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A political dispute erupted in Iraq after comments by Chaldean Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako during a Christmas Mass were widely interpreted as a call for “normalization,” prompting Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani and other prominent figures to respond and reject the concept.
Al-Sudani’s response was swift and decisive. He said the term “normalization” has no place in Iraq’s political vocabulary, as it is associated with an “occupying entity,” a reference to Israel’s establishment on Palestinian land in 1948.
Sako delivered his remarks during a Christmas Mass, which included a call for “normalization” without explicitly naming Israel. However, in Arab political discourse, the term is widely used to refer to establishing relations with Israel.
In the same context, Sadrist leader Muqtada al-Sadr issued a forceful response, noting that Iraqi law criminalizes normalization with Israel and calling on the relevant authorities to take action within their mandates. He stressed that there is no place in Iraq for normalization or for granting it any legitimacy.
Iraq’s Minister of Migration and Displacement, Evan Faiq Jabro, also voiced categorical rejection of “any statements or positions that call for normalization with the Zionist entity, or that seek to justify it in any way.”
Jabro, who is Christian, said such views “do not represent the stance of the Iraqi people, nor do they reflect their genuine will across all their religious and ethnic components.”
In a Facebook post, she added that Iraq, both government and people, “has been and remains steadfast in its support for the just Palestinian cause and in rejecting all forms of occupation and aggression,” describing the position as rooted in Iraq’s national and humanitarian principles and its historic commitment to justice and rights.
The minister praised al-Sudani’s “patriotic” and consistent stance in rejecting calls for normalization.
However, the Chaldean Patriarchate issued a clarification on what Sako meant by “normalization” in his Christmas Mass remarks.
In a statement, it said Sako had stressed that “everyone should normalize with Iraq, not with any other country, because Abraham is Iraqi, and Iraq is a land of religions and many prophets.”
The statement added that Sako addressed al-Sudani by saying: “Prime Minister, there is talk about normalization, and I hope the new government will ensure that normalization is in Iraq and with Iraq.”
It also noted that the patriarch had previously said that turning toward Iraq, “the land of civilizations and the land of Abraham,” would encourage tourism.
The speech and the prime minister’s response quickly became a focal point of debate in Iraq’s public sphere and across social media platforms.
Opinions were split between those who criticized the patriarch’s remarks, viewing them as an explicit call for normalization, and others who argued his comments had been misconstrued, alongside voices who praised the prime minister’s swift and decisive stance.
Several commentators voiced categorical rejection of any statements or positions that call for normalization with what they described as the “Zionist entity” or that seek to justify it in any form.
They argued that such views do not reflect the Iraqi people’s stance or their genuine will across Iraq’s various communities and groups, stressing that Iraq, both government and people, remains steadfast in supporting the Palestinian cause and rejecting all forms of occupation.
It is worth noting that Iraq adopted a law in 2022 criminalizing normalization with Israel.
Article 4 of Law No. 1 of 2022 stipulates that anyone who travels to the “Zionist entity,” visits its embassies or any of its institutions anywhere in the world, or contacts any of them shall be punished by a fixed-term or life prison sentence.
Article 5 of the same law provides for the death penalty or life imprisonment for anyone who establishes any form of relations with Israel in the political, economic, cultural and other spheres.
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