Author: Aqeel Hussein in Baghdad and Colin
Freeman
Publication: The Telegraph
Date: June 4, 2006
URL: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/04/wirq04.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/06/04/ixnews.html
As the purveyors of nothing spicier than the
odd dash of hot chilli sauce, Baghdad's falafel vendors had never imagined
their snacks might be deemed a threat to public morality.
Now, though, their simple offerings of chickpeas
fried in breadcrumbs have gone the same way as alcohol, pop music and foreign
films - labelled theologically impure by the country's growing number of Islamic
zealots.
In a bizarre example of Iraq's creeping "Talibanisation",
militants visited falafel vendors a fortnight ago, telling them to pack up
their stalls by today or be killed.
The ultimatum seemed so odd that, at first,
most laughed it off - until two of them were shot dead as they plied their
trade.
"They came telling us, 'You have 14 days
to end this job' and I asked them what was the problem," said Abu Zeinab,
32, who was packing up his stall for good yesterday in the suburb of al Dora,
a hardline Sunni neighbourhood.
"I said I was just feeding the people,
but they said there were no falafels in Mohammed the prophet's time, so we
shouldn't have them either.
"I felt like telling them there were
no Kalashnikovs in Mohammed's time either, but I wanted to keep my life."
Why Baghdad's falafel vendors should be blacklisted
while their colleagues are allowed to continue selling kebabs or Western-style
pizzas and burgers remains a mystery.
Some suspect it is because a taste for falafels is one of the few things that
unites Jewish and Arab communities in Israel.
It is, however, just one of many Islamic edicts
to hit Baghdad in recent weeks, prohibiting everything from the growing of
goatee beards to the sale of mayonnaise - because it is allegedly made in
Israel.
Even the Arab addiction to cigarettes is being
challenged, with insurgents declaring smoking bans in at least one Sunni district.
News of the latest strictures surfaced 10
days ago, when the coach of Iraq's tennis team and two players were shot dead
for wearing shorts.
The killings, in Sunni-dominated west Baghdad,
took place days after militants had distributed leaflets banning the wearing
of shorts or T-shirts with English writing on them. They also forbade women
to drive or travel on public transport with men - a rule that bus drivers
have begun to enforce.
Another group of traders to have felt the
Islamists' unexpected wrath is Baghdad's ice merchants, who sell large chunks
of ice for storing food and chilling drinks. In a city facing constant power
cuts and summer temperatures of up to 50C (122F), the service they provide
is little short of essential.
Yet in recent weeks, they too have fallen
foul of the claim that their product was not a feature of life during Mohammed's
time.
Akram al Zidawi, 19, an ice seller from al
Dora, thought the threats were too ludicrous to be true - until it was too
late. "Two weeks ago he came back home saying that he had been threatened
by the terrorists," said his brother Gassan, 32.
"My mother begged him to quit the job,
but he laughed, he thought it was impossible they would kill him. But they
came back two days later and shot him dead, along with three other ice sellers
nearby."
Meanwhile, barbers have been inundated with
young men anxious to shave off their goatee beards. Last month, Mustapha Jawad,
17, was allegedly killed for wearing one, which Islamists deemed a Jewish
facial hairstyle.
"After Mustapha's death I received 20
to 30 young men every day, all wanting me to shave off their goatee,"
said a barber, Sinan al Rubai. "Maybe one day the mujahedeen will insist
on shaving all the head - then I will be rich."
