Out of Sight, In Mind: Cell-phones and the Reconnection of the Iraqi With a (Home)land Introduction Those were the words of my Abdulla Majeed grandmother the first time we heard her voice after losing touch for several weeks Abstract after the beginning of the U.S. led invasion of in 2003. Al Thuraya referenced in the It was only after the invasion of 2003 and the quote were the satellite cell-phones that gradual collapse of the Iraqi state that appeared on the Iraqi scene immediately cellphones began to surface on Iraq's public following the overthrow of the Iraqi market, for they have been previously government, connecting a large portion of banned by the regime of . the Iraqi diaspora with their families in Iraq. This fairly recent breakage of the digital Since then, multiple telecommunication barrier rendered Iraq at the time as one of corporations and operators have been the most promising ICTs markets in the established across the country. This paper Middle East, with critical consequences on will begin by providing a brief introduction the larger Iraqi society, particularly since it on the state of digital access, particularly also saw the introduction of the previously with regards to cellphones, in post-2003 banned Internet. Using personal experience, Iraqi society and how this access contributed as well as interviews with from to the reshaping of certain cultural attitudes , this paper argues that Iraqis and practices, particularly within the urban creatively employed, and continue to Baghdadi society. This will then be followed employ, ICTs and Cellphones not merely as by an examination of the role cellphones a tool of reconnection between the Iraqi have had on the relationship between Iraqis diaspora and the homeland (and vice versa), in the diaspora and the homeland, and the continuously reconstructing their national transformations that resulted from that identities, but also as tool of survival and reconnection, particularly with regards to risk assessment for Iraqis on the inside. This the renegotiation of an Iraqi national is of particular importance since the identity. Here, it is important to devastating consequences of the 2003 acknowledge that this relationship needs to invasion and occupation of Iraq are still be approached from two different yet evident on the Iraqi social, urban, and interdependent trajectories: diasporic Iraqis political space until this day. on Iraq and Iraq on the Iraqi diaspora. Finally, I will also examine how the fragile “Thank god I am finally able post-2003 Iraqi political atmosphere of to hear your voices again. I occupation and militant sectarianism has am in Al Karada now [a rendered the cellphones as a tool of survival popular local market in and risk assessment for the Iraqi individual. Baghdad]. The owner of Al Thuraya bast-ta [street ICT in Iraq vendor] is asking for too Any discussion on ICT (Information much money. I might lose Communication Technologies) in Iraq must connection in a few minutes. first acknowledge the fact that the Let me speak to your mother introduction of ICT into Iraq is fairly recent. quickly.” Cell-phones, internet, and satellite television

1 were all banned by the dictatorial Ba’athist which she argues that materials need not be regime of Saddam Hussein prior to 2003, defined merely by human interaction with while state-operated landlines were them, but one also needs to consider their perceived as being tapped by the interior ‘socially consequential’ existence beyond ministry (Mark et al 2009). Thus, post- human input. Similarly, the statistics invasion Iraq witnessed the concurrent mentioned above suggest that following the introduction of multiple forms of ICT, invasion, Iraqi society not only developed a breaking the digital barrier that had been strong response to the new opportunities firmly maintained under the dictatorship. ICT provided, but also exhibited new The digital barrier identified here is materialistic tendencies and prestige represented by the geographical borders of associated with phone ownership. For Iraq, beyond which Iraqis were able to example, ownership of the newest cell- access, but not necessarily acquire, different phone brands symbolized an elevated status forms of ICTs. This introduction of a new and socioeconomic achievement at a time market in the Middle East for ICTs rendered when the hopes for freedom and social and Iraq as one of the best telecommunication economic development had been dashed markets in the region, with an estimated cell- (and remain unfulfilled). In fact, this phone penetration rate of 70% of the materiality was manifested less than one population within 6 years of the invasion, in year following the invasion by the addition to the market of , establishment of more than 400 privately which have already had access prior to 2003 owned internet cafes in Baghdad alone (Best 2011). Zain Iraq, one of the leading (Alexander 2005). Such developments telecommunication operators in the country, support Burrell’s strong materiality recorded more than 10 million subscribers proposition, in which the properties of ICT by 2009 (Figure 1). played a critical role in a cultural transformation, rendering the virtual space

Figure 1. Coverage of Zain Iraq network provided by ICT as a space for possible between 2004 and 2009 cultural and social negotiation. This is of (Shapiro and Weidmann 2011). particular importance considering that for the eleven years preceding the invasion, the Here, it is important to recall the U.S. and its allies, represented by the United research conducted by Burrell (2012) on the Nations, had imposed suffocating economic strong materiality exhibited in Ghana sanctions on Iraq that had detrimental following the introduction of the internet, in consequences on the larger society. During

2 these punishing sanctions, Iraqis were extended family, including his two-year old prohibited from importing much needed nephew, after a U.S. airstrike mistakenly goods and services from beyond Iraq’s targeted their house in Baghdad: borders; goods that were not only necessary for their country’s development but also for I don’t know why the their own survival, such as heart and cancer house was hit. There was medicines, surgical gloves, and even pencils no intelligence, no army (Simons 1996). nearby, no weapons. Why The earliest introduction of mobile did Americans tell the ICTs to post-invasion Iraq was Al Thuraya world they hit only places satellite phone, which became the main of the army? Why did they means of communication with the outside hit civilian homes? world for many Iraqis. Even though Al ( Thuraya provided a critical benefit for 2003: 34) Iraqis to contact their families outside of Iraq, the satellite phones had several According to the U.S. Department of drawbacks, including (most importantly) Defense, the intended target of this the cost of ownership and operation. When airstrike was the half-brother of Iraq’s they were first introduced in Iraq, Al previous president Saddam Hussein, who Thuraya satellite phones could cost was presumed to be at this location based between 600 and1000 USD, while the on the intercepted Al Thuraya signals. charge for international calls surpassed the 8 USD/minute mark (MENA 2003). Cell Phones and the Diaspora However, such high costs did not halt the Extensive research has been completed expansion of Al Thuraya phones, since by with regards to the role ICTs play in the May 2003 the provider had 20,000 relationship between diaspora and the subscribers in Iraq alone, which was homeland, and a main characteristic of that expected to rise to more than 100,000 by relationship is the role ICTs have on easing the end of the year (MENA 2003). Based on the psychological trauma geographical personal inquiries with family members distance has created and fostered. As who resided in Baghdad during that period, highlighted earlier, the influence of cell personal ownership of Al Thuraya satellite phones on this relationship needs to be phones was relatively rare due to its high approached within the two aforementioned costs. Instead, Iraqi small business owners contexts. For many Iraqis in the diaspora, employed Al Thuraya as another tool to homeland and family were not the only generate profit by renting the phones to the form of loss they had to endure; rather I public for a specified number of minutes in propose that there was a constant fear of the return for a fee that was generally higher loss of memory; memory that is associated than the actual cost of operation. Here, it is with the homeland itself and its physical important to mention that the U.S military elements. Thus, the digital barrier that utilized Al Thuraya signals to locate Iraqi existed prior to the invasion contributed targets in the early periods of the invasion; extensively to the maximization of this real a tactic that put civilian life at high risk due and imagined loss. Here, imagined loss to the inaccuracy of such data (Human refers to the loss of memories. One could Rights Watch 2003). Consider for example argue that the transformation of memory this excerpt from Sa’dun Salih, an from its ‘realized’ state prior to migration, Iraqi man who lost six members of his

3 to being imagined following migration is a diaspora. What Conversi (2012: 1360), form of initial loss within itself. What is borrowing from Eriksen (2007), termed as meant by ‘imagined’ here is that being “internet nationalism” has been manifested detached from the material contexts by the Iraqi diaspora extensively through associated with a specific memory political propaganda Facebook groups, jeopardizes the existence of that memory. email newsletters, and political websites The material base in which it was rooted is among many other outlets. Access to the no longer realized or experienced, Internet through the cell phone allowed such rendering that memory as solely imagined, individuals to remain in contact with each and thus threatened. Within this other over multiple platforms, creating relationship, the breakage of the digital collective virtual communities in order to barrier through the cellphone helped Iraqis guide or motivate political change in the in the diaspora form repeated and homeland. Prime examples of such continuous connections with their families formations are the multiple Facebook in the homeland, imaginatively collapsing groups that document abuses committed by the distance, even if momentarily, between the post-invasion Iraqi governments and the 'here' and 'there'. Cellphones thereby sub-government militias against civilians, reconnected them to the places and people which often published video or audio in Iraq from which they had been materials recorded by Iraqis with cell involuntarily separated, and eased the phones. The cellphone thus became a tool trauma of separation. Thus, cell phone for the documentation of abuses, allowed Iraqis in the diaspora to form what communication with concerned Iraqi groups Hiller & Franz (2004) termed outside of the country, and public “transnational connections” that mimic propagation and sharing of information with their real/imagined communities prior to the rest of the world (for an example from migration. Since the acts of Kenya, see Ushahidi 2015). Thus, the cell memorialization and reconstruction of the phone becomes one of the tools employed in past are inseparable from cultural mobilizing cross-geographical collective reproduction, then by extension it can be solidarities based on political and national postulated that cell phones are also belonging(s), reflecting the various contributing to the reconnection of ideological trends of Iraqis in the diaspora. diasporic Iraqi communities with some of This process has been facilitated by the their cultural roots in the homeland, breaking down of the digital barrier and the motivating the perpetual reconstruction of opening up of the virtual space for their Iraqi culture in the diasporic time and uninterrupted communication. space. Similarly, cellphone usage in Iraq When we discuss the usage of cell enabled frequent communication with phones we must realize that they not only those who left, easing the emotional trauma provide us with direct contact through calls resulting from the absence of family and text messages, but allow access to the members and loved ones. The effects of the internet, a platform where political cell phones used from within Iraq cannot be movements often develop and thrive. underestimated, considering the large-scale Conversi (2012) suggests that the internet migration following the US invasion, in has become a space for nationalist which the cell phone played a major to achieve their political agendas in the mediating role by providing Iraqis on the homeland, an aspect that is certainly inside with the possibility of connecting accurate for a wide spectrum of the Iraqi with their counterparts who have already

4 migrated, and who functioned as a pull relocations. factor themselves concurrent with the Like many countries that have massive multiple push factors in the country. Thus, diasporic networks that contribute one could argue that cellphones in significantly to local economies through particular, and ICT in general, contribute to remittances, such as the Caribbean diaspora providing the means to disseminate (Minto-Coy 2011), remittances from Iraqis knowledge about life in the diaspora as a play a critical role in contributing to the possibility for a safer and more secure life survival of families in Iraq. Following a long compared to the situation in Iraq. This and exhausting period of economic might be one of the important factors that sanctions, the overthrow of the Iraqi encourages further migration for some government allowed for the introduction of individuals and families in Iraq. In addition, numerous privately owned corporations into this contact with Iraqis in the diaspora the industries of the country, which allowed Iraqis on the inside to reformulate eventually saw a rapid increase in the cost of their definitions of the Iraqi nation and/or living relative to the economically crippled homeland, whereby it is re-territorialized to pre-2003 Iraq. Thus, for many Iraqis include Iraqis within Iraq and in the remittances from their families abroad were diaspora. This aspect has certainly been an essential support and coping mechanism shown to be true for the Greek-Canadian to meet the increasing costs of basic diaspora also, who over the years have necessities. Cell phones not only allowed engaged in a de-territorialization of their contact with those family members abroad Greek identity to encompass a broader to coordinate the technicalities of such definition that is not necessarily confined to remittances, or contact with local money the geographical nation-state transfer firms, but was also a tool for Iraqis (Koukoutsaki-Monnier 2012). One can on the inside to send and receive money argue here that the inclusion of diaspora through mobile banking. In addition, as was Iraqis within the larger notion of the Iraqi highlighted earlier, cellphones like Al nation alleviates the sense of exile and loss Thuraya were employed by many small by way of belonging to a national entity, business owners as another source of direct and counters the traumas that result from income. the marginalization of migrant bodies in Post-invasion Iraq not only witnessed their new host countries. the introduction of ICTs to the public sphere, but also saw the introduction of countless Cell Phones and Survival in Iraq roadblocks and checkpoints manned by the The benefits of having access to ICTs U.S military, the Iraqi Military, or by and cell phones in particular are probably sectarian militias that were often associated best examined in post-conflict societies, with Iraqi political figures (Zangana 2010). where survival becomes the main concern Such checkpoints not only posed a for the population (Best et al. 2010); the hindrance to the movement and travel of Iraqi society has been in the midst of Iraqis, but also posed a huge risk to their conflict since 2003. Needless to say, people lives if they were assumed to be of a use different strategies to navigate through different religious sect for example, or if wars and traumatic experiences. Here, I will they were stopped at a roadblock that focus on two main forms or aspects relevant happened to be targeted by an opposing to the topic on cell phones, mainly insurgent group. Iraqis were thus forced to remittances and coordination of in-country coordinate their movements in order to carry out their everyday lives in the least

5 troublesome manner, while at the same time Conclusion assuring their survival. From this, cell phones were the mediator that allowed those It is important to note that this research who shared a community to inform each did not examine the negative aspects of ICT other of the locations of such dangers in expansion in Iraq, mainly with regards to the order to avoid them when traveling, or to perpetuation of violence in all its forms implement alternative plans for the day if the against civilians, and the social risk was too high (Mark et al 2009). marginalization and exclusion resulting To illustrate this aspect further, consider from the increased material tendencies. the following findings. Interviewing six Thus, the positive aspects of ICT discussed male and four female university contacts here must not be detached from a larger residing in Baghdad through Facebook, six context that might be discordant with the have indicated to me that they have ICT4D (Information Communication previously employed their cellphone to Technologies for Development) approach inquire about the safety of the usual routes adopted in this paper; an approach that leading to their university, the possibility of places emphasis on the productive using public transportation, and whether application of ICT. Based on this research, their classes were running on normal as well as personal and family experiences, schedule or not. Such forms of it is safe to assume that cell phones acted as communication were particularly critical catalyst in maintaining connections and during the height of the sectarian violence relationships between Iraqis living within between 2006 and 2008, a period during Iraq and in the diaspora on the one hand, but which the urban space of Baghdad was also within and among Iraqis whether in Iraq transformed into a site for kidnappings or outside. In turn, this quickened the pace (targeting students journeying to school in in reconfiguring the economic, social and particular), suicide and car bombs, death cultural landscape resulting from years of squads, and militant battles. This direness of sanctions and war. In the process, the digital this situation is further compounded when it revolution opened up spaces for new is realized that most of the students I cultural elements characteristic of or communicated with had attended (or still associated with this new digital sphere. Cell attend) the University of Baghdad, which is phones provided Iraqis with a space for located near al-Karrada neighbourhood, one actual and imagined movement to and from of Baghdad’s busiest and most dangerous Iraq as a home and a homeland, by allowing neighbourhoods until this day. Not only has access to events and matters concerning Iraq al-Karrada seen consistent suicide and car and the diaspora shared on multiple bombings since the invasion, but it has also cellphone compatible platforms. Thus, the been the site of targeted kidnappings and cell phone allowed for the creation of virtual assassinations. Here again, cellphones are subaltern (Spivak 1988) communities; not merely functioning within the globally marginalized communities that did not generalized structures of everyday necessarily share in a collective worldview communication, but in multiple ways, whether in the homeland or the diaspora, become a tool for risk assessment and and in fact came together virtually despite aversion, assuring the survival of these the differences, whether religious, cultural, students. or political.

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