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| Christian refugees in Mar Elia parish centre in the Christian neighbourhood of Ankawa in Erbil, Iraq |
1. Please give us a bit of
info about yourself (first name, occupation, background, etc)
My name is Hussein
Al-alak and I am a member of the Iraq Solidarity Campaign UK, which is based in
the city of Manchester and we run the on-line news service, Iraq Solidarity News
(Al-Thawra).
The Iraq Solidarity
Campaign has a really positive relationship with Manchester’s 18,000 strong
Iraqi community, and our membership reflects the rich diversity of Iraqi
society, along with positively incorporating British members, who share a
common interest or involvement with Britain-Iraq relations.
We first became aware of
Aid to the Church in Need through their active and vibrant presence on social
media and were really excited by their campaigning and fundraising activities
across the United Kingdom, to assist the Iraqi Christians, who have been
greatly affected by the intolerance shown towards them, by the self-proclaimed
Islamic State.
We were also thrilled to
see, that in the North West of England, Aid to the Church in Need was also
taking its message of Iraq solidarity into homes, churches, mosques and schools
by engaging in a non-sectarian approach, with the wider British and Iraqi
community, in major northern cities like Manchester and Liverpool.
2. Why are you interested
in the issues surrounding Religious Freedom in our world today?
For the overwhelming
majority of Iraqi people, supporting the religious freedom of people has
become an almost daily topic of conversation for families since the 2003
invasion of Iraq.
As many people will be
aware, the Iraqi people have experienced unprecedented levels of sectarianism
through the political mismanagement of previous governments and through whose
policies and militia groups, were pushing through political agendas, where the
sole purpose was to divide neighbourhoods along ethnic and religious
lines.
With the enormity of
Iraqi history being our legacy, it is the view of the Iraq Solidarity Campaign that religion and freedom is something everyone can enjoy and find appreciation
in, as people having the right to be mutually free in their religious practice has shown itself inside of Iraq and the wider Middle East through the historic
diversity of the regions monuments, mosaics, architecture, literature, music
and cities.
3. Have you supported
Aid to the Church in Need before? How might you be interested in helping in the
future?
For an organisation like
the Iraq Solidarity Campaign, supporting Aid to the Church in Need’s work for
Iraqi Christians is something that we view to be a natural step in helping
the Iraqi people overcome the personal and collective trauma, displacement and
bereavements which have been caused as a result of war and subsequent
conflicts.
Aid to the Church in
Need have explained and demonstrated their commitment to the people of Iraq,
through their support with providing shelters, food, medical care and education
to displaced Iraqi families. ACN have also been one of the most pro-active
voices in the United Kingdom in highlighting the needs that exist, but also on
calling for wider and more long term solidarity to support the Iraqi people in
their own grass roots efforts for building a stronger and stable society.
As Aid to the Church in
Need is a recognised and registered charity, whose work in Iraq is
available to witness, through their website, Facebook and Twitter, I hope the
wider British-Iraqi community will embrace the aid efforts of the Church and
will look at how they, as an integral part of British society, can play a more
active and united role for those currently displaced by the Islamic State.
4. What is your message to
those Iraqis who are currently suffering persecution both as displaced people
within Iraq and as refugees elsewhere?
From the perspective of
being British and Iraqi, who have families and friends directly caught up in
the horrendous situation inside of Iraq, the Iraq Solidarity Campaign is unable
to give adequate words of comfort to those suffering persecution and who are
now displaced.
We would like to remind
people in the West, that in the Middle East, there is a story of the stranger
knocking at the door of the family home, and all the stranger is asking for is
a glass of water. It is said that by giving something as simple as a glass of
water to that stranger, is in-itself a test by God, as the stranger making the
request, is actually an angel in disguise.
Hussein: Thank you so much for your input. Your thoughts on religious freedom and its meaning to Iraqis are deeply moving. ACN is grateful for your support of our work to help displaced and refugee Iraqis; while many of these people are Christians, ACN recognises that all people deserve the right to live out their religious convictions with dignity and without fear. This is what ONE NIGHT for Religious Freedom is all about.
If you would like to learn more about ONE NIGHT for Religious Freedom (Holy Name Church, Oxford Road, Manchester, Saturday 18 April from 8:00pm), visit our webpage: here. To donate towards ACN's work with displaced and refugee Iraqis, go to our Just Giving page: donate. Why not follow ACN-NW on twitter (@ACNUK_NW) and facebook (facebook.com/acnuk.northwest)?
