Baghdad's 'Tahrir Beach' Where the Revolution Takes a Break

'Tahrir Beach', where sports, hip hop, and shisha water pipes provide the entertainment | AFP
'Tahrir Beach', where sports, hip hop, and shisha water pipes provide the entertainment | AFP
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Baghdad's 'Tahrir Beach' Where the Revolution Takes a Break

'Tahrir Beach', where sports, hip hop, and shisha water pipes provide the entertainment | AFP
'Tahrir Beach', where sports, hip hop, and shisha water pipes provide the entertainment | AFP

Close to Baghdad's protest hotspot of Tahrir Square, a sandy Tigris Riverbank offers some relief from the revolution: youths kick around footballs and smoke shisha pipes to booming hip-hop music.

It is on this half-kilometer (500-yard) stretch where the post-Saddam generation celebrates its uprising on the beach, escaping the teargas and bullets for a fun and festive atmosphere.

"Our leaders have deprived us of everything -- our rights, our money, our dignity," says Ammar Saleh, 20. "Here we simply discover the taste of freedom."

Unemployed and penniless, another man here, Ali, is intoxicated by the wind of revolt that has swept through Iraq since early October in the biggest wave of street rallies since the 2003 US-led invasion.

"We have nothing left to lose, we will not move as long as the thieves in power don't leave office!" he says with fervor, then returns to his football game.

"Tahrir Beach", as its occupants call it, has maintained the carnival-like atmosphere of the protests before they were marred by bloodshed and fear.

"This is where you find the magic of the early days of the movement," says journalist Ali, a regular visitor.

In the almost three months since the rallies started, about 460 people have been killed and 25,000 wounded. The initially self-managed camps at Tahrir Square have become more strictly organized and the carefree spirit has gone.

"There is less mobilization, leaders have changed, militiamen and spies have infiltrated the demonstrators," said Ali, who pointed also to the growing influence of supporters of Shiite populist leader Moqtada Sadr.

- 'We want joy' -

Tahrir Beach lies on the east bank of the Tigris, between the Al-Sinek and al-Jumhuryiah bridges, where security forces guard access routes into the locked-down "Green Zone" government and embassies district.

Along Rashid Street, centuries-old brick houses with elaborate wooden balconies, now mostly dilapidated, tell the story of the capital city's past glory.

Bland modern buildings now mar the cityscape as do the concrete blast walls, covered with protest graffiti.

Red and yellow tuk-tuks - the three-wheeled taxis that have become a revolutionary emblem - pour their smiling passengers onto the stretch of river-front, to be greeted by rows of shisha water pipes.

Everywhere there are reminders of the "martyrs" who fell on the barricades: improvised mausoleums adorned with now wilted flowers, a construction helmet, a bloodied t-shirt.

Black, red and white Iraqi flags flutter in the breeze, alongside the inevitable FC Barcelona logo.

"Dumping garbage is forbidden," reads a sign suggesting the civic-minded spirit of the "new Iraq", even if litter on the ground suggests not everyone is on board yet.

Under Saddam Hussein and the civil war that followed it was unthinkable to wander around here, so close to the dictator's palaces and then the headquarters of the US occupation.

"It was too dangerous! There were no people, just dogs at night," recalls Ayman, a former resident of the area.

Now a new generation is reappropriating the riverbank, as expressed in a slogan daubed on a wall: "We have cried so much, now we want joy."

- Downward-facing dog -

Indeed, even though it's a short walk to Tahrir Square, the violence seems far away.

Three teenagers try to free a scooter stuck in the beach, the rear wheel spraying up sand. Youths with pulled-up pants play volleyball.

A temperamental sound system spits out Iraqi techno and the rap hit "I Got Love", while a piece of linoleum serves as the stage for a hip-hop dance contest.

Bandanas wrapped around their heads, two guys pumped up with testosterone twirl and spin to the crowd's applause.

The day before, a yoga class here produced photos of bulked-up and bearded men performing the one-legged downward-facing dog pose, sparking delight on social media.

The crowd remains predominantly young and male -- and poor.

One young man, 26-year-old Sofiane, his arm deformed by polio, says he has "never received the slightest allowance" but expresses hope the demonstrations will "change everything".

A group of girls strolls past, their long black hair blowing in the wind. They receive discreet glances but no one bothers them.

The young ladies sip soft-drinks while squinting at guys with slicked-up hairstyles who are shaking their hips to the rhythm of a song that decries the "rotten politicians".

As teenagers splash in the brackish river water and toddlers build sandcastles, some incredulously film the relaxed scene with their smartphones.

"These scenes were unimaginable just a few months ago," Ali marvels. His voice darkening slightly, he adds that he is "not sure it will last".



Damascus Says Israel Arrested Civilians During Beit Jin Raid

Residents sit outside their house in the Beit Jin village, southern Syria, where Israeli troops made a pre-dawn raid, arresting several alleged members of Hamas, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP)
Residents sit outside their house in the Beit Jin village, southern Syria, where Israeli troops made a pre-dawn raid, arresting several alleged members of Hamas, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP)
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Damascus Says Israel Arrested Civilians During Beit Jin Raid

Residents sit outside their house in the Beit Jin village, southern Syria, where Israeli troops made a pre-dawn raid, arresting several alleged members of Hamas, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP)
Residents sit outside their house in the Beit Jin village, southern Syria, where Israeli troops made a pre-dawn raid, arresting several alleged members of Hamas, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP)

A source at the Syrian Interior Ministry denied Israeli claims that its forces had arrested Palestinian Hamas members during a raid on the southern village of Beit Jin in the early hours of Thursday.

The source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the detainees were civilians and not affiliated with any party.

Saleh Daher, a resident of Beit Jin, told Asharq Al-Awsat the Israeli soldiers entered the village at 2:40 am on Thursday.

“We were awakened by the sound of gunfire,” he revealed. A unit of dozens of soldiers were raiding the village, while ten tanks were stationed at its entrance.

The forces surrounded the houses of the people they wanted to arrest, calling out their names on loudspeakers. They detained seven people, continued Daher.

One person, who is known in the village for having a mental disability, attempted to stop the soldiers, who shot and killed him, he said.

The soldiers left at 4:15 am after detaining the people they were after.

Daher said they were all Syrian natives of the village and used to be members of armed opposition groups that rose up against the Bashar al-Assad's ousted regime.

Sources revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat the names of the detainees: Amer al-Badawi, Mamoun al-Saadi, Ahmed al-Safadi, Mohammed al-Safadi, Hassan al-Safadi, Mohammed Badi Hamadeh and Ali Qassem Hamadeh.

Daher said he and his family had returned to Beit Jin in 2018 and that they never noticed any behavior by the detainees that they were working against Israel.

Israel had previously assassinated three residents of the village. They too were members of armed factions.

Moreover, Daher said he hasn’t noticed any activity by residents that indicate that they are members of or associated with Palestinian factions.

The Israeli army said it detained Hamas members during the Beit Jin raid and that they were planning attacks against it.

They have been taken to Israel for investigation. The army also said it discovered weapons in the area.

Syrian media confirmed the arrest of seven people and death of one person during the raid.

Since the fall of Assad’s government in early December, Israeli forces have moved into several areas in southern Syria and conducted hundreds of airstrikes throughout the country, destroying much of the assets of the Syrian army.

Tensions ticked up in early June after projectiles were fired from Syria towards Israel. Israel retaliated with its first strikes in nearly a month.

On June 8, Israel carried out a strike on the outskirts of Beit Jin on what it described as a Hamas member.

A resident of the village denied the claim, saying Israel targeted a youth called Anas Abboud and that he was a former member of a Syrian opposition armed group.