Iraq Condemns EU Mission for Displaying LGBTQ Flag

The Victory Arch, in Baghdad's high-security Green Zone home of foreign embassies. (AFP)
The Victory Arch, in Baghdad's high-security Green Zone home of foreign embassies. (AFP)
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Iraq Condemns EU Mission for Displaying LGBTQ Flag

The Victory Arch, in Baghdad's high-security Green Zone home of foreign embassies. (AFP)
The Victory Arch, in Baghdad's high-security Green Zone home of foreign embassies. (AFP)

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry condemned foreign embassies for offending the country’s “norms and values” by hoisting the LGBTQ flag.

The ministry issued a statement denouncing the move of the EU and other foreign missions operating in Iraq, saying it contradicts the moral principles and values as well as social norms of the country.

“We remind all the missions operating in Iraq to adhere by the laws of the country and follow diplomatic norms,” it said.

The EU, Canada, and UK diplomatic missions in Baghdad raised the rainbow flag to mark the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, which triggered backlash.

The Iraqi parliamentary Foreign Relations Committee denounced the act for offending the country’s values and called upon the foreign ministry to play its role in ensuring such violations do not occur in the future.

A number of Iraqi lawmakers demanded the closure of foreign embassies in Baghdad that raised the gay pride flag.

Sadiqun bloc MP Hassan Salem demanded the closure of these embassies, stating that the “immoral action” reflects a disgraceful behavior towards Muslims and respected customs and traditions.

Salem added that the EU mission and these embassies did not respect the religion, morals, and customs of Iraqi society, calling for a firm government stance to say such actions are not welcomed.

MP Salam al-Shammari, of the Sairoon block that is backed by cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, also categorically rejected the move, saying Iraq is a country built on religion and ethics, and it is not possible to allow any behavior that deviates from these principles.

The development marks a precedent for Iraq as no other government has had to deal with it.

Observers believe that the timing of incident is “inappropriate, and embarrasses Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s government” that was sworn less than two weeks ago.

Leader of the Sairoon bloc, Sabah al-Saadi, asked Kadhimi, in his capacity as acting foreign minister, to take harsh measures against the EU mission and foreign embassies for raising a “flag symbolizing homosexuality” and disregarding all of the Iraqi people’s the religious beliefs, customs and traditions.



UN Says 70% of Those Killed in Gaza Were Children and Women, Deplores ‘Daily Cruelty’

 A boy walks as displaced Palestinians make their way after fleeing the northern part of Gaza amid an Israeli military operation, in Gaza City, November 12, 2024. (Reuters)
A boy walks as displaced Palestinians make their way after fleeing the northern part of Gaza amid an Israeli military operation, in Gaza City, November 12, 2024. (Reuters)
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UN Says 70% of Those Killed in Gaza Were Children and Women, Deplores ‘Daily Cruelty’

 A boy walks as displaced Palestinians make their way after fleeing the northern part of Gaza amid an Israeli military operation, in Gaza City, November 12, 2024. (Reuters)
A boy walks as displaced Palestinians make their way after fleeing the northern part of Gaza amid an Israeli military operation, in Gaza City, November 12, 2024. (Reuters)

The UN human rights office has verified that close to 70% of those killed in Gaza by airstrikes, shelling and other hostile actions were children and women, a senior UN rights official said.

Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ilze Brands Kehris told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that "the age group most represented in verified fatalities was children from 5 to 9 years old."

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, more than 43,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 100,000 injured since Hamas’ surprise Oct. 7, 2023 attacks in southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw some 250 taken hostage, about 100 of whom are still being held. The Gaza ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilians but has said the majority of those killed are women and children.

Kehris said monitoring by the Geneva-based office of the UN high commissioner for human rights indicates that the unprecedented level of killing and injury "is a direct consequence of the parties’ choices of methods and means of warfare, and their failure to comply with fundamental principles of international humanitarian law."

"The pattern of strikes indicates that the Israeli Defense Forces have systematically violated fundamental principles of international humanitarian law: distinction, proportionality and precautions in attack," she said. "Palestinian armed groups have also conducted hostilities in ways that have likely contributed to harm to civilians."

Kehris criticized Israel for destroying Gaza’s civilian infrastructure including hospitals, schools, electricity grids, water and sewage facilities, which are protected under international law.

This "contributes directly to the famine risk," which hunger experts have warned is likely imminent in northern Gaza, she said, also citing the constant and continuing Israeli interference with the entry and distribution of humanitarian aid.

Over the past five weeks, Kehris said, Israeli airstrikes have led to "massive civilian fatalities in northern Gaza," especially of women, children and older, sick and disabled people. Many were reportedly trapped by Israeli military restrictions and attacks on escape routes, she said.

The UN human rights office has warned Israel against targeting locations sheltering significant numbers of civilians, and also against attacking the three major hospitals "while unlawfully restricting the entry and distribution of humanitarian assistance to northern Gaza," Kehris said.

‘Daily cruelty’

Meanwhile, Joyce Msuya, the UN’s top humanitarian official, said "acts reminiscent of the gravest international crimes" are being committed in Gaza where Palestinians face increasing hunger, starvation and potential famine – putting most of the blame on Israel.

Calling the situation in the territory after more than a year of war "catastrophic," Msuya told the Security Council that "the latest offensive that Israel started in North Gaza last month is an intensified, extreme and accelerated version of the horrors of the past year."

She accused Israeli authorities of blocking aid from entering the northernmost part of Gaza, where she said around 75,000 people remain with dwindling food and water, and supplies have been cut off while people are being pushed south. Israel says it is battling Hamas fighters who have regrouped there.

"Shelters, homes and schools have been burned and bombed to the ground," Msuya said. "Numerous families remain trapped under rubble because fuel for digging equipment is being blocked by the Israeli authorities and first responders have been blocked from reaching them."

She said hospitals have been attacked and ambulances destroyed.

Msuya stressed that "the daily cruelty we see in Gaza seems to have no limits," pointing to the town of Beit Hanoun in the north which Israel has besieged for a month and where the UN delivered the first food supplies and water on Monday.

"But today, Israeli soldiers forcibly displaced people from those same areas," she said.

"Conditions of life across Gaza are unfit for human survival," Msuya said, pointing to insufficient food and shelter items needed for the coming winter.

She stressed that problems including the violent armed looting of UN convoys, driven by the collapse of law and order, can be solved "with the right political will."

The Security Council meeting was called by Guyana, Switzerland, Algeria and Slovenia following last Friday’s report by hunger experts that called the humanitarian situation throughout Gaza "extremely grave and rapidly deteriorating" and warned that there is a strong likelihood of imminent famine in parts of the north.

Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon called the report’s claims "baseless and slanderous," accusing the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification network, or IPC whose independent Famine Review Committee issued Friday’s alert, of prioritizing "smearing Israel over actually helping those in need."

He told reporters before the council meeting that the situation in Gaza, including the north, has shown improvement since October. "Yet, instead of recognizing this, the IPC chooses to ignore facts, pushing a narrative detached from reality and hostile to the truth," he said.