Baghdad’s First Snows Bring Peace

The first snows in memory drifted softly through the eastern part of Baghdad this Friday, falling on Shiite as well as Sunni houses. For these hours of snowfall, no violence was reported and no mortar shells flew. Baghdad was blanketed in a wintry peace.

An NBC local journalist reported hearing the delight in his niece’s voice as she woke him up to look at the view. He writes, “It was much more beautiful than can be described; a scene I have not seen before in my lifetime in Baghdad. … I thanked God for granting Iraqis the chance to watch the snow falling and I prayed that God will bring peace, happiness, success, and love in each white pure piece of snow.”

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Snows in Baghdad may be less a divine sign than the latest indication of a changing climate. Still, there is something divine in the gentle drift that brought peace to a city ravaged by five years of brutal, endless violence.

Baghdad snows serve as a reminder that peace is possible, even in the places where it is most desperately needed.

If changes in the environment can help bring a moment of peace to warring Shiite and Sunni sects, then concern over the environment can surely still the drums and engines of war in other parts of the world.

This is the hope of visionaries like Dr. Jane Goodall, who hopes that her global Roots & Shoots program can generate peace through environmental activism. It is also the focus of future world leaders at the Arava Institute, which uses environmental issues as a catalyst to inspire peace through cooperation.

As I write this, I look out the window and see children sled and toss snowballs in the park behind my house because this area of Korea also just experienced its first heavy snows of the year. I hear their shrieks of delight, I see them enjoying the wonders of their shared environment, and I know that lasting peace is possible through concentration on the environment and cooperation in protecting the health of our single planet.

References and Resources:

When snow falls in Baghdad … | MSNBC

‘WAKE UP, IT’S SNOWING!’ | MSNBC

Roots & Shoots | The Jane Goodall Institute

The Arava Institute

Middle East Institute Teaches Peace with Environmental Studies | Ecoworldly

Photo Source:

Mosque, Baghdad | Flickr

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