Al-Tahrir Square (the center of the protests in the capital) and its environs for four months have been flooded with hundreds of sit-in tents that have become the protesters' stable since last October, calling for comprehensive political reforms.
Most of the tents bear names to indicate the identity of the young sit-in inside, including a tent called "Bani October" in Al-Sadoun Street leading to Tahrir Square, and includes a group of youth from several provinces, including the son of Nasser Muqtada, who shot down an American plane during Washington's invasion of Iraq.
Editing tunnel
Nizar Karim, who founded the tent with his friends, says that he met them at the beginning of the demonstrations, and that their work was then limited to combating smoke bombs from inside the liberation tunnel, which was thrown at gatherings of protesters in the square.
Karim, who searches for a job opportunity and suffered two injuries during the protests, added that the tent was named after the month of protests that brought them together (October), noting that the protesting friends in the tent from the provinces of Baghdad, Babil, Wasit and Dhi Qar.
He said, "We went out against all the fronts of power since 2003, and we demand a decent life, and we will not return to our homes until all the demands are met."
| Side of the protests that took place in Tahrir Square, central Baghdad |
The tent "Bani October" hosts about ten young men, all of whom were born in the nineties, including university students, including those who possess the talent of playing musical instruments, and another known for his beautiful lyrical voice, as well as the son of Nasser Muhammad Al-Saadi or Nasser Muqtada, the name that was associated with the accident of the downing of an American plane In 2004 he included what is known as the "Mahdi Army" led by Sadr movement leader Muqtada al-Sadr, who fought violent confrontations against US forces in the first years of the invasion.
Yahya, a member of the tent, was born with "October", whom he had during the month of protests, and is now three months old.
Yahya says his wife gave birth to him on October 25, in the second wave of demonstrations that have resumed her protest activities in Tahrir Square.
He added that the reason for naming is to keep the name of the month present, as Iraqi youths demonstrated their love for their country, and defended their pure revolution against corruption and injustice at their best.
| Tahrir tunnel in the middle of Baghdad (Al-Jazeera) |
Flight yard
On the morning of the day of the start of the Iraqi protests on the first of last October, a group of youths living in Sadr City east of the capital, Baghdad, rented a minibus with one of the most prominent people in the "Bani October" tent, Alaa Nasser Muhammad Al-Saadi, born in 1991.
On that day, a group of youth asked Al-Saadi to deliver them to Al-Tayaran Square, close to Al-Tahrir Square, to participate in the demonstrations that started hours ago.
Alaa Al-Saadi says in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net that he did not know when the demonstrations would start on that day, and upon arriving at Al-Tayaran Square, the youth went down and one of them was wounded by a live bullet that I wanted on the ground.
Al-Saadi, who left school due to the living conditions after the death of his father and went to work to support his family, added that the incident of the flight yard and hundreds of people being oppressed prompted him to leave work and devote himself to participate in the protests and sit-in in Tahrir Square.
During the protests, he sustained several injuries, the strongest of which was a bullet in the foot near the aviation yard, which kept him out of the protests for several days. When he recovered, his mother returned with him to participate in the sit-in.
| Al-Saadi quit work and devoted himself to participate in protests and sit-in in Tahrir Square (Al Jazeera Net) |
"the Joker"
The protesters insist in the tents in the sit-in in Tahrir Square to stay and not return to their homes until the demands they have been fulfilled are fulfilled. While they refuse to describe them as terrorists or foreign-backed "Jawkriya", they respond to these accusations that some of them killed his father by US forces in 2004, so how can they support him now or accept their support for him, they say.
Observers see the political situation and the path of the Iraqi protests, that the interests of foreign countries inside Iraq are the ones that determine how those countries deal with the demonstrations in terms of their support or stand against them.
In this regard, journalist Ghassan Al-Burhan says that the interests of foreign countries - led by the United States and its allies in the Gulf - end with the ruling of the ruling parties of the country, because most of the power parties line up with Iran.
The proof adds that Washington's support for the demonstrations does not come for the sake of the demonstrators who refuse to make Iraq a battleground, but rather to win a new front against Iran.
And he continues that riding the wave of protest is a reality, and internal and external parties have been trying since the start of the demonstrations to take advantage of the ongoing popular movement because it is against the ruling parties, stressing that the protesters will protest against these parties if they are the ones who rule the country and control its wealth.