Uprisings and demonstrations are currently occurring all over the Arab world. In Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Bahrain and other Arab countries, people are arranging to protest; some are looking to topple their existing regimes, some are willing to simply fix them. Iraq is no different, and its people are calling for change.

Iraqis protest on 14 February, 2011. Photo taken from Iraqi Streets 4 Change's photo gallery.

Violent protests have taken place in Iraq in recent days, with anti-government protesters demonstrating against corruption, poor basic services and high unemployment.

Iraqi Streets 4 Change (Iq4C) is a website [ar] created by young Iraqis:

Who we are: We are young Iraqis, independent, and we love our country.

Why ‘Iraqi Streets for Change'?

Because we want to change the reality of life in Iraq on two levels: The first is to improve social services and push for urban development; the second is to change the reality of living in Iraq.

Their plan for achieving the desired change includes:

What is our goal?

At this stage we hope to:

• Cover the protests in Iraq.
• Create awareness among youth of the importance of protesting in a peaceful manner through the use of mainstream and new media, and the use of interactive arts to express themselves.
• Train young men and women on how to use new technology to cover such protests.
• Support Facebook pages by Iraqis, calling for the reform of the regime, in a correct manner – both technologically and knowledge-wise.

Voicing Demands

A page on Iq4C has been created for Iraqi people to voice their demands [ar]. Some people commenting on the page are looking for political reform, while some others are asking for better services and living standards.

Raya asked [ar] for better availability of services, especially electricity, which seems to be a very common request among those commenting:

Tayyar Al-Gomhor-Al Iraqi believes [ar] that focusing on political reform should come first:

Ameer wants [ar] to put an end to sectarianism:

Ahmed Jaf's demand from the government [ar] was simple:

Banner reads: “Tahrir Square number II”, in reference to Iraq's own Tahrir (liberation) Square, similarly named to Egypt's famous protest square. Photograph taken from Iraqi Streets 4 Change's photo gallery.

Initiatives for Change

Beside these demands, some people have decided to hold their own initiatives for a better Iraq [ar]; this call for action appeared on the Iq4C Facebook page:

The Iraqi Shia scholar Ali Al-Sistani has said that he understands people's demands, however he has urged [ar] them to hold peaceful demonstrations and not to attack people or property.

It seems that the things have not been that peaceful though, as Twitter reports from Iraqi capital Baghdad's own Tahrir (liberation) Square have shown:

@kellymcevers: Protesters say plainclothes, clean-shaven thugs attacked after midnight in Tahrir Sq. Soldiers afraid to help. 6 stabbed. #Iraq #Feb25 #Iq4c