Omar Mohammed

Omar Mohammed
عمر بن محمد‎
Mohammed at the International Journalism Festival in Italy, 2018
Born	(1986-04-08) 8 April 1986 Mosul, Iraq
Nationality	Iraqi (exiled to France)
Education	Ph.D. in History, École des hautes études en sciences sociales, 2023
Alma mater	University of Mosul École des hautes études en sciences sociales
Occupations	Historian citizen journalist musician
Years active	2003–present
Employer(s)	The George Washington University, Sciences Po, UNESCO
Website	mosul-eye.org

Omar Mohammed (Arabic: عمر بن محمد; born 8 April 1986) is an Iraqi historian, citizen journalist, and musician. He is best-known for creating Mosul Eye, an online news blog through which he documented life in the city of Mosul when it was occupied by the Islamic State between 2014 and 2017. He lives in exile, having left Iraq in 2017, and currently maintains the blog from France. In 2020, Omar Mohammed was recognized by Algemeiner as one of "The Top 100 People Positively Influencing Jewish Life." This acknowledgment reflects his significant contributions to documenting and understanding historical events and his broader impact on global human rights and interfaith relations. He currently leads the Antisemitism Research Initiative at George Washington University.

Early life and education

Mohammed was born in Mosul in 1986, during the Iran–Iraq War, and was raised in the city. He graduated from the University of Mosul in 2012, after defending his dissertation on the French occupation of Egypt. He returned to the university as a professor and taught there until 2014, when it was shut down by the Islamic State.

Iraq War and the Islamic State

'All I could see was blood' is how Omar often described the time he lived in Mosul under the rule of the ISIS. He became widely known for documenting the daily life in Mosul between 2003 and 2018. He still runs his blog from his exile. He traveled around the world to seek support for his city Mosul. A few months before the liberation of Mosul from ISIS, Omar organized a musical on the historical site of prophet Jonah on the east bank of Mosul to defy ISIS with music.

Literary projects

“Let it there be a Book, Rising from the Ashes” is a project launched by Omar Mohammed to preserve the books from the destroyed library of the university of Mosul. The campaign led to preserve more than 32 thousands books and manuscripts. Speaking exclusively to The Independent, the historian said he hopes to collect at least 200,000 books, largely from international donations, to rebuild the university's central library and others across the city. In a phone interview with BuzzFeed News, he revealed very little about himself — "I can tell you I'm not 40 yet" — and insisted on anonymity to protect himself and his loved ones. But he spoke at length about his hopes for the library and why he is so invested in reviving it.

"Whenever I was in the university, I would spend most of my time at the library," he said. "When I didn't like my professors' lectures, I often went to the library to do research and study books on my own."

Creation of Mosul Eye

Access to the internet is still more limited in Mosul compared to the rest of Iraq. While IS did not restrict access to the internet as such, they imposed high taxes on internet providers leaving the city with limited access to this day (See UN Habit Report, 2016). Despite this, a number of growing local online media initiatives are proving to be popular. Ein Al Mosul, or Mosul Eye, was a blog, written anonymously, that documented events in Mosul under the occupation of IS, providing citizens of Mosul and, perhaps even more so, diaspora and the international community with vital information and evidence of IS atrocities. It focuses now on the ‘recovery’ of Mosul, structurally as well as culturally. ‘Mosul Eye was able to not only be a source of information but a social factor in the city’, according to its founder Omar Mohamed (2018 cited in Guardian Podcast, 2018). After the battle, Mosul Eye played a different role, ‘which is to rebuild civil society, trying to support the people who stayed in the city, trying to give them a voice, because they were voiceless’.

Mosul International Campaign

After he fled Mosul in 2015, Mohammed launched a campaign to advocate and bring awareness to the situation in Mosul and Iraq as a whole. He has travelled to various countries, including the United States and Russia, to make speeches and participate in talks, while lecturing and advocating at universities, institutes, and other global venues. His mission is to "put Mosul on the global map" as stated in his public speeches. He has been hosted by many international universities and governments. Mohammed has also, on different occasions, advocated for Mosul to be put under international trusteeship to protect the local populace.

Personal life

During the meeting between Omar Mohammed and the Pope

As of 2020, Mohammed lives in Paris and is unable to return to Mosul. His brother was killed by an airstrike during the Battle of Mosul, when the Iraqi government retook the city from the Islamic State. He is a fan of Israeli-American violinist Itzhak Perlman. He appeared in the 2020 British documentary film Once Upon a Time in Iraq, in which he describes his experiences during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Iraq War and the Iraqi insurgency, and the Second Iraq War, particularly detailing aspects of the occupation of Mosul by the Islamic State between 2014 and 2017.In the documentary series Rise of the Nazis, Omar Mohammed was featured for his role in telling the story of Robert Limpert (15 July 1925 – 18 April 1945), a German resistance fighter during World War II. Limpert was executed in the final days of the war for cutting telephone lines at an abandoned Wehrmacht command post in Ansbach, Germany. His act of defiance against the Nazi regime, although ultimately leading to his execution, is remembered as a significant example of resistance within Germany during the war. In October 2021, Omar received a special invitation from Pope Francis for a private audience at the Domus Sanctae Marthae. Omar recounted that he initially missed a call from the Pope, after which he received a written letter explaining that the Pope had been unable to reach him through his original phone number. Omar then provided an alternative number, which facilitated their subsequent communication. During their meeting, they discussed the situation in Mosul, and Pope Francis remarked that he could see the suffering of Mosul reflected on Omar's face. Omar Mohammed's own story is the focus of the short film Voices of Dissents: Omar Mohammed, which details his efforts to chronicle the atrocities committed by ISIS in Mosul. Through this work, Mohammed has become a prominent voice in the documentation of modern conflicts and the resistance against extremist ideologies. In 2018, Omar Mohammed was selected for the prestigious Maurice R. Greenberg World Fellows Program at Yale University. This program is designed to recognize and support emerging global leaders, allowing them to engage with Yale's academic community and collaborate on global issues. His selection highlights his impactful work in documenting Mosul's history and advocating for cultural preservation.

Preservation of Jewish History in Mosul

Omar Mohammed has been instrumental in preserving the Jewish history of Mosul, a vital yet often neglected part of the city's diverse cultural heritage. In 2018, he launched the project Reviving the Jewish Memory of Mosul through Mosul Eye, aiming to document the oral histories of the Jewish community that once flourished in the city. This initiative seeks to capture the personal stories, traditions, and memories of former Jewish residents, many of whom were forced to leave Mosul in the mid-20th century due to rising tensions and political changes in Iraq.

Through this project, Omar has meticulously gathered testimonies and narratives from members of the Jewish diaspora originally from Mosul, ensuring that their experiences and contributions to the city's history are not forgotten. Additionally, his work includes efforts to identify and preserve physical remnants of Mosul's Jewish heritage, such as synagogues and cemeteries, which stand as silent witnesses to the community's once vibrant presence.

Omar's dedication to documenting the Jewish history of Mosul is part of his broader mission to promote a more inclusive and comprehensive understanding of the city's past. By bringing to light the stories of Mosul's Jewish community, he aims to foster a sense of shared heritage and collective memory, ensuring that this important chapter in Mosul's history is remembered and respected for generations to come.

Published works

1- The history of the French expedition on Egypt in the writings of Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti, Jordan 2013.

Omar has produced several documents but they are still unpublished manuscripts:

1- Annals of Mosul from 2003 to 2014. Unpublished manuscript. 2- The Chronicles of Mosul under the rule of the Islamic State.Unpublished manuscript.

The manuscript covers the history of Mosul from June 6, 2014 when ISIS occupied Mosul to July 2017 when the city was liberated.

3- the Wonders of Mosul's recovery and its surrounding areas.

Is a historical document written by Omar documenting the daily recovery of Mosul since its libration in 2017.

4- Al Tarikh al 'Umari fi 'Imār al jāmi al Nuri wa yalih-i 'Imar Kanisat-ul Sa'a wa-T Tahira' 5- Al 'Anfas al Mahbusa fi 'aldifaa' 'an al Mawsil al mahrusa "The Caged Breaths in Defending the Protected Mosul". Unpublished manuscript.

The front cover of the manuscript reads: "This is a declaration of what the humble to his god's mercy, Omar b. Mohammed al Mawsili in his exile (.... text removed) on his daily observation in (text removed) and other countries in defending of his hometown Mosul and its people to create a better future for his watan and protect its nation, may god protect it against all its enemies until god makes his return to Mosul possible"