A mosque in Erbil, Kurdistan, was demolished on the grounds of lacking a license. Meanwhile, the same government inaugurated a new church in Erbil. The church belongs to the Adventist denomination, which, as far as I know, has no Kurdish followers.

The demolition of mosques in Kurdistan hasn’t occurred since the days of Saddam’s army, which destroyed villages and towns across the region. The Kurdistan government could have found a solution for the licensing issue if it had wanted to. But since it was a mosque, it chose demolition instead. Many buildings in Kurdistan violate municipal regulations, yet none are removed because they belong to influential figures within the two ruling parties.

This decision fuels the propaganda machines of groups like ISIS. It exacerbates the feeling among Muslims of being strangers in their own land, despite being the majority population.