{"id":12817,"date":"2026-05-12T14:49:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T11:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bayancenter.org\/en\/?p=12817"},"modified":"2026-05-12T14:50:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T11:50:08","slug":"al-bayan-center-holds-a-dialogue-seminar-on-iraqi-discourse-in-times-of-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bayancenter.org\/en\/2026\/05\/12817\/","title":{"rendered":"Al-Bayan Center Holds a Dialogue Seminar on Iraqi Discourse in Times of Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Al-Bayan Center for Studies and Planning held a dialogue seminar titled “Iraqi Discourse in Times of Crisis: Building Communication or Deepening Hatred,” during which a group of academics and researchers discussed the role of discourses in shaping collective consciousness and managing the crises facing Iraq and the region.<\/p>\n

The seminar hosted:<\/p>\n

Saad Salloum – Professor of Political Science at Al-Mustansiriya University and founder of the Center for Monitoring and Combating Hate Speech in Iraq.<\/p>\n

Adnan Subaih – Researcher specializing in the anthropology of discourse.<\/p>\n

The seminar opened by emphasizing that the essence of national and regional crises lies in “discourse,” which represents a path either toward resolution or toward conflict, noting that the real challenge lies in transforming Iraqi discourse into a bridge for national communication rather than a tool for deepening divisions.<\/p>\n

Dr. Saad Salloum stressed that acts of genocide throughout history were not the product of coincidence, but were always preceded by systematic waves of hate speech that promoted them and paved the way for their legitimization.<\/p>\n

Salloum referred to tragic global examples of this trajectory, citing the genocide in Rwanda and the wars of the former Yugoslavia, where inflammatory discourse played a fundamental role in tearing apart the social fabric.<\/p>\n

Applying this analytical framework to the Iraqi context, Salloum linked this trajectory to the sectarian violence witnessed in Iraq, culminating in the genocidal atrocities committed by ISIS against the Yazidi community, affirming that these crimes could not have occurred without the prior existence of hate speech that worked to dehumanize the other and transform them into a legitimate target of violence.<\/p>\n

For his part, Dr. Adnan Subaih addressed the issue of the “colonization of the public sphere in Iraqi discourse,” explaining that the public sphere in Iraq after 2003 was subjected to processes of colonization by mobilizational identity-based discourses lacking shared national foundations.<\/p>\n

Subaih pointed out that the absence of a shared public sphere reinforces discursive conflict, which necessitates dismantling these exclusionary practices that extend from official discourse to everyday practices in Iraqi public life.<\/p>\n

The seminar concluded with participants emphasizing the need to seek fundamental solutions aimed at establishing an inclusive national Iraqi discourse based on the principles of citizenship and communication, away from hate speech that threatens social peace.<\/p>\n

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