The memory of ordinary, everyday intercultural or interreligious relationships, in brief 

The population of Khanaqin was historically mixed, speaking Kurdish, Arabic, Turkish, Jewish Neo-Aramaic and other languages. The majority of residents have historically been Kurdish-speaking Sunni Muslims, but until recently a fifth of the population were Arabic speakers, and smaller minorities included Turkmen and Jews. The town was also on a pilgrimage route for Shia Muslims from Iran, and this town has been a place of meeting that can be described in social, cultural and religious terms.

The context in which these relationships made a difference at the time 

The extent to which Khanaqin has been at the periphery of successive political regimes since Ottoman times – and has often been the subject of attacks from these regimes – encouraged citizens to identify its diversity as a characteristic of the community which had practical value for all of its citizens. 

What has happened since, which makes the memory valuable 

In the 1970s, the Iraqi government imposed an Arabisation policy in Khanaqin which, through forced displacement from other locations, raised the proportion of the population which identified as Arabic rather than Kurdish to almost a half. The entire population was displaced by Iranian shelling during the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-88. Kurdish peshmerga captured Khanaqin in 1991 and again in 2003. After the US-led invasion in 2003, Khanaqin was formally within the Diyala Governate, under the authority of the government in Baghdad, but has instead been administered of the Kurdish Regional Government. At this point, most of its non-Kurdish population left, so that today they make up a small minority (the mayor in 2014 said it was 1%) of the population. The Jewish population fled in the late 1940s, after the Jewish community leader was arrested by the Iraqi government. There are no longer Christian or Jewish residents. In the face of a history of political pressures and armed attack, the former importance of Khanaqin’s historic diversity for its social relationships stands out, though the current realities have changed.

How might the memory be used in bringing people together in practice now? 

The dramatic loss of the diversity which had historically been evident in Khanaqin since 2003 impacts on how this can be used as a resource today. We would like to share reflections from anyone sharing memories: In what ways do you see the memories of Khanaqin’s multicultural and multireligious solidarities can be used, perhaps in teaching about the value of cultural heritage and diversity, or to promote peace and understanding, or to teach lessons about small-scale, local social and economic cooperation?

Additional context/Some additional reading
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khanaqin