Published: 29 November 2019
Last updated: 4 March 2024
JUST OFF BAGHDAD’S Tahrir Square, ground zero for a protest movement that remains unbowed despite the deaths of hundreds of demonstrators in a government crackdown, protesters have set up a “wall of wishes”.
“I wrote: ‘I used to hate Iraq before October 25, now I’m proud of it’,” said Fatima Awad, 16, naming the date last month when protesters first tried to storm the Green Zone of government buildings on the opposite side of the bridge across the Tigris that leads from the square.
“Before, we did not have a future, and no one would protest because everyone was scared. Now, we’re all gathered at Tahrir Square,” she said.
The anti-government protesters accuse the government of corruption and squandering the national wealth. At least 339 people have been killed since the demonstrations began in October. Most of the victims have been unarmed protesters shot with live ammunition.
FULL STORY Baghdad's 'Wall of Wishes' is source of hope (Reuters/Ynet)
Photo: An Iraqi demonstrator pastes a note on the Wall of Wishes (Reuters)
