Muqtada Al-Sadr, influential Iraqi cleric, backs US campus protests

NEWSROOM – Iraqi religious leader Muqtada Al-Sadr on Saturday expressed his support for pro-Palestinian encampments at universities in the United States and called for an end to police action against them.

“We call for a halt to the crackdown on voices advocating for peace and freedom,” Sadr said in a statement.”The voice of American universities demanding an end to Zionist terrorism is our voice.”

Sadr once led a militia fighting American forces following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein. He has since rebranded into an Iraq-first political figure and positioned himself as a politician seeking to end what he sees as Iranian dominance in Iraqi politics.

He retains a devoted following of millions among the country’s majority Shiite Muslim population, and wields great influence over Iraqi politics. Sadr won a plurality of seats at the 2019 parliamentary elections, but his 73 MPs resigned en masse when it became clear he would be unable to form a government that excluded pro-Iran Shiite parties.

Protests and encampments have taken place at campuses across the U.S. against Israel’s war on Gaza. The U.S. is Israel’s largest military supplier.

Student protesters say they are expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, where the death toll since October 7 is at least 34,388, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory.

In response to the growing protests, police have carried out large-scale arrests across the country, at times using chemical irritants and Tasers to disperse activists. Many of the arrested include university faculty.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas militants from the territory attacked Israel on October 7, resulting in the reported death of 1,170 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Militants also seized hostages, 129 of whom Israel estimates remain in Gaza, including 34 who the military says are dead.

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and has carried out relentless bombardment of Gaza alongside a ground invasion since October.

Almost all Iraqi political factions support the Palestinian cause, and like its neighbour Iran, Iraq does not recognise the Israeli state.

Reporting by AFP and 964media