'National Unity Day' in the Iraqi schools
After the attack on the Shiite shrine in Samarra two weeks ago, the sort of violence in Iraq has changed. Before, the attacks were only against the Iraqi police and army and American soldiers. But, since that day in Samarra, the violence has increased incredibly and focused primarily on civilians.
Every day, bodies are thrown here or there around Baghdad. Car bombs explode near restaurants or markets. (Imagine, even a bird market was destroyed a week ago.)
Today I was eating breakfast this morning when my contact at the Ministry of Interior telephoned me to say that 18 bodies had been found in Baghdad. He said the victims appeared to have been hanged.
During this violent time, there are people working hard to spread sectarian feeling and create a wide schism between Sunni and Shiite by using bombs (in both neighborhoods), assassinations (targeting both Sunnis and Shiite), and so many other acts which lead to even more violence and divisions.
But on the other side, there are people working hard to extinguish this fire that's come upon us. Religious sources in this country - Sunnis and Shiites - have called all Iraqis to be careful not to be ambushed by organizers of this schism. They are encouraging everyone to hold joint Sunni-Shiite prayer sessions every day throughout the country.
For the first time in Iraq, the Ministry of Education has ordered all schools to make today a special day of national unity for the sake of keeping students united against sectarianism.
So it seems the curse of sectarianism has reached the schools - since conventional wisdom says there is no smoke without fire.
If all Iraqis believe we are all one people, not Sunnis and Shiite, then why do we need a National Unity day?
I went with our camera crew to visit a school in Baghdad this morning. There, we saw a real picture of unity among the students.
We asked Rasha, a Sunni student, if she felt she was different from Shiite girls. She said, "As you see, we are standing together. I am with Fatima (she's Shiite) and Miriam (she's Christian). This is the real unity between us as Iraqis."
It's true. This unity I saw between Rasha and her friends is more genuine than the pronouncements by politicians - the same politicians who are still fighting, after the elections last December, for seats in the new government.
* The names of NBC local journalists in Baghdad are not being used in order to protect their identity and security.
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