Iraqi Sunnis and Shiites have not been the close kin lately, to put it mildly. The two sects of Islam have fought a civil war and pursued mutual ethnic cleansing turning previously mixed cities into all-Sunni or all-Shiite.

But the Israeli siege of Gaza has united all Iraqis in solidarity with the Palestinians. On Monday, over 1,000 protesters turned out in Baghdad, the figure might appear to be small but is quite massive when one considers that most Iraqis are still afraid of leaving their homes. 1,300 turned in the city of Mosul on Sunday.

Abdulhadi al-Mihamdawi, a Sadrist leader, said: “We have gathered here today – Iraq’s Shiites and Sunnis – to show our solidarity with the Palestinian people that are under a barbarian attack in Gaza. We call upon the Palestinian groups to unite. We call upon the Arab League to interfere to stop this massacre.”

Iraqi Shiite support for Gaza is quite significant given that the Palestinians in Iraq have been persecuted by Shiites due to the perception that the Palestinians were favored under Saddam as opposed to the repressed Shiites.

And the Iraqi parliament issued the following statement:

“Brutal violations are increasing the Palestinian people’s suffering. Bleeding them and destroying their their infrastructure. It is a dangerous precedent by Zionist occupation in dealing with the Palestinian issue and a negative indicator of the peaceful way in Middle East.”

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most influential Shiite in the country, issued a statement as well:

“The Palestinian people in Gaza have been exposed to a savage Israeli attack. Continuous aggressions lead to hundred of victims either martyr or wounded. This savage assault came after a siege against those oppressed people which lasts for months. It has created a difficult humanitarian situation due to lack of food, medicine, fuel and every day needs. Condemning what happened to our Palestinian brothers in Gaza and expressing solidarity with them in words is nothing comparing to their tragedy.”

Neo-cons, all of whom are fanatically supporters of Israel, expected that one of the first things a new Iraqi government out do would be recognize Israel. Their puppet Chalabi told them that if the U.S. supported him as Iraqi president, he would recognize the Jewish state. But the U.S. has been mostly unsuccessful in creating a puppet government and it will not be able to create a pro-Israel Iraq. Almost all Arabs, Muslim, Christian, or outside any ecclesiastical fold, will always stand with Palestinians. Their support cannot be undermined.

The Israeli bombardment of Gaza has thus far killed almost 400 people.