The idea of opening the first mixed cafe in Basra since the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 was called the Fairouz Library and Café in honor of the famous Lebanese singer.
Abdel-Amir hopes his customers, most of them young, will temporarily forget the problems of Basra, which is beset by turbulence, turbulence, a severe shortage of work and services and delving into Arabic literature through books stacked in Fayrouz Library and Cafe, .
| Fayrouz is linked to the cafe owner's place and his beautiful memories in Syria (Reuters) |
"I tried to incorporate the idea of the cafe in the name of Fairouz, the first thing because Fairouz is connected to the study and the sweet days, and with every sweet memory, the memory revives in this place," said Mohamed Abdel Amir, the owner of the cafe in central Basra.
"He constantly renews the decor so that it does not become routine and boring, and he is connected to Fayrouz from all sides.
Abdul Amir, 29, grew up in his mother country, Syria, but moved to Basra in 2012 with the onset of the crisis there. Abdel-Amir said that life in Syria has become difficult and the kidnappings and kidnappings have become commonplace, so he decided to leave and start a new life in Basra.
| (Reuters) |
* Governorate city
After fleeing Syria, Abdel-Amir, who studied economics at the university, dreamed of opening a cultural cafe that mimicked the culture of cafes in Damascus and fulfilled his dream, which delighted many of the local people in Basra.
One of them was Samana Sajjad, a 23-year-old broadcaster on Basrah Radio and a coffee shop customer, who described the place as quiet and suitable for reading and by young intellectuals.
Basra, located at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers near the Gulf, has for centuries been a melting pot that incorporated Arabs, Persians, Turks, Indians and Greeks, who left them with cultural imprints. After the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003, conservative Shi'ite parties dominated power in Basra, bringing with it a religiously restricted pattern of life.
Most communities in southern Iraq are religiously conservative, with many wearing a black robe that covers women from head to toe. Any mixing of the sexes in public places is often met with resentment.