My philatelic Blog space                                                                          مدونتي بالعربي

 

The Iraqi Philatelic and Numismatics Society

 

The Iraqi Philatelic Society was founded in the year 1951 to fulfill the growing need to gather the Iraqi philatelists and to establish links with other philatelists around the world. 

The Society was established in accordance to the Iraqi Ministry of Interior's endorsement and in accordance to its assembly law to be registered as a gathering for the Iraqi philatelists as well as for those from abroad. More collectable hobbies were added to its activities during the nineties of the last century such as collecting of numismatics, coins, bank notes, historical documents and badges, while its name was adjusted to become the Iraqi Philatelic and Numismatics Society. 

Number of registered members reached more than 1780 since it established. However, number of proposed current active members is currently not more than one hundred. There are no any special requirements for membership applications, as enrollment includes amateur applicants as well as advanced philatelists and field traders, as they all gather under one umbrella. 

The Society holds auctions currently opening every Saturday of the week, where different of their members’ materials are exposed. The auction prices continuously reveal the value of the Iraqi stamps collections through its sales. Those certainly differing from the various catalogs value quotations, which are consequently adopted as the basis for any future deliberations. 

As every activity in Iraq, the Society suffers a lot of difficulties in managements and probably some corruption involvement, as its members still disputing and lucking to understand the need to re-register the society in accordance to the Non-Governmental Organizations law # 12 of the year 2010, which states that a new election should be conducted after submitting its interior law in line with the new NGO law.

Personally, I am no longer a member in the Society after I refused to remit the annual due subscription fees of the year 2013, as the Society board of directors and its chairman are no longer legitimate or authenticated.

 

  May 23, 2015

 

Recycled Covers

 

As a consequence of the austerity measures taken during the period of United Nations imposed economic embargo after Kuwait 1991 War, postal exchange services between the different government departments were severely affected. The instructions were given to the related departments to reduce paper waste and to recycle paper by reusing the other side of their correspondences paper as well as to use waste scrap paper for their internal memos. While it needed to flip the covers for a second use. The picture below shows a registered envelope which was sent to Al-Rasheed Bank branch in Nasiriyah from Baghdad by the end of January 1995 using two ID 1.00 Dom of Rock surcharged stamp denominations and another ID 5.00 from the same set. The same envelope was sent back from Nasiriyah on 2/2/1995 to Baghdad after flipping it outside in down bearing Saddam's two-story bridge ID 1.00 stamp denotation and two ID 3.00 stamp denotation from the same set.

 

June 1, 2017

 

 

 

The Paradox

 

Lately, got an interesting posted Aerogram letter. Unfolding and going through it revealed the inconsistency way of thinking between the western populations with the rulers in the east. I probably will not be objective here, as I bear a lot of disgust toward the Iranian regime anyhow. So as not to go through the issue itself for investigation, I quit the idea to conduct a search. Instead I am just dealing with what the person who his name was mentioned went through and imagining how he was brutally detained by the clerical linked tools of the Iranian regime. The petition letter is simply reflecting the fact, that the man has the right be treated properly especially that his conscience violation does not really reaches the extent to treat him like that.

Consequently, I suppose Iranian would consider him as a non-believer and anti-Allah. Accordingly, his should simply vanish. Let’s take a moment to think thoroughly about this paradox.

 

June 9, 2017

 

 

 

 

Covers from Israel

 

Nothing special if posted to anywhere else, but not to Iraq and during the Embargo period while the big brother was in control to everything. Surprisingly, found a cover posted from Israel laying in my PO Box in December 2000. The consequences would be catastrophic, but nothing happened, as apparently nobody noticed! The sender and in purpose, which was BAR-ILAN University added “England” below my full and correct postal address on the cover. I presumed that Royal Mail of England forwarded it to Iraq. If this is the case, which I didn’t find a proof to it, its postal exchange charges between the two countries (England and Iraq, in this situation) should be considered. This was not the single case, as I found another cover waiting for me later on January 2001. I didn’t have any objections on that time, but didn’t find any reason why the sender insisted, as such would simply put the recipient into a lot of interrogations.

 June 16, 2017

 

 

 

La haine sans frontière

 

The inspirational context in the two postcards, which I received some time during the mid of 2002 can’t be justified. I simply circulated my address in several philatelic related publications to develop my philatelic trades. However, Brian Lumban or Jeff (whom by the way seems to be the same person) didn’t really like it by recalling this kind of molesting contents in his two posted postcards. Both were posted from New York, while one of them was apparently sent from the UN premises in New York.

 

June 20, 2017

 

 

 

Campaigning through the mail

 

Won recently a big bunch of covers belonging to the late days before the topple of Saddam. The addressed covers to the Ministers of Justice, Interior, Foreign affairs and the Prim-Minster were sent from different countries all over the world. They contained petition letters written in English, French and German by the citizens of the countries, where they were sent from, requesting the authorities to release some named Iraqi political prisoners, stop torturing them and to grant them access to law and medical care. I also found another collection of covers with the same contents sent earlier before. For some reason, Iraqi post didn’t deliver them to their recipients, as they were all found in possession of the postal administration intact and sealed.

Worth to mention that these covers were collected from the principal post office in Baghdad during the looting activities, which took place after the American invasion to Baghdad on April 9th 2003.

 

July 12, 2017

 

 

 

Postal services in KRG

 

In my last visit to Erbil with my children during the second half of July 2017, on a personal level I conducted a field study to realize the reasons behind holding a referendum on the independence of Kurdistan region of Iraq.

While efforts are being made to bridge the cracks of history by bringing geography closer and prioritize interests in Europe and the West, the voices of heterogeneity and provocation have been rising in Iraq and the region. In Iraq, sectarianism and chauvinism are rooted through emphasizing ignorance, violence and memorizing the past without addressing the reasons behind.

Not far from the referendum and its prospects, Kurdistan government continues its efforts to monopolize the resources of the region without settling its dues with the central government of Iraq. Al-Maliki may have caused the relationship to be strained and the declining of the hope for the maintenance of bilateral trust. We should not though underestimate our understanding to the reasons for the need to reach these consequences, as such would reach to the fact, which Barzani tribal political class needs to conclude and justify.

Customs and tax administrations is keeping a distance and hiding their funding sources and the details of their resources. This led the central government to add double burdens incurred on the populations. The Postal Service in Erbil is an example here. On my visit to the Post Office in Erbil, I discovered that even without the approval of the Universal Postage Union, outgoing mail is charged through the stamps issued by the Postal Administration of Erbil and not traveling through Baghdad. The postal administration of the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, Erbil, has hired a Jordanian company to export its mail and distribute it to various countries in the world. However, the mail is not yet identified as posted from Kurdistan but simply indicating to Iraq through the registration number sticker used on the mail. In contrast, Erbil Postal Administration still receives its mail from abroad via Baghdad. The director of the department of the postal affairs in Baghdad, Mr. Wathiq Mohammed, said that Baghdad is aware of that and it has been agreed with the postal authorities in Erbil to settle the account, but they didn’t show up again after their last meeting.

While sealing my envelopes which I prepared to my correspondences in the United States and Germany, the staff member of Al-Qala’a (citadel) post office told me that they are using the stamps of Kurdistan for all their outgoing mail except those posted to the other non KRG provinces of Iraq. I also prepared another registered letter addressed to my post office box in Baghdad, where I used the stamps issued by the Postal authorities in Baghdad, but I still did not receive it until now while those posted to Germany and America reached already their recipients.

Under the pretext of non-compliance of the Jordanian carrier company, which Iraqi Post had contracted first to export their mail to the various countries around the world, the Iraqi postal administration insisted to relay on the new service contract with the Iranian Post to act as a carrier for the outgoing mail. It is not right to claim that preventing the settlement of the dues to the Jordanian carriers is to justify the intimidation created from being accused of corruption. While it is simply justified with their recent contract with the Iranian authorities because it comes within the framework of cooperation with those who believed not suspected. Despite this, the Iranian company is deceiving by imposing their conditions which delays the mail by interfering in its logistical details to finally accept the status of the state and guardianship, which applies everywhere else in their deals with the Iraqis. As the responsible lacking enthusiasm to establish contracts during the day intimidated by being accused, while nights hide a lot of suspicions deals.

 

August 15, 2017

 

Another useless dispute

 

Big storm of clamor and contradictions blew after the Iraqi Post intended to release the last stamp set on the Centennial of the Iraqi Postage stamp. The argument reflected the culture of arrogance, intolerance and lack of history recognition, while on the other hand, it would consequently lead to further predictable remnants. Some of them made their conservations on the fact that “Baghdad in the British occupation” overprinted set on the Ottoman stamps couldn’t be recognized as the first Iraqi postage stamps, simply because they were released by the British occupier. Ironically, this would not hide the fact that the same British occupier made it possible for the State of Iraq to appear and to build its first brick stones. The critics' arguments differed between those who treated it politically, while others treated it in an extremal manner, which I didn’t find a way to justify it. Some of those who promoted Iraqi occupation overprinted stamps in the year 2003, claimed that it is not permissible to consider the “Baghdad in British Occupation” overprinted stamps of the year 1917 as Iraqi stamps at all, while others criticized the release itself by pointing on its design and typographical errors. They claimed discovering these faults in the first designs of the stamp issue, which were published lately.

My recent contribution to that proposal was an attempt to reconcile the Iraqi postal needs to highlight the manifestations of its origins and to focus on the contradictions of history in order to consolidate the link in accordance with it and to reach a consensus that may be justified by the need to communicate. (Mr. Alfred Khalastchy), who has provided me with high-quality images of some of his collected item, which were later processed by the designer of the stamp set (Mr. Sa’ad Ghazi) to introduce them as a three stamps and a Souvenir sheet set.

Back to my conviction that Iraqis never stopped their quest for the search to fuels their differences and to keep on with their persistent battles.

More about this set in my stamp list.

 

September 23, 2017

Irrelevant Case

 

      In early December 2023, the Iraqi postal administration began issuing a series of three controversial postage stamps whose inept release incurred the wrath of many Iraqi stamp collectors and others objecting to the ‘favoritism’ given to a privileged few to profit from the limited and early release of these stamps. This postal problem pertained to the three Tawafan Al-Aqsa stamps that were issued. I brought many of these complaints together in a ‘corruption abuse’ case that I attempted to file with Judge Haider of the Iraqi Federal Commission of Integrity in Baghdad on 30^th January 2024.

      When I went to present my case, despite the phony hospitality receiving me from the outer gate of the premises of the Commission, the feeling of being monitored made me creep. My first feelings were difficult to describe, as it was a mixture of anxiety and reluctance. My fears were proven through their first inquiry, asking me whom I was representing and who is actually backing me. They showed little interest in investigating my complaints. My efforts went simply in vain after an hour of psychological torture. This is how Judge Haider confronted me with after my long hustle trying to attract his attention to read and hear my saying to report and file a corruption case: with disinterest and dismissal.

      On 7^th December 2023, the Iraq Postal Administration issued a 2,000 Dinars postage stamp and a 5,000 Dinars postage block (souvenir sheet), both of which commemorated the Hamas Operation Tawafan Al-Aqsa attack into Israel from the Gaza Strip two months earlier on 7^th October. Their release created a philatelic firestorm with complaints that Iraqi postal authorities showed great malpractice through their unsuitable issuance of these stamps. As a former member of the Iraq Stamp Design Recommendation Committee, I voiced several complaints before and after their release. My objections were dismissed by the postal authorities who showed their incompetency in failing to foresee the controversies that these Tawafan Al-Aqsa stamps would cause. My concerns were that their popularity was underestimated. Frequently, Iraqi Post has no problem in printing 10,000 or 20,000 copies of a stamp. However, regarding the 2,000 Dinars Tawafan Al-Aqsa stamp, only a minuscule 5,000 were initially released on 7^th December 2023. Due to their popularity, another 5,000 copies were released on 17^th December 2023. Regarding the 5,000 Dinars block or souvenir sheet, initially only 1,000 were released on 7^th December with a second printing an additional 2,000 copies were also released on 17^th December 2023.

      My concerns were that their popularity was underestimated. Frequently, Iraqi Post has no problem in printing 10,000 or 20,000 copies of a stamp. However, regarding the 2,000 Dinars  Tawafan Al-Aqsa stamp, only a minuscule 5,000 were initially released on 7^th December 2023. Due to their popularity, another 5,000 copies were released on 17^th December 2023. Regarding the 5,000 Dinars block or souvenir sheet, initially only 1,000 were released on 7^th December with a second printing an additional 2,000 copies were also released on 17^th December 2023.

      On the same date of the release of the first two Tawafan stamps, a 1,000 Dinars stamp was also to have been released to complete this three stamp commemorative series. However, it was not released until 10^th January 2024 in a quantity of 5,000 copies. A procedure that only further high­lighted the incompetency of the Iraqi postal administration. It was released late due to its obvious poor quality of printing, but it was released nevertheless.

      The decision made by the Director General (DG) of Iraq Post regarding the way the 1,000 Dinars stamp was dealt with was clearly unprofessional. Taking into consideration that the mint stamp was leaked in advance, orders were made to restrict the public from purchasing the stamp in mint condi­tion and the release was to be used entirely for postal purposes. It was anticipated that a limited production this would make the stamp clearly make the stamp scarce and consequently raise its value to many speculators and international collectors.

      The philatelic value of the mint stamp was unpredictable but obviously monopolizing the sale of mint copies would lead to a value high. This very denomination of the set started to show-up in different online platforms reaching a price to US-$ 80.00.

      I was told that the World Association for the Development of Philately (WADP), and organization of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) made representations about the issuance of these stamps due to their controversial subject topic believed to violate UPU stamp-issuing standards.

      My objections were focusing on the issue of monopolizing the sale of the stamp and later limiting its purposes of use, as I assume it contradicts the basic agreements of UPU. On 15^th January 2024, I learned that an internal investigation started to find out who leaked the small quantities of mint stamps.

      After confronting the Director of the Postal Affairs Department of Iraq Post tried to prove that their DG is entitled to do any alterations, while it was well mentioned in their interior law internal regula­tions that the DG is entitled to release or stop releasing any stamp issue, but not to limit the use for an exclusive purpose through using them for posted covers or limiting the quantity of stamps allowed to be purchased.

      Then on 28^th January 2024 the postal authority announced that mint stamps could be sold to certain philatelic buyers, but not more than 12 mint copies. Due to the limited release of these stamps, certain ‘favored buyers’ (i.e. speculators) could buy them at their 1000 Dinars face value and then immediately sell them on to stamp collectors for 10 times their face value! In my opinion, this ‘favored buyers’ scandal could have been avoided had the stamps simply not been released at all.

      Personally, I addressed almost all my contacts, who further introduced me to many other relevant interesting entities, philatelic magazines, publications and catalogue publishing, as well as the UPU (which did not reply).

      In the End, I became more realistic after realizing that some lines should not be crossed. Filing the case was rejected and I was politely dismissed from the premises of the Iraqi Federal Commis­sion of Integrity.

February 2, 2024

Thanks to Bill Garrison, who enriched the drafting of the article to reach its final version.

For more about the set except the 1,000 Dinars stamp denomination

For more about the 1,000 Dinars stamp denomination

 

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