In Baghdad, Many Iraqis Consider Going Out at Night a Simple Act of Defiance

The solar-powered streetlights in central Baghdad flicker on shortly after sunset, illuminating the darkness that once brought fear to the capital.

These days, sundown is a reason to celebrate. Cars jam Karrada street, where fashionable young Baghdadis prowl for members of the opposite sex. Families bustle into clothing shops, restaurants and teahouses. Liberal-minded youth seek out a handful of nightclubs and bars scattered around the city.

As security has improved and curfews have eased, Baghdad’s once-famous nightlife has slowly re-emerged. It is a symbol of normalcy in a city long brutalized by war and still tormented by bombings.

The capital’s residents have adopted a seize the day attitude to their leisure, in contrast to the violence of 2006 and 2007, when according to one resident, “people locked their doors at 4 pm."

At the Al-Hasna restaurant in central Baghdad, customers stream in to see singers perform. The entertainment draws 300 to 400 patrons to the two-storey restaurant, which serves alcohol and meals in a party-like atmosphere.

“Customers don’t care about the cost,” Ahmed Saed, a 28-year-old guard at the restaurant, said. “All they care about is relaxing.”

Cabarets are the latest addition to Baghdad’s nightlife, following a government order last year that allowed nightclubs to re-open. They had been closed since 1994, when then Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein tried to win Islamic support following the Gulf War.

The former Iraqi regime’s secular policies had for decades allowed nightlife to flourish in Baghdad and other cities such as Basra. However, many of Iraq’s religious elements had found the presence of alcohol and prostitution offensive.

But Baghdad’s once-famed nightlife was never just about sin. Soaring temperatures, particularly in spring and summer, made evenings the ideal time for Iraqis to socialize. Feasts that extended well past midnight were typical in Baghdad restaurants, as were hours-long chats in its teahouses.

The strife that followed the American invasion in 2003 put a stop to such pastimes. While the worst of the violence now appears to have abated, regular bombings continue to shake civilians’ faith in their security.

Hind Salah, 32, says going out at night carries a sense of optimism as well as apprehension, particularly following the recent upsurge in violence.

More than 150 people were killed in bomb attacks in Iraq in the last week alone, mostly targeting police and Shia pilgrims.

“The occasional blasts do plant a seed of fear in us,” she admitted.

Yet Hind, a mother of two from the once-volatile Al-Saydiyah neighborhood south of the capital, still regularly slips into her jeans and heads out on the town with her husband.

Many see going out as a simple act of defiance against the extremists.

“Nothing has changed because of the attacks,” said Ahlam al-Dulaimi, a 35-year-old Sunni housewife. “The Iraqi nature is unique: we’ve learnt how to live in hell and heaven simultaneously.”

Mithaq Fadhil, a 23-year-old English student at the University of Baghdad, said the past few years had taught Baghdadis to ignore violence.

“It is said that ‘adversity teaches more than study’,” he said. “We have had enough adversity.”

Baghdad’s youth are especially keen to escape the confines of home. Young men say they are delighted to resume a favorite Baghdadi pastime: making passes at women. Samer Jamal, a 26-year-old student in Baghdad’s University of Technology, says many of the former carry business cards to hand out to potential dates. “Girls like this because it’s more civilized,” he said.