www.albasrah.net
 
Danyal Adam
 
I would like to draw your attention to the latest insult the American Imperialists have placed on the noble people of Iraq. That of the replacement of their national flag. What bearing one may ask has the replacement of a flag have to this 'process of liberation' especially given the fact there is still no legitmate authority to discuss the matter and decide upon it. While the people of Iraq suffer the ravages of bombs and starvation at the hands of their 'liberators' they are now ordered to accept the new flag of colonialism. Yet again ithout any due process of demoracy askiing the opinions of the iraqi people they have had something dear to them taken away from them and something alien imposed upon them.
 

iraqi-flag.gif

  • Gone is the traditional colour of Green strongly associated with the colour of Islam.
  • Gone is the traditonal colour of Black stronlgy associated with the Kerbala and the mourning of the martyrdom of Imam Hussain
  • Gone especially the newest addition, the  inscription of 'Allah o Akbar' God is the greatest, despite the fact that it may have been added by Saddam for his own propoganda it encaptured the great resiliance of the Iraqi people and their dependence and trust in God in the fact of American tyranny.
  • Gone is the strong red that represented the blood sacrficed by the people in pursuit of freedom from tynranny and colonialism.
  • Gone are the colours of Pan-Arabism that united with many of its neighbours, in the same way many Western countries are united upon their choice of red, white and blue. 
 
Instead what the Iraqis have been given is a flag alien to any country in the middle east except one. The light blue and white are colours of only one idealogy and have never been colours associated with Islam and muslims. The flag has intentionally been chosen to be devisive amongst muslims and especially arabs. Divide and conquer, with a subersive attempt to align it more with, yes you guessed it, Israel. The flag for the American colonialist is indictiive of what they want from the middle east states.
Muslimand arab conutries that subserviant to Israel and American foreign policy. All stories about how this new flag has been designed  and what it symbolises are lies and a cover up. Lets look the only country that shares the colour coodination of this colonial flag.
 
    At the ceremony of the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel, the dais was decorated with a picture of Theodor Herzl, flanked on either side by the flag of the World Zionist Organization. This flag, adopted by the first Zionist Congress in Basle in 1897, had become accepted by Jewish communities throughout the world as the emblem of Zionism and it was thus natural to use it at the official proclamation of statehood. Five-and-half months earlier, on November 29, 1947 when the Jews of Eretz Israel had poured into the streets to celebrate the United Nations partition resolution, they too had hoisted the flag of the WZO and used it as a unifying symbol. In May, however, only a few days after the Zionist dream had become reality, the question was raised as to whether the Zionist banner should be the flag of the state or should be replaced. The dilemma continued for about six months, until the following notice was published in the Official Gazette:

The Provisional Council of State
Proclamation of the Flag of the State of Israel

The Provisional Council of State hereby proclaims that the flag of the State of Israel shall be as illustrated and described below: The flag is 220 cm. long and 160 cm. wide. The background is white and on it are two stripes of dark sky-blue, 25 cm. broad, over the whole length of the flag, at a distance of 15 cm. from the top and from the bottom of the flag. In the middle of the white background, between the two blue stripes and at equal distance from each stripe is a Star of David, composed of six dark sky-blue stripes, 5.5 cm. broad, which form two equilateral triangles, the bases of which are parallel to the two horizontal stripes.

25 Tishrei 5709 (28 October 1948)
Provisional Council of State
Joseph Sprinzak, Speaker

This decision to adopt the Zionist flag to be the flag of the State of Israel reflects its power as a symbol of the spirit of the Zionist movement. In order to examine the reasons that led to this decision, let us look for the symbolism and consider the motives which prompted the members of the Provisional Council of State first to consider replacing it and then to decide against doing so. Zionist tradition credits the design of the Zionist flag to David Wolffsohn. Legend even tells precisely when Wolffsohn had his brainstorm, namely, that during a meeting in Basel Herzl raised the question of the Zionist flag. When his proposal of a white banner with seven gold stars failed to marshal a consensus, Wolffsohn stood up and said: "Why do we have to search? Here is our national flag." Upon which he displayed his prayer shawl and showed everyone the national flag: a white field with blue stripes along the margin.

 

 

“At the behest of our leader Herzl, I came to Basle to make preparations for the Zionist Congress. Among many other problems that occupied me then was one which contained something of the essence of the Jewish problem. What flag would we hang in the Congress Hall? Then an idea struck me. We have a flag — and it is blue and white. The talith (prayer ahawl) with which we wrap ouselves when we pray: that is our symbol. Let us take this Talith from its bag and unroll it before the eyes of Israel and the eyes of all nations. So I ordered a blue and white flag with the Shield of David painted upon it. That is how the national flag, that flew over Congress Hall, came into being.”

— David Wolffsohn

 

The cabinet preferred a flag design of seven six-pointed golden stars on a white field, with blue stripes above and below. The reason was that some politicians, notably the minister of foreign affairs, felt a need to have a flag for the new state that was different from the flag of the Zionist Movement. This, as we know, was rejected. According to Handelman and Shamgar-Handelman, the only difference between the flag of the state of Israel and the flag of the Zionist Movement, was that the shade of blue was changed from light to dark blue in the flag of the state of Israel.

The flag of Israel is based on the design of the tallit, the prayer shawl worn by Jewish men (and by some women in Reform and Conservative congregations) during certain services. The tallit is worn during all morning services. In addition, it is worn on the eve of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The tallit is also worn when reading the Torah during Shabbat (Sabbath) afternoon services and by the person leading evening services. (Jews pray three times a day: the morning service is called shacharit; the afternoon service is called minchah; and the evening service is called ma'ariv or aravit.) There are two basic traditions regarding who wears the tallit. According to one tradition, any Jewish adult should wear the tallit (at the appropriate times). A Jewish adult is one who is thirteen years of age and older (a Bar Mitzvah, or "Son of the Commandments.") According to another tradition, only married Jews wear the tallit. In addition to the exterior tallit, there is also a tallit katan ("small tallit"), which pious Jews wear all day under their clothes.

 It is plain to any fool that the colour of a white background with two blue strips are religous and idealogical colours of Zionism and Judaism. the colonial occupiers are trying to squeeze this symbolism in through the backdoor assuming Muslims and arabs will be too stupid to realise.This must not happen.

 
  • Muslims and arabs must all be informed about this conspiracy and this can only add weight to the arguement that Israel is never stopping in its attempt to colonise the Arab and Muslim World in its pursuit of a Greater Israel it is achieveing this through the support and blessing of the new colonialist USA.
  • Muslims and arabs espcially Iraqis should make it clear they do not accept this new flag under any circumstances.
  • Nobody asked the iraqis democratically if they anted to change their flag. If a new flag is to be designed it has to done so by the Iraqi people and for the iraqi people, if in fact they wish to change their flag at all! This all has to done democratically and no forced onto them by an unelected council.
  • Muslims and arabs should write to all Independent groups, journalists, arab representatives, The arab league, Muslim League, Organisation of Islamic conference (OIC), embassies etc and demand a stop to this imperial Israel flag being imposed on iraqi people.
              
 
Arabs, especially Iraqis and Muslims the world over should make it clear that they are not prepared to be dictated to on freedom, democracy or their national flag by colonial occupiers. This new flag is an afront to the Iraqi people and makes out that Iraq and its noble people are subsideries to Israel.