by Rosie Alfatlawi
The Japanese ambassador to Iraq is quite the social media personality.
Described by Buzzfeed recently as the “unlikeliest internet star”, Fumio Iwai has thrilled Iraqis with his grasp of Arabic and knowledge of local culture.
Iwai’s most recent viral post, however, dealt with a rather unexpected topic.
His lunch.
In a post that was later deleted (here copied by Facebook page Basra), the Japanese envoy shared an image of his meal on-board an Iraqi Airways flight from Basra to Baghdad.
“I had a light meal on my flight from Basra this morning,” he wrote in Arabic on Friday. “The meal consisted of Iraqi bread, Iraqi water, Iranian cheese, Turkish jam, Kuwaiti milk, Egyptian chocolate and an Ecuadorian banana.”
I hope one day in the near future to enjoy a meal of Iraqi food on-board an Iraqi Airways plane,” the post concluded.
Little did Iwai expect that the post would prove so controversial he would be forced to delete it and produce an apology.
A Friday afternoon message offered “clarification”.
“I wrote a post about a meal I had during my trip from Basra this morning then deleted it. I would like to explain the reason for deleting it, as follows:”
“The post aimed only to support Iraqi products, and I did not intend it as an attack on any party.”
“The post caused feelings of annoyance among some of the followers of my page. However, I did not intend to cause offense to others.”
“For the reasons given above, I deleted this morning's post. Thank you for following me, as always.”
But why did his comments receive so much attention?
The post opened up debate on the lack of investment in Iraqi farming and food production, as well as corruption at an official level.
Many commenters wholeheartedly agreed with Iwai, suggesting that such a meager imported meal offered to a diplomat on the state airline was a national shame.
Abeer Anwer commented: "They really should offer Iraqi food, and it exists: Abu Ghraib yoghurt, Karbala molasses, Iraqi fruits or dates, even Iraqi biscuits and chocolates."
Mazin Aljabery responded: “Words of reason... He means offer Iraqi food, fruit and juices on Iraqi Airways.”
“Firstly in order to inform tourists about Iraqi heritage and character, and secondly in order to develop your factories, workshops and farms, and better make use of your young people.”
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Others suggested that this embarassment was the result of the neglect of Iraqi industry and production.
Aymen Al-Ali, wrote: “We don't need to be surprised about the fruit, we are a stupid people who abandoned agriculture out of laziness and depended on oil for our whole economy.”
Karim Abdulaziz had a more pessimistic take on things: “Iraqis are professionals in the manufacture of death, experts in making booby-trapped cars, innovators in tribal problems and we do not resist the robber politicians.”
Despite having considerable land and water resources, fed by its two famous rivers, Iraq is a net importer of food. Decades of war and sanctions, ongoing political corruption and limits on access to water have made imports cheaper than local produce.
Others, however, responded by pointing out that many other international airlines use foodstuffs manufactured abroad, and that Iraq is not alone in depending on food imports. They felt that usually popular Iwai had unfairly targeted Iraqi Airways in this instance.
