

Bedouin and Druze factions have a longstanding feud in Sweida, and violence occasionally erupts between the two sides.


Netanyahu’s coalition is rattled as ultra-Orthodox party announces exit over military draft law

Updated 50 min 36 sec ago
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Netanyahu’s coalition is rattled as ultra-Orthodox party announces exit over military draft law

  • United Torah Judaism’s two factions said they were bolting the government over disagreements surrounding a bill that would codify broad military draft exemptions
  • The issue has long divided Jewish Israelis, most of whom are required to enlist, a rift that has only widened since the war in Gaza began

TEL AVIV: An Israeli ultra-Orthodox party that has been a key governing partner of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said early Tuesday it was leaving the coalition government, threatening to destabilize the Israeli leader’s rule at a pivotal time in the war in Gaza.

United Torah Judaism’s two factions said they were bolting the government over disagreements surrounding a bill that would codify broad military draft exemptions for their constituents, many of whom study Jewish texts instead of enlist to the military. The issue has long divided Jewish Israelis, most of whom are required to enlist, a rift that has only widened since the war in Gaza began and demands on military manpower grew.

The departure of a party that has long served as a kingmaker in Israeli politics doesn’t immediately threaten Netanyahu’s rule. But, once it comes into effect within 48 hours, it will leave the Israeli leader with a slim majority in a government that could now more heavily rely on the whims of two far-right parties. Those parties oppose concessions in ceasefire negotiations with Hamas and have themselves quit or threatened to quit the government over moves to end or even pause the war in Gaza.

The political shake-up comes as Israel and Hamas are discussing the terms of a truce for the 21-month war in Gaza. Despite heavy pressure by the US, Israel’s top ally, and mediators Egypt and Qatar, there is no breakthrough yet in the talks. A recurring sticking point has been whether the war ends as part of any truce and Netanyahu’s far-right parties oppose ending the war while Hamas remains intact.

United Torah Judaism’s departure has a window of 48 hours before becoming official, meaning Netanyahu can still find ways to satisfy the party and bring it back into the coalition. But Shuki Friedman, vice president of the Jewish People Policy Institute, said the gaps between the draft law currently on the table and the demands of the party are still wide, making a compromise unlikely during that time.

Friedman said the party’s departure doesn’t immediately put Netanyahu’s rule at risk. A vote to dissolve parliament, that would bring down the government and trigger new elections, can’t be brought by the opposition until the end of the year because of procedural reasons. And a summer recess for Parliament, beginning later this month and stretching until October, gives Netanyahu another attempt to bridge the gaps and bring the party back into the coalition.

Cabinet Minister Miki Zohar, from Netanyahu’s Likud party, said he was hopeful the party could be coaxed back to the coalition. “God willing, everything will be fine,” he said.

A Likud spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


Egypt grand museum delay puts tourism hopes on hold

Updated 15 July 2025
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Egypt grand museum delay puts tourism hopes on hold

  • The vast museum, two decades in the making, has faced repeated delays
  • Tourism accounts for about 10 percent of Egypt’s workforce, but the sector has struggled

CAIRO: In the shadow of the Grand Egyptian Museum, souvenir shop owner Mona has been readying for the tourist boom she hoped the long-awaited opening would bring – now once again out of reach.

“I had bet everything on this opening,” she said from her shop, just steps from the iconic pyramids of Giza, which the much-anticipated museum overlooks.

Originally scheduled to fully open this month, the museum was expected to attract up to five million visitors annually, fueling optimism across Cairo’s battered tourism sector.

“We planned our entire summer and fall packages around the museum opening,” said Nadine Ahmed, a 28-year-old agent with Time Travel tours.

“But with group cancelations, refunds and route changes, we’ve lost tens of thousands of dollars.”

Though parts of the museum have been open for months, the main draw – the treasures of Tutankhamun – will remain under wraps until the official launch.

Less than three weeks before its July 3 opening, the government announced another delay, this time pushing the landmark event to the final quarter of the year.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly cited regional security concerns and the desire to host an event of “global scale.”

The vast museum, two decades in the making, has faced repeated delays – from political upheaval and economic crises to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ahead of the expected launch, Mona, who asked to be identified by her first name only, took out a loan to renovate her store and stock up on goods inspired by the museum’s collection.

A few streets away, Mohamed Mamdouh Khattab, 38, prepared months in advance, hiring and training extra staff and expanding his inventory.

“The opening of the museum is a key milestone,” said Khattab, who owns a sprawling bazaar of handcrafted jewelry and ancient replicas.

“It’s a project that should have been launched a long time ago,” said the vendor, whose family has been in the industry since the 1970s.

Tourism accounts for about 10 percent of Egypt’s workforce, but the sector has struggled – from the fallout of the 2011 Arab Spring to militant attacks and the COVID-19 shutdown.

Still, signs of recovery have emerged: Egypt welcomed 3.9 million tourists in the first quarter of 2025, up 25 percent from the same period last year – itself a record.

At a Giza papyrus workshop, 30-year-old tour guide Sara Mahmoud hopes the opening will revive visitor numbers.

“Big openings have brought a lot of tourism to Egypt before,” she said, pointing to the 2021 Pharaohs’ Golden Parade and the reopening of the Avenue of the Sphinxes.

“These events get people excited – we saw the crowds coming in.”

Such momentum could make a real difference, said Ragui Assaad, an economist at the University of Minnesota.

“Any initiative that directly increases foreign exchange earnings is likely to have a good return on investment,” he said.

“If you compare it with all the other mega-projects, which do not increase foreign exchange earnings... this is a far better project.”

He was referring to a sweeping infrastructure drive under President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, including the construction of a massive new administrative capital east of Cairo.

The stakes are high: since 2022, Egypt’s currency has lost two-thirds of its value, squeezing household budgets and straining every layer of the economy.

“There were days when I sold just one bracelet,” Mona lamented, thinking back to the years when “tourists arrived in droves.”


Israeli ultra-Orthodox party leaves government over conscription bill

Updated 15 July 2025
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Israeli ultra-Orthodox party leaves government over conscription bill

  • Ultra-Orthodox parties have argued that a bill to exempt yeshiva students was a key promise in their agreement to join the coalition in late 2022

JERUSALEM: One of Israel's ultra-Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism, said it was quitting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition due to a long-running dispute over failure to draft a bill to exempt yeshiva students from military service.
Six of the remaining seven members of UTJ, which is comprised of the Degel Hatorah and Agudat Yisrael factions, wrote letters of resignation. Yitzhak Goldknopf, chairman of UTJ, had resigned a month ago.
That would leave Netanyahu with a razor thin majority of 61 seats in the 120 seat Knesset, or parliament.
It was not clear whether Shas, another ultra-Orthodox party, would follow suit.
Degel Hatorah said in a statement that after conferring with its head rabbis, "and following repeated violations by the government to its commitments to ensure the status of holy yeshiva students who diligently engage in their studies ... (its MKs) have announced their resignation from the coalition and the government."
Ultra-Orthodox parties have argued that a bill to exempt yeshiva students was a key promise in their agreement to join the coalition in late 2022.
A spokesperson for Goldknopf confirmed that in all, seven UTJ Knesset members are leaving the government.
Ultra-Orthodox lawmakers have long threatened to leave the coalition over the conscription bill.
Some religious parties in Netanyahu's coalition are seeking exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students from military service that is mandatory in Israel, while other lawmakers want to scrap any such exemptions altogether.
The ultra-Orthodox have long been exempt from military service, which applies to most other young Israelis, but last year the Supreme Court ordered the defence ministry to end that practice and start conscripting seminary students.
Netanyahu had been pushing hard to resolve a deadlock in his coalition over a new military conscription bill, which has led to the present crisis.
The exemption, in place for decades and which over the years has spared an increasingly large number of people, has become a heated topic in Israel with the military still embroiled in a war in Gaza. 

 


More than 100 migrants freed in Libya after being held captive by gang, officials say

Updated 15 July 2025
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More than 100 migrants freed in Libya after being held captive by gang, officials say

  • As of December 2024, around 825,000 migrants from 47 countries were recorded in Libya, according to UN data released in May

BENGHAZI: More than 100 migrants, including five women, have been freed from captivity after being held for ransom by a gang in eastern Libya, the country’s attorney general said on Monday.
“A criminal group involved in organizing the smuggling of migrants, depriving them of their freedom, trafficking them, and torturing them to force their families to pay ransoms for their release,” a statement from the attorney general said.
Libya has become a transit route for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty to Europe via the dangerous route across the desert and over the Mediterranean following the toppling of Muammar Qaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011.
Many migrants desperate to make the crossing have fallen into the hands of traffickers. The freed migrants had been held in Ajdabiya, some 160 km (100 miles) from Libya’s second city Benghazi.
Five suspected traffickers from Libya, Sudan and Egypt, have been arrested, officials said.
The attorney general and Ajdabiya security directorate posted pictures of the migrants on their Facebook pages which they said had been retrieved from the suspects’ mobile phones.
They showed migrants with hands and legs cuffed with signs that they had been beaten.
In February, at least 28 bodies were recovered from a mass grave in the desert north of Kufra city. Officials said a gang had subjected the migrants to torture and inhumane treatment.
That followed another 19 bodies being found in a mass grave in the Jikharra area, also in southeastern Libya, a security directorate said, blaming a known smuggling network.
As of December 2024, around 825,000 migrants from 47 countries were recorded in Libya, according to UN data released in May.
Last week, the EU migration commissioner and ministers from Italy, Malta and Greece met with the internationally recognized prime minister of the national unity government, Abdulhamid Dbeibah, and discussed the migration crisis.