Hasan Hamishe Bahar
In the same way, it is easy to point out the difference in civil etiquette, customs, and urban furniture between Kish Island and other cities of Iran.
It is probably safe to say that the most prominent point that every pilgrim will talk about and criticize his family people upon return is the cleanliness of the streets and sidewalks and the lack of attention to health-related issues.
Trying to resolve these issues can be explored from two perspectives:
1. We should publish our points of view and ideas in the international media with a relatively complete knowledge of the general culture of the Iraqi people. Although compliance with hygiene issues, cleanliness, and appearance of the city is one of the most basic issues for hosting tourists or pilgrims, without a complete understanding of the culture and customs of these cities, it would not be possible to reach a comprehensive agreement.
2. Criticisms of the existing circumstances should be fully transferred to the political and diplomatic apparatus of the countries so that they can consider them in future discussions and agreements to Improve the pilgrim’s situation.
3. What is our duty as a pilgrim?
Should we conform to the bigger population or make everybody else conform to us?
Although in these issues, the existence of urban infrastructures and patterns can determine the outcome in the social behavior of citizens, we must look for a step that we can take to improve the situation. Nothing will change just by wishing for it, and the first step is how we approach the issue. which can be addressed with the slogan “Our city is our home” which Iranian municipalities have been trying to culture for many years and we can export to these cities.
In other words: let’s start from ourselves and remember that during the Arbaeen walk, the presence of many employees of Iran’s municipalities and the voluntary movement of some pilgrims alongside the Iraqi people and civil service forces were commendable.
The final point is that the emergence of such scenes and the level of services being provided to such a large number of pilgrims is not unpredictable considering the existing infrastructure of Iraqi cities.