Gulf Elites on Social Media Hesitates to Celebrate Islamic State Defeat In Mosul

mosul liberation
AP/Khalid Mohammed
Ali Waked

TEL AVIV — The defeat of the Islamic State in Mosul has led to an extensive online discussion among Arab media figures and the Iraqi public, with most objecting to the term “victory” and claiming that destruction and sectarian division are the main results of the fight against the group.

The Saudi Shi’ite activist Zahra Aljashe wrote, “The liberation of Mosul from the terrorists of IS and the entry of the terrorists of the ‘popular militia’ [a pro-Iran group], means that Mosul has not yet been freed!!”

Sunni Iraqi activist Aisha Alanzi stated, “The paradox of many … they glorify the rulers and cry over Mosul but they forget that Mosul is being bombarded by these same rulers!!”

The journalist Ziad Alsanjari, a resident of Mosul, said, “The respected people of Mosul didn’t celebrate the entry of IS into the city, just as they didn’t celebrate its destruction and the killing of its sons and the maiming of the bodies of its children. This is my message to the propagandists who wish to present themselves as liberators.”

Iraqi journalist Mustafa Kamel posted a video showing the mass destruction in the city, and wrote sarcastically, “The morning of ‘victory’ and the ‘liberation’ of Mosul. This is what they call victory and liberation. If so, what can we call the enormous destruction we see?!!”

Kuwaiti politician Abdullah Alshayji stated, “This is the painful and current reality of the Sunni cities … at the end of the conspiracy … the conspiracy in Aleppo and now in Mosul, cities that history witnessed their existence before the empires.”

Another Iraqi journalist, Majed Mohammad, posted a video showing Mosul residents exiting their homes, some of them naked, claiming the actions amounted to forced deportation. He wrote, “The renaissance of Mosul and the lie about liberating the city is summed up in this horrible sight of the city’s residents, an unimaginable sight!!!”

Iraqi activist Usama Alhaidari said, “Liberation? Even the media we considered to be professional fell in the trap of what’s called the liberation!! Liberation that led to the destruction of the buildings and the people, destruction of the mosques and the bridges, destruction of toddlers and seniors.”

Rabia Hadad, a Sunni Lebanese engineer and activist, stated, “Mosul is free!! This is a liberation that makes you miss the days of the occupation. This is a victory that makes you wish for defeat. What hate, what an extreme and what a crime?”

A Twitter account called Arab Affairs wrote, “What victory are they talking about after destroying the fields and the people! The aircraft of 65 countries that destroyed the neighborhoods over the heads of the residents is what allowed the forces of hate to enter and then they talk to us about victory!”

The Saudi political activist Abdullah Alsadoun stated, “Mosul has been liberated, now all that’s left is to liberate the people’s minds from sectarian thinking and from loyalty to the ayatollahs of Iran. Iraq needs a civilian government.”

A Twitter user named Abou Adam said, “Shi’ite Iran is destroying the Sunni Mosul. This is not a war in which victory is recorded, it is intentional destruction that reflects the depth of Shi’ite and crusader hatred toward the Islamic countries.”

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