Football at the Pepsi Factory Wall Massacre in Mosul Iraq
All Images by FMH UNIFORM NOVEMBER
On the 1st of June 2017, 84 people were killed by ISIS sniper fire as they tried to escape the conflict. The bodies lay in a heap, dead or dying as ISIS pinned them down by firing from the top floor or roof of the local hospital building.
The atrocity has stimulated a response from the neighbourhood. The community has acknowledged this atrocity by painting the wall at the location where the victims lay. They have painted the names of each victim under the heading “Names of the Martyrs of the Massacre of the Pepsi Factory”.
The local community has also created a football club on the barren land adjacent to the site, in honour of the victims. The ground is called “The Martyrs of Zenjely Stadium” (translation of the sign shown above). This could be a significant gesture of social integration in recognition of the suffering their community has suffered.
Further investigation would be required to ascertain the underlying reasons and effects of this neighbourhood initiative. However, on first impression this is an intriguing response to the horrors of conflict and the resilience of local communities exploring grassroots methods of social cohesion in memory of those killed.
Further details of this atrocity can be found here:
Mosul's Pespi Factory Sign:
Hospital Site opposite the Massacre:
Football field, The Martyrs of Zenjely Stadium:
Memorialization to the fallen at the place they fell:
