Lara Yousif Zara () is an Assyrian politician who is currently serving as the mayor of

Alqosh Alqosh (, , , alternatively spelled Alkosh, Alqoš, or Alqush) is a town in the Nineveh Plains of northern Iraq, a sub-district of the Tel Kaif District situated 45 km north of the city of Mosul. The inhabitants of Alqosh are Assyrian peopl ...

in the

Nineveh Governorate Nineveh Governorate (; , ) is a governorate in northern Iraq. It has an area of and an estimated population of 2,453,000 people as of 2003. Its largest city and provincial capital is Mosul, which lies across the Tigris river from the ruins of a ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. A member of the

Kurdistan Democratic Party The Kurdistan Democratic Party (), usually abbreviated as KDP or PDK, is the ruling Political party, party in Iraqi Kurdistan and the senior partner in the Kurdistan Regional Government. It was founded in 1946 in Mahabad in Iranian Kurdistan. ...

, Zara was appointed to the mayorship in July 2017 by the KDP-led Nineveh Provincial Council after the previous mayor had charges of corruption by the Provincial Council. She is both the first female mayor of Alqosh and the first woman to serve as mayor of any city in Iraq.

Background

Zara was born in 1982 in the town of

, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics and management from Al-Hadba'a University College in

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

in 2006. For the next three years, she was an Assyrian language teacher in Alqosh, and continued to work as she settled into a permanent-teacher position. After the

Fall of Mosul The Fall Of Mosul in Iraq occurred between 4 and 10 June 2014, when Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) insurgents, initially led by Abu Abdulrahman al-Bilawi, captured Mosul from the Iraqi Army, led by Lieutenant General Mahdi Al-Gha ...

, when

ISIS Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

took over large swathes of the

Nineveh Plains Nineveh Plains (, Modern ; ; ) is a region in Nineveh Governorate in Iraq. Located to the north and east of the city Mosul, it is the only Christian-majority region in Iraq and have been a gathering point for Iraqi Christians since 2003. Control o ...

from the

Iraqi government The government of Iraq is defined under the current Constitution, approved in 2005, as a democratic, parliamentary republic with Islam as the official state religion. The government is composed of the executive, legislative, and judicial branche ...

, Zara stayed back to defend the city with the help of the Kurdish

Peshmerga The Peshmerga () are the internal security forces of Kurdistan Region. According to the Constitution of Iraq, regional governments are responsible for "the establishment and organization of the internal security forces for the region such as p ...

and the

Nineveh Plain Protection Units The Nineveh Plain Protection Units ( ; ) or NPU is an Assyrian people, Assyrian paramilitary organization that was formed in late 2014, largely but not exclusively by Assyrians in Iraq to defend themselves against Islamic State of Iraq and the L ...

. Pictures of Zara with the Kurdish flag, as well as in military uniform, spread over the internet after her involvement had come to light. It was also from her involvement with the

that she joined the

. Zara had previously ran for the

2014 Iraqi parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Iraq on 30 April 2014. The elections decided the 328 members of the Council of Representatives of Iraq, Council of Representatives who will in turn elect the Iraqi President of Iraq, president and Prime Mini ...

under the ''Shlama Entity'', but failed to win any seats. In May 2017, she helped to found the Alqosh branch of the ''Chaldean League'', a

Chaldean Catholic Church The Chaldean Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic Catholic particular churches and liturgical rites, particular church (''sui iuris'') in full communion with the Holy See and the rest of the Catholic Church, and is ...

-backed sectarian political party founded by Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako.

Mayorship of Alqosh

In July of 2017, Zara was formally elected to the mayorship of Alqosh by the pro-Kurdish Nineveh Provincial Council. This followed the dismissal of the previous mayor, Faiez Abed Jawareh, over allegations of corruption. He had already been dismissed and reinstated prior, after the installation of KDP-member Adel Amin Omar and protests from residents of Alqosh. Protests once again broke out after the instillment of Zara, with allegations that the KDP was co-opting the Assyrian minority into supporting the planned

2017 Kurdistan Region independence referendum An independence referendum for the Kurdistan Region of Iraq was held on 25 September 2017 in Kurdistan Region, with preliminary results showing approximately 92.73 percent of votes cast in favour of independence. Despite reporting that the in ...

, and annexing the Nineveh Plain under its territory. Zara argued that only Kurdistan Regional Government can keep the locals of Alqosh safe, mentioning the situation in Mosul as a reason to not trust the federal government in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

. Protestors against Zara's inauguration were subsequently met with harassment and physical force by Kurdish forces, much as Jawareh had faced by the KDP. In April 2019, Zara welcomed a delegation from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, led by Deputy Chief of the American embassy in Iraq and Consul General in Kurdistan Steve Fagan, to Alqosh for the inspection of the Tomb of Prophet Nahum located in the town. In June 2019, she visited the United States and met with American officials to raise awareness of the circumstances of the Christians in the country. The Assyrian Policy Institute was in attendance during the meeting and accused Zara of illegally holding the position of mayor, citing a federal case in Baghdad rendering her election unconstitutional and previous failed attempt to have appealed the results, of which Zara denied the allegations. Discussions of Zara as the mayor of Alqosh typically note her role as being Iraq's first female mayor. In an interview with the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

, Zara had hoped that in the future, more women would lead the country's politics through official representation in parliament and other places. Zara has also previously noted that she looks to the future to prevent Assyrians from future emigration outside of Iraq, citing the

Assyrian diaspora The Assyrian diaspora ( Syriac: ܓܠܘܬܐ, ''Galuta'', "exile") refers to ethnic Assyrians living in communities outside their ancestral homeland. The Eastern Aramaic-speaking Assyrians claim descent from the ancient Assyrians and are one of t ...

in the

Metro Detroit Metro Detroit is a major metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Michigan, consisting of the city of Detroit and over 200 municipalities in the Southeast Michigan, surrounding area. There are varied definitions of the area, including the officia ...

area. In November 2021, she announced that with the financial support of the US Government, the Office of the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, and private donors, the main part of the restoration work on the tomb of Prophet Nahum had been completed; however, the site was not yet ready to be reopened to the public.

Personal life

Zara was married to her now husband, Duraid Jamil, in 2007. Her sister is Shrara Yousef Zara Ishaq, currently a member of the Athra Alliance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zara, Lara 1982 births Living people Chaldean Catholics 21st-century Iraqi women politicians 21st-century Iraqi politicians Iraqi Assyrian people Iraqi Kurdistani politicians People from Nineveh Governorate Peshmerga Kurdistan Democratic Party politicians Assyrian politicians Assyrian women