Freedom Square offers Refuge for Basra Residents

Sajjad Qazem, a student at the University of Basra who goes to the square every Friday, agrees with the governor. “There is nothing particularly beautiful about the square, but it is a great breather for Basra’s families,” he said in an interview with Al-Monitor.

Hurriyah Square has turned into a meeting place for civil figures, and many professional artists gather beside the monument to teach young men how to paint.

Activist-poet Louay al-Khamissi explained the flood of people who have been meeting in the square since its opening. “It is the only place for the families of Basra to take walks and the only place where artists can sit and paint,” he said.

Khamissi runs Sumerians for Art, an organization founded by a group of young painters, that teaches children and youth how to paint.

Mohammad Joudat, who is in his early 20s and studies technology at the University of Basra, said that he has learned a lot from the Sumerians for Art workshops in Hurriyah Square. He believes that the group has brought something new to the students as they use iPads and laptops to draw. Joudat considers this to be a first and very different from the traditional painting with oil on canvas.

Basra is considered one of the most important strongholds for militias such as Asaib Ahl al-Haq that aims to tighten its grip on civil freedoms. The city's social stability has been in danger since armed groups have been threatening the Sunni residents, which led the United Nations to express concern over the matter.

Basra has been the scene of tribal conflicts and clashes, and with an expansion of tribal influence this has begun to threaten the government's authority.