Reply #48: How about we remember what really happened instead ?

[Tinoire]

Or would that be too hard? Tell me you just weren't paying attention at the time. If your accusation weren't so silly, I'd dig up all the old threads so you could also assume all the Jewish posters here who pointed out the same thing of anti-Semitism or the sillier alternative. THINK. THINK. THINK.

:wow:
Sheesh. Must be my lying eyes! Tell me if you need more information or if you prefer to persist in that rididulous allegation and accuse the entire world of anti-Semitism for having noticed, and not having liked, the particularly insensitive similarity.

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(snip)

The design marked a notable break with the colours used in other Arab flags, which have lengthy histories – green and black are used to represent Islam and red is used to represent Arab nationalism. Islamic crescents are usually depicted in green or red in Arab heraldry. The flag's predominantly blue-on-white appearance immediately led to controversy in Iraq because of its resemblance to the flag of Israel, with whom Iraq has had considerable antagonism (indeed, a number of the original proposals for the Israeli flag did include yellow). Other critics lamented the omission of the traditional colours of Pan-Arabism and the omission of the phrase "Allahu Akbar", irrespective of who put it there.

(snip)
The new flag was reported to have been burned by insurgents in Fallujah on 27 April 2004, the day before its planned official adoption. Interestingly, the flag had never yet been publicly displayed, sold, or otherwise distributed, so the desecrators were burning hand-made flags.

On 28 April, Governing Council President Massoud Barzani formally presented a modified version of the flag in which the originally very light shade of blue as reported by the press on 26 April had been changed to a darker tone; it was unclear whether this was a change made because of the protests made against the original design or, as the Council claimed, a rectification of printing errors in the earlier news reports



"To better understand the controversy, compare the flags of Iraq's neighbors, Iraq's older flags, and the proposed flag".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Iraq

Iraqis Say Council-Approved National Flag Won't Fly

By Pamela Constable
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, April 27, 2004


http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A43438-2004Apr26¬Found=true

(snip)

But the new national flag, presented Monday after an artistic competition sponsored by the Iraqi Governing Council, appears to have met with widespread public disapproval here -- in part because of its design and in part because of the increasing unpopularity of the U.S.-appointed council.

(snip)

In interviews in several Baghdad neighborhoods, a variety of residents expressed strong negative reactions to the flag, which was reproduced in most daily newspapers. In particular, people objected to the pale blue color of the crescent and stripes, saying it was identical to the dominant color in the flag of Israel, a Jewish state.

"When I saw it in the newspaper, I felt very sad," said Muthana Khalil, 50, a supermarket owner in Saadoun, a commercial area in central Baghdad. "The flags of other Arab countries are red and green and black. Why did they put in these colors that are the same as Israel? Why was the public opinion not consulted?"

__ Iraq's New Flag __

Some Iraqis are upset that the proposed design for the country's flag resembles the Israeli flag.

The Iraqi Flag Design Under Saddam Hussein


New Iraqi Flag Proposed by U.S.-Appointed Governing Council


The Flag of the State of Israel



http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A43438-2004Apr26¬Found=true

New Iraqi flag stirs complaints

(snip)

The new design not only abandons the symbols of Saddam's regime. It also avoids the colors used in other Arab flags: green and black for Islam and red for Arab nationalism. The change recalls the U.S. agenda of creating a "New Iraq" that is exceptional in the Arab world.

(snip)

The only country in the Middle East with blue stripes in its flag is Israel, which has a Star of David on a field of white between horizontal blue bands.

Council spokesman Hameed al-Kafaei said the designer, artist Rifat al-Chaderchi, was asked to touch up the color of the crescent, perhaps to a darker blue or a different color. The final version will be announced later this week.

(snip)

In Arabic nations, the colors of flags have widely recognized meanings.

Green, white and black denote Islam -- harkening back to the battle banners of the medieval Islamic dynasties of the Fatimids, Ummayads and Abbasids. Green is said to have been the prophet Muhammad's favorite color; the Saudi, Libyan, Algerian and Mauritanean flags are completely or largely green.

Islamic crescents in Arab heraldry are usually green or red.

Red, meanwhile, points to Arab nationalism. It was the color of the Sharif Hussein, who led the Arab revolt against Ottoman Turkish rule in the early 1900s, and he added it to a flag of green, white and black stripes to create a symbol of pan-Arabism.

(snip)

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/iraq/bal-flag0426,0,6254805.story?coll=bal-home-headlines