Sectarian Divisions and Sectarian Hatreds
It does not take a particularly perceptive person to realize that Iraq is divided, severely, among its constituent factions. Yet sectarian division is not quite sectarian hatred, and I think it is quite important to draw a distinction as between the two, which I think is a qualitative one, based on category, rather than merely extent.
Hence, for example, it is not difficult for an ordinary Arab to walk the streets of Kurdish Suleymania, nor is it particularly difficult for an ordinary Kurd to walk the streets of Arab Basra. Sunnis can go to Najaf, Shi'a can go to Falluja. All of those cities are--relatively, in the context of these turbulent times in Iraq--peaceful, and low on violence. The real difficulty is thus not a visceral sort of radicalized hatred that leads one to kill members of a different group wherever found that one sees elsewhere.
Rather, it is a complete lack of trust in the other group, a belief that they will, given the opportunity, marginalize one's one group. This leads to significant division of the political sort, and violence where there is genuine contestation over particular geographic areas. Baghdad, with its mixed Sunni and Shi'i populations, is an example. A Shi'i moving into a Sunni neighborhood is dangerous--the assumption might well be that it's part of a wave coming into take over. An Arab on contract working in Kurdish Suleymania? There no such fear exists, quite clearly that city won't be Arab because of that. But an Arab moving into a Kurdish area of Kirkuk is a cause for considerably more tension. And so forth.
Of course, tensions can turn into hatreds quickly, and political contestation of this sort leads to quite troublesome political stagnation that is hardly conducive to economic growth, which itself leads to rising frustrations and potentially ethnosectarian tensions.. Still, I think for those who imagine that a horrifying genocidal civil war in Iraq is imminent, the nature of the division is a point that deserves some consideration.
HAH
Hence, for example, it is not difficult for an ordinary Arab to walk the streets of Kurdish Suleymania, nor is it particularly difficult for an ordinary Kurd to walk the streets of Arab Basra. Sunnis can go to Najaf, Shi'a can go to Falluja. All of those cities are--relatively, in the context of these turbulent times in Iraq--peaceful, and low on violence. The real difficulty is thus not a visceral sort of radicalized hatred that leads one to kill members of a different group wherever found that one sees elsewhere.
Rather, it is a complete lack of trust in the other group, a belief that they will, given the opportunity, marginalize one's one group. This leads to significant division of the political sort, and violence where there is genuine contestation over particular geographic areas. Baghdad, with its mixed Sunni and Shi'i populations, is an example. A Shi'i moving into a Sunni neighborhood is dangerous--the assumption might well be that it's part of a wave coming into take over. An Arab on contract working in Kurdish Suleymania? There no such fear exists, quite clearly that city won't be Arab because of that. But an Arab moving into a Kurdish area of Kirkuk is a cause for considerably more tension. And so forth.
Of course, tensions can turn into hatreds quickly, and political contestation of this sort leads to quite troublesome political stagnation that is hardly conducive to economic growth, which itself leads to rising frustrations and potentially ethnosectarian tensions.. Still, I think for those who imagine that a horrifying genocidal civil war in Iraq is imminent, the nature of the division is a point that deserves some consideration.
HAH
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