Campaign against Valentine Day in Iraq

Mosul, Iraq, 15 February 2014: Some shopkeepers in Mosul, Iraq, who exhibited gifts and gadgets to be sold on St. Valentine’s day were forced to obey the threats of armed groups. The armed men asked the shopkeepers to put their merchandise away. The gifts were mostly of showy hearts and red teddy bears. The news was confirmed to ankawa agency.com by a merchant named Majed Ibrahim, owner of a gift shop in the University area.
The stated reason of the ostracism against the day celebrated by boyfriends and girlfriends around the world is its connection with the Christian feast of St. Valentine from Terni, the bishop martyr who lived in the third century after Christ. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church and the Churches of the East, and is considered the patron saint of lovers and epileptics.
According to testimonies, even some preachers in the mosques expressed public warnings against a feast that in recent years had recorded an increasing appeal among young Arabs, regardless of their religious affiliation.
Source: Fides