I’m grateful for Ralph Reiland bringing
attention to the matter of “emo” eradication in Iraq, but I’d
be remiss if I didn’t expand, slightly, on his thoughts. It’s an
important matter that I’ve been paying
close attention
to over at the Foreign Policy Association — and been quoted about
here. To be clear, young men and women in Iraq are not being
killed for the type of music they listen to or for merely being
“emos” — a label once reserved in the West for sensitive youth who
soothed the tempo of young adulthood with melodic styles of rock,
and unique dress.
In Iraq, “emos” describe a peculiar mash-up of femininity, Satan
worship, affinity for Western dress — but most of all,
presumptions of homosexuality. In practice, the label “emo” is a
catch-all for suspected gays and lesbians (al shath), used
by the conservative Interior Ministry to eradicate this grave
religious and cultural taboo.
Mr. Reiland is correct “emos” are being killed…but he
drastically understates the amount of violence directed toward this
particular subset of Iraqi society. Over the past two months, more
than 80 so-called “emos” have been beaten to death by roving bands
of Shi’a militia, assigned the rank of “community police” by the
bureaucratic higher-ups who want to wage culture war on social
deviance.
It all started back in August of 2011, when the Interior
Ministry instructed the Education Ministry to distribute memos to
curb “emo” culture in schools. Concurrently, offenders were listed
by name on flyers posted anonymously around predominantly Shi’a
neighborhoods. Before long, bodies began to turn up.
The weapon of choice is the cinder block (known as the mawt
al-blokkah) — a blunt instrument of violent identity
politics. As international consternation grows, the Interior
Ministry adjusted its tone, and retracted more bellicose warnings
against these young people. However, they maintain a stated
commitment to see “emos” are “dealt with.” Their denials of
cultural crusading ring hollow, as do protestations that this
crisis has been exaggerated by the media.
The worst and most virulent homophobia in Iraq is regularly
witnessed in Shi’a neighborhoods. Although Iraqi gays claimed
success in 2006 following the decision of Grand Ayatollah Ali al
Sistani to remove a fatwah calling for the killing of all
homosexuals in the “worst, most severe way possible” from his
website, the tone of conduct was clearly established years ago.
The tide is high for social violence — initial efforts to root
out gays have careened off into attacks against any young man with
long hair or a slightly effete appearance. Despite government
statements that this is a non-event, Iraqi bloggers are reporting
many victims were brutally raped before they were murdered,
suggesting this crescendo of murky violence boils down to a
question of control.
As if we needed another instructive lesson, that power comes
with targeted bloodshed in Iraq.
