With 2015 being a long and dreadful year internationally, many locals have continued to feel the pain by expressing their feelings as one together.
On the 21st November, a group of well around 300 Iraqis gathered around to celebrate their glorious past in Kensington's own Copthorn Tara Hotel, part of the Millennium Hotel Group. With several families gathered as one, the sight was one truly representative of pre-2003 Iraq, as Jews, Christians, Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims all clapped along with old songs and instrumentals. The main man, Mr Ismael Fadel, himself an Iraqi, sang from roughly 20:30 to 1:30 in the morning as the audience cheered, danced, laughed and even cried.
"The Iraq today means nothing to us," stated Mrs Hala Allawi, a resident of Kingston. "Back in my day, we were all one; Jews, Muslims and Christians, but look at us now!" The evening was welcomed with poems spoken by a variety of people, as well as a large meal consisting of almost two starters, an ample main and a chocolatey dessert. "We want things to be back to normal," continued Mrs Allawi, "but I don't think it will happen in my or my daughter's lifetime at all."
Ever since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the nation descended into utter violence and tragedy. Now, with the rise of brutal terrorist groups such as IS, there is no doubt that Iraqis such as Mrs Allawi and us have no intention of returning to our homeland. "Let us just remember the old days...and move on. I don't ever think the Iraq I know will come back again!" But with many ethnicities such as those displayed at the hotel all singing together, is a prosperous Iraq still a dream, or is it a possibility that can come true in the distant yet tangible future?
