Community Voices

On Sunday, March 7, 2010, Iraq held its second national parliamentary election since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. The next day, the Washington Post reported: "Election officals have said that 62 percent of about 19 million eligible voters cast ballots in Sunday's parliamentary election, a turnout slightly lower than the previous parliamentary election in 2005. Only 53 percent of eligible voters turned out in Baghdad, perhaps because of a series of explosions that ripped through the capital early Sunday. That is lower than the last full parliamentary election in December 2005, in which roughly 76 percent of eligible voters turned out. Officials attributed the drop to a combination of voter intimidation, more stringent ID requirements at the polls and a drop in voter excitement.

Dr. Laila Nicolas Rahbani provides an in-depth report and analysis on the state of Arab women in the media in the Middle East and North Africa.

Last week, Freedom House hosted an event featuring women activists from Egypt, Jordan and Iraq who spoke on the status of women’s rights and advancement in the region.

The Lantern Festival marks the end of the Chinese New Year season. Afterwards life becomes a daily routine once again.

Amid the chaos of war in Baghdad, Zuhal Sultan created a new national youth orchestra. Below, please find excerpts of her story from an article from Times Online:

Six months ago Zuhal Sultan stood in the wings of a makeshift concert hall in northern Iraq watching young musicians run through final rehearsals ahead of their first public performance. “I was crying a bit, because it was so emotional. The progress they had made was unbelievable, after all they had been through. I was so happy,” she says.

Sultan had every reason to be proud. Single-handedly, she had brought together professional musicians from some of the world’s leading cultural institutions and 33 Iraqi youngsters to form the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq (NYOI). The 18-year-old from Baghdad secured funding from organizations including the British Council and persuaded the deputy prime minister of Iraq to make a donation.

In his 17th statement, Mir-Hossein Mousavi made five specific points that he deemed necessary to start the political (and national) reconciliation process. The proposal lead to a noticeable uptick in the weeks leading up to 22 Bahman in talk of the need for national "unity" and also garnered much attention from Iranian intellectuals and dissidents. Ultimately, the regime's more radical elements reemerged and silenced the chatter before the security apparatus prevented a strong opposition showing on the revolution's 31st anniversary. But Mousavi's "five points," as they have come to be called, still carry much weight. Generally, they are:

The announcement that the Islamic Republic News Agency has a current budget deficit of 6 billion toman ($6 million USD) mirrors the problems surrounding the general expenditure budget. This has lead to a wave of new attacks on Ahmadinejad administration's handling of the general economy as of late. Next year's annual budget, for instance, is receiving criticism and raising questions such as the “bizarre and inaccurate” prediction of a 50 percent increase in the price of oil next year.

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Ice cream in one hand, baton in the other. Smile, children. The Islamic Republic loves you.