Based on an analysis of 529 trending X \/ Twitter posts on December 21, 2024, Miqrab AI found that the key themes and narratives in Iraq are dominated by the recent political upheaval in neighboring Syria. Discussions are sharply divided over the new leadership of Ahmed al-Sharaa (formerly al-Jolani), with some accounts accusing his forces of sectarian atrocities while others praise him as a revolutionary leader. Domestically, there is significant debate over international pressure to dissolve the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), with strong voices on both sides of the issue. A broader narrative of frustration with foreign influence, particularly from Iran, the US, and Turkey, and the perceived failures of the post-2003 Iraqi government is also prominent. Other major topics include condemnations of the terrorist attack in Germany, controversies surrounding public figures, and ongoing concerns about regional conflicts, particularly involving the Houthis in Yemen.<\/p>\n
The recent change of power in Syria is the most dominant topic on Iraqi X \/ Twitter, with discourse sharply polarized around the new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa (also known as al-Jolani). Several high-impact posts from Hassan Alkaaaei<\/a> (Post Impact: 51%)<\/strong> and Hassan Alkaaaei<\/a> (Post Impact: 45%)<\/strong> accuse “Jolani’s gangs<\/em>” of committing sectarian crimes, including destroying a statue of the Virgin Mary and prompting Christians and Alawites to threaten a revolution against his “terrorists.<\/em>” In stark contrast, Najeh Abbas Al-Mizan<\/a> (Post Impact: 91%)<\/strong> shared a video described as a “testimony in favor of the leader of the Syrian revolution #Ahmed_AlSharaa.<\/em>” Meanwhile, commentators like Rusly Al-Maliki<\/a> (Post Impact: 29%)<\/strong> criticized the Iraqi government for maintaining a “hostile approach towards the new government in Syria<\/em>” while the rest of the world begins to establish relations.<\/p>\n The future of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), or Hashd al-Shaabi, is a major point of contention. Several accounts, including Rusly Al-Maliki<\/a> (Post Impact: 26%)<\/strong> and Shaho Alquradaghi<\/a> (Post Impact: 10%)<\/strong>, shared reports from the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar claiming that a UN representative asked Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to issue a fatwa to dissolve the PMF, but he refused. This international pressure is highlighted by critics like Omar Al-Janabi<\/a> (Post Impact: 20%)<\/strong>, who posted a video of militia figure Abu Azrael calling the PMF the “biggest mafia in the Arab world.<\/em>” In response, supporters of the force shared messages of defiance. Dr. Hussein Al-Safi<\/a> (Post Impact: 15%)<\/strong> posted a clip of cleric Rashid Al-Husseini stating that calls to dissolve the PMF are equivalent to asking them to “pull out our fangs.<\/em>”<\/p>\n A strong narrative of public anger towards foreign control over Iraqi affairs and the current political class is evident. Ali Fadhil<\/a> (Post Impact: 34%)<\/strong> captured this sentiment with the statement: “The safe is in America’s hands, the water tap is in Turkey’s hands, the electricity switch is in Iran’s hands.<\/em>” This dependency is also criticized by Rusly Al-Maliki<\/a> (Post Impact: 24%)<\/strong>, who pointed out that after two decades, Iraq still imports gas from Iran. An account named {Manasat al-Iraq}<\/a> (Post Impact: 36%)<\/strong> posted a lengthy tirade blaming the United States, Iran, and Israel for the death of Saddam Hussein and the installation of corrupt leaders, warning these figures that they “will be dragged [through the streets] very soon.<\/em>”<\/p>\n The deadly attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, prompted widespread condemnation from Iraqi and Kurdish political figures. The President of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani<\/a> (Post Impact: 13%)<\/strong>, stated, “In the Kurdistan Region, we stand with the German people during these difficult times,<\/em>” while Prime Minister Masrour Barzani<\/a> (Post Impact: 10%)<\/strong> expressed that he was “appalled by the horrific attack.<\/em>” Analyst Ghaith Al-Tamimi<\/a> (Post Impact: 12%)<\/strong> also expressed solidarity and sorrow over the “heinous crime.<\/em>” Adding a political dimension, Hassan Alkaaaei<\/a> (Post Impact: 16%)<\/strong> claimed the perpetrator was a supporter of “Jolani’s terrorists in Syria.<\/em>”<\/p>\n A significant social media debate erupted over the disbarment of a lawyer, Zainab Jawad, after a private audio recording of her was leaked. Some users, like Sajad Al-Jubori<\/a> (Post Impact: 31%)<\/strong>, argued that the person who leaked the private message should be prosecuted, not the lawyer. Similarly, Ahmad Al-Ziyadi<\/a> (Post Impact: 13%)<\/strong> provided a legal opinion that the Bar Association’s decision was an “abuse of power<\/em>” because the audio related to personal conduct, not professional matters. On the other side, accounts such as Wasan Al-Shaikhli<\/a> (Post Impact: 9%)<\/strong> supported the decision and called for Jawad to be banned from all media platforms due to what she described as “incitement and verbal transgressions that violate the values of religion and society.<\/em>”<\/p>\n Qais al-Khazali, the leader of the Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq militia, was the subject of an intense online campaign and an equally strong defense. Critical posts from accounts like Wasan Al-Shaikhli<\/a> (Post Impact: 31%)<\/strong> and Ghaith Altamimi<\/a> (Post Impact: 21%)<\/strong> shared provocative images and questioned his whereabouts. In response, supporters mobilized to defend him. Sheikh Falah Al-Quraishi<\/a> (Post Impact: 8%)<\/strong> and Jaafar Al-Aboudi<\/a> (Post Impact: 6%)<\/strong> characterized the criticism as a campaign of “false news<\/em>” orchestrated by “Zionist terrorist groups<\/em>” intended to undermine a key figure of the resistance axis.<\/p>\n The ongoing conflict between Yemen’s Houthis and Israel is being closely followed in Iraq. Accounts reported on military actions from both sides, with Omar Abdulsatar Mahmud<\/a> (Post Impact: 9%)<\/strong> detailing “violent raids<\/em>” targeting the Yemeni capital, Sana’a. Conversely, Ahmad Abdulsada<\/a> (Post Impact: 7%)<\/strong> shared a video allegedly showing a Yemeni ballistic missile striking Tel Aviv. The rhetoric surrounding the conflict is tense, with an account under the name David Yassin<\/a> (Post Impact: 14%)<\/strong> conveying threats allegedly from Israel that the “price [for Houthis] will be their lives.<\/em>” Rusly Al-Maliki<\/a> (Post Impact: 9%)<\/strong> also reported, citing Israeli media, that Israel is preparing another attack and seeking to involve other countries.<\/p>\n Posts reflecting on Iraq’s history of conflict and blaming various actors for the country’s turmoil gained significant traction. Othman Al-Mukhtar<\/a> (Post Impact: 35%)<\/strong> commemorated the anniversary of a series of deadly attacks on US forces across Iraq on December 21, 2004. This remembrance of the insurgency is linked to a broader sentiment of grievance against the post-2003 political order, as articulated by the account {Manasat al-Iraq}<\/a> (Post Impact: 36%)<\/strong>. The page explicitly blamed the US, Iran, and their Iraqi allies for the execution of Saddam Hussein and the subsequent destruction, vowing, “By God, we and our children and our grandchildren’s grandchildren will not forget until the Day of Judgment your heinous crime of occupying our country.<\/em>”<\/p>\n The political developments in Syria have reignited calls among some Iraqis for the establishment of a Sunni federal region. This demand was prominently articulated by Hiba Alnnayib<\/a> (Post Impact: 20%)<\/strong>, who argued that creating a Sunni region is the “optimal solution<\/em>” to avoid liability for the “$150 billion in compensation” that the new Syrian government is allegedly demanding from Iraqi Shiite groups for damage caused by their militias. The post suggests these reparations should be paid from the oil revenues of Basra. The call for federalism was echoed by accounts like Sheikh Thaer Al-Bayati<\/a> (Post Impact: 5%)<\/strong>, who listed the “application of the constitution and the law of regions and the federal system<\/em>” as a prerequisite for any political dialogue.<\/p>\n A significant news item circulating on Iraqi X \/ Twitter was the issuance of arrest warrants for the prominent Anbari tribal figure Sheikh Ali Hatem al-Suleiman and his cousin. According to posts by Azhar Al-Jumaili<\/a> (Post Impact: 9%)<\/strong> and Haidar<\/a> (Post Impact: 6%)<\/strong>, the warrants were issued on charges of forgery. The allegations involve the fraudulent sale of 600 plots of land in Ramadi using forged deeds. The posts claim that these lands were originally granted to them by the former Speaker of Parliament, Mohammed al-Halbousi, and that al-Suleiman is now a fugitive from justice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Based on an analysis of 529 trending X \/ Twitter posts on December 21, 2024, Miqrab AI found that the key themes and narratives in Iraq are dominated by the recent political upheaval in neighboring Syria. Discussions are sharply divided over the new leadership of Ahmed al-Sharaa (formerly al-Jolani), with some accounts accusing his forces […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9739,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72,73,78],"tags":[82,52,81,83],"class_list":["post-9738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-twitter-x","category-iraq","category-daily","tag-daily-reports","tag-iraq-daily-social-media-trends","tag-iraq-public-opinion","tag-trending-x-twitter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9738"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9740,"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9738\/revisions\/9740"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miqrab.ai\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}2. Debate Over Calls to Disband the Popular Mobilization Forces<\/h2>\n
3. Frustration with Foreign Influence and Iraqi Governance<\/h2>\n
4. Iraqi Figures Condemn Germany Christmas Market Attack<\/h2>\n
5. Controversy Over Lawyer Zainab Jawad’s Disbarment<\/h2>\n
6. Online Campaigns Target and Defend Militia Leader Qais al-Khazali<\/h2>\n
7. The Houthi-Israel Conflict and Regional Escalation<\/h2>\n
8. Reflecting on Iraq’s Violent Past and Historical Grievances<\/h2>\n
9. Calls for a Sunni Federal Region Gain Momentum<\/h2>\n
10. Arrest Warrants Issued for Sheikh Ali Hatem al-Suleiman<\/h2>\n