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Yeah. The Arab world certainly displays no signs of racism.
A government decision to alter the traditional Iraqi weekend has sparked ire and protests among many who resent being forced to take a day off that many here associate with the Jewish day of rest.
Last week, the government officially changed the Iraqi weekend, adding Saturday to the traditional Friday off. The government said it would extend the six-hour work day to make up for the lost hours.
But many Iraqis ignored the government edict and went to work and school Saturday anyway to protest. Their demands are simple: they want the government to make Thursday and Friday the official weekend instead.
At Baghdad's University of Mustansariyah, a statement issued by a student union thought to be allied with the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr described Saturday as "the Zionist holiday" and said the government order should not be followed.
It was issued, the statement said, by an interim government that has "expired" following January 30 elections. The interim government remains in office until a new administration is installed. No date has been set.
"We declare a general strike in the University of Mustansariyah to reject this decision and any decision aimed at depriving Iraqis of their identity," the statement said.
In predominantly Sunni Samarra, the Mutawakal high school opened after insurgents threatened to kill its teachers if they took the day off.
On Thursday, students chanting "we don't want Saturday, it's a Jewish holiday," marched to the provincial governor's office in Baqouba, 60 kilometers northeast of Baghdad. Police fired into the air to disperse the crowd when a high school student pulled out a hand grenade and started waving it around.
At least three students were reportedly injured in the ensuing scuffle.
In many districts of Baghdad, including Shi'ite-dominated Sadr City, students and civil servants ignored the decree. At Sadr City's al-Fazilah secondary girls school, all 400 girls showed up for class.
"Sadr City is a Shiite Islamic city and we reject Saturday being our holiday because it is related to the Jewish weekend," Safaa Dawoud Mahmoud, 18, the student union leader said.
She said the student body delivered a letter to the school's administrators demanding that "Thursday and Friday be the official weekend because both days were blessed in Islam and by Sharia," or Islamic law.
Dressed in long skirts, their hair covered with dense black veils, the students demanded that teachers, many of which showed anyway up, hold classes. They also vowed to stage sit-ins until the government reverses its decision and makes Thursday the first day of a two-day weekend.
"We will keep going to school with determination and persistence" on Saturday, sixth-grader Nassen Dawoud said, while her classmate Nada Alwan, said "we can't be like Jews. Saturday is a Jewish holiday and I hope the government listens to us."
The Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars, believed to be close to the insurgency, said that by making Saturday a weekend "the invaders, the occupiers are trying to impose their principles" on Iraq.
Last week, the government officially changed the Iraqi weekend, adding Saturday to the traditional Friday off. The government said it would extend the six-hour work day to make up for the lost hours.
But many Iraqis ignored the government edict and went to work and school Saturday anyway to protest. Their demands are simple: they want the government to make Thursday and Friday the official weekend instead.
At Baghdad's University of Mustansariyah, a statement issued by a student union thought to be allied with the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr described Saturday as "the Zionist holiday" and said the government order should not be followed.
It was issued, the statement said, by an interim government that has "expired" following January 30 elections. The interim government remains in office until a new administration is installed. No date has been set.
"We declare a general strike in the University of Mustansariyah to reject this decision and any decision aimed at depriving Iraqis of their identity," the statement said.
In predominantly Sunni Samarra, the Mutawakal high school opened after insurgents threatened to kill its teachers if they took the day off.
On Thursday, students chanting "we don't want Saturday, it's a Jewish holiday," marched to the provincial governor's office in Baqouba, 60 kilometers northeast of Baghdad. Police fired into the air to disperse the crowd when a high school student pulled out a hand grenade and started waving it around.
At least three students were reportedly injured in the ensuing scuffle.
In many districts of Baghdad, including Shi'ite-dominated Sadr City, students and civil servants ignored the decree. At Sadr City's al-Fazilah secondary girls school, all 400 girls showed up for class.
"Sadr City is a Shiite Islamic city and we reject Saturday being our holiday because it is related to the Jewish weekend," Safaa Dawoud Mahmoud, 18, the student union leader said.
She said the student body delivered a letter to the school's administrators demanding that "Thursday and Friday be the official weekend because both days were blessed in Islam and by Sharia," or Islamic law.
Dressed in long skirts, their hair covered with dense black veils, the students demanded that teachers, many of which showed anyway up, hold classes. They also vowed to stage sit-ins until the government reverses its decision and makes Thursday the first day of a two-day weekend.
"We will keep going to school with determination and persistence" on Saturday, sixth-grader Nassen Dawoud said, while her classmate Nada Alwan, said "we can't be like Jews. Saturday is a Jewish holiday and I hope the government listens to us."
The Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars, believed to be close to the insurgency, said that by making Saturday a weekend "the invaders, the occupiers are trying to impose their principles" on Iraq.
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