Halabja breathes life through the pomegranate gate

Shafaq News/ The will to live is always stronger than all kinds of disasters, hardships, and injustices. This statement applies to Halabja (located on the eastern side of Kurdistan) after it was subjected to one of the most horrible massacres committed by a ruler, against those who are considered part of his people; namely, the massacre of chemical weapons that have wiped out ploughing and breeding -and has left tragedies still affect the bodies, land, and air of Halabja’s inhabitants.

The massacre took place in the 1980s and left 5,000 victims and 10,000 injured within minutes.. But the city quickly regained life and provided Kurdistan with many scholars, writers, poets, artists, and farmers.

Halabja is famous for its pomegranate production in the region..Annual festivals are held to promote and market it; as it covers Kurdistan’s needs -and the surplus is exported to be a local income source.

With the abundant production of pomegranates in the region, Halabja’s residents are seeking to make the most of the crop by squeezing it in private mills to turn it into a fresh drink.

The process of squeezing the pomegranate requires special mills to make a natural drink that can be turned into pomegranate molasses.

In Halabja, pomegranate mills are widespread to facilitate the farmers' work and offer them a pure drink to make pomegranate molasses.

The process of separating pomegranate kernels from crusts was hard manual labor.. It took time and effort from the farmers who make pomegranate molasses. Now, pomegranate mills facilitate this task.

"We work more than 15 hours a day, from November to December. In one day we receive about 10 tons of pomegranates citizens bring to make pomegranate molasses”, Salam Horami, owner of a mill in Halabja, told Shafaq News agency.

Pomegranate juice has many benefits, as, according to specialists, it can reduce the intestines inflammation and improve digestion, beneficial for people with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, and other inflammatory bowel diseases.

It is also a powerful anti-inflammatory because of its high concentration of antioxidants.. It can help reduce inflammation throughout the body and prevent oxidation and damage.

As a result of pomegranate juice’s richness with vitamin C and Vitamin E –as they work together to protect and strengthen the immune system, pomegranate juice helps fight diseases and viruses, as well as helps fight bacteria.

"We came specially to buy the fresh pomegranate syrup, from which pomegranate molasses is made", Vian Jalal, who came from Erbil to buy the famous pomegranate juice, said to Shafaq News agency.