The Un-mixing of Neighborhoods: Iraq on the Eve of Displacement

Abstract

It has been consistently argued that the aggressive sectarianism and violence, which accompanied the resistance to American occupation, were key drivers of general instability in the country resulting in the displacement of millions of Iraqis (al-Khalidi and Tanner 2006). This is borne out in the testimonies of the Iraqi refugees I spoke to — iterated in their persecution narratives. Yet, there is an acknowledgment that the heavy footprint of the American occupation itself was pivotal in igniting a sectarian conflict that had lain simmering under the surface of Iraqi society.

And when we made a covenant with you: You shall not shed your blood and you shall not turn your people out of your cities; then you gave a promise while you witnessed. Yet you it is who slay your people and turn a party from among you out of their homes, backing each other up against them unlawfully and exceeding the limits; and if they should come to you, as captives you would ransom them — while their very turning out was unlawful for you. Do you then believe in a part of the Book and disbelieve in the other? What then is the reward of such among you as do this but disgrace in the life of this world, and on the day of resurrection they shall be sent back to the most grievous chastisement, and Allah is not at all heedless of what you do. (The Noble Qur’an 2:84-85)