Liberation Square or al-Tahrir Square (Arabic: ساحة التحرير), originally known as Queen Alia Square (Arabic: ساحة الملكة عالية)[1] is a square located in central Baghdad at the intersection of al-Sa'doun Street and al-Jumhuriya Bridge road. Al-Tahrir Square is Baghdad's biggest and most central square located in the al-Rusafa part of the city on the eastern banks of the Tigris river.[2]
In recent years, al-Tahrir Square became the center of various protests and demonstrations in Baghdad and in Iraq. Most notably of these was the unrest of the October 2019 Iraqi protests that saw hundreds of thousands gathering to protest against the Iraqi government and its failures with many volunteered to help the protestors.[3][4]
Description
Known as al-Tahrir Square locally, the square consists of open public spaces with the Ummah Garden, situated behind the square. It is home to a major bronze monument which commemorates the 1958 establishment of the Republic of Iraq.[5][6] Being the biggest square in the city, it the center of Baghdad that is also the intersection of al-Sa'doun Street and connects the traffic road to al-Jumhuriya Bridge. The square is also located in front of the building nicknamed the "Turkish Restaurant" which would become the center of modern Iraqi protests.[2] The square also connects to al-Khilani Square which is 500 meters away from it.[7]
History
Historical background
Al-Tahrir Square in 1960. Note the unfinished monument.
The area that became al-Tahrir Square was first established in 1937 during the Royal era where a roundabout was built.[8] The monument, known as Nasb al-Hurriyah is located here which celebrates Iraqi history by depicting key events leading up to the creation of a republic. The monument, designed by the leading Iraqi sculptor Jawad Saleem and architect, Rifat Chadirji, opened in 1961.[5] Al-Tahrir Square was the center of Baghdad while al-Rasheed Street was the main avenue of the city.[9]
On 27 January 1969, fourteen people, who were convicted of being Zionist spies and traitors by the ruling Ba'ath Party at the time, were hanged publicly in front of thousands of spectators in the square and was aired on TV, and their bodies were left dangling in the square publicly. The event made national headlines and Iraqi radio praised the event and congratulated the government on its "revolutionary" action. Public executions would become common in the square with full radio and television coverage.[10][11]
Nighttime view of the 2019 protests in the square. The demonstrations started in the square on the first of October, 2019.The Turkish Restaurant covered in banners and Iraqi flags during the 2019 protests.
Al-Tahrir Square was the epicenter of the unrest of the October 2019 Iraqi protests.[3] The protests began on the first of October of 2019 over high unemployment, poor basic services, such as daily electricity cuts, and state corruption.[12] Hundreds of protestors refused to leave the square for months until they can get their human rights. The protest contained diverse people, including protestors who embraced tradition and those who were "raised on social media", from all generations. Around the square are two streets where elementary elements and ambulances can be reached. Participants in the protest, mainly women, cooked and made bread for the protestors free of charge and also offered food for visitors for free. Many protestors also slept in the Turkish Restaurant and kept an eye on security forces. Transportation in the square was only provided by Tuk-Tuks, driven by people under the age of 18 and became one of the icons of the demonstrations.[2]
The Turkish Restaurant was taken over after fears that snipers would use the building to target the protests materialized. The buildings became filled with banners supporting the demonstrators and Iraqi flags and became an icon of the protests. The building was compared and nicknamed to Mount Uhud by the protestors, which witnessed the Battle of Uhud in which Muslims left the mountain before the end of the fighting, sustaining heavy losses.[13]
A disabled demonstrator puts his crutch facing the riot police during the 2019 protests.
On 16 November 2019, at least four protesters were killed and nearly 20 were injured as a car bomb attack took place at the Square. No group claimed responsibility for the first explosion in the ongoing anti-government protests.[14] When the protest reached its 1-year mark on the first of October, 2020, protesters who gathered in al-Tahrir Square were sighted raising pictures of more than 600 people who died and injuries to 26,000 others since the beginning of the protests in 2019 in Baghdad and across southern Iraq.[15][16]
On 22 July, 2023, Iraqi protesters chose the square as the epicenter of protests denouncing the burning of the Qu'ran outside the Iraqi embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark. Participants of the protest had reportedly attempted to cross the nearby al-Jumhuriya Bridge to proceed toward the Danish Embassy, which led the Iraqi police to deploy tear gas on the protestors. After pushing back protesters, authorities have closed the bridge to traffic.[17] On July On 13 October 2023, thousands of Iraqis gathered in the square, waving Palestinian flags and burning Israeli flags while chanting anti-Israeli and anti-American slogans.[18]
