“Locals from a predominately-Kurdish town outside of Kirkuk claimed that a large number of Arabs “carrying firearms,” forcefully invaded their homes on Tuesday. Villagers responded by contacting the Iraqi Army, who are responding to the incident.“Today more than 300 Arabs broke into Palkana village to invade and once again Arabize the village,” Badradin Yousef, a member of the Sargaran Township Council, told Rudaw.“Palkana village is near Sargaran town, west of Kirkuk city. Despite the declared defeat of the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2017, the village and surrounding areas have been a hotbed for the extremist group’s lingering, deadly remnants.‘According to Yousif, Arabs who had previously settled in the area, returned to the village in 25 vehicles and were carrying weapons.“Those Arabs, who had been transferred to Arabize the area during the Baath regime and later fled, are now coming back with the support of the Kirkuk governor, invading our properties … and wanting to confiscate our lands,” said Yousif.“Yousif added the township council informed the Iraqi army “immediately” and called on them to come to the aid of Kurdish inhabitants of the village.“The Iraqi army has mobilized us all in one place and surrounded all the people including the villagers and the Arabs” he said. According to Yousif, the village is currently held by the Iraqi Army’s 14th Commando Force, but another force will soon arrive.“A villager from Palkana, who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity told Rudaw TV by phone on Tuesday afternoon, claimed the returnees have “invaded five households so far” and were still in the village.“The villager claims that the group arrived in “armed Humvees” and “stormed Kurdish households.”‘The villager said he and his Kurdish neighbours have shown documents, including land deeds, to the Iraqi forces to prove the properties belong to them.“The villagers lay partial blame on the attacks on the Kurdish parties. They say that they have contacted Kurdish parties, security and government departments in Kirkuk to help stop the seizure of lands, but not received support or a response.“Vian Sabri, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in the Iraqi parliament called the situation in Palkana and the attacks on village “not legal”, “unconstitutional”, and “inhumane” in a tweet on Tuesday.“Hatam Taii, a spokesperson for Arabs in Kirkuk told Rudaw English they have “official proof” and documents from the 1940s and 1950s that the area belongs to the Shammar, a large Arab tribe. Taii said that there are many sides who would have attempted to escalate the situation for political reasons, but that “the determining factor between all has to be the law.”“Arabs from elsewhere in Iraq were brought into the disputed areas of Kirkuk largely between 1970 and 1978. The Arabization of the province has been a historical flashpoint between Baghdad and the Kurds.“After 2003 and the fall of the Baath regime, Iraq began a policy of de-Arabization to reverse the demographic changes, within the framework of Article 140. Lands that had been confiscated from Kurds and Turkmen were returned, while the Arabs who had been settled there by the Baathists were given financial compensation.“Following the events of October 16, 2017 with the Iraqi federal forces taking over most of the disputed areas claimed by Baghdad and Erbil, many Kurdish villagers fled the area fearing violence from Iraqi and Shiite armed groups. Since then [late 2017], Kurdish locals in the area have alleged that a “re-Arabization” of the region is underway.“Acting Kirkuk Governor Rakan al-Jabouri issued 14 decrees seizing land owned by Kurds and giving it to Arabs, before Iraq’s Federal Court rescinded his decrees in December.“ISIS remnants have remained active in the region. Since early April, the elite US-trained Iraqi Counterterrorism Service (ICTS) has conducted large scale operations in and around Kirkuk.“Last month, (Asayesh) Kurdish security arrested a man who confessed to being “in charge of the transfer of Daesh militants from Kirkuk and Hawija to Palkana.”
Of course the American government should take the side of the Kurds, who have been our allies through thick and thin, and whose lands these clearly were, until Saddam’s policy of “arabizing” the Kurdish north forced the Kurds out, and Arabs moved in. After Saddam’s overthrow, the Arabs left the Kurdish territories, and Kurds returned to reclaim their lands. Now the Arabs are back, trying once again to lay violent claim to these lands.
In Syria, Bashar Assad cannot be more angry than he already is with the Americans for their alliance with the Kurds in Rojava, but there is nothing he can do to prevent further weapons deliveries from the U.S. to the Kurds. In Iraq the Arab-dominated government will have to decide if it wants to support the re-arabization of Kurdish lands, or if it wants to continue receiving vital American aid; it can’t have both.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, and Ayatollah Khameini in Iran, will be furious with further American military support for Iraqi Kurds, naturally fearing the boost that will give to Kurds in Turkey and Iran harboring secessionist designs and hopes for an independent Kurdistan. But why should we care? Turkey is no longer our friend, and Iran is our enemy. Save for the Israelis, the Kurds have been our steadiest allies in the Middle East. In their attempt to prevent the re-arabizing of Kurdish lands, they deserve our support.
Mac-101 says
Supporting the Kurds has always been the right thing to do in the 21st Century.
Gamzu says
The recently completed meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) issued a long communique that naturally had many paragraphs devoted to the Palestinan cause. It also addressed the persecution, real or imagined, of other Muslim minorities in non-Muslim states (Greece, India-ruled Kashmir, Myanmar, Russian-occupied Crimea, etc., though interestingly no mention of the Uiighers in China, at least none that I noticed). And of course nothing about Muslim minorities in Muslim states, such as the Kurds or Baluchis, let alone non-Muslim minorities.
Mac-101 says
This ole man has givin this a lot of thought. The Muslim Organizations squeal like pigs when anything is done to any Muslim anywhere in the world except Red China. Why? It is NOT logical. There MUST be a reason.
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We also have the major Tech Giants and Billionaires supporting BOTH Red China and Islam in the West, even though many are Jewish, such as Zuckerberg and Soros. Why?
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Could THEY, the Globalist NWO Scum, plan on dividing the world into two parts, China to control ALL of Asia and the rest of the world controlled as a Vassal State under Red China with Islam used as the Control Mechanism for those THEY leave alive to emit CO2? Livin under a mix of a high tech “1984” type of slavery and the Orson Well’s “Time Machine”?
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Therefore THEY Islamify the West and Allow Red China to “Purify” itself and reduce the population concentrating on a homogenous Hun Chinese base kinda like how Japan is ethnically like 98% the same except a few small islands?
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Crazy Talk I know. Any other ideas to explain this gross contradiction?
SteveFinSC says
H.G. Wells not Orson Wells…
Mac-101 says
Yup, thanks, I’m an ole man and git things reversed at times.
Wellington says
Good article by Hugh Fitzgerald. I would note that while the Kurds have proven reliable and make good fighters, they are still Muslim and will oppress Christians, as I believe Hugh Fitzgerald himself wrote about here at JW some time ago.
Mac-101 says
When I was in Iraq in 2005 to 2006 ever time I traveled through Kurdish Controlled areas I felt I was among friends and only kept half an eye open. It appeared that 95% wanted to be western and treated their Christian refugees and ALL others well.
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When traveling through Sunni areas it was like 25 to 50% wanted to be western but 25% would kill the “:Moderate” ones if they showed any outward support to US troops. Needless to say one kept BOTH eyes open at ALL times in Sunni controlled areas.
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My unit did not operate in Shia controlled areas so I can NOT comment. My impression from the reports it was not much better than Sunni, even though we, the USA was supporting the Shia government at that time.
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My son got IEDed./suicide bombed four times in Baghdad (mostly Shia) at checkpoints and on Patrols back in 2004 so I’d say it wasn’t very friendly then, around 2004
Wellington says
Thanks for your reply, Mac-101, and thank you again for your service and that of your son.
I would refer you to Hugh Fitzgerald’s August 5th, 2018 article here at JW entitled “Even the Kurds Now Impose a Disguised Jizyah.” I actually was the first to comment on that article.
Remember: In the final analysis anyone who is a Muslim should never be trusted. Yes, we can work with some better than others, but trusting any Muslim about anything is a foolish thing to do. No adult who willingly remains a Muslim (minus of course those who understandably fear to leave their faith because death for apostasy lurks over every Muslim head) should ever be considered fully trustworthy in the sense that many non-Muslims can be considered fully trustworthy.
Mac-101 says
YA, I saw that article. I was hopin that it was an exaggeration just as the charges against the PPK, is that right, are manufactured. Don’t really know. Just what I saw in 2005/6.
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As of and up to 2014, the SF guys I meet were ALL impressed with the Kurds and were highly POed that we did NOT support them more.
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You are right about one thing, Anyone that can claim Mohammad was the most perfect of Men from the most perfect of Tribes is a sorry POS from just what is written in THEIR books and I surely do NOT want to include them as more than working relationships! This point needs stressed more. I do ALL the time and people on the street agree! Mohammad did almost ALL despicable acts one can think of from Pedophilia to sleepin with da DEAD, Murder, torture, stealin and robbin and sex slaves. What did he NOT do?
gravenimage says
True, Wellington. Besides this effective Jizya, Kurds in Iraq have beaten Christians who voted the “wrong way”. Notwithstanding, Kurdish areas in Iraq have remained as much of a safe haven there as Christians are apt to find.
In the hideous Muslim world, the Kurds this century have been less bad than most other factions, so I (cautiously, as always) advocate supporting them.
Wellington says
What is most telling, gravenimage, and something I know you already know, is that the safest place for Christians in all of the Middle East is Israel. Ditto for the LGBT folks, the vast majority of whom ironically are Leftists only too ready to criticize those who criticize Islam even though Islam demands death for these folks. In fact, among the BDS crowd, Israel haters that they are, a larger percentage I think of this “crowd” would be LGBT folks than what you would find among supporters of Israel even though Israel protects LGBT rights far more than does ANY majority-Muslim nation.
What a weird time we live in. None weirder that I know of. It’s the Upside-Down Age.
gravenimage says
Yes, Wellington–Israel is the *only* really safe place for Christians–and gay people, and Jews, and Baha’i, and secularists–in the entire Middle East.
I was speaking about Iraq specifically, where options for safety for anyone not orthodox Islam are slim indeed, and by default Kurdish-controlled regions are better than nothing.
Walter Sieruk says
There is much blame for this vicious and violent hate towards the Kurds, instigated by cruel and evil men as Erdogan of Turkey and Khameini o Iran. All this is made even worse by the sinister and insidious influence of the Islamic kingdom of Saudi Arabia which is in no friend of the Kurds .
For Saudi Arabia is best defined as a kingdom of Islamic hate
As one Arab scholar who had lived in a Middle Eastern country, for many years revealed “Saudi madrassa notably teach hatred and condemnation of the Kurds West and non-Muslims” and “The Saudi Government also provides free textbooks to Islamic schools throughout the world . many of the Saudi- Issued textbook’s contain wording that encourages hatred and intolerance for non-Muslims.” [1] This hate and intolerance also includes hate and intolerance for the Kurds.
Saudi Arabia in many ways is no better than Turkey or Iran
[1] THEY MUST BE STOPPED by Brigitte Gabriel, page 106
cornelius says
Well….at least Hugh has given up on the fantasy he once promulgated on these pages….that the US could somehow convince Erdogan and the Turks to cooperate in the creation of a Kurdish State spanning northern Iraq, northeastern Syria and northwestern Iran. The very idea that the Turks would support such an endeavor, uniting a Kurdish homeland in every country of the region except Turkey itself, where Kurdish separatism is actually the strongest and where the pull of the new state would be irresistible…..was geo-political advocacy that dripped with amateurism and naivety.
Today, Hugh is advocating a policy unlikely to be implemented by the USA owing to a several factors (1) a desire by the USA not to cede Iraq to the Iranians, 2) a desire not to poison relations with Turkey (though Hugh is right, the the Turks have shed even the pretense of friendship with the West, 3) the absence of a land bridge the help the Kurds in the event of a break with Iraq,…,
…but at least Hugh’s advocacy in this chapter of the Kurdish saga is somewhat realistic.
The Kurds have been given the shaft time after time in modern history….particularly in the early 70s when the Shah of Iran supported a Kurdish uprising in Iraq (led by clan leader Mustafa Barzani). Once Saddam agreed to cede half the Shat-al Arab waterway to Iran, the Shah abandoned the Kurds and they were slaughtered.
As Hugh points out, since then, we’ve had ethnic cleansing in Kirkuk….and the infamy of Halabja. The Kurds have come to represent more than just a hard-luck ethnic group….they are a thorn in the conscience of the world. It’s high-time the world sought a solution to this perpetual problem. Unlike the Palestinians and their Arab brethren, the Kurds of Iraq don’t have 20 other Kurdish countries to advocate for them.
Kudos to Hugh for advocating what is not only morally right,,,,but is realistic.
Raja says
Kurds are really a oppressed lot and IOC doesn’t seem to care about that at all. IOC it seems is more obsessed with grabbing lands from non Muslims than equitable distribution of resources from within.. The idea of justice, human value seems to be totally alien to Islamic world. Much of the oil wealth is enjoyed by a few families in Saudi Arabia, Iran, earlier Saddam, Gaddafi and so on. Pakistan too had its share of who is indigenous and who are immigrants. There was so much oppression that the immigrants started their won political party. Pakistan would always regard themselves as far superior than Bangla speaking East Pakistanis. It is no different with Balochistan. May be their scorn for fellow Muslims is the same across globe.
US might want to reward the Kurds for standing by US in thick and thin, Which is a good idea but there are so many factors within this tangle that is almost impossible to solve. But with Kurds it it always a catch 22 situation. A uncle of mine who worked in Syria until 2009 used say that the Kurds are a hated lot. They would be blamed for every crime and the reprisals would be swift on Kurds.
If the earth survives for another 1000 years or if Christ does not come till then the Kurds might still be stateless and the ancestors of Ishmael will NEVER share anything with anyone leave alone with Kurds (because of their genes) Other converts too have the same problem with regard treating their brethren thanks to Islam that imitates Ishmael’s DNA, even as the devil wants the globe to be followers of Ishmael.
mortimer says
The Turks and Arabs are preparing to commit genocide against the Kurds.
ATBOTL says
The real divide in Islam is between Sunnis and Shiites. Everyone knows that. Sunnis are the ones attacking us with terrorism and are the vast majority of muslim migrants, well over 90%. But neocons want you to fight the Shiites and support the Sunnis. So they publish misdirections like this. This piece could have been written by Bill Kristol or Max Boot.
gravenimage says
The conflict here is not between Sunnis and Shia as ATBOTL appears to believe.
The Kurds, local Arabs, and Turks are all majority-Sunni–very few of any of these groups are Shi’ites.
ATBOTL says
Kurds are Sunni Muslims who have a history of genociding Christians.
gravenimage says
This is true–but right now the Kurds have offered an at least partial safe haven to Christians in Iraq.
Tony says
If these people are so wonderful? Why are they persecuting my Christian brothers and sister in Syria ?
gravenimage says
Kurds are not really in control of any part of Syria so far as I know.
TrueFreeThinker says
I’ve always wondered why about the same things. Seems like Chi-coms and mu slime s are going to divide the world. Why have mu slime s not said a single word bout China?
Mac-101 says
There gotta be a reason. I can’t believe I never saw anyone write about this. Especially how our Globalist Kapitalist Elites think THEY will control Red China in the very Near Future after THEY have made it the #1 power in the world. We surely live in interesting times!
gravenimage says
I think Muslims mostly whinge in places where they think their complaining will have an effect–and this is not likely to be the case in China.
Runaways says
“while the Arab soldiers ran from Mosul, the Kurds proved to be the best fighters against ISIS, ”
You forget that the Peshmerga Kurd also ran away from ISIS first,but before they had taken all guns from the Yezides and Christians and sayed to them”No fear,we will fight for you”!!!
It was the PKK who came to help!(NO im not a Commie,and the PKK sell Drugs in Europe for their war)
ALso Peshmergas always has robbed Yezidi Girls for marriage long before ISIS came!
Most Honour Killings in Europe from “Turks” are mostly Kurds from Turkey!
gravenimage says
Your claim that it is mostly Kurds responsible for “Honor Killings” in Europe does not hold water.
“Honor Killing” is rife in Islam–it is not relegated to the Kurds at all, and most Muslims in Europe are not Kurdish.
Demsci says
Very interesting article. For a long time I felt it very appropriate for the West to support all the Kurds. But that it was very difificult to choose between the Kurds in Turkey and the Turkish government. In the past under the generals a good ally. Then under Erdogan still officially a good ally. But in reality, in their hearts, with their media propaganda really an enemy of the West. A future big opponent.
The struggle of the YPG and later the SDF against ISIS was most satisfactory and de facto they controlled North East Syria. And we heard they governed it well and kept it safe. And …. they controlled the Syrian oil wells! So to me following the news it looked good. And I thought; why not unite at least the Syrian and Iraqi Kurds and have a second staunch ally in the ME?!
But then pres. Trump planned to withdraw from Syria! A shock. And it seemed due to Turkish pressure or encouragement. And even Russia applauded it. Motivated to withdraw from these “endless wars in the ME” sort of.
And then I thought, well, maybe it does make sense? As the Kurds also are Muslims and do not openly shed that bad religion. And it costs a lot of money, so when the West does its humanitairen duty, it should leave Muslims fight their Inter-Muslim wars.
And, I thought, Kurdistan in Syria, Iraq could not be sustained because of no access to the sea! As I looked on the map I saw that in the West Turkey and Syria blocked this access and in the East and south Iraq and Iran did. And those 4 states are all very hostile to an independent pro Western Kurdistan in Syria-Iraq. So, regrettably the West for now should let this dream go, I thought.
In a creative moment I thought that perhaps pres. Trump should withdraw from Iraq and thus save the wasting of lives and money there and instead defy Turkey and keep a military presence in Syria. And gain access to the sea there through conquering and maintaining a corridor to Israel! Through the desert of Southern Iraq where already the Al Tanf base is, in the process cutting the “landbridge” of Iran!
Then maybe, just maybe, Syria-Iraqi Kurdistan would be viable. Because then Kurdistan could export oil and other things and import all it needs through Israel. And so defy the 4 hostile nations around them. But this of course was only wishful thinking.