Shatha Hassoun on Star Academy

I just wanted to let you know about an interesting article from the WaPo last week that deals with the hope for reconciliation brought to Iraq by the success of an Iraqi singer, Shada Hassoun, on an American Idol-esque show:

"'For those who don't know the Iraqi people very well, they think they are extremist Shia and extremist Sunni and Kurds. This is not the reality. I have been confident that the Iraqi people yearn for a secular government and that the religious movements are weak. The masses, deep inside, are secular. And none of the politicians understood what I was saying until [Shada Hassoun won this television contest]."

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