Aliyah Khalaf Saleh (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

:عالية خلف صالح; born c. 1956), also known as Umm Qusay, is an Iraqi humanitarian who helped over 50 individuals escape persecution by the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...

in 2014. She is widely regarded as being a folk heroine in Iraq.

Early life

Saleh was born in Al Alam, near

Tikrit Tikrit ( ar, تِكْرِيت ''Tikrīt'' , Syriac language, Syriac: ܬܲܓܪܝܼܬܼ ''Tagrīṯ'') is a city in Iraq, located northwest of Baghdad and southeast of Mosul on the Tigris River. It is the administrative center of the Saladin Gover ...

, to a

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

family in 1956 in what was then the

Kingdom of Iraq The Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq ( ar, المملكة العراقية الهاشمية, translit=al-Mamlakah al-ʿIrāqiyyah ʾal-Hāshimyyah) was a state located in the Middle East from 1932 to 1958. It was founded on 23 August 1921 as the Kingdo ...

. She was never formally educated, and was married at the age of 13. In the early days of ISIL's occupation of northern Iraq, Saleh's husband and son were killed at a checkpoint while travelling to Mosul.

Humanitarianism

Saleh lived on the banks of the

River Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...

, opposite

Camp Speicher Majid al Tamimi Airbase, officially known as the Tikrit Air Academy and formerly as FOB Speicher, COB Speicher, and Al Sahra Airfield (under Saddam Hussein) is an air installation near Tikrit in northern Iraq. The installation is approximately 17 ...

, an airbase that had formerly been used by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during the

US occupation of Iraq The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

and was by 2014 being used as a training centre for the

Iraqi Army The Iraqi Ground Forces (Arabic: القوات البرية العراقية), or the Iraqi Army (Arabic: الجيش العراقي), is the ground force component of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It was known as the Royal Iraqi Army up until the coup ...

. As ISIL approached Tikrit, soldiers and cadets fled the camp. Many were captured by ISIL, with at least a thousand of them killed in the subsequent

Camp Speicher massacre The Camp Speicher massacre occurred on 12 June 2014, when the Islamic State killed between 1,095 to 1,700 Iraqi cadets in an attack on Camp Speicher in Tikrit, Iraq. At the time of the massacre, there were between 5,000 and 100,000 unarmed cadet ...

. Among those fleeing the camp, Saleh was able to rescue over 50 men, including

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...

Yazidi Yazidis or Yezidis (; ku, ئێزیدی, translit=Êzidî) are a Kurmanji-speaking endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. The majo ...

and

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

cadets, many of them fleeing across the river from Camp Speicher. Saleh utilised various methods to hide them from ISIL, including dressing some in women's clothing and hiding them in the women's quarter of her compound. She was also able to obtain identity cards from the

University of Tikrit Tikrit University ( ar, جامعة تكريت) is an Iraqi university located in Tikrit, Salah ad Din Governorate, Saladin Province, Iraq. It was established in 1987. It is one of the largest universities in Iraq with over 30,000 students. While it ...

, giving some of the men new identities and teaching them how to say prayers in the Sunni style to avoid sectarian suspicions. Over a five-month period, she smuggled many to safety in the Kurdish-held city of

Kirkuk Kirkuk ( ar, كركوك, ku, کەرکووک, translit=Kerkûk, , tr, Kerkük) is a city in Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate, located north of Baghdad. The city is home to a diverse population of Turkmens, Arabs, Kurds, ...

, often hiding them in trucks surrounded by her female relatives. After Saleh's cover was blown, she and 25 members of her family fled, only returning to Tikrit after ISIL's defeat.

Recognition

Aliyah Khalaf Saleh 26102706307 dcec9ef146 o

In July 2015, the Prime Minister of Iraq

Haider al-Abadi Haider Jawad Kadhim al-Abadi ( ar, حيدر جواد كاظم العبادي; born 25 April 1952) is an Iraqi politician who was Prime Minister of Iraq from September 2014 until October 2018. Previously he served as Minister of Communication fro ...

presented her with Iraq's Medal of the State in recognition of her actions. She was awarded an

International Women of Courage Award The International Women of Courage Award, also referred to as the U.S. Secretary of State's International Women of Courage Award, is an American award presented annually by the United States Department of State to women around the world who have ...

in 2018 from the

First Lady of the United States The first lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is the title held by the hostess of the White House, usually the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never ...

Melania Trump Melania Trump ( ; born Melanija Knavs , Germanized as Melania Knauss ; born April 26, 1970) is a Slovene-American former model and businesswoman who served as First Lady of the United States from 2017 to 2021 as the wife of 45th president Do ...

. In 2019, a statue of her likeness was unveiled by the Iraqi Culture Minister, Abdul Amir al-Hamdani, in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

Media

Saleh featured in the 2020 British documentary series ''

Once Upon a Time in Iraq ''Once Upon a Time in Iraq'' is a 2020 British documentary television miniseries, directed by James Bluemel and narrated by British-Iraqi Andy Serkis. Composed of five episodes, it features interviews with Iraqi citizens, as well as American m ...

''.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saleh, Aliyah Khalaf Living people 1956 births Iraqi Sunni Muslims People from Saladin Governorate Recipients of the International Women of Courage Award